Bay 12 Games Forum

Quote from: vanarbulax on June 23, 2009, 04:43:25 am

Yeah we have another teenager here. Any statement which says "most young people" is going to be as wrong as any statement saying "most adults". Despite what the general populace think we don't act as a hive mind.

Most young people are under 18 years of age.(depending on your definition of "young")

Most adults are over the age of 18. What I meant was that saying "most young people" about something which doesn't isn't an attribute of all "young people" (e.g Most young people have no time for retro games) is like saying "most adults watch mostly crime shows". A "young person" is going to be as likely to fit to the norm as an adult is, I'm not saying that many teenagers aren't a mass of nerves desperate to get approval from their peers, I think many adults are as well they just hide it better. But I think you knew that and were just trying to make a joke.

Oh and 17 here if you want an actual age.

It's very much an argument. You cannot add more and more features and options, without the code having gelled enough that it is easy and quick to do.

I think you have entirely missed the point of an alpha, it's all about adding new things and making drastic changes before too much time has been invested and everything is set in its way. Things "gelling" together is what you do during the beta stage otherwise if you start "gelling" in an alpha you might add something which wrecks something you've spent a lot of time on.

Alpha is all about making modifications before it causes too much trouble and while I do agree that immigration waves don't turn people off at first (even then it can be one of the most overwhelming things for a new player to go from 7 to 27 dwarves) it can still turn many a player off after a while, losing player base further down the line.

To me quality is how well a game accomplishes its goals without annoyances and maintains a constant level of pace and interest (as said before polish, usability). Its pretty obvious that building walls, managing squads, even assigning jobs severely lacks polish/usability as it should this "early" in development. I'm not saying that dwarf fortress isn't engaging, or full of content and promise but it isn't made to a high quality (yet), if you remove the fact it's in an alpha (which is what the reviewer is doing when they compare it to other games).

To use another dubious metaphor and reference Portal again: Portal is full of quality, its a funky livable apartment which suits the basic living needs and is great when you just want a hassle free space. Dwarf fortress on the other hand is a fortress, nay a citadel under construction, it's large, it's confusing, it's hard to navigate and only a few of the rooms are actually habitable but its sheer scope and quirkiness/sense of discovery will make a dedicate few ignore its rough walls and lack of paint.

I totally agree. I'm just pointing out it's perfectly valid for someone to claim that DF is surpassed by a lot of games in terms of quality.

Someone needs to construct a giant Clear Glass eye on top of them, and fill it with magma.

Agreed, this suggestion wins IMHO. Maybe also include a way to drop the magma onto enemies.

From the something awful classic covers thread (not by me)



EDIT: Odd, the image still works for me and that was the URL from the SA thread but yes the one below. I did kind of feel like and idiot when in my rush to post something I found so awesometastic I failed to notice the topic started on it. Still should be the (un)offical box art IMHO.

*necro again*

Wolfire are giving away a free copies of overgrowth lugaru on Christmas for those of you who are interested.