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Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

bay12games.com

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Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#61

Post by dkersten »

hodwik2 wrote: post #9
macintux wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would this be substantively different from Muds?

Right, yes, some of these features were added to various MUDs with some amount of success. The big difference I'm arguing for is scope, and engineering. If you have NPC chat bots that can learn, and an adjectives and typologies system for object, combine them so that chat bots can talk about objects adjectives and typologies. That sort of thing, really engineer the hell out of it. In the end it would all be a massive…

Some of the more modern MUDs are pretty advanced. I was reading a bunch of stuff by the GodWars 2 guy and he has some pretty cool features (eg the areas are very dynamic).

Not the same scope as DF, of course, but still surprisingly fancy. There's still a lot of room for more, though :) I'd personally love to see or make something like what you describe too...

I even started tinkering with my own home grown little MUD server written in Clojure, where I had intended to try out some fancy ideas... but lost interest because it would take a huge time investment and I'd be the only player in a multiplayer environment - maybe a single player game like you say would be better after all.

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#62

Post by tptacek »

metalliqaz wrote: post #56
jacobolus wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone who would be kept away by a warning about crashes because he “ain’t got time” would also be kept away by simply trying to play Dwarf Fortress for 10 minutes. It’s not a game for the faint hearted or impatient.

Hey you can read it however you like, but I find an expectation from an established player that the current released version is bug-ridden and may corrupt your save to be... scary. How many saves must he have had corrupted in the past? That's just not cool, man.

If you're not the kind of person who can take flaws like crashes or game-stopping frame-rate issues and work them into your gameplay, DF is not the game for you. It isn't a friendly game. It can take hours just to figure out how to do core game tasks. "Don't do this thing that crashes the game" is just another task to learn.

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#63

Post by snake_plissken »

Dwarf Fortress is a truly special endeavor. The gameplay is unique and engrossing. And completely maddening, in a the best way. The quirky bitmap graphics are mesmerizing. Each time you start a new game, it's a new world with new areas to explore and new chances to make your kingdom last longer than the last one. But the music! Amazing! Honestly the music is my favorite part.

In a lot of ways DF is similar to the early days Minecraft. It was just "special". You can get lost in it for hours on end.

Girlfriend - "You want to go out tonight?" Me - "Nah I'm good. I am just going to play Dwarf Fortress for 10 hours..." Girlfriend - "Well I am going to go to Dim Sum Garden!" Me "Iiee decisions, decisions!"

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#64

Post by bchar »

eropple wrote: post #14
hodwik wrote: post #2

This is why text-based games are king. One dot release and we're seeing a mountain of new features. I've always dreamed of getting together a big budget to make a text adventure (e.g. Zork) of incredible scope, both in depth and "interactibility" -- a complex object typologies system, bring in learning chat bots for NPCs, and a system where users can add new objects, rooms and descriptions while they play, a complete…

> One dot release and we're seeing a mountain of new features. A "dot release" (who really cares about numbering schemes?) that took ten months and included a number of incremental and ultimately minor features--yes, they sound very cool, but having played it last night they don't change the way the game plays all that much. I like games like this quite a lot, but this is the same cheetodusting that makes people take…

The gameplay hasn't really "changed" much at all since its first release, it just keeps getting deeper and deeper (something something z-axis joke), so I don't really understand this complaint. It's the best interactive lore generator ever conceived and this release only adds to that.

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#65

Post by cellover »

epaga wrote: post #8

For anyone who is thinking about giving it a spin for the first time, do yourself a favor and don't get this .01 version. Either wait for a few patches or download the far more stable and mature 0.40.24 ( http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/older_versions.html ) Dwarf Fortress is basically a perpetual beta with lots of major bugs as it is, but especially brand new major versions like this one usually have multiple game…

This is the kind of story that makes me think that when all human life will have disappeared from Earth, an alien civilization would be able to find artifacts of the world we live in by digging into still-running instances of Dwarf Fortress.

Amazing.

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#66

Post by hodwik2 »

ajuc wrote: post #10
hodwik wrote: post #2

This is why text-based games are king. One dot release and we're seeing a mountain of new features. I've always dreamed of getting together a big budget to make a text adventure (e.g. Zork) of incredible scope, both in depth and "interactibility" -- a complex object typologies system, bring in learning chat bots for NPCs, and a system where users can add new objects, rooms and descriptions while they play, a complete…

Making it a text game instead of minecraft-like would limit the audience and save next to nothing in development time IMHO.

At the very beginning of Zork you are wandering through the forest. At one point, after branching around for a while you hear a bird singing above.

