DRL

DRL (formerly DoomRL, short for Doom, the ) is a reincarnation of Doom for,  and , written in  by Kornel Kisielewicz.

The game
DRL is consistent with other roguelike games. It is turn-based and features a level system with traits. Before version 0.9.9.6, the graphics were formed entirely of ASCII characters. Since version 0.9.9.6, the game has had a graphical tileset based on Doom graphics as its default, but it can still be configured to run with an ASCII tileset. Being based on Doom, it is more fast-paced than normal roguelike games, and relies heavily on ranged combat as opposed to melee fighting. It ranges on the simpler end of the roguelike spectrum, with only limited inventory, one item per tile, etc., as opposed to the often extreme intricacy of other roguelikes.

As of version 0.9.8 (beta), it sports the entire Doom soundset and music library, with support for optional high-quality MP3s (being downloadable from an external webpage), a character log for the many dead characters the player will accrue, and a dodge system.

It attempts to bring the atmosphere of Doom into the roguelike format. Every monster has an image rendered in, and blood and bodies fly everywhere, especially with more powerful weapons like the rocket launcher. Walls become bloodstained, and barrels explode in large, dangerous chains.

Name change
DRL became the subject of an alleged trademark infringement claim by ZeniMax Media beginning on December 1, 2016, with a written request to remove all mention of Doom and use of its logo from the project's webpage. It is speculated that this request was prompted by the presence of links to the Kickstarter page for Kisielewicz's spiritual successor project, Jupiter Hell, which may have been perceived as association of the Doom trademark with a third party product. Kisielewicz responded to the complaint by renaming the project, replacing the prominent Doom logo on the website, and censoring remaining direct mentions of Doom with asterisks (as in "D**m, the Roguelike").

The renaming was followed with release of the project's source code under the GNU GPL license on GitHub, along with its original assets which have been released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.

Version history

 * 19.3.2013 - Version 0.9.9.7
 * 28.2.2012 - Version 0.9.9.6
 * 4.1.2012 - Version 0.9.9.5
 * 1.9.2011 - Version 0.9.9.4
 * 1.5.2011 - Version 0.9.9.3
 * 11.2.2011 - Version 0.9.9.2
 * 16.1.2011 - Version 0.9.9.2 (Beta update)
 * 24.3.2010 - Version 0.9.9.1 (Linux version)
 * 11.3.2010 - Version 0.9.9.1
 * 16.9.2009 - Version 0.9.9.0
 * 14.1.2008 - Version 0.9.8.9
 * 26.12.2007 - Version 0.9.8.8B (Bugfix release)
 * 22.12.2007 - Version 0.9.8.8
 * 2.5.2007 - Version 0.9.8.7
 * 26.11.2006 - Version 0.9.8.5
 * 28.4.2005 - Version 0.9.8 (Sounds are added)
 * 25.2.2005 - Version 0.9.7 is (Now distributed in a Windows format along with DOS)
 * 16.1.2005 - Version 0.9.6
 * 1.1.2005 - Version 0.9.5
 * 20.11.2004 - Version 0.9.1
 * 6.8.2003 - Version 0.9.0
 * 15.11.2002 - Version 0.8.3
 * 12.11.2002 - Version 0.8.2
 * 10.11.2002 - Version 0.8.1
 * 8.11.2002 - Version 0.8 (The first public release)