Bay 12 Games Forum

Creations like these are what Dwarf Fortress is all about. Very nice work. 

You mentioned on Dwarf Fortress Roundtable podcast that you and Zach had a multi-day Transport Tycoon session. Could you elaborate a bit on that? I'm curious as to how you got that started and what the ultimate end result was.

I personally don't think the werebeast issue is as extreme as it looks. Yes, they do arrive early and will almost certainly wipe out an early noob fort - first time players aren't going to gnash their teeth at something like that. It's a neat story that will teach them to make armored dwarves. Hell, most first time players will lose their forts to something far more mundane anyhow. Hopefully that werebeast trigger is brought out into the raws or advanced worldgen, I wouldn't want something like that hardcoded.

A strong benefit I think you guys will have is the natural reputation Dwarf Fortress has. New players, even with the fancy new graphics, are going to immediately go to youtube/reddit/wiki to find out where to get started, what they need, and what they should look our for. I don't think a fully fledged internal tutorial is a realistic expectation, so this existing system will do fine. Even the newest players will understand this just from word of mouth.

That said, there are definitely some things that are just annoying no matter what, most of which has been covered by other posters. For Fortress Mode, I would say that (besides from the stress system issues) the military screen could use a UI overhaul. For example, having the default minimum train number hidden away in the schedule screen, and always at 10 no matter what is not very helpful. It should instead match the number of people in the squad by default.

Setting generic armor settings also can cause major headaches. Lets say I tell the squad to wear iron armor. Why does the green check mark appear even when they aren't actively wearing that specific armor piece? I know its to indicate the possibility of it being equipped, but that's very unintuitive. You also run into what I like to call the 'armor dance', where military dwarves will constantly equip the next best quality piece of armor, even if they actively training or already have an adequate piece of armor on already. I think adding a maximum preferred quality setting could help alleviate this little issue, because right now I avoid it by just manually assigning each individual piece of specific armor. It works, but it's very tedious and certain new players I doubt will tolerate frankly.

I think the real trouble will come from Adventure Mode. Right now, a lot of things just don't really work. I'll get a job to kill a bandit camp for example, and arrive only to find that the bandits aren't there at all, the bandits are all asleep and won't wake up even as I start attacking them one by one, or all the bandits are awake and fine - but aren't hostile and will instantly run away or start crying once I start attacking them. That isn't fun, and wasn't the case in earlier versions of DF. There's also the issue of people recognizing your achievements. If someone tells me to kill some night troll, I'll go out, kill them, bring word back about killing the creature - but it basically does nothing if it isn't specifically a hearthperson quest. Hell, I've had lord say things to the effect of "X Beast has terrorized our people, you must hunt it down. In 250, you killed X".  It's just this weird combination of bad phrasing, bugs and inconsistencies that makes doing even basic things in Adventure Mode just odd. That'll definitely leave new players scratching their heads, wondering what the heck is even happening. 

- A lot of people mention corpses as being too severe.  I think it's set ok as it is, and turning off corpse/refuse hauling on almost all dwarves should leave you with a couple more stoic and resilient individuals who act as undertakers. It's a gruesome job, and should take its toll on one's mental health.  Even the corpses of enemies are horrifying.  Yes, there's a little mitigation in knowing you are safe now from said enemy, but that doesn't remove the impact of seeing a gore spattered passageway strewn with blood and entrails.

I disagree on this point. First off, corpse hauling is very low priority. Even if you have a group of dedicated haulers, they're going to take their sweet time to move the bodies. Plenty of time for others dwarves to see the corpse and get the negative thought. Mind as well make everyone a hauler, the end result is going to be the same.

And while it's undeniably gruesome and harrowing to see, it will become less so with each encounter for your average dwarf. Seeing your first dead sapient would be a lasting experience. Seeing your 154th isn't. But the game currently treats that one with the same severity as the first. Some dwarves will never grow to cope with it obviously, but I imagine most would.

Anyone have any idea how to increase the odds of some hillocks or other sites to spawn as linked to your fort? It feels totally random from my past few fort experiences (usually getting either a bunch of sites in the first two years, or none at all ever).

How exactly does a historical figure choose to divorce their spouse in worldgen? Is it based on their current relationship 'status', civilization ethics, general personality, or something else entirely? Are all divorces now 'mutual' in the sense that both parties wish to end the relationship, or is it possible for only one partner to end the marriage?

Looks neat, looking forward to see this grow.

Did you breech hell in some fort?

Nope, a fresh new world first time played.