Dwarf fortress, the game.
Created | Updated Mar 30, 2009
Dwarf Fortress is a sandbox game that, using pre-set options or at randow, generates a world populated by several traditional fantasy races, such as humans, elves, kobols, globins, dragons, trolls, tentacle demons? and, off course, dwarves. This generated world also has an higly realistic lithosphere, seas, rivers, mountains, chasms, vulcans, citties and even history of what happened on it before you started playing. The actions of the player change the world permanently, becoming part of its history.
Before reading further you must know four things about it, one wich will encourage you to play it and four wich will not:
1. The game is an Alpha, what means that its still in very early stages of developement and testing and also means that there is no guarante of that it is bug-free (It is not) or that it will work on your computer.
2. Due to its high complexity and processing height, the graphics are ultra-simplified: rather than actual things, you see symbols on the screen representing those things, and due to this you also see the world as a serie of planes, each expressing a different height.
3. The interface is quite complicated and user-unfriendly and first, and using the mouse is difficult and hard to figure out to a point you will just use the keyboard instead.
4. The main hit phrase of the game is "Losing is fun!"
5. It is *free*
Now that you are aware of all those important facts: The "playing" part of the game consists of 3 modes, named 'Fortress mode', 'Adventure mode' and 'Legends mode'. In a single world you can only run one instance of then at a time.
In Fortress mode you get a party of seven dwarves that you define the equipment, skills and name of and then send to a chosen part of the generated world, point beyond wich you can do whatever you want with then, what will usually be building a fortress. Also, unless your fortress really sucks or you made it on island other dwarves from your mother civilization will migrate to your fortress, increasing the size and coolness of the deeds you can pull off. An important note thought, wich is the whole point of adventure mode, is that you do not control the actions of the dwarves directly, but rather give then orders and instructions that they carry out.
In Adventure mode you control a single dwarf, but in this case you have total control upon he or she. You can travel all over the world and interact with its many civilizations and creatures and explore its many enviroements. Adventure mode is not very developed yet, so there is not much to do beside learning the world, killing things and asking people to reward you for killing things. (Quests)
Legends mode is not really a mode of play, but rather a 'library' where you can read about the events of the world you have already discovered. Since the actions of the player affect the world, you cannot do this while you have any active games on either Fortress or Adventure mode.
Now the part that will interest you most: The game features. Dwarf fortress is an extremelly detailed game. Its so details nobody really knows the amount, maybe not even the maker, so instead of describing these details this description will give some examples:
*Creatures have individual limbs that can take different level of damage, even to organs withing then, causing varying effects on the host of this damage. individual limbs can also wear or hold individual equipment.
*There is over one hundred rock types, found in the apropiate soils.
*Pretty much ever significant item in a medieval life is in the game and can be made by your dwarves, along with pretty much ever significant stuff buildings material of that age, such as bones.
*Butchering an animal will give out around 8 different itens.
*There is realistic fluid dynamics for water and lava, as well as realistic enviroements and biomes.
*Traders will come to trade with you whose characteristics and products and ability of reaching your fortress depend of where they came from and where you are.
*Each creature has its very own personality and net of relations with others, along with different levels of skill in ever job doable in the game.
This should give you an nice idea of how deep it is, and also make you suppose that such a game in alpha stage must have tons of bugs and little unrealistic details. It indeed does, but luckly most of then can be worked around and sometimes even provide funny situations that are as good, if not better, than their ausent realistic counter-parts. Again, some examples to give an idea:
*Dwarves have some stupid behaviors, such as peforming jobs everone can do while leaving for later jobs only then are assigned to do and not waking up even then the fortress in under attack.
*Dwarves can survive drinking alcoholic drinks instead of water, but only if not resting due to wounds, ocasion on wich they *must* drink water.
*There is no limit to how many itens can occup a single tile, but dwarves will only explore that advantage then ordered to dump itens.
*Cages from any material can hold any creature, such as wooden cages holding dragons, and creatures withing suffer not with thirsty or hunger.
*There is a lot of weird behaviors regarding fire, such as creatures all around not properly acknoledging its danger and trees not being burnt by it on Fortress mode.
*Then you dig, the removed earth conveniently vanishes rather than needing to be carried outside.
