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rps@pax-2023:-tarn-and-zach-adams-chat-to-us-about-the-runaway-success-of-dwarf-fortress’-steam-release Rock,Paper,Shotgun

RPS@PAX 2023: Tarn and Zach Adams chat to us about the runaway success of Dwarf Fortress’ Steam release

April 11, 2023RockPaperShotgun

There are few success stories more inspiring than that of Tarn and Zach Adams. After twenty years of development Dwarf Fortress finally made the jump to Steam in December 2021, complete with exciting new features such as “graphics” and “mouse support”. Although the game was already critically lauded, its availability on Steam made it a financial success, with thousands of long-term fans thrilled to provide the brothers with a long-overdue payday. Following their panel on the highs and lows of procedural generation, the pair had a chat with Rachel about the game’s recent Steam release, upcoming features, their favourite player…

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dwarf-fortress-has-sold-half-a-million-copies-on-steam Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Dwarf Fortress has sold half a million copies on Steam

January 5, 2023RockPaperShotgun

Dwarf Fortress released on Steam on December 6th and by the end of the month it had sold half a million copies. That’s according to the monthly Bay 12 Games report, in which its developers traditionally share their revenue figures from player donations. Now they have Steam sales figures to share. Read more

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dwarf-fortress-review:-the-legendary-colony-sim-gets-a-welcome-facelift-for-steam Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Dwarf Fortress review: the legendary colony sim gets a welcome facelift for Steam

December 7, 2022RockPaperShotgun

How the heck do you review Dwarf Fortress? Much like the procedurally generated world spat out at the start of every game, there’s already a huge pile of established lore and history out there from the 16 years it’s been around. It’s like being asked to review Lord of the Rings. It’s a vast undertaking, and there aren’t any friendly eagles on hand to cut through its dense mythos. Prior to releasing on Steam, I had put a few dozen hours into what is now known as Dwarf Fortress Classic (which is still available for free from Bay 12’s website),…

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dwarf-fortress-is-available-on-steam-right-now Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Dwarf Fortress is available on Steam right now

December 6, 2022RockPaperShotgun

Grab your pickaxe and secure your book of procedurally-generated poetry, because Dwarf Fortress is out on Steam right, flipping, now. Bay 12 Games’s hugely ambitious colony sim, which is notionally a game about building a fortress for small, bearded humanoids, but is really an engine for generating elaborate fantasy histories and player-driven stories within them, has been in active development since 2003, with an initial launch in 2006. Since then, it has been continually developed by brothers Tarn and Zach Adams, who have added a truly wild amount of stuff over the last two decades. It’s also famously as impenetrable…

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notoriously-hard-to-learn-dwarf-fortress-is-getting-a-tutorial-for-the-steam-version Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Notoriously hard to learn Dwarf Fortress is getting a tutorial for the Steam version

October 13, 2022RockPaperShotgun

Fantasy construction sim Dwarf Fortress is, by the admission of its designers, difficult to learn and even harder to master. That’s why the game’s Steam version will have its own tutorial. Co-creator Zach Adams has roped in a novice playtester to try the tutorial out, in the form of his wife Annie. Annie bounced off the original, not-so-visually-appealing version of Dwarf Fortress. Yet, says Adams, the tutorial seems to be working to help Annie ease into the game at last. Read more

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dwarf-fortress’s-new-ui-looks-so-beautiful-i-could-cry,-despite-still-looking-like-this Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Dwarf Fortress’s new UI looks so beautiful I could cry, despite still looking like this

January 16, 2021RockPaperShotgun

If you’ve not played Dwarf Fortress, the staggeringly detailed fantasy world simulator, you can’t fully comprehend what a nightmare it is to play. It’s not the ASCII gaphics that bamboozle you, it’s the menus, which hide information and common actions across umpteen different enormous menus, each of which must be accessed with a different button press. Look at the screenshot above, then. You might think it looks like the UI from an early 2000s Paradox game that’s yet to have an art pass. But to me, it looks like heaven. (more…)

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dwarf-fortress-shows-off-its-new-ui-with-a-lunchtime-shrine Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Dwarf Fortress shows off its new UI with a lunchtime shrine

September 12, 2020RockPaperShotgun

Feeling peckish, halflings? Bay 12 Games are still stirring away at Dwarf Fortress‘ new and improved Steam version, but they’ve popped out of the kitchen a mo to give us a taste of the sprawling mountainfolk sim’s spruced up new interface – turning a simple stone room into a temple to meal deal sandwiches with a streamlined new painting tool. (more…)

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