data/claims/rogue-history.yamlRogue (history and reception)
Game: Rogue.
Wikidata dates Rogue's publication 1980, to the year. rogue-history/release
Q2140407, publication date (P577) — year precision (9), one reference, no platform qualifier; read through the API on 2026-10-27+1980-01-01T00:00:00ZCited by: Rogue
Glenn Wichman writes that he and Michael Toy, students in Santa Cruz, took up the curses cursor-addressing library that Ken Arnold had put together at Berkeley, to make a "graphical" adventure game; Toy did most of the programming of the original version, the ideas came from both, and the name Rogue was Wichman's. rogue-history/santa-cruz
paragraph beginning "Around this time at U.C.Berkeley"a student named Ken Arnold (I'm sure there were others involved as well) put together a library of routines which allowed programs to do "cursor addressing"A Brief History of "Rogue" · paragraph beginning "As this package began to make the rounds"a couple of students in Santa Cruz, California, Michael Toy & myself, Glenn Wichman.A Brief History of "Rogue" · paragraph beginning "As this package began to make the rounds"we considered whether we could use this package to do a "graphical" adventure game.A Brief History of "Rogue" · paragraph beginning "As this package began to make the rounds"Michael did most of the actual programming of the original versionA Brief History of "Rogue" · paragraph beginning "As this package began to make the rounds"The ideas in the game came from both of us. The name "Rogue" was my idea.Cited by: Rogue
Wichman writes that, unlike the canned adventures of the time, Rogue was to build its own dungeon, a new adventure every game that could surprise even its creators, and he counts this the game's biggest contribution. rogue-history/generated
paragraph beginning "One of the things we wanted to do"We decided that with Rogue, the program itself should "build the dungeon", giving you a new adventure every time you playedA Brief History of "Rogue" · paragraph beginning "But I think Rogue's biggest contribution"is that the computer itself generated the adventure in Rogue.Cited by: Rogue
Wichman writes that Toy, with a playable game, transferred to Berkeley and met Ken Arnold, who took over development with him; that version 4.2 of BSD UNIX included Rogue, which put it on university computers all over the world; and that over the next three years it became the most popular game on college campuses. rogue-history/berkeley
paragraph beginning "We had a playable game"Michael transferred to U.C. Berkeley, where he met up with Ken Arnold.A Brief History of "Rogue" · paragraph beginning "We had a playable game"I just let Michael & Ken take over Rogue development completely.A Brief History of "Rogue" · paragraph beginning "Rogue's move to Berkeley"Version 4.2 of BSD UNIX included Rogue -- suddenly, the game was available on university computers all over the world.A Brief History of "Rogue" · paragraph beginning "Rogue's move to Berkeley"Over the next 3 years, Rogue became the undisputed most popular game on college campuses.Wichman says his memory is imperfect and that the others might tell the story differently.
Cited by: Rogue
A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom, by Michael C. Toy and Kenneth C. R. C. Arnold of Berkeley's Computer Systems Research Group, describes Rogue as a visual CRT-based fantasy game for UNIX. The player, sent by the local guildmasters into the Dungeons of Doom, must grab as much treasure as possible, find the Amulet of Yendor, and get out alive. A map of where the player has been and what they have seen on the current level is kept on the screen. Rogue differs from most computer fantasy games, the guide says, in being "screen oriented": commands are one or two keystrokes, not pseudo-English sentences, and their results are displayed graphically on the screen rather than explained in words. rogue-history/guide
rogue.me.in#L23-L30A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom
…
Michael C. Toy
Kenneth C. R. C. ArnoldRogue 5.4.4 source code · rogue.me.in#L33Computer Systems Research GroupRogue 5.4.4 source code · rogue.me.in#L42-L43is a visual CRT based fantasy game
which runs under the \*U\(dg timesharing system.Rogue 5.4.4 source code · rogue.me.in#L61-L62the local guildmasters have sent you into the Dungeons of Doom.
Your task is to return with the Amulet of Yendor.Rogue 5.4.4 source code · rogue.me.in#L91-L93Your goal is to grab as much treasure as you can,
find the Amulet of Yendor,
and get out of the Dungeons of Doom alive.Rogue 5.4.4 source code · rogue.me.in#L94-L96On the screen,
a map of where you have been
and what you have seen on the current dungeon level is kept.Rogue 5.4.4 source code · rogue.me.in#L100-L101Rogue differs from most computer fantasy games in that it is screen oriented.
Commands are all one or two keystrokes\**Rogue 5.4.4 source code · rogue.me.in#L103As opposed to pseudo English sentences.Rogue 5.4.4 source code · rogue.me.in#L105-L107and the results of your commands
are displayed graphically on the screen rather
than being explained in words.The guide's troff source is headed "rogue.me 6.2 (Berkeley) 4/28/86", the edition that goes with version 5.4; \*U is the troff string for UNIX, which the file's footnote names. \** marks a footnote.
Cited by: Rogue
Wichman writes that Toy and Jon Lane founded A.I. Design, ported Rogue to the IBM PC, and sold it themselves for a while; that after a Macintosh version was begun, Epyx took over its marketing and packaging; and that Toy wrote an Amiga version and Wichman an Atari ST one, but that commercial success eluded them. rogue-history/commercial
paragraph beginning "Soon, Michael & I each left school"Michael & Jon started their own company called A.I.Design.A Brief History of "Rogue" · paragraph beginning "Soon, Michael & I each left school"One of their first projects was to "port" Rogue from UNIX to the IBM PC.A Brief History of "Rogue" · paragraph beginning "Michael Toy was one of the very first"they got together with an established computer game company called "Epyx", who took over the marketing & packaging of the game.A Brief History of "Rogue" · paragraph beginning "Once Epyx was involved"Michael wrote the Amiga version, and I wrote the Atari ST version.A Brief History of "Rogue" · paragraph beginning "Once Epyx was involved"commercial success eluded us.Cited by: Rogue
Computer Entertainer reported in February 1986 that Epyx's programmers were working on enhanced conversions of Rogue for the Atari ST and the Amiga, calling it a classic role-playing adventure that originated on mainframe computers. rogue-history/epyx-1986
PDF p. 11, "Epyx Joins Atari ST and Amiga Parade"programmers are working on enhanced conversions of ROGUEComputer Entertainer, Vol. 4, No. 11 (February 1986) · PDF p. 11, "Epyx Joins Atari ST and Amiga Parade"Amiga. ROGUE is a classic role-playing adventure thatComputer Entertainer, Vol. 4, No. 11 (February 1986) · PDF p. 11, "Epyx Joins Atari ST and Amiga Parade"originated on mainframe computersCited by: Rogue
Koichi Nakamura told 1UP in 2012 that a member of his team liked Rogue, a hard game, and that his team set out to make a more understandable, easier version of it, as Dragon Quest had been of Ultima and Wizardry: the Mystery Dungeon series, begun with Torneko's Big Adventure. rogue-history/mystery-dungeon
answer beginning "Exactly. There was a staff member"There was a staff member on the team that really liked Rogue, but Rogue is a difficult game, a very hardcore game.Koichi Nakamura Interview: On the Birth of the Console RPG · answer beginning "Exactly. There was a staff member"We wanted to approach Rogue in a similar way, make a more understandable, more easy-to-play version of Rogue, which was the Mystery Dungeon series.Koichi Nakamura Interview: On the Birth of the Console RPG · answer beginning "Exactly. There was a staff member"Torneko's Big Adventure was the first title that we put out in the series.Cited by: Rogue