This game is so good the developer actually lives off monthly DONATIONS. And I even donated $50. And I'm poor, but this game is very interesting. He hasn't updated the version in a while but it's a great game and should only get better.There's two modes. The primary is Dwarf Fortress where you take a group of dwarves and build an enterprise, mining out a fortress somewhere in the world (Which you pick, and generate the worlds, all having a history of their own) and try to attract more dwarves, or do whatever you want really. It's hard to explain how fun/good this game is until you play it. So I'll just leave you with the links.But just for a taste, you can build levers and machine parts and create all sorts of things, from wind/water mills to a pipe pumping lava from an underground tunnel.The other mode is Adventure mode where you create a single character and go around doing stuff- this is pretty sparse but can still be fun. Especially if you get them to some crazy levels of combat skills and rip peoples arms off or something.
All the graphics are ASCII and it can take a while to get used to it, but believe me it's well worth it- also there's different graphic patches made by people if you need more then that. Eventually if it keeps going this game will have a war system and much, much, more.
Here's a random quote I noticed just from grabbing one of the pictures:
"An innocent link on Penny Arcade hooked me on Dwarf Fortress. You shouldn’t even consider trying it if you don’t have massive amounts of time to waste and are in any way curious about the intricacies of dwarven life. If you can spare the time, the rewards are amazing - ASCII graphics, a hugely complex dwarven economy and social system, deadly trap systems and cruel and unusual punishment await!
(Life will never be the same after you’ve spent a couple of hours constructing an elaborate system of channels and floodgates to create a remotely triggered drowning chamber for a goblin that wandered into one of your cage traps, only to realize that the swamps you tapped to provide the water will only raise the water level to 5 or 6 out of 7 and thus not drown the goblin….)"
http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/
And it's got so much to learn in it- it's own mini wiki-http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Main_PageWe're all gonna be here a while, I can see this game helping many of you through that time. Seriously, check it out. Here's some random pics grabbed from the web.
>the graphics
You should tell them that the thirs screenshot (the 3d-graphics) are generated with an external tool outside of the game. You can't play the game that way. The game itself looks like the first screenshot (default) or like the second (with a graphic pack installed).
Also, if you really want to play this you should probably read this tutorial
http://afteractionreporter.com/2009/02/09/the-complete-and-utter-newby-tutorial-for-dwarf-fortress-part-1-wtf/
So is this a spin off of nethack?
Question for the original poster, how does this compare to nethack?
The "Adventure Mode" is similiar to nethack. The dwarf mode is "The Sims - Dwarf edition"...only amazingly complex
After reading some posts here which mentioned Dwarf Fortress, I've downloaded it and been playing it on and off for a few months now. If you're interessted in playing this, I can really recommend the tutorials by TinyPirate at the Bay12 forums: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=31928.0
It takes a bit to get used to this game, but the tutorials and a graphic pack (if you don't like the ASCII) really help. If you played other ASCII games like Nethack, Angband, ... I guess the ASCII might not be a big problem, but although I used to play Angband a lot some years ago (and even had my own variant) I do prefer to play Dwarf Fortress with the Mayday graphic pack.
And other addition that makes Dwarf Fortress easier to play is a little external program named Dwarf Manager which makes it easier to change the jobs of your dwarfs. Both this and the graphic pack are used in the tutorial I mentioned earlier.
If you have some free time, and don't mind the (lack of) graphics, I can really recommend everyone to try it out.
I actually DID post that it wasn't with the normal game (In the insert pic it has a text option) but apparently u can only see the text I put in when u check out the properties of the picture.
I love this game and play it to death.
Oh god I love this game!
Its like the truest example of gameplay over graphics.
One of my favourite memories is accidentally flooding a lower level sleeping chamber with lava and melting half of my dwarves while they slept.
Losing is fun! You haven't lived until your fortress has been ruined by a cat stampede.
Dwarf Fortress eh? This is the stock thing that must also be posted for newcomers and people that mess with it alike!
www.youtube.com/user/captnduck His video tutorial series is very entertaining, informative, and a bit blue at times.
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