torch light Vs zangband

i do not consider myself a serious game player,it is hard for a game to grab hold of me.but i love zangband.many a night was spent crawling through the dungeons & lower levels of zangband,searching for lost treasures to sell to the merchants in the village above.then off to the gambling house to hopefully increase your fortune.then off to the black market that had all the luxury items,but at an expensive price.
zangband was a carefully crafted game,programmed by dedicated fans of the subject.it was more of a hobby than a commercial release game programmed for enjoyment.
for those who are not familiar with such things,torch light is a clone of zangband with fancier graphics,but less of everything else.
i played zangband & rarely got past level 20 of a supposedly 100 level down game.i played torch light & completed it.
comparing the two is like comparing wine to water.although zangbands main feature was its vast gameplay,torch light does have some excellent features.
i liked the idea with the gems,you can collect a wide selection of gems that can give your weapons/armour special abilities,but you can combine gems increasing their powers.
early levels of torch light was impressive.the mines gave the impression of great deepness,but as i progressed through the dungeons,delving ever deeper,i was confronted with a futuristic level with robots & ray guns that had me scratching my head.the levels after that,i assume to be hell were too dark & it was hard to see anything clearly.i did not enjoy playing the later levels.
all in all torch light is an enjoyable romp but nothing more.it just scratched the surface of the zangband world,introducing some good ideas (gems & fishing)which will hopefully relight the lamp of the dedicated zangband gamers.
the future looks promising,if you combine the vast universe of zangband with torchlights graphics you gonna have a monster on your hands & i pity normal,every day life if it was on line available.but i pity the programmers of this mega task.
there is a lot of "ye olde games" that practically dripped of gameplay.zork trilogy & dungeon master leap to mind immediately.
if you combine the excellent graphics of today with the puzzle elements of yesteryear i would assume you got a winner.