Ancient Domains Of Mystery is Being Reborn as Ultimate ADOM

Ancient Domains Of Mystery is Being Reborn as Ultimate ADOM

Team ADOM announced that their legendary roguelike game ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery), is being reborn as Ultimate ADOM – sporting all-new graphics, infinitely customizable characters, and native support for gamepads and touch screens. ADOM creator Thomas Biskup made this momentous announcement during the Roguelike Celebration in San Francisco on November 11-12.

Check out the intro video of ADOM, showcasing the games’ features:

“Based on Unity, Ultimate ADOM will still have the Universal ADOM engine running underneath –ensuring that gameplay stays faithful to the classic game players know and love. Currently in development, Ultimate ADOM is due in Q4 2018.

ADOM fans will be able to save their progress across multiple devices for the first time, including desktop operating systems (Windows, Mac, Linux), current game consoles (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One), and mobile operating systems (iOS, Android). The new engine will also make it possible for players to experiment with detailed crafting and modding systems and also learn a vastly more flexible magic system. Possession, cloning, grafting body parts, and animating inanimate items like swords (and even walls and other in-world objects) are all viable strategies.

“Time and time again, I considered writing a true successor to ADOM. However, its 25-year-old codebase – with a rather complex internal architecture – usually got in the way of a straightforward sequel,” says Dr.-Ing. Thomas Biskup of Team ADOM. “And so the idea for Ultimate ADOM was born – the most recent attempt to create the ultimate roguelike RPG based on Unity / C#. With a truly multi-platform programming environment – including support for all modern platforms and a customized Entity-Component-Architecture that I developed over the past 12 months – Ultimate ADOM will be based around one generic game/rules engine with ultimate customizability for different platforms and play styles.”

In development since 1994, ADOM is one of the most successful roguelikes ever created – boasting a brilliant mix of story, RPG, exploration, and intensely strategic and flexible combat. The Steam version introduced various Deluxe features like achievements, difficulty level customization, and various play modes (e.g., story mode allowing players to save and restore games, weekly challenge game, exploration mode). ADOM was revitalized in 2012 with an immensely successful crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo – allowing Team ADOM to offer the game in both ASCII and graphical modes. During the Roguelike Celebration, Thomas Biskup announced that all rewards and stretch goals have been fulfilled.

ADOM: The Story So Far

For many generations, the world lived in peace and harmony – disturbed only by whatever petty struggles troubled the various races. Many centuries after those ancient events, Chaos once again arose and gathered dark forces – attempting a second incursion into the world. Dark times seemed to lie ahead. Sages even suspected that Gaethra the Creator might be awakening…

How did Chaos come into being if everything is Gaethra’s dream? Just a passing nightmare? Or a sign of madness…? Adventurers started to wander through the known lands, challenging the forces of Chaos and sometimes falling to their lure. Battles ensued, and finally a Champion of the free people arose to defeat the overlord known as Andor Drakon. Equipped with mighty artifacts, the champion challenged Andor Drakon to a final decisive battle and then something went awry. Exactly what is left to speculation. Maybe the champion fell to a trick of Chaos. Maybe an artifact caused a cosmic chain reaction. Maybe Gaethra awoke. We probably will never know for sure.

Where there once was but one Ancardia, now there are limitless variants of Ancardia co-existing in space and time. Powerful mana wielders have even discovered ways to connect to souls in these other realities – even for but a brief moment. The unifying element seems to be the continuing struggle between Order and Chaos – once limited to Ancardia, now a grim reality on countless worlds very similar to each other. Before you, the entrance to the ultimate ancient domains of mystery loom. Are you brave enough to step in?”

For more information on Ultimate ADOM, visit its Steam page.