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2006: Dwarf Fortress

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Re: 2006: Dwarf Fortress

#81

Post by MrMember »

standardUser wrote: post #46
sshagent wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nicely put. DF is simply the best game I've ever played, and I've been hooked by many from many genres. The stories told within are insane. I only play it every couple of years when the desire catches me, yet still patreon to DF. This is what games should be. Obviously an insane barrier of entry, took me a few goes to 'get it' and even now i barely get it despite playing many varingly 'fun' forts. I watched many yout…

I'm no stranger to involved and complicated games (Crusader Kings, Kerbal Space Program, as examples) but the Dwarf Fortress interface appeared to me to be some sort of elaborate ruse designed to test my patience, or to simply mock me. I'm glad the folks who have the patience to navigate those menus and decipher those "graphics" have rewarding experiences, but I'll wait for the Steam version with actual graphics, and…

The devlogs they've done showing off the new UI for the Steam version makes it look really promising. The keyboard interface is inconsistent and a complete mess in some cases and they're making a lot of that mouse driven.

Re: 2006: Dwarf Fortress

#83

Post by Razengan »

roenxi wrote: post #2

It is important, when contemplating Dwarf Fortress, to realise a couple of things. Firstly, and most obviously, the game is clearly some sort of work of art. The exact nature of the art is a bit difficult to pin down - certainly isn't an exercise in graphics and the plot is inconsistent between playthroughs - but nevertheless. The second thing to observe is it appears to be a life's work. A lifetime has not actually…

> I am glad to be around now at the birth of computing

That was like 40-50 years ago, along with birth of games, including many innovative ones from that era which have still yet to be remade. We just recently lost one of the last pioneers of this frontier, Sir Clive Sinclair. RIP

Re: 2006: Dwarf Fortress

#84

Post by lapsis_beeftech »

TobTobXX wrote: post #80
db48x wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? You just unzip the thing somewhere, then run the program. No install necessary.

Nah, the custom SDL versions messes everything up.

This is surprising to hear since SDL has never been an issue for me and I have been playing every version as soon as they are released for many years. Is it something that affects the Mac version (which I have never tried)?

Re: 2006: Dwarf Fortress

#85

Post by outworlder »

standardUser wrote: post #46
sshagent wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nicely put. DF is simply the best game I've ever played, and I've been hooked by many from many genres. The stories told within are insane. I only play it every couple of years when the desire catches me, yet still patreon to DF. This is what games should be. Obviously an insane barrier of entry, took me a few goes to 'get it' and even now i barely get it despite playing many varingly 'fun' forts. I watched many yout…

I'm no stranger to involved and complicated games (Crusader Kings, Kerbal Space Program, as examples) but the Dwarf Fortress interface appeared to me to be some sort of elaborate ruse designed to test my patience, or to simply mock me. I'm glad the folks who have the patience to navigate those menus and decipher those "graphics" have rewarding experiences, but I'll wait for the Steam version with actual graphics, and…

The interface is arcane at times. For the most part, it is logically laid out and you can become proficient at it.

Except the godforsaken jobs interface. But that seems to be a hard problem, because even with Dwarf Therapist I would struggle with the hordes of migrants.

Re: 2006: Dwarf Fortress

#86

Post by PablumPicasso »

traspler wrote: post #36

I really, really love all the retold stories people experienced while playing the game (embelished or not), two of my favourite: Bronzemurder - https://dfstories.com/bronzemurder/ Bravemule's Matul Remrit - https://www.bravemule.com/matulremrit

The earliest anecdote/retelling I heard about Dwarf Fortress (probably on slashdot) was that while someone was playing it; they accidentally dropped their dagger in a pond and couldn't reach it at the bottom of the pond. They were sad about it because it was a nice dagger, but then realised they could cast a "freeze" spell on the lake, which turned it to ice. Then, they dug down through the ice with their Pick to the bottom of the pond, so that they could retrieve the dropped dagger.

I'm sure there's thousands of stories like this from Dwarf Fortress, but I remember it making an impression on me as a young developer, how much emergent complexity the game had. Fascinating. One day if I ever get enough spare time, I would love to play it for more than 5 minutes.

Re: 2006: Dwarf Fortress

#87

Post by 29athrowaway »

tastyfreeze wrote: post #39
29athrowaway wrote: post #11

There are a few games inspired in Dwarf Fortress, such as Gnomeria and Rimworld, for audiences that are a more casual. Dwarf Fortress is hard to master.

Minecraft was inspired in part by Dwarf Fortress as well.

Nice, I did not know this.

Re: 2006: Dwarf Fortress

#88

Post by X6S1x6Okd1st »

dadro wrote: post #44
29athrowaway wrote: post #11

There are a few games inspired in Dwarf Fortress, such as Gnomeria and Rimworld, for audiences that are a more casual. Dwarf Fortress is hard to master.

Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead also comes to mind. https://cataclysmdda.org/

I love CDDA, but it's not nearly about simulation as DF is.

Re: 2006: Dwarf Fortress

#89

Post by vintermann »

kibwen wrote: post #12

> The heights to which that complexity has now reached are evidenced by two famous bugs: one involved too low a melting point for the fat layer of dwarven skin, and the other saw cats getting wildly drunk from licking their paws after walking over tavern floors sticky with spilled beer. These are the ones that always get mentioned, but over the game's whole history there are too many great bugs to name. One infamous…

One of my favourites was the supergoblin bug, which I ran into myself.

To defend the fortress from invading, I had a narrow walkway with spike-filled pits on both sides. The idea was that as the goblins ran over, they would be peppered with arrows, and if they managed to dodge they stood a good chance of falling off in the process. It worked, as far as it went.

The problem was that a very few goblins survived both the fall and the spikes at the bottom, and those goblins became truly nasty.

The thing is, when someone deflects a weapon in that version of DF, they got a small bit of training to their weapon skill, depending on the size and weight of their opponent. Unfortunately, they also got a chance to block the upright spikes at the bottom of my moat. Which were technically "wielded" by the ground itself.

So the few goblins that survived by blocking the upright spike as they fell, instantly became supreme grand masters of their weapon. If they dodged it instead, they likewise became inhumanity good at dodging. The worst was, the moat was constructed so that if they survived, they could run up and try again, and this time they had a very good chance of dodging and blocking, boosting their skill even further.

Thus ended one fort of mine to ninja goblins.

Re: 2006: Dwarf Fortress

#90

Post by coremoff »

BeefySwain wrote: post #59
coremoff wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

don't know how it was fixed in DF, however that feels like a problem that was "solved" in DND; if you try and move via a medium for which you don't have a natural speed, you make a check - if you have a natural speed you don't need to make the check. Thus characters don't need to make "walking" checks, but they do have to make "climb" checks. Similarly fish have a swim speed, so they never have to make swim checks. I…

This is not in 5E, right?

I haven't played much 5E, but they probably removed a lot of that when they simplified everything
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