This article needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of the article are generally not sufficient for a Wikipedia article. Please include more appropriate citations from reliable sources, or discuss the issue on the talk page. This article has been tagged since December 2007.

Ancient Domains of Mystery
ADOM Title Screen
Developed by	Thomas Biskup
Latest release	1.1.1 / 2002
OS	AmigaOS, BeOS, DOS, Linux, Mac OS X, OS/2, Windows
Genre	Roguelike
License	Postcardware
Website	www.adom.de

Ancient Domains of Mystery, or ADOM, is a roguelike game by Thomas Biskup first released in 1994. The player's aim is to stop the forces of Chaos that invade the world of Ancardia. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Image File history File links Screenshot of the game Ancient Domains Of Mystery, version 1. ... For other uses, see Software developer (disambiguation). ... Code complete redirects here. ... 2002 2002 in games 2001 in video gaming 2003 in video gaming Notable events of 2002 in video gaming. ... An operating system (OS) is a software that manages computer resources and provides programmers with an interface used to access those resources. ... AmigaOS is the default native operating system of the Amiga personal computer. ... BeOS is an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. ... Microsofts disk operating system, MS-DOS, was Microsofts implementation of DOS, which was the first popular operating system for the IBM PC, and until recently, was widely used on the PC compatible platform. ... This article is about operating systems that use the Linux kernel. ... Mac OS X (pronounced ) is a line of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. ... OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. ... Windows redirects here. ... A roguelike is a computer game that borrows some of the elements of the 1980s computer game Rogue. ... A software license is a legal agreement which may take the form of a proprietary or gratuitous license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software. ... Postcardware, also called just cardware, is a style of software distribution similar to shareware, distributed by the author on the condition that users send the author a postcard. ... A website (alternatively, web site or Web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on one or more web servers, usually accessible via the Internet. ... A roguelike is a computer game that borrows some of the elements of the 1980s computer game Rogue. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... 1994 1994 in games 1993 in video gaming 1995 in video gaming Notable events of 1994 in computer and video games. ... For other uses, see Chaos (disambiguation). ...

Like most roguelikes, ADOM uses ASCII graphics to represent the game world. It features a wilderness map that connects different types of dungeons. The dungeons are randomly generated on first entering and — with the exception of the Infinite Dungeon — do not change when re-entered during play. Image:ASCII fullsvg There are 95 printable ASCII characters, numbered 32 to 126. ... The dungeons of Blarney Castle. ...

Story

ADOM takes place in the fictional world of Ancardia, in the mountainous Drakalor Chain. For 6,000 years, it has known relative peace, but recently reports have spread of the appearance of dangerous dungeons and frightening monsters. Khelavaster, a wise sage, discovers an ancient prophecy regarding the Coming of Chaos and propagates it to the peoples of the world. It speaks of a champion who will defend the world from the forces of Chaos in the Drakalor Chain. Hearing of this prophecy, many would-be heroes set out. The player assumes control of one such adventurer.^[1]

Gameplay

ADOM presents an initial choice of one (male or female) player character from ten races and twenty character classes, the combination of which strongly affects gameplay. Among other traits, character development includes experience levels, statistics, and skills. Version 1.1.0 introduced a talent system.^[2] This article is about the Male sex. ... For other uses, see Female (disambiguation). ... Many fantasy stories and worlds call their main sapient humanoid species races rather than species. ... This article is about a concept in role-playing games. ...

During adventures, a player is likely to explore many areas and complete multiple quests. Which quests are available may depend on character experience level or alignment (lawful, neutral, or chaotic). Alignment also affects NPC and deity interaction with the character. This article is about the word, for other meanings see Quest (disambiguation) A quest is a journey towards a goal with great meaning and is used in mythology and literature as a plot device. ... In Dungeons & Dragons and some similar role-playing games, alignment is a categorisation of the moral and ethical perspective of the player characters, non-player characters, monsters, and societies in the game. ... An NPC from the video game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. ...

ADOM offers multiple ways of winning, which vary in difficulty. Its quest-centric, plot-driven structure owes as much to adventure games like Zork as to the hack-and-slash of sibling games like Angband. This article is about the computer and video game genre. ... Zork universe Zork games Zork Anthology Zork trilogy Zork I • Zork II • Zork III Beyond Zork • Zork Zero Enchanter trilogy Enchanter • Sorcerer • Spellbreaker Other games Wishbringer • Return to Zork Zork: Nemesis • Zork Grand Inquisitor Zork: The Undiscovered Underground Topics in Zork Encyclopedia Frobozzica Characters • Kings • Creatures Timeline • Magic • Calendar Zorkmid... HACK/slash is the name of a graphic novel from Devils Due Publishing. ... Angband is a dungeon-crawling roguelike computer game derived from Umoria (a C/Unix port of Moria). ...

Death of player characters is meant to be permanent. The game exits after saving, effectively limiting savefiles to one per character, and the savefile is erased when a character dies. A saved game is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a computer or video game. ...

ADOM features a large, static overworld with a variety of dungeons and other features.

Significant features

• Vulnerability of high-level characters to specific monsters
• Deity relation system with religious championship
• Character improvement of items
• 'Monster Memory' that records the player's knowledge about creatures in the game

Development

Core development on the game has slowed since the release of version 1.1.1 in 2002. Beta-quality ports to Mac OS X of this version appeared in 2006.^[3] Plans for future versions have not been announced, yet a next-generation successor to ADOM, called JADE, is in development. Mac OS X (pronounced ) is a line of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. ...

Although ADOM is available free of charge, unlike most roguelikes its source code is unavailable. Biskup chose to reserve it for himself in order to retain some mystery about game operation and to curtail the spread of unsanctioned variants.^[4] Despite this stance, he is open to licensing the source to capable developers to form a commercial venture.^[4] Players meanwhile have deduced underlying mechanics through careful experimentation. Source code (commonly just source or code) is any series of statements written in some human-readable computer programming language. ...

References

Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 333rd day of the year (334th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 333rd day of the year (334th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 333rd day of the year (334th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 333rd day of the year (334th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Official Site
• The ADOM Guidebook, with detailed plot
• rec.games.roguelike.adom at Google Groups
• Ancient Domains of Mystery guide at StrategyWiki
• Interview with Thomas Biskup at RPG Vault
• Adom Wiki at wikia