"There have been a few articles that highlight the difficulty of the game but that is only in comparison to modern console games targeted at soda guzzling teens with a one second attention span"
No. Your assertion is that the only likely improvement to the UI would be a simple gamepad-mashing interface. DF is difficult even compared to programs with a complicated UI and games with a "normal" steep learning curve. Not wanting to battle through an insane UI does not equate one to a "soda guzzling teen".
No, his assertion wasn't that the only likely improvement to the UI would be a simple gamepad-mashing interface.
And nowhere was is implied that not wanting to battle through an insane UI does not equate one to a "soda guzzling teen".
Re:Dwarf Fortress in 2013
by smacktoward on Wednesday July 03, 2013 @12:22PM
(#5985581)
Seriously. I play and love the grand strategy games Paradox Interactive makes (Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis, Victoria, etc.), and those are some pretty complicated, hard-to-get-into games. And yet even I look at Dwarf Fortress and think "man, that's impossible."
Re:Dwarf Fortress in 2013
by fleshgolem on Wednesday July 03, 2013 @06:45AM
(#5983619)
Completely agree. Dwarf Therapist kinda shows how you can improve the UI without dumbing the game in itself down
Re:Dwarf Fortress in 2013
by James_Duval on Wednesday July 03, 2013 @05:45AM
(#5983414)
Well - you CAN order your dwarves around. It's just ludicrously complex.
You can also manipulate world-gen so you have an easier time of it (making the game essentially Harvest Moon with occasional killer fish), but where's the fun in that?
Re:Dwarf Fortress in 2013
by StevenRayOrr on Wednesday July 03, 2013 @06:16AM
(#5983506)
As someone who played far too much emulator Harvest Moon, I think you are selling short the prospect of such a game + occasional killer fish.
Re:Dwarf Fortress in 2013
by boneheadmed on Wednesday July 03, 2013 @09:42AM
(#5984406)
Thanks for the encouragement. Think I'll give it a go, or I guess begin my descent in to losing (whereby losing == fun).
You can grok the basics of the game in an hour or so by following a beginner tutorial. During your first few hours you will fail your first few fortresses.
After your first session, you should have a grasp of things and the next time you should be able to just pick up the game and get back to it.
I think the time suck aspect of this game is exaggerated a lot. You can pause and save the game at any point and get back to it later.
There's one thing that some of the tutorials and introductions don't make clear: you control the fortress, not the individual dwarfs.