Live data from Hacker News

Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

polygon.com

41–50 of 333 posts

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#41

The corner grass in the pics looks weird. Are they supposed to be cliffs? I've heard of this game but never tried it. I've only played nethack on a terminal. I'll definitely try it!

game has a z-index. so you can build down (or up) into mountains and such. I haven't played the tiled version, but maybe this is its way of showing depth.

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#42
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They are putting on steam largely because of the USA's shit healthcare system "after Zach's latest cancer scare, we determined that with my healthcare plan's copay etc., I'd be wiped out if I had to undergo the same procedures . . " I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it totally sucks. On the other hand, I suspect that as as consequence of this crappy pressure, Dwarf Fortress will reach a substantial…

> bring joy Yeah, right. I bet you'll see it in productivity statistics instead. It's as bad as Factorio.

Every friend I’ve turned onto either game was basically lost for months, then returned to the world like a shipwrecked survivor. It was all long beards and uncut hair, wild eyes and impossible tales. These games are so good they should come with rehab.

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's such a disaster to see people so severely affected by the healthcare system in America. If you haven't been keeping track, there's been a similar issue with SomethingAwful's Lowtax, who is deep in debt as a result of some of the medical issues he's going through. It's enough to certainly make me consider working in a different country. I wonder if there would be any possibilities of the Dwarf Fortress developers…

What kind of issues is Lowtax having?

Some sort of Bone disease IIRC. One of the many rare conditions that are pretty much guaranteed to bankrupt you in the US, even with an expensive Cadillac healthcare plan.

Bah: I was trying to check the announcement, but their forum is in lockdown mode again for some reason.

Edit: Lockdown mode off. Link here: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=38...

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#44
post #35

One thing that amazes me about Dwarf Fortress is that the creator(s) don't use version control[1] (as of 2014, things may have changed): "I don't use version control -- I didn't like the feeling of having the code get committed into a black box thingy with no immediate upside." I can't fathom how you can manage the complexity of a game like DF without a VCS. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1avszc/im_tarn_a…

They almost certainly use some sort of version control, like all novice programmers do, right? -- copying files/directories, creating backups, etc. (MyProject02.old.bak.zip).

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#45

The corner grass in the pics looks weird. Are they supposed to be cliffs? I've heard of this game but never tried it. I've only played nethack on a terminal. I'll definitely try it!

Those are cliffs. The grass is at a lower elevation than the mountain.

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#46
post #35

One thing that amazes me about Dwarf Fortress is that the creator(s) don't use version control[1] (as of 2014, things may have changed): "I don't use version control -- I didn't like the feeling of having the code get committed into a black box thingy with no immediate upside." I can't fathom how you can manage the complexity of a game like DF without a VCS. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1avszc/im_tarn_a…

It makes a little sense. They aren't working with any kind of time limit, so if they break something they just work at it until it is fixed. There's no rolling back to the last good version.

But yeah, this is undoubtedly a factor in the games rather glacial development rate.

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#47

I've played DF a lot. Biggest problem that I had is that it eventually becomes a challenge to manage the framerate. I realize there are ways to fix this that are intertwined with the gameplay, but I'd rather play the game instead of butchering kittens and other things in an effort to keep the game performant. Second issue is with military organization. I never really became confident in my ability to get the squads d…

Multithread w h e n ??? Also, early embark setup fatigue is real. Setup the stockpiles. Plan the rooms. Have the plans outpace your current productivity and have it take way too long. Do this every time. Once that's over, though, you get to enjoy sorting through droves of migrants, assigning each to the tasks they're most appropriate to or which need the most dwarves right now (the game actually approximates this aut…

I prefer to embark next to volcanos and have the dwarves tap the volcano to make defenses (think magma traps and moats) and power furnaces and forges.

Once, my dwarves built a box structure on top of their underground fortress entrance. Built a wall around that, and filled the in-between space with magma to create a sheath defense. The ingenuity of dwarves is marvelous!

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#48
post #35

One thing that amazes me about Dwarf Fortress is that the creator(s) don't use version control[1] (as of 2014, things may have changed): "I don't use version control -- I didn't like the feeling of having the code get committed into a black box thingy with no immediate upside." I can't fathom how you can manage the complexity of a game like DF without a VCS. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1avszc/im_tarn_a…

No development team, no need for version control.

I meta love DF for it's primitive development practices too.

Guy decides to make a game with a block of stone and a chisel, development community calls him crazy and says games can't be made that way, but he keeps chiseling away.

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#49
post #39
post #9

Three points of interest: 1) Full developer announcement on their Patreon page -> https://www.patreon.com/posts/25343688 2) They are putting on steam largely because of the USA's shit healthcare system "after Zach's latest cancer scare, we determined that with my healthcare plan's copay etc., I'd be wiped out if I had to undergo the same procedures . . " 3) Cool to see that they are going to use graphics built by two…

Since they live around Seattle, maybe they should consider immigrating a few hundred miles north to Canada? They might qualify under the self-employed artist category? https://www.settler.ca/english/immigration-to-canada-for-art...

If you are able to pay, American healthcare can be higher quality and more timely than Canadian care. Especially the hospitals and doctors in and around Seattle. That's why wealthy Canadians come to the US for some treatments.

The hope is that they earn enough from the Steam royalties (which should happen given the popular rumor and storytelling around the game among gamers).

Also, Canada has medical requirements and refuses immigrants whose admission "might cause excessive demand on existing social or health services provided by the government":

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/co...

https://www.canadavisa.com/immigration-medical-inadmissibili...

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#50
I've often wondered if DF will ever get an open source version that tries to recreate the same experience but focuses on consistent interface design, performance and multithreading, and ease of extensibility.

DF has a huge head start, and two of the most incredibly passionate developers out there, but it's also clear they prioritize expanding the model first and foremost rather than trying to tackle any of the user experience issues that have plagued the game forever.

(To be clear, I adore DF. I've put many, many hours into DF. It's a truly amazing game and I continue to wish the developers success.)

Post reply on HN