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Ever since I read the NY Times article posted here a couple years ago (see below), I have had a similar response. I love reading about Dwarf Fortress, but I'm h

Ever since I read the NY Times article posted here a couple years ago (see below), I have had a similar response. I love reading about Dwarf Fortress, but I'm hesitant to actually try it. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/magazine/the-brilliance-of-dwarf-fortress.html?pagewanted=all* http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/magazine/the-brilliance-of...

exDM69 13y ago
You guys should just try the game. There have been a few articles that highlight the difficulty of the game but that is only in comparison to modern console games targeted at soda guzzling teens with a one second attention span. You can grok the basics of the game in an hour or so by following a beginner tutorial. During your first few hours you will fail your first few fortresses. After your first session, you should have a grasp of things and the next time you should be able to just pick up the game and get back to it. I think the time suck aspect of this game is exaggerated a lot. You can pause and save the game at any point and get back to it later. There's one thing that some of the tutorials and introductions don't make clear: you control the fortress, not the individual dwarfs.
- axefrog 13y ago
  "There have been a few articles that highlight the difficulty of the game but that is only in comparison to modern console games targeted at soda guzzling teens with a one second attention span" No. Your assertion is that the only likely improvement to the UI would be a simple gamepad-mashing interface. DF is difficult even compared to programs with a complicated UI and games with a "normal" steep learning curve. Not wanting to battle through an insane UI does not equate one to a "soda guzzling teen".
  - fleshgolem 13y ago
    Completely agree. Dwarf Therapist kinda shows how you can improve the UI without dumbing the game in itself down
  - boomlinde 13y ago
    No, his assertion wasn't that the only likely improvement to the UI would be a simple gamepad-mashing interface. And nowhere was is implied that not wanting to battle through an insane UI does not equate one to a "soda guzzling teen".
  - smacktoward 13y ago
    Seriously. I play and love the grand strategy games Paradox Interactive makes (Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis, Victoria, etc.), and those are some pretty complicated, hard-to-get-into games. And yet even I look at Dwarf Fortress and think "man, that's impossible."
- James_Duval 13y ago
  Well - you CAN order your dwarves around. It's just ludicrously complex. You can also manipulate world-gen so you have an easier time of it (making the game essentially Harvest Moon with occasional killer fish), but where's the fun in that?
  - StevenRayOrr 13y ago
    As someone who played far too much emulator Harvest Moon, I think you are selling short the prospect of such a game + occasional killer fish.
- boneheadmed 13y ago
  Thanks for the encouragement. Think I'll give it a go, or I guess begin my descent in to losing (whereby losing == fun).
imdsm 13y ago
You guys should try it. Get the LazyNewbPack, that is a windows bundle which comes with a few utils, tilesets etc. Check out the wiki (http://dwarffortresswiki.org/ http://dwarffortresswiki.org/), it's the best website on the internet. If you're still stuck, visit the df subreddit and ask for help, the people there are pretty awesome (http://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress http://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress). It takes some getting into, but once you're in, you're in.

exDM69 13y ago

You guys should just try the game. There have been a few articles that highlight the difficulty of the game but that is only in comparison to modern console games targeted at soda guzzling teens with a one second attention span. You can grok the basics of the game in an hour or so by following a beginner tutorial. During your first few hours you will fail your first few fortresses. After your first session, you should have a grasp of things and the next time you should be able to just pick up the game and get back to it. I think the time suck aspect of this game is exaggerated a lot. You can pause and save the game at any point and get back to it later. There's one thing that some of the tutorials and introductions don't make clear: you control the fortress, not the individual dwarfs.

axefrog 13y ago
"There have been a few articles that highlight the difficulty of the game but that is only in comparison to modern console games targeted at soda guzzling teens with a one second attention span" No. Your assertion is that the only likely improvement to the UI would be a simple gamepad-mashing interface. DF is difficult even compared to programs with a complicated UI and games with a "normal" steep learning curve. Not wanting to battle through an insane UI does not equate one to a "soda guzzling teen".
- fleshgolem 13y ago
  Completely agree. Dwarf Therapist kinda shows how you can improve the UI without dumbing the game in itself down
- boomlinde 13y ago
  No, his assertion wasn't that the only likely improvement to the UI would be a simple gamepad-mashing interface. And nowhere was is implied that not wanting to battle through an insane UI does not equate one to a "soda guzzling teen".
- smacktoward 13y ago
  Seriously. I play and love the grand strategy games Paradox Interactive makes (Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis, Victoria, etc.), and those are some pretty complicated, hard-to-get-into games. And yet even I look at Dwarf Fortress and think "man, that's impossible."
James_Duval 13y ago
Well - you CAN order your dwarves around. It's just ludicrously complex. You can also manipulate world-gen so you have an easier time of it (making the game essentially Harvest Moon with occasional killer fish), but where's the fun in that?
- StevenRayOrr 13y ago
  As someone who played far too much emulator Harvest Moon, I think you are selling short the prospect of such a game + occasional killer fish.
boneheadmed 13y ago
Thanks for the encouragement. Think I'll give it a go, or I guess begin my descent in to losing (whereby losing == fun).

imdsm 13y ago

You guys should try it. Get the LazyNewbPack, that is a windows bundle which comes with a few utils, tilesets etc. Check out the wiki (http://dwarffortresswiki.org/ http://dwarffortresswiki.org/), it's the best website on the internet. If you're still stuck, visit the df subreddit and ask for help, the people there are pretty awesome (http://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress http://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress). It takes some getting into, but once you're in, you're in.