''Tales of Maj'Eyal'' is an

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a subgenre of role-playing computer games traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player charact ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

released for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, W ...

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...

, and

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, whic ...

in 2012. ''Tales of Maj'Eyal'' is available as donation-supported

freeware Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the ...

(

donationware Donationware is a licensing model that supplies fully operational unrestricted software to the user and requests an optional donation be paid to the programmer or a third-party beneficiary (usually a non-profit). The amount of the donation may also ...

) from the developers; donations grant some exclusive online features as part of a

freemium Freemium, a portmanteau of the words "free" and "premium," is a pricing strategy by which a basic product or service is provided free of charge, but money (a premium) is charged for additional features, services, or virtual (online) or physical ...

model. The game may also be purchased through the

digital distribution Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content such as audio, video, e-books, video games, and other ...

outlets

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. ...

or GOG. The game's TE4

game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term " software engine" used in the software ...

source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the ...

is under a

GNU GPLv3 The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general u ...

license A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

, while the game's assets are licensed for use "with the Tales of Maj'Eyal game only."

Gameplay

''Tales of Maj'Eyal'' is a

dungeon crawl A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games in which heroes navigate a labyrinth environment (a "dungeon"), battling various monsters, avoiding traps, solving puzzles, and looting any treasure they may find. Video games an ...

featuring a customizable graphical interface that integrates classic roguelike keyboard commands with a mouse-driven interface. In a departure from many older roguelike games, ''Tales of Maj'Eyal'' has full-color graphics, can be played almost exclusively with the mouse, and despite

permadeath Permadeath or permanent death is a game mechanic in both tabletop games and video games in which player characters who lose all of their health are considered dead and cannot be used anymore. Depending on the situation, this could require the p ...

the player can earn extra lives through various ways and by leveling up. ''Tales of Maj'Eyal'' emphasizes tactical turn-based combat and flexible player-controlled character development. Gameplay depends heavily on the player's decisions and ability to develop and execute strategy. Play begins with the player selecting one of nine races and one of 25 classes (expandable with add-ons). Not all character choices are available at first; some must be unlocked through in-game progress, or through monetary donation or purchase. The player explores the lore-filled world of Eyal, which contains numerous dungeons and adversaries. The plot is non-linear, and success depends as much on character planning and storyline choices as it does on the player's skill in defeating enemies in combat.

Online support

Players may register with an optional online game server, which allows them to view their characters, achievements and high scores. It also collates game statistics including the top killers of players, most common race/class choices, and number of wins. In addition, the game server offers an online chat system, letting players talk to each other.

Development

''Tales of Maj'Eyal'' was developed by Nicolas Casalini ("DarkGod"), with graphics by Assen Kanev ("Rexorcorum") and Raymond Gaustadnes ("Shockbolt"). It is based upon Casalini's earlier game ''Tales of Middle Earth'' (''ToME'') which in turn is based upon his own ''PernAngband'' variant, itself based on ''Zangband'', which in turn was based on '' Angband''. Development of ''ToME 4'' started in 2009, and the first formal release occurred in 2012. The T-Engine game engine is written in C, and offers a development framework for grid-based game modules written in Lua. It supports many

OpenGL OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, cross-platform application programming interface (API) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics. The API is typically used to interact with a graphics processing unit (GPU), to achieve hardwa ...

features such as particle effects and

shader In computer graphics, a shader is a computer program that calculates the appropriate levels of light, darkness, and color during the rendering of a 3D scene - a process known as ''shading''. Shaders have evolved to perform a variety of spe ...

s. The T-Engine has been used to create games for the annual Seven Day Roguelike Challenge in 2011 and 2012. Several expansions have been released. ''Ashes of Urh'Rok'' was released on 27 October 2014, ''Embers of Rage'' on 23 February 2016, and ''Forbidden Cults'' on 16 May 2018. Modifications may also be made to the ''Tales of Maj'Eyal'' game module through an add-on system, including graphics, interface, content and gameplay balance alterations and additions.

Reception

''Tales of Maj'Eyal'' was awarded "ASCII Dreams Roguelike of the Year" for 2010 2011, and 2012, with over 5,000 roguelike players voting in 2012. It has also been accepted into Valve's

store as well as on the

DRM-free Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM) such as access control technologies can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. ...

outlet gog.com. In 2016,

Steamspy Steam Spy is a website created by Sergey Galyonkin and launched in April 2015. The site uses an application programming interface (API) to the Steam software distribution service owned by Valve to estimate the number of sales of software titles o ...

reported over 150,000 Steam game owners and around 2,000 active players over the previous two weeks. Reviews of ''Tales of Maj'Eyal'' have been largely positive, with praise for its accessibility, graphics, user interface, backstory and varied gameplay. ''

US Gamer Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and othe ...

'' called it "one of the very best roguelikes out there". The game has a 95% positive rating on Steam, earning the coveted ranking of "Overwhelmingly Positive".

References

External links