Dwarf Fortress is an indie game in going development that obsessively simulates every tiny detail of a fantasy-orientated, randomly generated world. It's like the Sims, if the Sims was about a group of manic-depressive alcohol-dependent midgets living in a mountain fortress.
The major thing about the game is that you're given basically nothing at the start (7 dwarves plus a caravan) and whatever happens next is up to you. Almost nothing is scripted, and due to heavy use of procedural generation almost nothing is the same twice.
You end up with stuff like this as part of a ordinary playthrough:
http://www.eldritch.org/erskin/roleplaying/Bronzemurder.pdf (http://www.eldritch.org/erskin/roleplaying/Bronzemurder.pdf)
http://oilfurnace.timdenee.com/ (http://oilfurnace.timdenee.com/)
My thought was to run a forum game (like Werewolf) with each participant having a dwarf named after them. I would run the game and summarize goings-on into a regular narration with screenshots, and participants could have their dwarf run around and do certain things or vote on issues of fortress-wide concern. The game generates lots of opprtunities for 1st person stories or narrations by participants, and the main narrative updates would take place every 2-3 days.
What do you guys think?
I'm down.
You have my axe.
Some of the highlights from my current playthrough:
1. Multiple goblin sieges have run headlong into the labyrinthine meat-grinder that is my front entrance. The hardest part about dealing with those is cleaning up afterwards.
2. Finally got around to building a functioning hospital after the second necromancer attack in as many years. The doctors kept trying to stitch wounded dwarves up with adamantine thread, possibly trying to create a bionic superdwarf?
3. My best axedwarf fended off most of the undead ambush by himself, but it cost him his ENTIRE LEFT ARM and his right hand. The doctors patched him up and he tried to report back for military duty, but I told him to retire. Now and then I get alerts: [Axedwarf cancelled [Store Personal Item]: Cannot grab item. Despite all this, he actually seems pretty happy.
4. Had a vampire dwarf sneak in with my 2nd or 3rd wave of migrants and exsanguinate some random farmer when no-one was looking. I finally figured out who it was, but instead of killing him I gave him a nice office, walled him in, and made him my undead accountant. He doesn't need food, water, or air so he's staying in there indefinitely.
5. Second vampire dwarf snuck in later on, but managed to get himself elected mayor (?) before I could arrange an unfortunate accident. In the second necromancer siege he also took on a pack of undead by himself, smashing up zombie swarves, humans, and assorted reanimated wildlife with an adamantine spear. I want to keep him due to the sheer amount of badass, but I need to figure out a way of keeping him from killing people.
Um, not to be That Guy or anything, but I believe they prefer the term "alternatively sized stronghold".
I love this game. I'd really like a dwarf named after me. A butcher if possible. If you can post my dwarf's description I'll make journals and shit.
As far as the badass vampire, you can put him in a burrow that includes the outdoors and he will be less likely to drain anyone. or you can lock him in a danger room and let him out when enemies show up. They are like ninjas for necromancers, since the zombies ignore them.
Quote from: Pergamos on March 26, 2013, 08:30:10 AM
As far as the badass vampire, you can put him in a burrow that includes the outdoors and he will be less likely to drain anyone. or you can lock him in a danger room and let him out when enemies show up. They are like ninjas for necromancers, since the zombies ignore them.
The isolated room/quarters is probably what I'll do. 5-6 necromancers showed up in the last attack, and I need a way of reliably dealing with them.
Amusingly, due to his Mayoral status I had to dig out separate noble quarters + dining room for him, despite the fact that he doesn't eat, drink, or sleep. I'll probably just lock him in there with a floodgate.
I'll start this up tonight. I'll post a general map and summary of the generated world, along with 3-4 different embark sites with pros/cons for each.
See below for different skills/professions you can request a dwarf to have:
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Skill#Skills (http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Skill#Skills)
The initial 7 dwarves will be broken down as follows:
2 Miners/Masons
1 Carpenter/Craftdwarf
2 Farmers
1 Axedwarf/Woodcutter
1 Administrator/Expedition Leader
I have dibs on the Expedition Leader.
Pergamos is confirmed as one of the farmers, with skills in butchery. He will be responsible for chopping up random tame animals and keeping the cat and dog populations in check.
I'm gonna get in this evening.
