I can't help but think it would be better to write a new roguelike from the ground up though. In my opinion (purely from an interface point of view) that Powder beats all the other roguelike projects on the DS by miles. And it's only because the game was designed with portable consoles specifically in mind. Everything can be controlled with either the stylus or the buttons, and all EASILY - Unlike Crawl's confusing array of shift keys, essentially. Or god forbid Nethack's giant keyboard.
I love a feature-rich roguelike as much as the next guy, but not at the cost of a bloated and nearly unusable interface. I would, though, like to see a roguelike with a slightly more relaxed feel than Powder. As addicting as that game is, it's VICIOUSLY difficult. It'll always have a home on my card, but i'd like to have another game where I can play it to relax, much like I used to Angband.
I like the idea of a roguelike that's difficult, but you're not as easily killed. Something that affords you time to retreat back to the safety of the surface when you start getting too battered. .. Something with a town and shops. Then you have a game where you start it up, grind through a few levels, get tired and retreat. Then you rest up, buy improved gear, etc, and grind a little deeper. Not only is this a popular mechanic in games, but it affords a massive game duration without becoming too tedious. (Assuming it's balanced right)
I'll have to go dig up some source code from different roguelikes to tinker with, but I may try making one specifically for the DS.
