Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[DarkMagnus]

I hope this hasn't been done to death, but how about more active info on what's going on in the game?

Right now we get announcements for fey moods/job interruptions/deaths and the like, but little else. I like to be a little bit more informed on what's going on. Is there anything like a calendar/updated ticker in the works?

It seems like it'd be helpful to get a message saying 'Urist McArmordwarf has finished crafting 5] Steel Plates', or 'Work order for 30 clear glass blocks complete'.

There's a thousand different things I'm sure we'd all like updates on. Is anything like this planned?

[Footkerchief]

The notification for a completed work order actually does get announced.  You can check a calendar from the Z screen, top right.

[Salbrismind]

I would seconded this, but only for a few things. I already have problems with the log getting spammed with canceled work orders, the last thing we need are 20 more things to popup. Maybe notifications if a stockpile is filled? If a miner has nothing to mine? If he can't reach a spot? If your dwarves engage in battle? I can imagine this will be dealt with in the interface arc.

[Andir]

How about actually making it a ticker?

Scroll news across the bottom in the order which it appears.

[Techhead]

I kinda like the idea of months slowing up in the announcement screen, it would at least give me some kind of time frame.

[Savok]

I expect that, eventually, the announcement list will be expanded and a submenu of

• will be made to let the player choose exactly which announcements to see.

[DarkMagnus]

How about actually making it a ticker?

Scroll news across the bottom in the order which it appears.

That was the idea, honestly. I should've explain it more. Actually, I think it'd be tcool to have some of the news repeat. You could customize it, so say you want your food stocks to roll across the screen every minute or so.

[Andir]

How about actually making it a ticker?

Scroll news across the bottom in the order which it appears.

That was the idea, honestly. I should've explain it more. Actually, I think it'd be tcool to have some of the news repeat. You could customize it, so say you want your food stocks to roll across the screen every minute or so.

Honestly?  (And I know I'll be berated for saying this) If this game could have the interface basics of SimCity (2000 or 3000), it might actually make it past niche.

[Lord Dullard]

How about actually making it a ticker?

Scroll news across the bottom in the order which it appears.

That was the idea, honestly. I should've explain it more. Actually, I think it'd be tcool to have some of the news repeat. You could customize it, so say you want your food stocks to roll across the screen every minute or so.

Honestly?  (And I know I'll be berated for saying this) If this game could have the interface basics of SimCity (2000 or 3000), it might actually make it past niche.

It can't have the bubble-gum interface of a SimCity game because there's exponentially more to do in DF than there is in SimCity.

OTOH, you're right, the interface does need work. I'm sure by the time the game hits v1.0 Toady will have addressed that.

Edit: Also, DF will probably always be a 'niche' game - this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Most casual gamers don't have the time or attention to detail a very in-depth, micromanagement-oriented game like DF requires. Roguelikes in general are niche games, for that matter. DF has far more mass-appeal than most RLs do, though.

[DarkMagnus]

How about actually making it a ticker?

Scroll news across the bottom in the order which it appears.

That was the idea, honestly. I should've explain it more. Actually, I think it'd be tcool to have some of the news repeat. You could customize it, so say you want your food stocks to roll across the screen every minute or so.

Honestly?  (And I know I'll be berated for saying this) If this game could have the interface basics of SimCity (2000 or 3000), it might actually make it past niche.

It can't have the bubble-gum interface of a SimCity game because there's exponentially more to do in DF than there is in SimCity.

OTOH, you're right, the interface does need work. I'm sure by the time the game hits v1.0 Toady will have addressed that.

Edit: Also, DF will probably always be a 'niche' game - this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Most casual gamers don't have the time or attention to detail a very in-depth, micromanagement-oriented game like DF requires. Roguelikes in general are niche games, for that matter. DF has far more mass-appeal than most RLs do, though.

If Toady actually manages to finish everything he's got planned (and the odds look pretty good judging current progress), DF would be a professional graphic interface away from being commercial-worthy. Without a doubt. There's a growing market for games as complicated as DF and perhaps even moreso, and as someone who's poked around with Sins of a Solar Empire and Europa Universalis, they don't have half as much to offer as Dwarf Fortress.

Look at EVE Online for christ's sake. That game has a steeper curve than a skyscraper, and its one of the most popular MMOs around.

Put it this way, I don't know if Toady has another job, but I'd be surprised if he'll still need it in a few years.

[Granite26]

I have trouble thinking interfaces outside of the windows standard, but a big screen with a checkbox next to every kind of alert and some A.I. type suppress options (Suppress cancelations for the same cause after 3) with their own checkboxes would go miles towards managing this.

Maybe add in some UI options (I seem to remember a section requesting support for UI modders, actually) to display popups for a clock or an expanded events screen (two or three lines instead of one, for example.)

Being able to control what you see would make it a lot more acceptable to see more.