Dwarf Fortress, A Game of Dwarves, and Towns

[AmpsterMan]

I really want to get into one of these and make an honest effort. I have played DF and the demo for Towns. What would you say are the pros and cons of either or.

[OtherDalfite]

Never heard of Towns to be honest, but I played Dwarf Fortress for a good while and still don't know everything about it. Just be sure to have the wiki open as you play it. Also, stick with the vanilla ASCII pack when you play, it makes it a whole lot easier down the road.

[deadshot462]

There's also Gnomoria. Pretty decent game, kind of frustrating when Gnomes go idle for a while though.

[MalletFace]

I haven't played too much of Towns, but I know quite a bit about DF.

Incomplete List of Pros:

-Dwarf Fortress is free

-Dwarf Fortress offers extremely deep and complex stories and myths for every world you generate

-Mods allow you to escape from the default ASCII, giving it new tiles, or playing it in isometric 3D

-Decent sized modding community

-Other people's stories can be fun to read (Boatmurdered, and Operation **** the World)

Incomplete List of Cons:

-It takes quite a while to learn how to do everything in the game

-Its default look is ASCII (I have no problem with this, but others do)

-You have to be in the mood to play it

That's about all I can give about DF off of the top of my head.

[Eric S]

I like Dwarf Fortress, the only real downside was that just about the time things get interesting, things get very slow.

[Valley]

I like DF because you get to know the Dwarfs as characters, each one with their merits and flaws and you find yourself making up stories about them. When they're not goofing off and getting drunk. Which is normal for them. If you plan to play DF may I suggest using the Lazy Pack? You can use tiles to replace the ASCII. Easier on the eyes.

Edited August 18, 2013 by Valley
typo

[pxi]

The major pro of Dwarf Fortress is it's being developed by a two-man crew who are fanatically developing the game that they themselves always wanted to play.

The major con of games like Gnomoria, Towns, and Game of Dwarves, is that they're commercial attempts to cash in on the genius behind Dwarf Fortress.

[Wesreidau]

Dwarf Fortress is extremely moddable. You have been warned...

[segaprophet]

Gnomoria - cheaper than Towns, easier to learn than DF, runs cross-platform in wineskin.

"It's for winners!" - some guy

[Niccolo]

Dwarf Fortress the whole way.

A tip: visit the Dwarf Fortress forums. Here's a handy link. Go pootle around in the DF general discussion and the Dwarf Mode Discussion. Read the stories, get immersed.

You'll see what I mean.

[Faark]

There is another major con for Gnomoria: There is no modding support planed, nor any help all for guys who try it themselves. This game has to fail, for that reason alone that there is only a single developer.

[AmpsterMan]

Thank you all for the responses!

I went on a bit of a purchasing binge this weekend and bout EU 4, Reus, and A Game of Dwarves (Mainly because it was made by Paradox Interactive )

I've played the Towns Demo and really enjoyed the premise and GUI. I thought it was clean and very easy to get stuff done. A Game of Dwarves is casual fun with a nice entertaining story. The main thing that has turned me off about DF is not the graphics as some might think (I actually LIKE the ASCII; it allows me to superimpose my own imagination) It's just that so much of the gameplay is repetative. If there was an interface that allowed me to choose how much of a resource to keep stockpiled, or an autolabor of sorts, or even some mouse support I would like the game much better. What turns me off about it is just that I feel like too much of my gametime is spent wrestling with the game rather than wrestling in the game

Maybe I'm an elf.

[BigFatStupidHead]

There are very good mods for Dwarf Fortress that can do just those things for you. Check out DFhack http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?board=29.0 for one, and I've always found DwarfTherapist extremely indispensable for my games. The game truly is a magnificent piece of art, and getting even better all the time.

Don't mind the forums; we're all a little mad here.

[pxi]

It actually was more repetitive before the dwarves discovered the z axis, at least in my opinion, but yeah, the interface could use a lot of work. I wouldn't guarantee it's a game everyone will love, but it's a game that every self-respecting gamer should take a look at. And it is definably art, at least according to the New York Museum of Modern Art. http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=164920

[VintageXP]

I regret buying Towns. It's barely playable at the moment. It'd be ok if it was in the steam early acess as an alpha, but it was sold as a full, complete game.

[AmpsterMan]

Gnomoria - cheaper than Towns, easier to learn than DF, runs cross-platform in wineskin.

"It's for winners!" - some guy

Saw some let's play on it; Looks fun

There are very good mods for Dwarf Fortress that can do just those things for you. Check out DFhack http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?board=29.0 for one, and I've always found DwarfTherapist extremely indispensable for my games. The game truly is a magnificent piece of art, and getting even better all the time.

Don't mind the forums; we're all a little mad here.

Yeah I'm on the forums, you'll see me pop up form time to time. Those mods look really fun! I might download Accelerated DF because it contains some fixes and DFHack

I regret buying Towns. It's barely playable at the moment. It'd be ok if it was in the steam early acess as an alpha, but it was sold as a full, complete game.

Your not the only one that has stated this and it worries me. I don't mind paying to play an alpha (KSP duh!) but when it is touted as a full game, and clearly isn't, then I have a problem :/. Still, since I haven't actually played the game I don't know what it is that people complain about sooo... yeah.

[Torham234]

I am a huge DF fan and I donate to Toady at least once a year. For me, the the other games (Gnomoria, Towns, GOF) are just pale shadows compared to DF.

DF offers so much more complexity in every aspect of gameplay, and thus has got a great potential for emergent narrative. Because the world and the inhabitants are described in minute detail, you end up making up stories and narrative as you play.

Since I grew up with the ASCII games, I do not mind the text based graphics.

The one snag of DF for some people is the learning curve... I loved every minute of it

[AmpsterMan]

So "Towns" was on sale for a few dollars so I purchased it XD. Now I am watching Quill18's Mini-playthrough of Prison Architect and now I want that one.

I need to unsub from Quill18 and Scott Manley; they will ruin my bank account! (I purchased Papers, please as well)

[pxi]

Now I am watching Quill18's Mini-playthrough of Prison Architect and now I want that one.

It's quite decent, and 40% off at the moment on steam.

[AmpsterMan]

It's quite decent, and 40% off at the moment on steam.

Purchased it yesterday. Man I must say, between Prison Architect, Reus, A Game of Dwarves, Towns, and Papers, Please I am going to be seriously entertained for some time to come.

[air805ronin]

Purchased it yesterday. Man I must say, between Prison Architect, Reus, A Game of Dwarves, Towns, and Papers, Please I am going to be seriously entertained for some time to come.

Prison Architect implemented contraband last update and Prisoners digging tunnels in this update. Combined they're a complete game changer, imo. We'll get K9 units in the next update as a method for actively searching for tunnels and contraband.