Slaves to Armok II: Dwarf Fortress

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Slaves to Armok II: Dwarf Fortress
Developer(s)	Tarn Adams
Publisher(s)	Bay 12 Games
Designer(s)	Tarn Adams Zach Adams
Version	0.27.176.38c
Platform(s)	Windows, Mac OS X
Release date	8 August 2006 (initial) 24 February 2008 (current)
Genre(s)	City-building game, Roguelike
Mode(s)	Single player
Media	Download
System requirements	Windows 98 or higher or Mac OS X 10.3+, 100 MB hard drive space, 512 MB RAM
Input methods	Keyboard, Mouse

Slaves to Armok II: Dwarf Fortress is a computer game by Bay 12 Games for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X set in a high fantasy universe that combines aspects of roguelike and city-building games. Development started in October 2002,^[1] followed by the game's first public release in August 2006.^[2] As of 2008, it remains alpha-level software, but is already played and discussed by a wide audience^[3] and regarded to be very stable.^[4]

Contents 1 History 2 Gameplay 2.1 Dwarf Fortress mode 2.2 Adventurer mode 3 Development 3.1 Arcs 4 Reception 5 References 6 External links 6.1 Game and resources 6.2 Gameplay examples

[edit] History

Dwarf Fortress is the successor to Slaves to Armok: God of Blood, a hack and slash role-playing game.^[1] Dwarf Fortress discards God of Blood's 3D graphics in favor of a text user interface and incorporates economic and strategy modes. On-screen displays utilize slightly modified code page 437 characters in 16 different colours implemented as bitmaps, and the developer states that graphic representation is not a significant focus.

Dwarf Fortress was originally 2d, but a 3d version was added with "Z-levels" (accessed by pressing the < or the > buttons) which allowed players to make things like waterfalls, more elaborate deathtraps, and deep pits. With the 3d version the game also stopped choosing the location for your fortress and let you pick your own, whereas before your location was guaranteed to have everything.

Despite being donationware, Dwarf Fortress has garnered a review in the December 2006 issue of PC Gamer UK, an article in Games for Windows and PC Powerplay, mention on the Eurogamer website,^[5] the Roguelike of the Year award from ASCII Dreams in 2007, the game of the year award from Gamers With Jobs in 2006, and various interviews including ones for The Escapist, Gamasutra, Gamers with Jobs, GeekNights, and Dubious Quality.

As of April 2008, Dwarf Fortress is under heavy development with features being added constantly.^[6] The developers have stated that one of the over-arching development goals is to create a complex world in which stories naturally are created for and by the player in the process of playing.^[1] The development website lists "Power Goals" in terms of small story excerpts, which at one point might emerge naturally in the game.^[7] Indeed, stories such as that of the Fortress Boatmurdered,^[8] written by multiple players while taking turns in one game, gained Dwarf Fortress popularity.^[1]

[edit] Gameplay

Prior to play, a world must be generated or downloaded from the developer's website. Each constructed world is unique; events that take place during play will affect subsequent games in the same world. World creation in Dwarf Fortress is elaborate: terrain is generated using fractals, erosion is simulated, then wildlife, towns, and other sites are placed.^[1] A specific history is attached to each site; references to these events can be found during gameplay (in artwork and conversations with NPCs), and development's current focus (as of April 2008) is to make world generation wars determine in-game territory distribution and NPC background stories. The entire process takes about 15 minutes, but is dependent on available computing resources. During recent development, Tarn Adams added an option for generating significantly smaller worlds(sized of 257x257(default), 129, 65, 33 or 17) for people who do not want to spend up to thirty minutes generating a full sized world.^[6]

The game offers two play modes: "Dwarf Fortress" mode, in which the player builds a dwarven settlement, and "Adventurer" mode, in which the player controls a single character in a generally roguelike manner. Only one mode can be actively played in a given game world, although adventurers can visit fortresses built in prior games.

[edit] Dwarf Fortress mode

The initial settlement party consists of seven dwarves. The player receives a number of points to spend on settler skills and resources (food, weapons, armor, equipment, and so on). Once these decisions have been made, the settlers arrive and begin to work.

A variety of tasks can be performed in the game. Some are basic, such as mining, wood-cutting, metalsmithing, masonry, farming, and cooking. Others are more esoteric, such as soapmaking, fish-cleaning, engraving, and gem cutting. A given dwarf's "career" will generally centre on the skill practised most.

