Anyone playing Dwarf Fortress?

usagi_tetsu · 05-21-2008, 02:45 PM

A couple months back (maybe even a year, it's been a while), my favorite computer gaming magazine - Computer Gaming World, which became Games for Windows, and then folded last month - ran an article on this odd little freeware game that only boasted ASCII character graphics, but had this cult following for the extreme depth of game play it offered. It piqued my intellectual curiousity, but not deeply enough to really go straight out and play it. The article did stick in my mind (how many games big enough to draw an article in a national magazine that still use ASCII graphics are there?) and when I ran across it again in a couple of comics of Three Panel Soul, it was enough to send me to the Dwarf Fortress home website and download the game.

So I've been playing it for about a week now and already on my 2nd fortress (because I accidentally selected Abandon Fortress to leave the game, not because I've already experienced their motto of "Losing is Fun!") and reading deeply into the DF Wiki to figure out all the little intricacies of this simple-appearing game, and I can't quite figure out if it's enjoyable or just interesting as an intellectual exercise in frustration. The level of detail in this game is extreme, and you can view all kinds of info on everything that you would never expect from even modern games, but the graphics are limited, and the user interface is nigh upon prehistoric.

Anyone else playing Dwarf Fortress? Thoughts?

Listessa · 05-21-2008, 02:51 PM

So, is it sort of like a more detailed version of NetHack or something?

usagi_tetsu · 05-21-2008, 03:03 PM

More like if NetHack were a RTS several orders of magnitude more involved and detailed than say, oh, StarCraft. But yeah, ASCII graphics just like NetHack (which I haven't played in forever).

oldschool · 05-21-2008, 03:22 PM

Is it like midget bowling?

05-21-2008, 02:45 PM	#1 (permalink)
usagi_tetsu Active Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 329	Anyone playing Dwarf Fortress? A couple months back (maybe even a year, it's been a while), my favorite computer gaming magazine - Computer Gaming World, which became Games for Windows, and then folded last month - ran an article on this odd little freeware game that only boasted ASCII character graphics, but had this cult following for the extreme depth of game play it offered. It piqued my intellectual curiousity, but not deeply enough to really go straight out and play it. The article did stick in my mind (how many games big enough to draw an article in a national magazine that still use ASCII graphics are there?) and when I ran across it again in a couple of comics of Three Panel Soul, it was enough to send me to the Dwarf Fortress home website and download the game. So I've been playing it for about a week now and already on my 2nd fortress (because I accidentally selected Abandon Fortress to leave the game, not because I've already experienced their motto of "Losing is Fun!") and reading deeply into the DF Wiki to figure out all the little intricacies of this simple-appearing game, and I can't quite figure out if it's enjoyable or just interesting as an intellectual exercise in frustration. The level of detail in this game is extreme, and you can view all kinds of info on everything that you would never expect from even modern games, but the graphics are limited, and the user interface is nigh upon prehistoric. Anyone else playing Dwarf Fortress? Thoughts? __________________ WWVD? Sometimes, you just have to ask yourself, "What would Velcor do?" My Feedback TOG

05-21-2008, 02:51 PM	#2 (permalink)
Listessa Delving into Satinism Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Fairbanks, AK Posts: 5,894	So, is it sort of like a more detailed version of NetHack or something? __________________ The correct question is, "Why don't I need another gun?" How strange to see a lagomorph of such bravery. Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo- Don't Ask Us- We Will Tell! Facilis est Descensus Averni. <--Click to descend to my feedback. NO'MAAM #2"National Organization Members Against AGG Metrosexuals" Rouge Cell #3

05-21-2008, 03:03 PM	#3 (permalink)
usagi_tetsu Active Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 329	More like if NetHack were a RTS several orders of magnitude more involved and detailed than say, oh, StarCraft. But yeah, ASCII graphics just like NetHack (which I haven't played in forever). __________________ WWVD? Sometimes, you just have to ask yourself, "What would Velcor do?" My Feedback TOG

05-21-2008, 03:22 PM	#4 (permalink)
oldschool Moderating in Moderation Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Long Island Posts: 4,685	Is it like midget bowling? __________________ Its all peaches & sunshine baby, peaches & sunshine.. Obsequious, purple, and clairvoyant One of the two proud members left - D FLT And I feel a whole lot better when youre gone Politically, Socially and Aerodynamically Incorrect Everything I have ever loved is immoral or illegal Vir sapit qui pauca loquitur. I'm a walking turn on....