If you say 'climb the tree' you read "You are about ten feet above the ground nestled among some large branches. The nearest branch above you is beyond your reach."

If you 'climb higher' you see "On the branch is a small birds nest. "

If you look in the nest, "In the bird's nest is a large egg encrusted with precious jewels, apparently scavenged somewhere by a childless songbird. The egg is covered with fine gold inlay and ornamented in lapis lazuli and mother-of-pearl. Unlike most eggs, this one is hinged and has a delicate looking clasp holding it closed. The egg appears extremely fragile."

If you open the egg roughly, "There is a golden clockwork canary nestled in the egg. It seems to have recently had a bad experience. The mountings for its jewel-like eyes are empty, and its silver beak is crumpled. Through a cracked crystal window below its left wing you can see the remains of intricate machinery. It is not clear what result winding it would have, as the mainspring appears sprung."

If you wind it, "There is an unpleasant grinding noise from inside the canary."

If you open the egg gently, "The canary chirps, slightly off key, an aria from a forgotten opera. From out of the greenery flies a lovely song bird. It perches on a limb just over your head and opens its beak to sing. As it does so, a beautiful brass bauble drops from its mouth, bounces off the top of your head, and lands glimmering in the grass. As the canary winds down, the song bird flies away."

When I found that as a 7 year old, sitting in the dark after everyone in my family had gone to bed, peering into the screen of my 286, I knew that text adventures are the only game worth making.

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#68

Post by pnathan »

metalliqaz wrote: post #19
epaga wrote: post #8

For anyone who is thinking about giving it a spin for the first time, do yourself a favor and don't get this .01 version. Either wait for a few patches or download the far more stable and mature 0.40.24 ( http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/older_versions.html ) Dwarf Fortress is basically a perpetual beta with lots of major bugs as it is, but especially brand new major versions like this one usually have multiple game…

This comment, while interesting and helpful, would be enough to keep me away from DF forever. Game-breaking bugs? Ain't nobody got time for that. I already know about DF so I know I'm not interested in games like that, but man, I'm glad I never tried to pick it up.

DF is not a game like you might be thinking of a game, like Call of Duty, Warcraft, etc.

It's a distant grandfather of Minecraft, but complex and detailed in ways that make emacs look straightforward.

It's a lot of fun, but it's not a 'game'. :-)

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#69

Post by Natsu »

metalliqaz wrote: post #56
jacobolus wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone who would be kept away by a warning about crashes because he “ain’t got time” would also be kept away by simply trying to play Dwarf Fortress for 10 minutes. It’s not a game for the faint hearted or impatient.

Hey you can read it however you like, but I find an expectation from an established player that the current released version is bug-ridden and may corrupt your save to be... scary. How many saves must he have had corrupted in the past? That's just not cool, man.

I can't say as I remember ever having a save get corrupted on me, though I suspect it must've happened to someone at some time.

Usually the bugs are strange, hilarious or both. For example, here are some issues that have been fixed:

Werebeast arrives, attacks livestock and dwarves but is not attacked by dwarves while in its werebeast form. Necromancers afraid of/killed by their own undead Dwarves with permanent injuries inevitably spiral into depression Moody dwarves claim workshops outside their burrow, haul infinite number of items, never start construction Lye in wood barrels can't be used for making soap Haulers carry (heavy) full bin to pickup single item (lighter) Happy thoughts do not affect stress levels; Dwarves slowly spiral into depression Dwarf misses completely unrelated dwarf Bogeymen attack elf/dwarf sites while sleeping in them Brewing stack of >6 plants produces a stack of >30 booze, which doesn't fit in a barrel Tantruming dwarves perform dozens of fistfights/throws in a second DOES_NOT_EXIST does not remove creatures from embark list Large grazers (elephants and giraffes) can't eat fast enough to keep from starving

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#70

Post by ndarilek »

Does anyone know enough about how this game works internally to know if alternative interfaces and presentations are possible?

I'm blind, and have wanted to play this game ever since I heard of it years ago. I used to play console-based roguelikes, and while they were a bit slow to interact with, RLs were a refreshing tactical change from text-based IF.

Reading lots of DF stories would suggest that there's some sort of internal eventbus-style system by which the characters themselves interpret their surroundings, and if you could hook into that, you could describe the world textually to some extent. You might even add audio cues for certain events to increase the non-visual fidelity of the UI.

I see in some of the below comments that there's a text-based mode. Might give that a try to see if it's playable on the same scale as Nethack/Angband were for me.

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