It’s actually a very anti-colonialist game that way.
STRIKE THE EARTH (but be careful, Earth strike back)
Also, is that avatar from Wing Commander?
Hell yeah, dude, I started using the Wing Commander 2 Guy on a whim at Pocket Tactics years ago and have just kept it up, I guess.
I have to say I’m a little sad at the announcement.
I started with the 2D version and absolutely loved the early 3D versions of DF. This announcement feels like a neat little hole in the wall restaurant that I know has suddenly decided to do a makeover and focus on bringing in the mainstream chain crowd.
I’m sad too, but over the medical issues I didn’t know the creator had.
We don’t talk about this much, but for many years, Zach has been on expensive medication, which has fortunately been covered by his healthcare. It’s a source of constant concern, as the plan has changed a few times and as the political environment has shifted. We have other family health risks, and as we get older, the precariousness of our situation increases; after Zach’s latest cancer scare, we determined that with my healthcare plan’s copay etc., I’d be wiped out if I had to undergo the same procedures. That said, crowdfunding is by far our main source of income and the reason we’re still here. Your support is still crucial, as the Steam release may or may not bring us the added stability we’re seeking now and it’s some months away.
Interview with Polygon
Don’t get me wrong - I’m hopeful that this is a good move for them and sad that they feel forced into it. I mention my other sadness not because it is larger or more important but because it was a feeling I had that hadn’t been already described in the thread.
I consider myself a relatively empathetic person, and I respect the sometimes thankless effort to create a videogame, but I’ve always shied away from the life struggles of indie game developers. Maybe they hit too close to home, or maybe I feel more connected to it somehow than a random person.
Maybe I don’t want to hear about this in my last escapist refuge.
I very much appreciate the anecdote. Your friend was so very much me, and I had a couple of friends who were much more like you. One of them was extremely artistic, and always creating these really cool drawings, etc. Beyond the fact that I couldn’t draw, I was always amazed at what he would think to draw.
I mean, I could draw things, but they were generally copies or parodies of other things. I was the kid drawing football players in school art class because other kids were drawing football players, and I needed something to draw to get a grade. :)
I am looking forward to this. I never played DF because I could not get past the ASCII graphics. I played games like Mora340 with ASCII in the early 80s. I did not feel I could return to that in the modern day. So this release gives me both the opportunity to play something with a bit of a better GUI and reward the developer with my money. Win-win.
I’ve had similar experiences with friends and Crusader Kings II. They were very confused by all the systems and the nebulous goals and my suggestion to “just start playing and see what happens” was met with bemusement.
The idea that the game was often about stories and that sometimes better stories come from mistakes and not knowing exactly what you’re doing was a completely outside context idea for them.
Meanwhile, I will sometimes just generate a 3,000-year Dwarf Fortress world and then open it in Legends Viewer and read the history threads like they’re a book.
Are the isometric tilesets/engines for this game actually usable? Do they make the game harder to play due to the graphical projection used? I mean, the only comparable game I’ve played is X-COM (1994), and sometimes the multi-storey nature of the game and the isometric graphics could make things kinda confusing.
Also, some of the tilesets use square blocks (like Minecraft) whereas others have smooth polygonal terrain (like Sim City 2000/3000). Do the latter create technical issues?
My understanding is that the isometric views (like Stonesense) are really just for visualizations.
Yeah, I would be surprised to learn you could play in anything but pure top down
Id missed this post. T hat new tile-set looks great. I will finally be able to play this game as ASCII graphics are like the ultimate awful pixel graphics lol.
I wonder if an isometric view would make the game harder to play.
At this point, I’m just holding out for the Steam game, in part because apart from graphics, I don’t want to deal with a miserable AI.
I have a feeling that Dwarf Fortress, Terraria 1.4, and Hytale will all be released on the same day in 2024.
Yup, I’m waiting on Steam, too. Eagerly.
Gnomoria shows that it can totally work.
I wish he had gone just a bit further with that, so close to making it great.