As someone who finds DF to be too intimidating to learn, I'm glad to see a fan who doesn't go "BLAH BLAH BLAH KEEP PLAYING BLAH BLAH GET OVER THE FUCKING LEARNING CURVE BLAH BLAH LOSING IS FUN ETC".
I'm a fan of 2D shooters, for instance, but I'm aware that there are people who may not like the genre for many reasons.
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My opinion? Toady needs to tone down the damn migrant waves. They almost all suck, and now a newly arrived weaponsmith has entered a fey mood. Honestly I'm not gonna end up getting a metal industry going in time. If I do though, and he makes some crazy artifact sword...W 00 T.
This is a signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
^Actually, I like the migrant waves. They keep you under pressure and strain your resources, which means more potential Fun.
You cannot negotiate with fire.
Looking back on this review several months later, there is one small point I would like to clarify: when you are first trying out DF for yourself, please, PLEASE wait until you have gotten used to the interface before deciding if you like it or not. I'm not saying that you'll probably like the game so long as you can live with the interface; what I'm saying is that YOU WILL. HATE. THE INTERFACE, especially at first, and that the big question is if the rest of the game makes this up to you; you probably shouldn't decide this for sure until you've gotten used to the interface's quirks (see the opening paragraph of the review).
Was, is, and always will be in a passionate love affair with the semicolon.Leave a Comment:
You have struck diamond!
Dwarf Fortress is a deceptive little gem. After hearing all sorts of crazy stuff about it, I decided to give it a try... And, to be honest, I thought it was a joke. The UI was absolutely impenetrable and, due to the ASCII display, it took me an hour just to figure out what the hell I was looking at.
One glorious, Fun-laden year later, I am looking back at that first attempt and laughing my ass off.
Dwarf Fortress thrives on its depth. While most games boast about "100 hours of play time!", that is not depth. That is merely length. This game absolutely bowled me over with its sheer complexity — While the basic premise is childishly simple (Build a dwarven fortress!), there are many equally valid ways to go about building your
deathtrapfortress, and there are so many variables (Climate! Terrain! Megabeast attacks! Et cetera!) that no two embarks are ever quite the same; Each fortress develops a character and narrative of its own, and the game's extreme customisability only adds to the rich variety.So, is this game for everyone? Oh, HELL no. I cannot stress this point enough. The interface is utterly incomprehensible for the first few days, some features don't quite work the way they should, and quite a bit of patience and micromanaging is required while you watch your fortress blossom. Furthermore, Dwarf Fortress comes with absolutely no predetermined goals — while some people like setting their own goals, others just won't find this game very satisfying. Also, this game requires a lot of processing power, and on less-powerful computers can run so slowly as to be virtually unplayable.
Dwarf Fortress is hit-or-miss — you will either love it or hate it passionately, and I myself thought the game was a waste of time until I found the wiki and had it explained to me. If you're unsure, try reading the various Lets Plays, particularly the infamous Boatmurdered; it'll help you get a good idea of whether this is a game you would enjoy.
Overall, this is certainly worth a look, although it may not be your cup of tea.