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I played DF way back 12+ years ago, knew all the keyboard shortcuts by heart. Then I acquired a life for several years and returned recently to the Steam versi

I played DF way back 12+ years ago, knew all the keyboard shortcuts by heart. Then I acquired a life for several years and returned recently to the Steam version. I can highly recommend it! I'm able to play it with just my laptop touchpad. Of course a mouse makes it easier but point being the UI is VASTLY improved. And it's still a source of endless random story telling. The new version feels a bit nerfed, several users have pointed this out. But you can always increase the difficulty in several different ways.

indigochill 3y ago
Is it my imagination, or have the shortcuts changed? I picked up the Steam version over Christmas but was actually really struggling with the UI whereas I have memories of manipulating the keyboard shortcuts without a second thought in the original version. Could also just be I forgot since yeah it's been a few years here as well.
- ToValueFunfetti 3y ago
  You're right, they did a reorganization of a lot of the actions to make things more accessible to new users and that did change/remove a lot of the shortcuts.
- INTPenis 3y ago
  The shortcuts have changed, likely to accomodate the new UI structure. You can pick it up within a few play throughs though.
- RugnirViking 3y ago
  this was the kicker for me. I really can't play the new update. that and the fact that the non-steam version has pretty huge bugs (entirely invisible menus)
Night_Thastus 3y ago
I was under the impression the developer(s?) kept pretty thorough notes. In any case, with the addition of the new graphics, I wouldn't be too surprised if some changes were made to make it a bit more accessible now that there's been so much more interest in it.
- INTPenis 3y ago
  It might also be that they've fixed so many notorious bugs that you don't end up in a tantrum spiral or catsplosions anymore. It's just a feeling so far, backed up by other players on the subreddit.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    It might be, or it may also be that we're much better at managing them (and tutorials and guides implicitly encourage you to control for them). Once I learned how to not starve, DF was never terribly difficult for me, but then again I wasn't trying expeditions to undead wastelands.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
flobosg 3y ago
Similar story here: I played it until ~10 years ago, when a PhD got in the way. I might get the Steam version now, thanks for the reminder!
gs17 3y ago
>The new version feels a bit nerfed, several users have pointed this out. But you can always increase the difficulty in several different ways. I've always felt that it wasn't really so difficult unless you wanted it to be. My forts only ever fell to boredom or FPS, but I stuck to biomes where things stay dead. Goblins/undead/vampires/werecreatures are a pain, but usually manageable if you're not totally unaware. Clowns only ask that you take a limited amount of cotton candy if you don't want the circus to come to town.
- a1369209993 3y ago
  > Clowns only ask that you take a limited amount of cotton candy Actually, this is wrong. Rather, there are 'safe' candy tiles and 'unsafe' ones. You can take a unlimited[0] amount of safe candy, but taking even a single unsafe tile can potentially result in immediate circus. (That's what makes it 'unsafe'.) 0: Well, it's "limited" to however much [safe] candy is actually present, but that's not what "limited" means in the context you used it. You can safely take all of the safe candy that is there to take.
  - gs17 3y ago
    No, "limited" means the same thing in the context I used it, there is a limit to how much you can take, the limit being the safe tiles. If you really want to be pedantic, the amount is always "limited" because maps are finite.
    - a1369209993 3y ago
      The phrase "that you take a limited amount" implies that the amount taken is the primary determining factor. For example, that (at least approximately) taking four tiles is always safe, regardless of which four, and taking four hundred is always unsafe, even if each individual tile could have been one of the aformentioned four safe ones. But (DF) candy doesn't work like that at all; each tile is either completely safe, or has a noticable (if not always large) chance of having a circus tent behind it, completely independantly of any safe tiles, and only dependant on other unsafe tiles in the minesweeper sense (ie, that you sometimes know there's a circus tent behind either tile A or tile B, but not which).
erik_seaberg 3y ago
> Then I acquired a life for several years In EVE Online they call this winning the game.
causality0 3y ago
Mixed feelings about the Steam version personally. The ascii version characters were all direction-neutral. All the Steam characters and creatures look straight left regardless of the direction they're moving or which way the object they're interacting with is, and I find it immensely disorienting.

indigochill 3y ago

Is it my imagination, or have the shortcuts changed? I picked up the Steam version over Christmas but was actually really struggling with the UI whereas I have memories of manipulating the keyboard shortcuts without a second thought in the original version. Could also just be I forgot since yeah it's been a few years here as well.

