My only problem with the default ASCII is the tile size. The 8x16 is just not that great for a game with as much information on the screen as dwarf fortress. My

My only problem with the default ASCII is the tile size. The 8x16 is just not that great for a game with as much information on the screen as dwarf fortress. My favourite are 16x16 mostly ASCII symbols. I think it's the guybrush tiles from the dwarf fortress wiki. I've never liked any of the full graphical tilesets. I find it a lot harder to keep track of everything on the screen, even when I figure out what the different tiles are supposed to be. The black background with clear discernible symbols of the ASCII and mostly ASCII tiles make it a lot easier to get information from a screen at a quick glance while you're scrolling around the map. That being said, I do like firing up stonesense and taking a look at the fortress from that perspective just because it's awesome and I still hope for the day some enterprising miracle worker creates a real time 3d renderer for dwarf fortress.