Dwarf Fortress

SnallTrippin · #1 January 18th, 2010, 04:48 AM

I'm sure this has come up here before, but just in case (And because I saw that ErfWorld thing), I figureed I'd tell people about this amazing free (Donations only) game.

http://dwarffortress.com/ fansite
http://dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Main_Page Wiki
http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/ Developer page

Anyway, the game is in ASCII and just gets more and more complex..should be a huge slew of an update this year too. You play either as a commander/god of a new dwarf fortress or as an adventurer (Not much in the latter yet...although still fun, especially if you survive for a bit).

But instead of me failing at telling you about this game...go check out the old epic of Boatmurdered

EDIT- There IS a steep learning curve (Why I put the wiki on here)- but once over the hump the game can bring all sorts of joy..especially as it gets better and more things will eventually (hopefully) be added.

Quitti · #2 January 18th, 2010, 05:50 AM

Dwarf fortress is a wonderful game - reminds me a bit like playing with legos when I was a kid. The game just gets pretty slow on any non-top-notch computers if you go on for a while. And the UI isn't very user friendly. Still, it's a good game. I know a few dom3 players who play dorf fort, though I haven't touched it for a while (lack of time, I keep telling myself).

Boatmurdered is a very good example of what Dwarf Fortress contains. Only things they really leave out is those huge megaprojects one can make should they want to. Still, you might want to familiarize yourself a bit with what the game looks, what each icon means and what you can do before reading Boatmurdered, else you might have no idea what's going on in the pictures. Actually, with Boatmurdered, you might have no idea what's going on anyway.

SnallTrippin · #3 January 18th, 2010, 07:29 AM

Note: For people with low end machines who decide to play- Just play within a very small area of the world. Still good times. Also larger sized areas just make more zombie salmon kill your fishermen...sigh.

Sombre · #4 January 18th, 2010, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quitti

the UI isn't very user friendly.

Understatement!

SnallTrippin · #5 January 18th, 2010, 09:55 AM

I wouldn't say that it isn't user friendly...once you know how everything works it's pretty easy, just LEARNING all the shortcuts is a bish.

Sombre · #6 January 18th, 2010, 10:03 AM

Oh come on, it's the definition of user-unfriendly. Don't even try to argue otherwise :]

I'm not saying it's not a usable interface. Clearly it is.

SnallTrippin · #7 January 18th, 2010, 10:07 AM

It would be perfectly user friendly in 1990...I'm just saying.

Sombre · #8 January 18th, 2010, 12:32 PM

1985 maybe :P

Foodstamp · #9 January 18th, 2010, 12:35 PM

I love Dwarf Fortress but the UI is an absolute nightmare. I am used to it now but I still have to look things up sometimes.

Also, the game is not actually ASCII characters, those are rendered graphics that look like ASCII characters. That is part of the reason for the slow down on low end machines.

But as SnallTrippin said, the game is extremely fun once you learn how to play it. I am trying to learn to play the theme song on guitar. <3 Dwarf Fortress!

Oh yeah btw, Boatmurdered is hilarious. I suggest anyone read it even if you don't like Dwarf Fortress!

Squirrelloid · #10 January 18th, 2010, 05:25 PM

Come now, the UI isn't horrendous. Its at least _documented_. You just need to go read through the list of 20 bajillion things to find the letter you need... Anyway, that just makes it awful. Horrendous would be that without documentation!

(Still worth the pain of dealing with the UI)