Dibs on axedwarf?
Dude, I want to be the craftdwarf!
I have real dwarf blood in my veins, you know. :lulz:
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on March 26, 2013, 08:36:32 PM
Dude, I want to be the craftdwarf!
I have real dwarf blood in my veins, you know. :lulz:
Troof. She's part Orkadian. They were only 3 feet tall.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 26, 2013, 08:37:33 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on March 26, 2013, 08:36:32 PM
Dude, I want to be the craftdwarf!
I have real dwarf blood in my veins, you know. :lulz:
Troof. She's part Orkadian. They were only 3 feet tall.
But every inch was 100% BADASS.
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on March 26, 2013, 08:56:55 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 26, 2013, 08:37:33 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on March 26, 2013, 08:36:32 PM
Dude, I want to be the craftdwarf!
I have real dwarf blood in my veins, you know. :lulz:
Troof. She's part Orkadian. They were only 3 feet tall.
But every inch was 100% BADASS.
This is true. Their kings were DUMB, bit they were 169% FULL ON BERSERK.
I have no preferences on skills, so just float me whatever nobody else wanted. I am pretty tempted to be a Farmer with beekeeping skills who TOTALLY FUCKING HATES bees, though. Or who imagines he's part of the hive mind and mumbles about the will of the queen.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 26, 2013, 08:59:07 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on March 26, 2013, 08:56:55 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 26, 2013, 08:37:33 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on March 26, 2013, 08:36:32 PM
Dude, I want to be the craftdwarf!
I have real dwarf blood in my veins, you know. :lulz:
Troof. She's part Orkadian. They were only 3 feet tall.
But every inch was 100% BADASS.
This is true. Their kings were DUMB, bit they were 169% FULL ON BERSERK.
Oh course they were dumb. They were Norwegians who decided to go live on a pile of rocks that was already occupied by Picts, inbreeding (after they raped all the Picts) for centuries, while raiding mainland Norway out of SHEER SPITE.
Quote from: Remington on March 26, 2013, 09:18:42 PM
Quote from: Queen Gogira Pennyworth, BSW on March 26, 2013, 08:33:12 PM
Dibs on axedwarf?
Done!
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on March 26, 2013, 08:36:32 PM
Dude, I want to be the craftdwarf!
I have real dwarf blood in my veins, you know. :lulz:
Also done!
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 26, 2013, 08:13:04 PM
I'm gonna get in this evening.
Any preference of dwarf?
The DUMB ones.
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on March 26, 2013, 09:10:02 PM
I have no preferences on skills, so just float me whatever nobody else wanted. I am pretty tempted to be a Farmer with beekeeping skills who TOTALLY FUCKING HATES bees, though. Or who imagines he's part of the hive mind and mumbles about the will of the queen.
Done! Although if there are no wild colonies of bees in the area we embark in your skills won't be very useful.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 26, 2013, 09:20:02 PM
Quote from: Remington on March 26, 2013, 09:18:42 PM
Quote from: Queen Gogira Pennyworth, BSW on March 26, 2013, 08:33:12 PM
Dibs on axedwarf?
Done!
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on March 26, 2013, 08:36:32 PM
Dude, I want to be the craftdwarf!
I have real dwarf blood in my veins, you know. :lulz:
Also done!
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 26, 2013, 08:13:04 PM
I'm gonna get in this evening.
Any preference of dwarf?
The DUMB ones.
Roger is confirmed as one of our minerdwarves, with a specialty in cheesemaking.
(http://dwarffortresswiki.org/images/9/9d/DF_Cheese.jpg)
Behold the World of Sil Unol
"The Plane of Souls"
(http://i.imgur.com/ZD1bIzr.jpg)
I've chosen 6 different embark sites, each with pros and cons. The choice of location will heavily impact what options are available during the game. I've even included two !!SUPERDWARF!! options, because if there's one thing about Dwarf Fortress it's that there can never be enough ways to die horribly.
