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Dirtyblue929 Since: Dec, 2012 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#1: Dec 25th 2022 at 8:53:26 PM

The current image has a note saying it was agreed to be kept by an IP thread, but the linked thread (from 2012) was only discussing its... colorful caption, which is apparently an old 4chan meme and has since had to be altered anyway for accuracy. If any of the non-ASCII suggestions go through we'd probably have to change it; I'd go with "Losing is Fun" which is the unofficial tagline of the game, or if we're going to keep in the jokey spirit, "FINE, here's your damn graphics!"

Anyway - current image is just the custom ASCII character used to represent dwarves in the windowed version of the game's freeware edition (in fullscreen it uses a different one with a beard). I'd personally recommend either the official logo for the new paid version, that plus some keyart, or if we must keep the ASCII (understandable if not my preference) then the official ASCII "poster" art used by the game's Twitch listing. As a bonus, the new logo includes the ASCII dwarf:

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/df_image_1.png

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/df_image_2.jpg

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/df_official_logo.png

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/df_image_3.jpg

Edited by Willbyr on Dec 25th 2022 at 11:22:57 AM

Willbyr Hi (Y2K) Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Hi
#2: Dec 25th 2022 at 9:23:34 PM

I put some space between the pics to make them a bit easier to tell apart. For me, it's 1.1 = 1.3 > 1.2 > 1.4

Dirtyblue929 Since: Dec, 2012 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#3: Dec 25th 2022 at 9:26:33 PM

No problem lol, thanks [tup]

Also realized that if we change the caption to "Losing is Fun" we'll need a new page quote. Gonna go ahead and field either this one from the top of the game's quotes page:

"We don't want another cheap fantasy universe, we want a cheap fantasy universe generator."
Tarn "Toady One" Adams, 2006

Or this one from the steam page:

"With the goal of simulating all of existence, Bay 12 estimates they’re only about 44% done."
Steam Page, 2022

Edited by Dirtyblue929 on Dec 25th 2022 at 9:38:20 AM

dvx105 Apprentice Alphabetizer Since: Feb, 2016 Relationship Status: I've got a total eclipse of the heart
Apprentice Alphabetizer
#4: Dec 25th 2022 at 11:23:07 PM

1.1 and 1.4 are [tup] for me. Is probably a matter of taste between the classic/Steam appearances.

[up] Both these quotes work great, since I agree “losing is fun” is a much better caption.

Noaqiyeum we must dissent (it/they) from across the gulf of space (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
we must dissent (it/they)
#5: Dec 26th 2022 at 2:58:32 AM

Current > 1.4 > 1.2 > 1.1 >> 1.3. (It feels wrong to use art which is so unrepresentative of the game, even the paid version, but "just the title again but decorated" is the worst type of works page image. 1.2 seems balanced.)

Agreed that "Losing is fun" makes a good caption, though.

Edited by Noaqiyeum on Dec 26th 2022 at 10:59:17 AM

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selkies TOO serious! from Guess, guess, guess Since: Jan, 2021 Relationship Status: Star-crossed
TOO serious!
#6: Dec 26th 2022 at 4:33:49 AM

1.1 & "losing is fun" as a caption. [tup]

Uncanny Valley Hot Babes in Your Area Are Looking To Know YOU! Click Here to Sign Up for FREE! | Not quite back tbh. Don't expect much.
FernandoLemon Since: Aug, 2015
#7: Dec 26th 2022 at 6:11:21 AM

1.1 > 1.4 > the rest > Current

Edited by FernandoLemon on Dec 26th 2022 at 11:12:04 AM

StalkerGamer That's All, Folks! Since: Dec, 2021 Relationship Status: Love is an open door
petersohn from Earth, Solar System (Long Runner) Relationship Status: Hiding
Earnest (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Ultimatum Disasturbator from The Wiggle Room (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#11: Dec 26th 2022 at 9:08:25 AM

n 0 0 0 0!

[tdown] for changing the image!

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
ChloeJessica Since: Jun, 2020 Relationship Status: Awaiting my mail-order bride
Dirtyblue929 Since: Dec, 2012 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#13: Dec 26th 2022 at 12:10:11 PM

Going just by top picks so far that's seven [down][down] for 1.1, two for keep current, and three [down] for 1.4

Edited by Dirtyblue929 on Dec 26th 2022 at 2:29:59 AM

Orbiting Since: Nov, 2014 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
#14: Dec 26th 2022 at 12:18:51 PM

1.4; not a fan of 1.1 since that artwork is so unrepresentative of the gameplay.

RandomTroper123 She / Her from I'll let you guess... (Not-So-Newbie) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
She / Her
#15: Dec 26th 2022 at 1:42:44 PM

I agree the current image is pretty bad and, while I actually feel all suggestions work better, I like 1.1 the most. I also agree with changing the caption to "Losing is fun.", partly because I feel the current caption is too long.

As for the quotes, I actually feel either works, though I'm leaning on the Tarn "Toady One" Adams one because I find it funnier. That said, we're supposed to bring page quotes up to the thread "General Page Quote Discussion:", at least to my knowledge.

Dirtyblue929 Since: Dec, 2012 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#16: Dec 26th 2022 at 2:11:28 PM

[up] Fair enough, I wasn't aware. Thanks! I'll take it there once this thread runs its course.

petersohn from Earth, Solar System (Long Runner) Relationship Status: Hiding
#17: Dec 26th 2022 at 2:16:14 PM

Changed my mind on the caption. "Losing is fun" is the current page quote, and it works better there than as an image caption. [tdown] to the current caption though.

