Review: Dwarf Fortress
Having been inspired by a recent article here on GayGamer, I want to share one of my secret passions with you guys. An ASCII game. A NEW ASCII game. One that I am more addicted to than most next-gen games, despite the fact that my friends stare at me like I'm reading the code from The Matrix when I play it.
The reason this game is so addicting, (I can play this game all day without noticing the time pass), is that is has incredible depth. Using ASCII for the game instead of graphics has freed the developer, Toady One, to focus almost entirely on gameplay. So while the graphics are as simple as you can get, it may be the one of the most complex game ever made. Impressive, considering Toady is the only developer.
Dwarf Fortress has two portions to it. A traditional roguelike, (A type of ASCII game that usually features a main character exploring a cave, or dungeon, etc...), and a fortress building mode, which is the part I love. Think of it as a combination of Dungeon Keeper, Harvest Moon, and SimCity.
Fortress mode gives you control of a band of seven adventurous dwarves of varying skills, and you are tasked with building them a home, gathering/growing of food, and their general survival against both the elements and whatever wild creatures or hostile forces you find. It may seem a bit daunting to play at this point, so I highly recommend brushing up on the Dwarf Fortress Wiki. It has many excellent beginner tutorials that go over how to carve a new home out of nearby mountains, how to set up a good supply of food (mushrooms) from underground farms, and how to get your fortress ready for the next wave of migrants and trade caravans
From there, things get more complex. If you want new metal weapons and armor, you'll need to have or buy an anvil to set up a forge. Oh, and you'll need metal for that forge, so build a smelter and mine some ore. Those both need fuel to keep them hot as well, so start chopping down some trees (or divert a magma flow, if you have one). You can pay for all that by having a Craftsdwarf carve artful figurines, toys, and jewelry from the rock left behind when you dug out your fort. To support all this industry, you'll need farmers, cooks, and more to supply the basics of life to your community.
Each dwarf has their own likes and dislikes as well. Good food, drink, and surroundings and they will happily toil away like a slave. Sleeping on cold stone floors, lack of booze, and too much noise, and they may end up too unhappy with their lot. If that happens, they'll let you know. Usually by punching someone's torso off.
Oh, and I should mention that this game, while ASCII, is technically in 3D. There is a Z-axis that was introduced in recent revisions, so you can build multiple floors, digging up or down through the rock. This adds an extra mental hurdle to the game, but switching between levels is quick and painless.
More cool things you may end up doing:
- Withstanding Goblin, Elf, or Human siege armies
- Line your corridors with traps to prevent hostile assaults
- Train dogs to become furry balls of death
- Create unique and valuable artifacts, under the influence of mysterious forces
- Be completely and utterly laid to waste by elephants (Have you ever seen an elephant get mad in an enclosed space? It's not pretty)
- Raise a dwarven army
- Brew and consume a staggering amount of alcohol
Go and download the game now, and give it a try. Don't be fooled by the simple visuals, just remember to sleep and eat at some point. I also highly recommend checking out one of the more well-written bloodline/succession games, Boatmurdered.
Sgt. Sausagepants
Posted to Video Games on 3 December 2007
· Comments (3)
Other stuff like this: ASCII, Dwarf Fortress
This is a real nifty game my buds in the civfanatics chatroom play. I've been meaning to get into but, like many other deep games (X3, etc) I just havent had the time to sit down for a good hour and hack my way through learning the basics.
hmmm.. i seem to recall seeing a thread about this game at the conceptart.org forums some time ago, but i never got around to actually playing this.. so umm, thanks for reminding me of this game. I'll try it this time :)
*goes and downloads it*
My favorite of the lot can be found at www.zangband.org. Strong controls, compelling balance, tricky, and replayable.