demagogue on 14/8/2008 at 14:38
I really got sucked into Dwarf Fortress from that first thread about it.
It shares that aspect of Civilization in that you get really invested in what you build from the ground up; you get to know each inch of your fortress and each dwarf by name ... what they do and how they fit into the whole. And you are ready to defend it when the time comes. Also, the game takes on a life of its own with you along for the ride ... Everything is procedural so there are so many opportunities for unintentional brilliance or comedy gold when things come together. It also has really good pacing in that events occur at just the right pace so that you feel like you're making progress but there are always new challenges ahead.
There are a lot of options, but I wouldn't say it's too overwhelming for a beginner. Basically you do things in layers. Start with the really simple stuff, and then add things piece by piece as you need them. The game eases you into it. And it's all intuitive. It will tell you what you need and how to get it. And once you have a task up-and-running, it runs itself and you just need to tweak every now and then.
As for selling it, I'd say people that care about gaming should play it because it's an important game to know as a reference point... The depth of simulation is inspiring, it's been balanced to perfection; and it shows what a sim is capable of.
Minion21g on 14/8/2008 at 16:11
I'd recommend to anyone giving this a try to install a square tileset. Not only does it make it easier to consider dimensions but it also takes alot of strain off your eyes. Check the (
http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Main_Page) Dwarf Fortress Wiki for some good ones. I recommend Herbbdog's tileset.
Koki on 15/8/2008 at 06:24
I blame TTLG's artistic freedom when it comes to thread titles.
Minion21g on 16/8/2008 at 13:58
Haha, sorry.
ercles on 18/8/2008 at 01:16
Minion, as much as I got sucked into this game, I have to disagree when you say the game eases you into things, and that the interface is intuitive. The learning curve is basically a brick wall, and the interface takes a lot of learning. But once you get past this, it is quite a brilliant experience, all in all.
demagogue on 18/8/2008 at 04:45
I think I was saying that more than Minion.
Some of it was just a little puffery to sell the thing ... sort of like vikings calling their new ice wasteland Greenland ... well parts of it are green.
But to clarify a little ... by "eases you into it" I just meant you aren't thrown straight into the deep end; you start with just a few dwarfs and just need to get the basic jobs down at first, and with wiki in hand you can get things running soon enough. Immigrants, nobility, monsters, floods and lava spills, strange feelings, things like that don't come until you know what you're doing a little better. "Eases" isn't the right word since it's not "easy" at first, but it isn't the hardest it gets either.
And "intuitive" isn't really the right word either, but at least when I used that word, I didn't mean it for the interface, but the logic of the game itself once you have the interface down. Things like when you get more dwarfs, it's apparent you'll need more rooms and beds, so you'll need more wood and you'll need to queue beds up for the carpenter and rooms for the miners. It's logical, and the game is pretty good at letting you know when you need things.
Ulukai on 18/8/2008 at 07:56
I had a grapple with this at the weekend; my only accomplishment was to generate a world and then dig a staircase ( which was harder work than it should have been, even with the wiki - "Your first fortress" ), but I'm going to persevere for a while to see if I can find out why you're all so excited.
It also struck me as quite CPU demanding for a text-based game.
Koki on 18/8/2008 at 08:34
Yeah, FPS is in fact a real problem later on.
As for staircases, it's kind of lame because (
http://www.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Stairs) no one bothers to tell you that each level is base + floor, and it's quite unlikely you're going to figure it out yourself...
ercles on 18/8/2008 at 11:01
Sorry, demagogue, I'm knee deep in lab work right now, and I got you two mixed up. I just think the fact that you need a guide telling you exactly what to do for the first few hours says a lot not only about the interface used by the game, but also the sheer depth of the game. It's a shame because if it was better implemented, this game would boggle so many more minds than the persistent few who battle through the exposition.
