Overview
ADOM II, formerly known as JADE, is in development by Thomas Biskup as the official sequel to his classic roguelike, Ancient Domains Of Mystery (ADOM). The game's development has been off and on over more than a decade, and is currently suspended with the intent to be resumed at some point in the future.
Development History
First announced in late 90's while ADOM was still under active development, JADE (Java-based Ancient Domains Engine) was slated to be ADOM's successor. Unlike ADOM which was written primarily in C++, JADE would use Java, allowing for more features, greater complexity, more content, and broader scope due to the efficiency and power that development in Java would enable. As ADOM development wound down, JADE development progressed sporadically in fits and starts until it eventually dragged to a near halt in the early 2000's. No playable versions of the game were released.
In 2011, Thomas returned to JADE development with renewed vigor and determination, and just in time for his birthday in July, he managed to release the first barebones playable version of the game in version 0.1.0. At the start of 2012, Thomas decided to rename JADE to ADOM II, relegating the JADE name to referring strictly to the underlying engine powering the game. Thomas has said that he is working hard to maintain a "release early, release often" philosophy in making ADOM II, which is intended to result in major new releases every couple of months.
Throughout ADOM II's (and JADE's) long development, Thomas has openly discussed the game's development on his blog with the ADOM fan community. Although Thomas has always retained ultimate creative control over the design development of the game, community input has informed many facets of the game, including technical features, audio/visual presentation, game balance/design, quest fiction, and more. Fan contributions will even provide the game's logo design and all of its music.
In late 2012, development on ADOM II was indefinitely suspended after Thomas decided to give the original ADOM one last chance for revived development with a crowdfunding campaign. The campaign was successful and Thomas hired a couple of community members to become co-developers on the project to modernize and expand ADOM.
As of early 2015, JADE development remains in limbo while ADOM is finally close to being released on Steam.
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