Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released • Hacker News Board

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#101

Post by douche » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 5:48 PM UTC

blinks wrote: post #54

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…

I highly recommend looking into Inform7, effectively a text adventure IDE (though the community tends to call it "interactive fiction"). The language is a bit odd, and attempts to "read like English", but it provides so much scaffolding I feel like it's worth it.

I used to play around with Inform 6 when I was starting to program. It was an interesting step up from QBasic, and they had a really great tutorial that stepped you through writing a William Tell based story.

I never could get the hang of Inform 7, the syntax is just too free-form, and I couldn't work out how to get things right.

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#102

Post by AndyKelley » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 5:49 PM UTC

I tried to play this game, and I think that the interface is a complete bottleneck. Once you have more than 12 dwarves, which you are completely intended to do, it's tedious and difficult to access them, organize them, and generally, the interface to the simulator you have is like drinking through a straw. I think the fun would be massively improved with making it easier to interact with the simulator.

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#103

Post by ixtli » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 5:51 PM UTC

dpeck wrote: post #20

I admire the forever project, and the dedication of the brothers. I've played the game way too much in the past, but I grew increasingly frustrated with the single threaded model combined with their disinterest in fixing it. Building an expansive fortress and number of dwarfs is a lot of fun (honestly, probably the most fun I've had with a game since Dungeon Keeper and Settlers way back) but then FPS starts dropping…

The real problem is the creator's stubbornness in not including others in his effort. Even if he doesn't want to release the source he should put some effort into making components pluggable so that others can do the boring work of, say, refactoring the UI.

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#104

Post by sageabilly » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 5:56 PM UTC

Anyone else compare every other game they play to Dwarf Fortress? The only game I've ever played that even comes close (IMHO) is The Long Dark, and that's only because I know the studio pours their heart and soul into the game.

So glad this is still going. I hope development never stops!

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#105

Post by richard_mcp » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 5:57 PM UTC

clock_tower wrote: post #96

KirinDave wrote: post #44

If you'd like to learn to play the game, it's not easy. I've created a multipart video tutorial to help you sort of find your feet, learn a few of the keybinds, and get a checklist of things you need. It also talks about how to get better graphics and an isometric view. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBrdUj1adIBD-vgUodaax... Enjoy all the fun. Dwarf Fortress is one of the only single player games that has hel…

If memory serves, there's even an O'Reilly Press book on this -- "Getting Started with Dwarf Fortress" or thereabouts. (And it's for two major releases ago!)

I have a copy of the book. It was pretty good when it came out and the author promised to update the digital version as the game changed.

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#106

Post by cobrophy » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 6:00 PM UTC

CaptSpify wrote: post #81

incepted wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It would be a shame if people willing to give it a try would give it up due to the poor quality of the initial release of a new major version. I appreciate the intent but when, in the same message, you say: > 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-breaking bugs, including crashes, corrupted saves…

Is there a beta vs alpha scheme for the versions that would designate a good "starters" release?

Go with the previous version before this release, 40.24

While getting a handle of the basics of the game you really won't miss out on any of the new features in the latest version. They're at a somewhat more advanced level and you'll be spending your time trying to figure out the menus and how to not die of starvation and thirst, and less concerned with what instrument bards should play.

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#107

Post by sageabilly » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 6:02 PM UTC

AndyKelley wrote: post #102

I tried to play this game, and I think that the interface is a complete bottleneck. Once you have more than 12 dwarves, which you are completely intended to do, it's tedious and difficult to access them, organize them, and generally, the interface to the simulator you have is like drinking through a straw. I think the fun would be massively improved with making it easier to interact with the simulator.

Check out Dwarf Therapist. It is what makes the game accessible IMHO.

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#108

Post by qznc » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 6:14 PM UTC

Raphmedia wrote: post #53

wagglycocks wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd recommend installing the Lazy Newb Pack instead. It has all the tools and tileset you need preconfigured: http://lazynewbpack.com/

Now that's what I needed to try this game. Last time I tried, I spent hours and hours downloading tools and never ever got to play the actual game!

Also read some introductions. Some tips like "no aquifer" for your first settlement really ease it.

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Quickstart_gui...

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#109

Post by thoth » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 6:14 PM UTC

eropple wrote: post #57

thoth wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>A "dot release" (who really cares about numbering schemes?) DF numbers its releases differently than most software. The developers made a list of features ("core components") they would like to implement and the version number increases for each one finished. So a "dot release" for DF means a significant new subsystem was added. v0.42.1 translates to 42 core components implemented, 1 minor release. The leading 0 mea…

Yeah, I know. The poster to whom I was responding was gleeing about a "dot release" having a bunch of features, and that that's something only a "text-based game" (and DF isn't a text-based game, unless your text-based games normally support tilesets or the IBM upper-ASCII set and run inside of SDL) can do. Which is trivially untrue, both in terms of pumping up the impact of the DF release and downplaying what others…

Ah, gotcha.

I haven't played in a while so I'm out of touch as far as figuring out what changes are significant.

I looked over their development page (http://bay12games.com/dwarves/dev.html) and can't figure out if what's listed as upcoming (job prioritization? taverns? non-player artifcats?) will be major as far game play.

They do list work related to "starting scenarios for your fortresses" which touches a bunch of other subsystems - maybe that will be a large and noticeable change.

Re: Dwarf Fortress 0.42.01 released

#110

Post by lips » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 6:15 PM UTC

Home of the best bug tracker ticket titles evar:

"Lye in wood barrels can't be used for making soap"

"Dwarves upset from not seeing family not in fort"

"Zombies start conversation with necromancer adventurer who tries to sleep in their house"