ArchiveRL is a project aiming to build an ultimate roguelike archive,
with emphasis on preservation, historical accuracy, search for lost
games and including not only game files itself but also as much
documentation as possible. It was inspired by TOSEC and other
retro-gaming archival projects.. Version 0.7 is its third release: it
includes the majority of non-commercial games contained in the
International Roguelike Database and also gathered from other sources.

Hosted at archive.org: https://archive.org/details/ArchiveRL.7z (torrent
and direct download)

-Stats: 1038 archives - 10.4 Gigabytes - 677 games - 620 individual ones
- 361 sources

-at the moment only DOS/Windows games are available (some sources can 
be compiled on other platforms). The game version included is almost
always the latest available (as of Feb 2018 for this edition)

-the collection is organised using directories and tags, with a unified
naming system. This is based mostly on IRLDB categories. It allows for
easy reshaping, structural control and flexible searches. Presently it includes games classified as ALPHA / BETA+STABLE / VARIANT / MISC / SOURCE

-next releases will add these categories: EXCLUSIVE (RLs available only
on other platforms) / XDRL ("compo" RLs such as 7DRLs, game jams, etc) / VERSION (earlier available versions)

-historical context and accuracy is a crucial part of this project:
every game included was treated as individual case and at least some
research conducted. Extra care has been put into obtaining correct files
and version numbers. Every individual archive includes a separate DOC directory containing available info regarding the game.

-equally important is the drive to rescue/rediscover some "lost" games:
these are covered in the MISSING doc

-all main directories have corresponding doc files which are based on
IRLDB but do try to correct some of its errors and add updates (fields: name-version-dates-platforms- devs-trad-source-comments and some web links)

For an in-depth description of ArchiveRL, methods and motives behind its structure and decisions taken please read the ARL README doc in the
archive or check the website: http://arkhammanor.com/rpgbase/RLdb.html
Contact the author: akeley@arkhammanor.com There are also ARL threads on assorted forums (mainly Roguetemple)


HOW YOU CAN HELP & CONTRIBUTE

Up till now this project has been mostly an individual effort, only
announced on Roguetemple forums and plagued by slow pace due to IRL
debuffs. However, it now reached a major completion stage, where it
makes sense to publicize it more widely and ask for rogulike community's assistance.

Here's what  would be most appreciated:

-simple "bug reporting" - despite thorough examination there are bound
to be mistakes: spelling errors, archive/files/directory problems,
doc-file mismatches and so on.

-trying to find & rescue games from the MISSING doc http://arkhammanor.com/rpgbase/ARLMISSING.ods

-testing the games: I've personally tried quite lot of them - but not
all, and mostly on x64 Windows

-any historical and informational error corrections and contributions

-adding more games/sources/docs/info

-compiling sources that have no corresponding binaries

-building either Linux or Mac side of this archive.

-providing feedback regarding structure and methodology of this project

Please read the ARL README or check the website for more details
regarding the HELP section.

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