ToValueFunfetti 3y ago
You're right, they did a reorganization of a lot of the actions to make things more accessible to new users and that did change/remove a lot of the shortcuts.
INTPenis 3y ago
The shortcuts have changed, likely to accomodate the new UI structure. You can pick it up within a few play throughs though.
RugnirViking 3y ago
this was the kicker for me. I really can't play the new update. that and the fact that the non-steam version has pretty huge bugs (entirely invisible menus)

Night_Thastus 3y ago

I was under the impression the developer(s?) kept pretty thorough notes. In any case, with the addition of the new graphics, I wouldn't be too surprised if some changes were made to make it a bit more accessible now that there's been so much more interest in it.

INTPenis 3y ago
It might also be that they've fixed so many notorious bugs that you don't end up in a tantrum spiral or catsplosions anymore. It's just a feeling so far, backed up by other players on the subreddit.
- bombcar 3y ago
  It might be, or it may also be that we're much better at managing them (and tutorials and guides implicitly encourage you to control for them). Once I learned how to not starve, DF was never terribly difficult for me, but then again I wasn't trying expeditions to undead wastelands.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

flobosg 3y ago

Similar story here: I played it until ~10 years ago, when a PhD got in the way. I might get the Steam version now, thanks for the reminder!

gs17 3y ago

>The new version feels a bit nerfed, several users have pointed this out. But you can always increase the difficulty in several different ways. I've always felt that it wasn't really so difficult unless you wanted it to be. My forts only ever fell to boredom or FPS, but I stuck to biomes where things stay dead. Goblins/undead/vampires/werecreatures are a pain, but usually manageable if you're not totally unaware. Clowns only ask that you take a limited amount of cotton candy if you don't want the circus to come to town.

a1369209993 3y ago
> Clowns only ask that you take a limited amount of cotton candy Actually, this is wrong. Rather, there are 'safe' candy tiles and 'unsafe' ones. You can take a unlimited[0] amount of safe candy, but taking even a single unsafe tile can potentially result in immediate circus. (That's what makes it 'unsafe'.) 0: Well, it's "limited" to however much [safe] candy is actually present, but that's not what "limited" means in the context you used it. You can safely take all of the safe candy that is there to take.
- gs17 3y ago
  No, "limited" means the same thing in the context I used it, there is a limit to how much you can take, the limit being the safe tiles. If you really want to be pedantic, the amount is always "limited" because maps are finite.
  - a1369209993 3y ago
    The phrase "that you take a limited amount" implies that the amount taken is the primary determining factor. For example, that (at least approximately) taking four tiles is always safe, regardless of which four, and taking four hundred is always unsafe, even if each individual tile could have been one of the aformentioned four safe ones. But (DF) candy doesn't work like that at all; each tile is either completely safe, or has a noticable (if not always large) chance of having a circus tent behind it, completely independantly of any safe tiles, and only dependant on other unsafe tiles in the minesweeper sense (ie, that you sometimes know there's a circus tent behind either tile A or tile B, but not which).

erik_seaberg 3y ago

> Then I acquired a life for several years In EVE Online they call this winning the game.

causality0 3y ago

Mixed feelings about the Steam version personally. The ascii version characters were all direction-neutral. All the Steam characters and creatures look straight left regardless of the direction they're moving or which way the object they're interacting with is, and I find it immensely disorienting.