Dwarf Fortress: Ten hours with the most inscrutable video game of all time
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Re: Dwarf Fortress: Ten hours with the most inscrutable video game of all time
#2Dwarf fortress is difficult for two reasons
1: Unintuitive interface. It takes some time just to learn how to do basic things and find the information you need.
2: Complexity. Once you know every possible command you can give you need to figure out what to do.
It's hard to get into but immensely rewarding and satisfying once you do, with some amazingly detailed epic stories coming to life.
Re: Dwarf Fortress: Ten hours with the most inscrutable video game of all time
#3The game dwarf fortress most reminds me of is git.
Re: Dwarf Fortress: Ten hours with the most inscrutable video game of all time
#4I think the author of the article made a critical mistake by not installing a friendly set of tiles (e.g. Lazy Newb Pack). There is really no drawback, all it will do is get you to enjoy the game faster.
Re: Dwarf Fortress: Ten hours with the most inscrutable video game of all time
#5The game dwarf fortress most reminds me of is git.
Ah, that's actually a pretty good analogy! Very powerful once you get to know it, but with a baffling interface.
Re: Dwarf Fortress: Ten hours with the most inscrutable video game of all time
#6The author's problems all have solutions:
You need to dig stairs to be able to go up and down levels. You need to dig an "up stair", and then a "down stair" below it. Or you can dig "up/down stairs" which combine both functions into the same square.
The lack of stone is probably due to embarking in an area that has clay, soil, or sand layers on top. If you tunnel down a few levels, you should find stone.
If you have an axe (which is one of the default starting items if you didn't customize them), you can (D)esignate (T)reecutting areas to chop down trees and build things out of wood (assuming you're in an area that features trees).
Re: Dwarf Fortress: Ten hours with the most inscrutable video game of all time
#7Dwarf fortress is difficult for two reasons 1: Unintuitive interface. It takes some time just to learn how to do basic things and find the information you need. 2: Complexity. Once you know every possible command you can give you need to figure out what to do. It's hard to get into but immensely rewarding and satisfying once you do, with some amazingly detailed epic stories coming to life.
My brother plays this constantly, any pointers where I can start playing?
Re: Dwarf Fortress: Ten hours with the most inscrutable video game of all time
#8IMHO, NetHack is the king of clunky, quasi-graphical-but-really-text-based games. In many ways, it is probably the greatest computer game of all time. Is Dwarf Fortress in the same league?
Re: Dwarf Fortress: Ten hours with the most inscrutable video game of all time
#9Great explanation of DF's bodily combat damage modeling: http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/95316-complex-dama...
> DF's damage system is just as complex and oftentimes difficult to keep track of as the rest of the game. Instead of simple health points or separate body parts DF simulates each individual by the sum of it's parts. This starts at the single parts of a body, then adds layers of tissue, muscle and fat to each part, connects all parts by joints and finally stuffs a share of vital and nonvital organs into the whole thing. Every part of this construct has several states it can be it, reaching from healthy over bruised, torn, mangled, nonfunctional, broken and missing...
> How does that play out in the actual game? Depending on what kind of injury a creature suffers it tracks the damage to individual body part and the results of it. Slashing damage will cut through tissue, muscle and fat, might even separate body parts, blunt damage will pass through protective clothing and only bruise upper layers, but shatter bones and joints mercilessly. Piercing damage will effortlessly penetrate all layers and has a high chance to damage.
A dwarf is graphically represented by a smiley face, so you can't see any of this happen. All of it is conveyed by descriptive text.
It's also recommended to pick up a freshman textbook on geology to understand the game's many types of rocks, which is apparently pretty realistic following Tarn's personal interest in geology/mineralogy. The depth of this "game" is breathtaking. The only thing I can think of comparable might be high-fidelity but consumer grade flight simulators like X-Plane, or those put out by Russian developer DCS (e.g. http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/series/black_shark/... )
Re: Dwarf Fortress: Ten hours with the most inscrutable video game of all time
#10I actually got bored towards the end of my first game of DF because it was too easy.
The interface adds a lot of illusory difficulty, but that's not an issue for people used to reading manuals. On the other hand, when you're not wrestling with the system, there's not much fair challenge. When your underground fortress is filled to the brim with traps and completely self sufficient, no one is ever going to touch you unless you handicap yourself.
Once I had my base built out the way I wanted it, there wasn't much left for me to do. Kind of reminds me of how Minecraft feels once you've built a satisfying shelter, but I think that Minecraft's music and FPS perspective can motivate people to keep playing for the sake of creativity. With DF: sure, it's fun to imagine my fortress and all, but then I might as well move away from the keyboard and just do the whole thing in my imagination.