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Dwarf Fortress => DF General Discussion => Topic started by: freakdog on January 16, 2018, 06:25:18 pm

Title: Best portable device for playing DF
Post by: freakdog on January 16, 2018, 06:25:18 pm
So, now's the time to ask. What is the best portable device for playing DF. Something that runs linux or windows? Something with a large screen? Something with a real keyboard?

Am I better off running an Amazon cloud instance with a specific setup for single thread performance and connecting through a remote desktop?

What are your thoughts?
Title: Re: Best portable device for playing DF
Post by: CaptainArchmage on January 16, 2018, 08:06:42 pm
Quote from: freakdog on January 16, 2018, 06:25:18 pm
Am I better off running an Amazon cloud instance with a specific setup for single thread performance and connecting through a remote desktop?

I'm thinking the absolute best arrangement would be remote desktop support for the best single thread performance you can. An infrastructural system that doesn't have power restrictions on the processor really helps.
Title: Re: Best portable device for playing DF
Post by: falcn on January 19, 2018, 02:28:38 pm
If you have iPad:

http://mifki.com/df/

Check out "Installation" -> "Linux & Cloud" section
Title: Re: Best portable device for playing DF
Post by: wierd on January 20, 2018, 02:26:34 am
chromebooks with either crouton, or mrchromebox + galliumos seem to work OK for small to medium sized worlds.

I have an older samsung chromebook 3 (Celes), running galliumos.  It currently has a standard sized embark with 100 dwarves running at about 15fps. It is fairly light weight, has great battery life (8hrs active use), and has "acceptable but a bit sluggish" performance.

Title: Re: Best portable device for playing DF
Post by: Criperum on January 25, 2018, 06:25:01 am
(http://img11.nnm2.com/f/7/e/6/d/82649b57b3d7d6ed0dd8716495a.jpg)
Title: Re: Best portable device for playing DF
Post by: SmileyMan on January 25, 2018, 10:00:03 am
I have a quad-i7 desktop replacement laptop. I wouldn't want to actually put it on top of my lap though, and on battery it gets about 45 minutes!!!

Runs DF an absolute treat though...
Title: Re: Best portable device for playing DF
Post by: wierd on January 31, 2018, 04:01:02 am
I recently did some research for a friend of mine (who was enamored by my hacked chromebook), and I believe I found the most power-user/hacker friendly model.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015806LSQ/ref=twister_B01FX0N0T4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

It is fully supported (with full UEFI replacement bios available via MrChromebox), and can run windows 8.1, or Linux. It has an NGFF SSD inside instead of cheapsauce eMMC storage (meaning you can upgrade or replace the internal storage), and it can come with an i3 processor.

It gets the advantages of a long battery life, reasonable CPU, and low cost-- but small memory size. (Not as big an issue if you use linux, as you can use zram based swap, and the hit is not near as bad when it allocates more than 4gb.)

It should not roast your gonads like an i7 would.
Title: Re: Best portable device for playing DF
Post by: mikekchar on January 31, 2018, 08:00:40 am
I've discovered that text mode in Linux is really efficient, battery-wise.  Admittedly this laptop is geared towards good battery life, but I can get about 8 hours of DF on a charge (which is about all I can get on it for *anything*).   I would try that before I would try exporting displays, etc.  Almost certainly it will even be better than SSHing in over a WiFi connection (because the WiFi radio is relatively expensive).  Main hint for extended battery life is to keep the display brightness down (believe it or not I set it to only 11%).  Modify your colors for your terminal to have a fairly large contrast difference and use a fairly big font.  The other main point is that if you have an Intel processor you can use an application called "powertop" to tweak power settings.  Just be careful not to permanently set up the settings because you can cause your machine not to boot (no way you can do that from the app itself, but if you follow some tutorials to set up the power tweaking permanently, then you can be in for a rough day if a kernel change breaks that functionality).

I've gotten to the point that I actually prefer using text mode now (although it took a bit of getting used to -- especially since there are no square TTF fonts that I've been able to find anywhere).
Title: Re: Best portable device for playing DF
Post by: funkydwarf on February 04, 2018, 11:33:14 pm
Get an apple device and get Mifki's remote fortress setup with a computer at home.

You would need a data connection on the ipad but the remote fortress looks very very good. I would pay 10 bucks for an android client in a second, I even sent him a small donation for making it , cause it looks so nice, even though I will never buy an apple device, simply to expensive and I dont need the easy experience they offer.  Hands down looks to be the best way ever to play df in a small package, completely rewritten for the touch display and no keyboard.

Or a surface 3 with an i5 or i7  may run it local very nice, but the lack of a keyboard could make it tough to play. If I was working my old job I would consider buying an old ipad just for that. But Im broke these days following a dream.
Title: Re: Best portable device for playing DF
Post by: falcn on February 05, 2018, 03:20:07 am
Quote from: funkydwarf on February 04, 2018, 11:33:14 pm
I will never buy an apple device, simply to expensive
you can get an older iPad below $100 from ebay. should still work for df remote
Title: Re: Best portable device for playing DF
Post by: wierd on February 05, 2018, 03:37:20 am
Quote from: mikekchar on January 31, 2018, 08:00:40 am
I've discovered that text mode in Linux is really efficient, battery-wise.  Admittedly this laptop is geared towards good battery life, but I can get about 8 hours of DF on a charge (which is about all I can get on it for *anything*).   I would try that before I would try exporting displays, etc.  Almost certainly it will even be better than SSHing in over a WiFi connection (because the WiFi radio is relatively expensive).  Main hint for extended battery life is to keep the display brightness down (believe it or not I set it to only 11%).  Modify your colors for your terminal to have a fairly large contrast difference and use a fairly big font.  The other main point is that if you have an Intel processor you can use an application called "powertop" to tweak power settings.  Just be careful not to permanently set up the settings because you can cause your machine not to boot (no way you can do that from the app itself, but if you follow some tutorials to set up the power tweaking permanently, then you can be in for a rough day if a kernel change breaks that functionality).

I've gotten to the point that I actually prefer using text mode now (although it took a bit of getting used to -- especially since there are no square TTF fonts that I've been able to find anywhere).

You want a monospaced console font.  Even then, a 1:1 aspect ratio in the glyph is going to be a bit hard to find. Most are going to be 1:2. 

I have already started work on a different font for a specific purpose, otherwise I would consider making one that is square (as my research shows a decided lack of them)
Title: Re: Best portable device for playing DF
Post by: Gashcozokon on March 14, 2018, 04:20:08 am
You definitely want a physical keyboard. Beyond that it depends on budget. If you can afford a device with the horsepower to run a local copy, but that is generally overkill when there are remote options available. As already pointed out the Apple product route is one way for Mifki's project. But Adeon's DFTerm is another great option as long as you are ok running the 32-bit version. And update a few of the key-bindings.

Spoiler: Links & Details (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Sample Screenshot (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Best portable device for playing DF
Post by: NAV on March 14, 2018, 05:17:03 pm
Quote from: SmileyMan on January 25, 2018, 10:00:03 am
I have a quad-i7 desktop replacement laptop. I wouldn't want to actually put it on top of my lap though, and on battery it gets about 45 minutes!!!

Runs DF an absolute treat though...
Same bro  8)

Is it cause of the weight, heat, or fertility killing radiation?