Dwarf Fortress: Finally "getting it"! Did I hit a milestone in gaming?

[autumnalequinox]

So I needed a break from my career in KSP to avoid total burnout (about 2 months straight with only some 7 days to die to break it up).  So I decided to give Dwarf Fortress another shot.  Years ago I tried to get into it (using the Starter Pack) and the UI and complexity scared me off.

So this time I made a few fortresses (tossing them out after not "liking the design") and walked through the tutorials step by step.  And then, bam, after a good couple of nights I "got it".  Now I can navigate the horrible UI like no tomarrow and understand the mechanics of the "hardest game ever made".  The complexity is interesting and it makes a good, challenging management/colony sim.  I will say it took me far less time to figure out then KSP (I spent months mastering).  

What's also funny as when I was in high school I used to make games like it in VBasic.  I made a few castle/fiefdom management sims with terrible graphics and tons of calculations and behaviors running under the hood (a battle could involve hundreds but I would calculate every single interaction).  My teacher was impressed when I opened all the calcs up to her and showed her what was basically a tech-demo (needless to say I got an A+).  So the game warms my child heart a bit.

So far I haven't seen any true craziness go down but I'm focusing on a very militant fort so hopefully another were-iguana won't eat my cattle.

Anybody else play this esoteric little game alongside KSP?  I decided I spend enough time at these forums and don't want to get sucked into the Bay12 forums as well hehe.  Besides, as awesome as it is, it's not as all-encompassing as KSP can be.  I have worried the game has caused me to "flip" my interests back into Fantasy and away from Sci-Fi/future tech but I do still here my career game calling.  So I may go back after I watch this fort burn/go crazy/devour itself.

[stibbons]

I dabble in Dwarf Fortress. As far as micro management sims go, it's well worth the effort of learning your way around the esoteric UI. 

I've been playing a really hardcore start recently, where your starting expedition has completely unskilled dwarves, and absolutely no equipment. You dismantle your cart, which gives you enough wood to make a carpenter's shop and a training axe, then build a wooden above ground village until you can trade for an anvil and supplies to make a pick. 

My current fortress was doing OK, had survived for a year above ground and was just starting to delve when a wererat got in (I'd walled off my little village, but hadn't figured out a way to protect the entrance, so it was wide open).

The outbreak was horrific. Many died, many more were infected. By the time I got a handle on it my fortress was down to a single dwarf, traumatised by the horror of seeing his friends and family killed and numbed by a daily routine trying to single-handedly survive while surrounded by their dismembered remains (and later also their ghosts). 

It took a full year for that dwarf to get things back on track, build enough coffins and inter two dozen bodies. And even longer before traders and settlers were brave enough to go anywhere near the place. But the fortress is back up to about ten dwarves, and is starting to run with some semblance of efficiency again. 

And I've put a draw bridge at the entrance. 

[autumnalequinox]

2 minutes ago, stibbons said:

I dabble in Dwarf Fortress. As far as micro management sims go, it's well worth the effort of learning your way around the esoteric UI. 

I've been playing a really hardcore start recently, where your starting expedition has completely unskilled dwarves, and absolutely no equipment. You dismantle your cart, which gives you enough wood to make a carpenter's shop and a training axe, then build a wooden above ground village until you can trade for an anvil and supplies to make a pick. 

My current fortress was doing OK, had survived for a year above ground and was just starting to delve when a wererat got in (I'd walled off my little village, but hadn't figured out a way to protect the entrance, so it was wide open).

The outbreak was horrific. Many died, many more were infected. By the time I got a handle on it my fortress was down to a single dwarf, traumatised by the horror of seeing his friends and family killed and numbed by a daily routine trying to single-handedly survive while surrounded by their dismembered remains (and later also their ghosts). 

It took a full year for that dwarf to get things back on track, build enough coffins and inter two dozen bodies. And even longer before traders and settlers were brave enough to go anywhere near the place. But the fortress is back up to about ten dwarves, and is starting to run with some semblance of efficiency again. 

And I've put a draw bridge at the entrance. 

Love it.  So epic.  I want something like this so bad.  After I get the hang of running a Fort (I play on easy easy mode right now) I want to generate some challenges for myself.

This is why I love the game.  I read Dwarf Fortress stories (starting with the legendary Boatmurdered) long before I learned to play. 

More Stories!!!!!!

[Omegagoldfish]

I've been thinking about getting it, but so far, I just lurk on the Bay12 forums.

[Putnam]

Easy mode isn't much easier than hard mode these days. Food is trivial, once you know how to farm.

Really, it's just getting to know that's the hard part.  Once you know how to get a sustainable fortress up, the game is almost too easy right now.

[Robotengineer]

Welcome brother (or sister) Urist. Dwarf Fortress is by far the best colony/city management game I've played. It's an acquired taste, but a taste worth acquiring (IMO). 

On August 30, 2016 at 7:43 PM, Putnam said:

Easy mode isn't much easier than hard mode these days. Food is trivial, once you know how to farm.

Really, it's just getting to know that's the hard part.  Once you know how to get a sustainable fortress up, the game is almost too easy right now.

Open the Happy Fun Surprise then. (OP, don't look it up if you haven't heard of it. Just go dig as deep as you can, and find a way around the magma sea )

 Were-creatures are the bane of my fortresses. I frequently end up walling off the hospital (I'm horrible) that infected dwarves are put in. Goblin sieges are relatively straight forward when you have a good enough military. 

[Putnam]

Oh, trust me, I know how hard it can get. I've actually cheated to make creatures I've made harder to kill.

Spoiler

(Note: actually a spoiler)

TBH, opening the Hidden Fun Stuff is sort of a lame way to end the game. I'd rather something more natural happen.

 

[AmpsterMan]

I play the game from time to time. For Dwarf Fortress playing with the minimalist UI is part of the game for me. The outside dwarf management programs like Dwarf Therapist make the game too streamlined for me. I think using the shoddy interface accurately represents how a fortress run by drunk maniacs would function.

[pxi]

I've been playing since the 2d fortress days.  Don't play it as much these days, but often check in on the bay12games page to see the progress.  It's a game I've unending respect for.  I imagine Tarn has fielded many offers to have his creation bought up and produced by a larger company with more resources, but he keeps on plugging away at it with his brother.  There are few games that I think everyone interested in gaming needs to try, but Dwarf Fortress is undoubtedly one of the highest entries on that list.