More of a history of my Bay-12 activity if anything. Had more of a gypsy way of forum hopping until I happened across this forum.
First spotting, RPG.net Motivational Poster threads and seeing a few posters mentioning DF with or without screenshots as the images used. Was curious about the game; it looked too cool to pass up checking out (Images saved for reference). Looking around SA for entertaining LPs, saw Boatmurdered (1st or 2nd incarnation, don't remember, but it was alive at the time I first noticed; didn't think twice about reading through it all at the time). Downloaded DF back in it's 2D days, and got scared off by the sheer complexity of it.
Back then, I wasn't aware that this was a texture pack. Was a decent shock to the system when I first loaded the game to ASCII characters.
:A year passes, and by then Boatmurdered reache(s/d) memetic levels, and DF goes 3D:
I try again, and notice things are different since last time I played. Still complex, yet in a few ways, much simpler. Lose a couple forts through thirst (first was not bringing enough booze in a dry location (no river/brook); second was not setting a drinking zone in the nearby brook/river). 3rd fort lost due to poor design. Got raided by goblins, and I flooded it intentionally from the brook nearby trapping many citizens in their rooms to die of ironic thirst. One more try, and I finally last a year, and learn from past mistakes (and a more thorough wiki reading). I finally become a member of Bay12, but more for lurking and getting ideas.
More time passes, and I take on a project fort (Known as WaveHandle) along with another standard fort or 2 on the side, and design it with an epic dining hall, and a functioning sewer system is it's central theme (mostly for security via well access; and plenty of wells. Made for a good standard for my future fortress designs from then on. Turns out very good and is a mentionable fort. After patting myself on the back for being able to accomplish it and learn more mechanics of the game, I then began designs of Bloodfist on a whim to pass time. See project for the rest of the details which last about a (real-time) year of production (and a dwarven decade to produce entirely). After that, I became a more active member of Bay-12, kudos to the community, the clout I built up from finishing a megaproject, and the ideas I tend to come up with from time to time. Further kudos to whoever mentioned the ship in TVTropes as well, because that actually helped motivate me to finish the project, and one time or another, work on it's successor from time to time (concept/designing).
EDIT:
Imagine that, had I taken the time, I could've had a copy of a Boatmurdered save (to check out the place, probably at it's prime). I am still hitting myself in hindsight for not seizing the opportunity.
EDIT EDIT:
After a long hiatus, and finally freeing up alot of time (and further securing it eventually), I might both take up a few new forts, and take on Bloodaxe soon enough. The features of 31.25 still have me a bit off-kilter though, and I can't wait until the next version (where Bloodaxe will truly flourish).
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Topic: Your first thoughts when finding out about DF were... (Read 4242 times)