Dwarf Fortress

[Commisar Gaunt]

First off, I must say that the learning curve is ENORMOUS. It's more like a learning wall.


Secondly, I must say that once you get over that learning curve, you won't be able to stop.




<a href="http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Main_Page" target="_blank">http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Main_Page</a>



This is the wikipedia, which you will need.



<a href="http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/" target="_blank">http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/</a>




This is where you go to download it.











And now, about the game!



Do you like dwarves? Do you like strip mining planet earth?  Do you having an army and having them decimated by bloodthirsty fire imps, goblins, various demons, and elephants? Have you ever tortured your sims in various Sim games? Have you ever thought to yourself, "I wonder what it would be like if they actually lost it?" Do you like watching them actually lose it? Would you like to watch the ensuing chaos as they tear their breathern apart in their anger, destroying precious statues, and killing every animal they see? I've seen a dwarf knock another unconcious in his rage WHILE ON FIRE, slowly breaking his bones when he was laying prone on the ground. Then he threw himself into my magma pool, and burned up into a nice crispy bit. The funny thing is, I'm pretty sure he went crazy because I had killed one of his cats, which he had about... twenty of. Quite attached he was.


Madness???


THIS... IS... DWARF FORTRESS!



You make a fortress and command it in every day life, just trying to survive. You grow food, brew drinks, make various supplies such as armor and weapons, hollow out a mountain in multiple levels (you can dig straight down), catch and butcher animals, or tame them and make them your pets, and generally do everything and anything you've ever dreamed of.


Don't be discouraged by the ASCII graphics--I didnt like them, but suddenly they just... clicked for me, and now it's simply amazing.

Don't be discouraged by the huge learning curve.  As they say, losing is fun! You can visit your old fortresses in adventure mode, or you can set out to reclaim it again anew, just in case you made some bad decisions and all of your dwarves died of thirst during the winter when all of the water froze and you didn't have enough brew to go around. Whoops.




Just a word of warning. Don't look into the eyes of the elephants!

[Commisar Gaunt]

I HAVE SEEN WHAT LURKS IN THE LOWEST LAYERS OF THE EARTH! I HAVE SEEN THEM TEAR HEARTY DWARVES IN HALF IN ONE STROKE, NEVER RESTING TILL THEY ARE CAST BACK INTO THE ABYSS!


I HAVE SEEN THE GLOWING MADNESS IN THE PACHYDERMS EYES, AS THEY SLOWLY CRUSH THE LIFE OUT OF THEIR VICTIMS, AND PLAY WITH THEIR UNCONSCIOUS VICTIMS LIKE RAG DOLLS! YOU DON'T KNOW FEAR--THEY ARE THE THINGS FEAR IS BORN OF!

[Joker]

I wish you'd have posted this earlier today, so I didn't have to spend most of my day off being bored

Looks interesting though.

[Commisar Gaunt]

Just don't start playing before anything major, like tests or projects. I seriously regret finding this game days before I have a philosophy paper due.

[Fortress]

How about Tropico?

[Commisar Gaunt]

Tropico aint got nuthin on this mutha.

First off, this game is free, and there are updates just about every other week. Second off, lets see the inhabitants of tropico slowly go mad and destroy the very things they love in a fit of rage. Thirdly, I don't see any tentacle demons, goblins, batmen, antmen, or elephants tearing the island dwellers to shreds. Fourthly... this is the most awesome thing ever.

In a way, Tropico is sort of like this, without all of the lava, pit traps, undermining, ballista shooting, and the occasional iron giant which tears your mountain in twain searching for your dwarves.

[Joker]

Second off, lets see the inhabitants of tropico slowly go mad and destroy the very things they love in a fit of rage.

You've obviously never tried to maintain an oppressive military dictatorship

Tropico is the best city builder type game ever.

[Commisar Gaunt]

Have you tried this yet?


I had a dwarf that went crazy when he didn't get what he wanted, so he slowly started torturing all of the cats in my fortress (im assuming those are the creatures he kept on running into, since I had like... 50 cats at that time) till I organized a posse of axedwarves to take him down.

[Joker]

Oh.

This is gonna be a toughie, but Tropico is going to be hard to beat, because silliness aside the whole faction model for the internal politics of the island is probably the best feature of any builder game I've ever played.

[Commisar Gaunt]

I agree, I would probably like tropico.

If you like tropico then, be careful with Dwarf Fortress, i.e. play it when you don't have anything important to do within the next 4 hours.

[Joker]

That's why I'm not playing it now. Gotta get ready for work in 2 hours. Maybe I'll fire it up when I get home.

[Commisar Gaunt]

http://fromearth.net/LetsPlay/Boatmurdered/


Take a look at this. This is what you're in for. It's possibly the most hilarious story I've read in a while.

[Kaiser]

Is this like a one player game or can you play it online?

[Commisar Gaunt]

You can swap your saved games and play it like a multiplayer game, like taking turns in years. Name a dwarf after you and pass it on and document what sort of madness happens.  Who knows, the dwarf you named after yourself could be the next serial killer, or simply a master engraver.

[Grand Poobah Marx]

Downloading it now...might not get interested, but I'll try..

[OFudd]

sweet

[Vietnamese Guy]

i like how it requires 128MB RAM

[Mr_Cynic]

INTIMIDATING WIKI TUTORIAL IS INTIMIDATING.

[Commisar Gaunt]

lulz


I'm finally getting the hang of the game

[Mr_Cynic]

FUCKING HARD GAME IS FUCKING HARD.  How do I assign them jobs and shit?  The thing the wiki is telling me to do, hit "p"for preferences, isn't working.  And it ain't a learning wall: it's a fucking learning Mount Everest!