The player influences newly-arrived dwarves through the designation of work areas and subsequent job creation, but the player cannot directly control a dwarf. For example, marking an area for wood-cutting creates one "chop down tree" job for each tree encompassed, which a dwarf with the proper job activated will carry out. If a stockpile is created, a "haul lumber to stockpile" job forms whenever there is a spare log and available room in the stockpile. Any dwarf may be designated to perform a job. Higher skill in a given job may improve rate (such as with mining) or quality (in the case of crafting) of performance.

As they excavate their mountain, dwarves will have to fashion living space, produce food (typically involving farming and irrigation), obtain water and alcohol, and build workshops to generate valuable trade goods. They will also encounter hostile creatures against whom they must defend, which generally leads to military organization. As the fortress grows, more dwarves will arrive, providing additional labour and opportunities for job specialization.

As the game proceeds, players will encounter foreign traders, dwarven nobles who place demands on the populace, goblin sieges, maniacal dwarven artisans, and a variety of other special events.

The game models the dwarves and the world in extreme detail; for example, during combat, a dwarf can get different types of blood on every single finger of his hands. Item base material, quality of workmanship, dye and decoration are all registered and taken into account. According to their experiences (had a friend die - was served low quality food - was disturbed by noise while sleeping etc.) dwarves can get happy or sad, even angry and finally crazed; they build social relationships, marry a sufficiently "compatible" dwarf (and have children) or organize parties. Each dwarf also has its own unique personality, likes, and dislikes that will affect how the dwarf reacts to specific situations. An example of this is that a dwarf who likes the material gold will get a happy thought from seeing or owning a golden item or a dwarf who is quick to anger will be more likely to tantrum and get into fist fights. In addition, dwarves can obtain personality traits through experiences such as seeing a great deal of death, which will imbue the personality trait "Is no longer affected by death". This personality trait will prevent the dwarf from gaining significantly unhappy thoughts from seeing death or having a friend die. Gravity is simulated; an elaborate fluid system^[1] is responsible for river and magma flows.

[edit] Adventurer mode

In "Adventurer mode", the player controls an individual dwarf, human, or elf. There is no goal apart from survival. Players may either receive quests to kill monsters, which provide no specific reward, or wander freely and slaughter local fauna. Gameplay is fairly minimal; "Fortress mode" has received the bulk of the developer's attention.

"Adventurer mode" also allows the player to explore parts and history of the current game world otherwise not accessible in "Dwarf Fortress mode". For instance, in the latter dwarves can decorate walls and floors or artefacts with engravings, the contents of which show up only in very general terms in Fortress mode (e.g. a dwarf striking down a goblin), but very detailed in Adventurer mode (e.g. the names of both dwarf and goblin and when and where the killing happened).

Adventurers are assigned several combat-related skills: shield use, armor use, ambushing, wrestling, swimming, and any of several weapon skills. Initial skill selection wholly determines starting gear, but equipment is available for purchase from stores in human towns. The player can also assemble a party of adventurers by asking townsfolk to join the lead character.

[edit] Development

Dwarf Fortress has been praised for offering so much depth and gameplay, despite only one programmer developing the game. Tarn Adams, ToadyOne on the forums, is the programming half of his and his brother's company, Bay 12. Though the game is currently in its alpha stage, many of the core elements are already in place, or at least have the basic foundations already laid down. Much of the development for the game is done through user suggestions, stories written by players and ToadyOne's brother, as well as a series of overarching goals, called arcs.

[edit] Arcs

ToadyOne has claimed that the development of Dwarf Fortress will proceed across several arcs. These series of goals and priorities are all grouped together under a similar subject, and are named thusly. For example, the current arc being developed is the Army Arc, which takes focus on the various features of the game related to the military and war. The arcs themselves help provide guidance in development, but are by no means written in stone. ToadyOne has been known to delay certain features, or add in popular user requested features, despite them not falling under the current arc upon which he is working.

The Arcs themselves are all based on a lengthy list of requirements and development goals, falling under the following categories: Core Components, Priority/Required, Bloats, and Power Goals. ToadyOne has made these lists available to the public.

[edit] Reception

Several reviews praise Dwarf Fortress for its deep and rich content and gameplay.^{[1][3] [9] [10] [11]} Some of those reviews also state that one first has to overcome the quirky interface/graphics and steep learning curve to really appreciate the game.^[3][9][10] On the other hand, at least one review claims that the ASCII graphics actually add to the game: The player visualizes game events mentally, and this helps with immersion.^[11]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

[edit] Game and resources

• Dwarf Fortress at Bay 12 Games
• The Dwarf Fortress Wiki
• The Dwarf Fortress Forum
• Dwarf Fortress Map Archive

[edit] Gameplay examples

• The Story of Boatmurdered
• The Story of Nist Akath