Mire of Controllers
Human, Goblin, Dwarven, Elf neighbours
Very Flat
+River/brook: water easily available
+Wood Available
+Soil + low value metals
-Likely no iron ore
-Swampy ground
http://i.imgur.com/rfdfor1.png (http://i.imgur.com/rfdfor1.png)
The Autumnal Fields
Human, Goblin, Dwarven, and Elf neighbours
Very flat
+Availability of sand for glassmaking
++Large amounts of valuable ore: Copper, Tin, Silver, Iron, and Gold are all present
-Desert/Savannah
-No river or easy access to water
-Less wood available
http://i.imgur.com/dgEcCA6.png (http://i.imgur.com/dgEcCA6.png)
The Finger of Fragrances
Human, Goblin, Dwarven, and Elf neighbours
Moderate Terrain: Semi-mountainous
+River/brook: water easily available
+Copper, Tin, and Iron present in moderate amounts
-No trees
-No soil: farming may be difficult
http://i.imgur.com/2syBSMK.png (http://i.imgur.com/2syBSMK.png)
The Sprayed Forests
Dwarven and Elf neighbours only
Very Mixed Terrain: 1/2 flatlands and 1/2 steep cliffs
+Heavily Forested: lots of wood available
+River/brook: water easily available
-Limited metal ores: only Tin and Silver available
http://i.imgur.com/OprmNDr.png (http://i.imgur.com/OprmNDr.png)
!!SUPERDWARF!!
The Frost of Wanes
Dwarven Neighbours Only
Extreme Terrain (Mountains and very sharp cliffs)
!!Volcano!!
+Reasonable amount of Aluminum, a high-value metal
+Obsidian (High value stone used to create crafts and very sharp swords)
++Presence of volcano's magma makes smelting and forging metals much easier. Also allows for triggered magmafall traps :fap:
-Groundwater/Aquifer: needs clever dwarven engineering to breach into layers below
-Very little in other minerals (some silver and tin)
-Calm surroundings
-No trees, freezing temperatures
http://i.imgur.com/lkjjfna.png (http://i.imgur.com/lkjjfna.png)
The Esteemed Field
Human, Goblin, Dwarven, Elf, and !!Necromancer!! neighbours
Relatively Flat Terrain
+Grassland (moderate temperate, sparse trees)
+Gold is present
+River/brook: water easily available
--No other metal ores are present besides Gold
-Every so often, the dead or parts thereof will rise from their graves and try to kill everything and everyone you love
http://i.imgur.com/w7XI4kR.png (http://i.imgur.com/w7XI4kR.png)
Each participant can cast one vote for the embark location they want. Iron makes defense and offence a LOT easier (copper weapons suck) but choosing an iron-free site does NOT means that Iron can not be had. Instead, you'll have to purchase iron items off of merchants and smelt them, or smelt the iron/copper items that goblins bring and inevitably leave behind when they get chopped into dwarven sashimi.
Based on the metals available, the savannah/desert embark is probably our best best, although a mountain-less desert fortress may not strike some as "dwarfy" enough.
My vote is for the esteemed field.
Sprayed Forests
As the Maker Dwarf, I vote for the Autumnal Fields because of all the stuff for making stuff out of.
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on March 27, 2013, 03:25:35 AM
As the Maker Dwarf, I vote for the Autumnal Fields because of all the stuff for making stuff out of.
Golden EVERYTHING all OVER the place
The Frost of Wanes also sound promising, with the volcano action.
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on March 27, 2013, 03:49:44 AM
The Frost of Wanes also sound promising, with the volcano action.
The volcano is indeed neat, but the problem is that there's little metal to smelt and no enemies to burn alive. Because of the surroundings goblins, undead, and wild beasts won't show up.
Quote from: Remington on March 27, 2013, 03:51:35 AM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on March 27, 2013, 03:49:44 AM
The Frost of Wanes also sound promising, with the volcano action.
The volcano is indeed neat, but the problem is that there's little metal to smelt and no enemies to burn alive. Because of the surroundings goblins, undead, and wild beasts won't show up.
Ahhh then, I keep my vote with the Autumnal Fields.
The Hive calls me to Autumnal Fields.
I can totally deal with Autumnal Fields.
Voting closes at 5:30, the game will start soon after that.
Game thread: http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php/topic,34353.0.html (http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php/topic,34353.0.html)
Can I get a dwarf once (if) the migrants come in? No preference for skills.
Quote from: Cainad on March 28, 2013, 11:48:23 PM
Can I get a dwarf once (if) the migrants come in? No preference for skills.
Done. You've been dorfed as our second miner.
:banana: