Here we are at the start of 2010 and we have quite a few roguelikes now: Rogue Touch of course, the sloppy "free rogue", gandreas' equally painful NetHack, DirkZ's iNetHack (which I tossed a few bits and bobs into), Isle of 8-Bit Treasures, Cavern (and up and coming new roguelike by an RT fan), and Sword of Fargoal (remake of the 1983 Commodore game, Jeff and Paul are also RT fans!)... There are a few more coming... DirkZ has started on Slash'em, 100 Rogues has been in progress for over a year now (unfortunately it seems as though they still don't have things nailed down yet and the current beta rounds are pretty buggy).
And of course we have my game FF:SHM, which only people reading here are aware of right now (let's keep it that way until beta testing begins... I'm spread so thin now I doubt I'd be able to keep up with the info requests if this got out into the wild)!
This brings me back to "UncleAlias" who asked "Just who are you trying to make this game for?". A valid question. With Rogue Touch, my answer is simple- for myself and fans of the original game. People who played it in ASCII or graphically on the Atari ST back in the '80s. Of course, anyone could buy it, and many people who'd never heard of rogue did so. Some of them quickly found a new favorite game, and many others found a complex nightmare that they wanted to 1-star delete and move on from.
So perhaps my simple answer as to who the game is for is not so good. In this day and age, everyone expects tutorials in-game. The average age of iPod Touch users is not old enough to vote in the USA! They may really like Rogue Touch if given enough assistance and understanding in-game. Rogue Touch is a bit of a creaky platform since I was just learning the SDK at that time, I doubt I could go back in and a tutorial mode without breaking something else.
But here we are, with a brand new game on the horizon! The slate is clean. The graphics will be crisp, animated, and appealing. Many more people who've never heard of rogue may be tempted to purchase FF:SHM when it arrives this spring. Just who am I making *this* game for?

The answer this time around is more complex. I am making a game that *I really want to play* first and foremost. I think anyone who's made it far enough to read this sentence definitely wants to play it too. But really, I want more people to enjoy it this time. I would like to see people who don't know or care what a roguelike is pick up this game and say "that's cool"! I'd like to get people interested in the story (I know, we're not supposed to have a storyline but there is one, and it'll be expanded upon with further games if this one can pay for itself at least

Other than tutorials (skippable of course) what else would make a roguelike game more understandable and less punishing to those new to the genre, while still being challenging to veteran dungeon crawlers?
Topics that I have seen come up before that people take issue with:
1) Permadeath
2) Food, or lack of it and Starvation
3) Traps
4) Secret Doors and Searching
5) Stat Draining - Strength and Armor (Think Aquators and Rattlesnakes- I know many of you *hate* them)
6) Lack of Stats / Info - People want more to manage, and hard numbers in-game when equipping items
7) Lack of Story
8) Lack of "Skills or Skill Trees"
9) Lack of Tutorials / Training Mission
Now I am not suggesting that any of these has to go, or be included. But I'd be curious to hear your thoughts about these topics. Please tell me what you like about roguelikes, and what you dislike... what can I do to make this new game have a broad appeal? This is your chance to help shape the game a bit, and maybe earn a position on the beta test group too
