Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Dwarf Fortress Introduction

Dwarf Fortress is a little ASCII game that has already gained a cult following despite the fact that it is only in an early alpha stage. The intricate detail of the game combined with an interesting AI where all of your dwarves have wants, desires and dislikes, makes every game different and interesting.

There are actually two parts to this game, Fortress mode, where you attempt to lead a small group of dwarves in founding a new settlement, and Adventure mode which is more of a Nethack type game. I've only played Fortress mode, but this game has definitely caught my interest.


The cluttered feel of the ASCII graphics and the awkward interface make this a difficult game to get into. But once you do, it's fun to use your imagination to envision what's happening within the fortress and then to write a summary of the events (with embellishments of course). My initial story posts on the Shadowclan boards received some praise, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to brush up on my writing skills (I used to write quite a bit when I was a young lad), so I'll be polishing up those tales and posting the stories here about my various attempts to create a Dwarven Utopia!

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