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Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

polygon.com

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Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#281

Post by [deleted] »

Macuyiko wrote: post #155
gotocake wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I wish these games would still have that effect on me. I mean, I can totally see it happening back when I was 20-25 years old. When I try to start factorio, df, rimworld today, I can see the systems, I can feel the ocd style appeal and feedback loops grabbing me, until I realize after one hour that 1) this is just the same as work, 2) someone else has already optimized the crap out of this, better then I'd ever have…

[deleted]

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#282

Post by hota_mazi »

pault wrote: post #207
gotocake wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I picked up DF a few years ago, and shortly after my girlfriend left for a two week trip. I had a bunch of stuff I was supposed to do around the house while she was gone, but I ended up going completely nocturnal and spent the entire two weeks in bed with my laptop. I didn't shower or brush my teeth and I only stopped playing long enough to pick up some takeout once or twice per day. I never finished any of the work…

Sure, but did you show her your fortress?

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#283

Post by Smithalicious »

MrFoof wrote: post #173
aresant wrote: 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…

I'm one of the longer time Dwarf Fortress supporters, with somewhere around $2500 donated over the past decade or so via PayPal. If I remember correctly, it was around January 2007 when Tarn started accepting donations. I don't play it much, only a week every year or so to see what's new, get lost in the wacky reality of it all, and put it down to tend to other things. I read the communities from time to time. The wa…

>Dwarf Fortress is an unsung touchstone of internet culture.

Surely DF is far from "unsung"? I'd even describe DF as being downright notorious. I really do wonder what kind of criterion people generally use to describe something as "obscure", "unsung" and such, since I find myself rarely agreeing.

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#284

Post by Smithalicious »

Sargos wrote: post #113
umvi wrote: 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…

Tarn isn't known for being a good developer. He's just very dedicated :) In fact it's pretty well known that Dwarf Fortress has a horrible code base and it would be a huge project to bring it up to a good standard.

I feel like I see this quite often with large, single man projects, both inside and outside of IT (Henry Darger comes to mind). I feel like there might be some kind of bias at work here, but I do think it's interesting to see that traits like "being a good developer" don't seem to correlate very strongly with making large, successful personal projects.

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#285

Post by Smithalicious »

honkycat wrote: post #267
umvi wrote: 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…

Dwarf Fortress is a popular game, but it's progress has been stalled for years. One of its big issues is performance. For an ascii game. If anything, it is an example of how saying "Eh, screw it." can stall your progress

What do you mean by "stalled for years"? I haven't played in a while but according to the website[0] the last development progress wasn't even a month ago.

[0]http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#286

Post by seleniumBubbles »

dibujante wrote: post #235
swfsql wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Oof, can you really do an apples-to-apples comparison to healthcare in 1910 (before antibiotics) and healthcare today, though? If healthcare in 1910 cost $1 and a doctor poked you in the chest and said "You've got consumption; get your affairs in order." and healthcare in 2010 cost $1000 and a doctor poked you in the chest and said "You've got tuberculosis; take these antibiotics and you will probably live.", I don't…

Would you make the same argument in favor of the cartelization of internet service providers? If in the 90s the ISPs banded together and got a government to prohibit competition, would we be asking if it's fair to compare "internet service measured in baud" with our much faster internet service of today? Humans are very clever; technology can improve even in the most oppressive regimes.

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#287

Post by Pristina »

tkiley wrote: post #19
aresant wrote: 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…

> 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…

I will keep this in my monetisation handbook. "If I had cancer I would be wiped out which is why XYZ is no longer free. thx for your support"

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#288

Post by seleniumBubbles »

rexpop wrote: post #81
tkiley wrote: 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…

Hey, look at it this way: Capitalism in healthcare does drive a better consumer experience!

I think the other response was flagged for language, but the included link was really interesting. I'd never even heard of medical "lodge practice" before seeing this video and reading through some of the references.

They're basically voluntary, mutual aid societies – many of them were basically small unions. The were strangled by the bigger, consolidated organizations:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fFoXyFmmGBQ

The video is probably good for most audiences, but if (like me) you prefer to read, it looks like this is the short essay it's based on: http://www.freenation.org/a/f12l3.html

The references at the end of the essay include some really interesting historical accounts which I've enjoyed reading over the past few hours.

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#289

Post by thecatspaw »

Smithalicious wrote: post #283
MrFoof wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm one of the longer time Dwarf Fortress supporters, with somewhere around $2500 donated over the past decade or so via PayPal. If I remember correctly, it was around January 2007 when Tarn started accepting donations. I don't play it much, only a week every year or so to see what's new, get lost in the wacky reality of it all, and put it down to tend to other things. I read the communities from time to time. The wa…

>Dwarf Fortress is an unsung touchstone of internet culture. Surely DF is far from "unsung"? I'd even describe DF as being downright notorious. I really do wonder what kind of criterion people generally use to describe something as "obscure", "unsung" and such, since I find myself rarely agreeing.

It might be notorious in hacker circles, and retro gamers. If you ask people outside of those groups most will not even have heard the name

Re: Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam with graphics

#290

Post by jpttsn »

intended wrote: post #274
shanusmagnus wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for making the connection to work -- I keep having this same thing, all the time, about many endeavors. "If I'm going to invest all this time learning _x_, why don't I spend the same time learning _a real thing_ that can help with my actual life?" On the one hand it sounds like I've become a joyless husk (which may be true.) On the other hand, maybe I should play the larger real-life game that has so much bett…

You guys need to draw a line and realize “this part is fun.” And “this part is work, and I want to imagine it is fun because I get ahead, but honestly it’s not fun but I’m proud/happy of/with myself if I do it.” Fun is a critical part of life, Its the point of living as Opposed to surviving.

Depends what you do, I guess. I can sometimes “pretend to enjoy” vacations, social events, games etc. Very rarely have to pretend to enjoy work.
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