Fjón þvæ ég af mér fjanda minna rán og reiði ríkra manna.
Dirtyblue929 Since: Dec, 2012 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#18: Dec 26th 2022 at 2:54:08 PM

I will say, I understand the idea that 1.1/1.2 don't "represent the gameplay", but frankly, the current doesn't either? It's a single ASCII symbol, and one that only shows up in the game when played in a specific way (windowed, IIRC, and only the freeware branch or the premium edition on "classic visuals" mode) at that. Not to mention that with the premium version out and giving massive press and sales, its art is going to be a lot more recognizable and prominent in the public mindset.

Admittedly that doesn't change the fact that these two don't represent gameplay either, but on another track of argument... I mean, very few games have coverart that does? Say a new Divinity: Original Sin game comes out; you wouldn't vote down the cover as its page image just because it doesn't convey the turn-based combat and its interface, right?

Edited by Dirtyblue929 on Dec 26th 2022 at 2:56:18 AM

dvx105 Apprentice Alphabetizer Since: Feb, 2016 Relationship Status: I've got a total eclipse of the heart
Apprentice Alphabetizer
#19: Dec 26th 2022 at 5:01:16 PM

[up] Agreed. I mean, given it’s the official cover art for the Steam edition, it was “representative of the gameplay” enough for Tarn and Zach.

Either way, 1.4 is works great if people prefer the classic appearance. Either is better than current.

RandomTroper123 She / Her from I'll let you guess... (Not-So-Newbie) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
She / Her
#20: Dec 26th 2022 at 8:32:18 PM

[up](x4) You're welcome.

Noaqiyeum we must dissent (it/they) from across the gulf of space (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
we must dissent (it/they)
#21: Dec 26th 2022 at 11:56:14 PM

[up][up][up] Reflectively, I guess I consider Premium a financially-necessary parallel offshoot of Classic, something like a remaster, rather than a more-official release version. I'm thrilled that it's doing so well, but making it the main page image would be like replacing the image on Myst with the cover for Myst VR, or Pokémon Red and Blue with FireRed and LeafGreen.

In addition to being more iconic of DF's history, I think the cover with the ASCII landscape is more representative of its janky complexity than the cute but fairly generic cartoony-RPG style of the keyart. (Personally, I also think the ASCII dorf is more endearing.) To use your Divinity: Original Sin example, if there were two artistically equivalent covers but one conveyed more about the experience of actually playing the game, surely that one is the logical choice?

Finally, this has been a lot of arguing about whether the keyart is 'representative enough', but can we go back to the beginning? Dirtyblue, you spent a whole paragraph on the caption but never actually explained why the current image is bad and I'd like to have that cleared up first before we go back to what we replace it with.

ERROR: The current state of the world is unacceptable. Save anyway? YES/NO
Dirtyblue929 Since: Dec, 2012 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#22: Dec 27th 2022 at 10:38:24 AM

[up] I covered it fairly briefly, though to be entirely fair and to concede a point "poor image" may not have been the most ideal category for this, JAFAAC and Does Not Illustrate also apply to an extent but perhaps "suggestion" would have been more appropriate since this is apparently a touchy subject:

current image is just the custom ASCII character used to represent dwarves in the windowed version of the game's freeware edition (in fullscreen it uses a different one with a beard).

To expand on the reasoning there: Not only is this merely a single 9x8 pixel ASCII smiley face — "iconic" as it may be to the game that's hardly unique or distinctive — but it's only used by the game (yes, even the non-premium version) on certain graphics settings and relies entirely on the caption (which, as I've mentioned, is an ancient copypasta meme) to tell an uninformed reader what its relevance to the game is or what it's even supposed to represent.

1.1 and 1.2 at least clearly visually convey aspects of the game like "dwarf", "cavern", "mining" etc without needing textual explanation, and 1.4 at least shows something other than a single low-res smiley face, in this case a generated overworld in the background, which helps convey the scope of the game if nothing else. Not to mention all the suggestions contain the "bearded" version of the dwarf ASCII in some way, which at the very least is unique looking.

If we absolutely have to keep the page image to a single ASCII character for the sake of tradition or whatever, I'd prefer we at least change it to that, since as I mentioned a smiley face — while funny in combination with the caption as a quasi-inside joke for people familiar with DF and its community — is supremely generic and non-illustrative.

Edited by Dirtyblue929 on Dec 27th 2022 at 2:32:25 AM

Theriocephalus Amateur Veteran from gimme a map and a moment and I can tell you Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Amateur Veteran
#23: Dec 27th 2022 at 7:55:17 PM

My personal favorite is 1.3 — nice clean official logo, always great in my book — followed by 1.1 — representative or not, official cover art is official cover art.

snowfire Quintesson Prosecutor from Unspace Since: Dec, 2021 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
Quintesson Prosecutor
#24: Dec 28th 2022 at 8:46:44 AM

Literally anything is better than current, I'm throwing the [tup]-knife at 1.1 and 1.3

All universes shall be judged.
Dirtyblue929 Since: Dec, 2012 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#25: Dec 28th 2022 at 7:42:24 PM

Just to tally up again for day three — going by top picks (with "equals", "either/or", etc treated as 1 for each) that's Eight for 1.1, Three for 1.3, Four for 1.4, Two for Keep Current. Should we hook a crowner, or keep the discussion rolling?

Edited by Dirtyblue929 on Dec 28th 2022 at 7:45:50 AM

Image Pickin': VideoGame/DwarfFortress
29th Dec '22 8:34:29 AM

Crown Description:

Dwarf Fortress

Total posts: 34
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