And this is it. For more information on the game or how to adquire it, visit: http://bay12games.com/dwarves/
For more information on how to not consolate yourself with the main hit prhase on the first five minutes, visit: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/
and: http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Main_Page
Before reading further you must know four things about it, one wich will encourage you to play it and four wich will not:
1. The game is an Alpha, what means that its still in very early stages of developement and testing and also means that there is no guarante of that it is bug-free (It is not) or that it will work on your computer.
2. Due to its high complexity and processing height, the graphics are ultra-simplified: rather than actual things, you see symbols on the screen representing those things, and due to this you also see the world as a serie of planes, each expressing a different height.
3. The interface is quite complicated and user-unfriendly and first, and using the mouse is difficult and hard to figure out to a point you will just use the keyboard instead.
4. The main hit phrase of the game is "Losing is fun!"
5. It is *free*
Now that you are aware of all those important facts: The "playing" part of the game consists of 3 modes, named 'Fortress mode', 'Adventure mode' and 'Legends mode'. In a single world you can only run one instance of then at a time.
In Fortress mode you get a party of seven dwarves that you define the equipment, skills and name of and then send to a chosen part of the generated world, point beyond wich you can do whatever you want with then, what will usually be building a fortress. Also, unless your fortress really sucks or you made it on island other dwarves from your mother civilization will migrate to your fortress, increasing the size and coolness of the deeds you can pull off. An important note thought, wich is the whole point of adventure mode, is that you do not control the actions of the dwarves directly, but rather give then orders and instructions that they carry out.
In Adventure mode you control a single dwarf, but in this case you have total control upon he or she. You can travel all over the world and interact with its many civilizations and creatures and explore its many enviroements. Adventure mode is not very developed yet, so there is not much to do beside learning the world, killing things and asking people to reward you for killing things. (Quests)
Legends mode is not really a mode of play, but rather a 'library' where you can read about the events of the world you have already discovered. Since the actions of the player affect the world, you cannot do this while you have any active games on either Fortress or Adventure mode.
Now the part that will interest you most: The game features. Dwarf fortress is an extremelly detailed game. Its so details nobody really knows the amount, maybe not even the maker, so instead of describing these details this description will give some examples:
*Creatures have individual limbs that can take different level of damage, even to organs withing then, causing varying effects on the host of this damage. individual limbs can also wear or hold individual equipment.
*There is over one hundred rock types, found in the apropiate soils.
*Pretty much ever significant item in a medieval life is in the game and can be made by your dwarves, along with pretty much ever significant stuff buildings material of that age, such as bones.
*Butchering an animal will give out around 8 different itens.
*There is realistic fluid dynamics for water and lava, as well as realistic enviroements and biomes.
*Traders will come to trade with you whose characteristics and products and ability of reaching your fortress depend of where they came from and where you are.
*Each creature has its very own personality and net of relations with others, along with different levels of skill in ever job doable in the game.
This should give you an nice idea of how deep it is, and also make you suppose that such a game in alpha stage must have tons of bugs and little unrealistic details. It indeed does, but luckly most of then can be worked around and sometimes even provide funny situations that are as good, if not better, than their ausent realistic counter-parts. Again, some examples to give an idea:
*Dwarves have some stupid behaviors, such as peforming jobs everone can do while leaving for later jobs only then are assigned to do and not waking up even then the fortress in under attack.
*Dwarves can survive drinking alcoholic drinks instead of water, but only if not resting due to wounds, ocasion on wich they *must* drink water.
*There is no limit to how many itens can occup a single tile, but dwarves will only explore that advantage then ordered to dump itens.
*Cages from any material can hold any creature, such as wooden cages holding dragons, and creatures withing suffer not with thirsty or hunger.
*There is a lot of weird behaviors regarding fire, such as creatures all around not properly acknoledging its danger and trees not being burnt by it on Fortress mode.
*Then you dig, the removed earth conveniently vanishes rather than needing to be carried outside.
And this is it. For more information on the game or how to adquire it, visit: http://bay12games.com/dwarves/
For more information on how to not consolate yourself with the main hit prhase on the first five minutes, visit: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/
and: http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Main_Page
