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Dwarf Fortress Adventure Mode to be more approachable for new players

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The Adventure Mode for Dwarf Fortress is approaching and the team has outlined some of their plans for it, like making it much more approachable for newer players and giving it a fresh coat of paint.

In the post they mention how difficult it is to do such a mode in a game like this, because it's a sandbox game at its core so it has no direction, it's random and cracks will show. So they're continuing to update it to improve the visuals and interface to make it clearer and better for newcomers - just like they're doing with the Fortress Mode.

They're adding in combat animations, various combat icons, new menus, improvements to how towns are handled for places like shops, cleaning up how property is recognised, tightening up the city side of the experience to give new players some grounding, old adventure menus will also be fully converted for mouse + keyboard and more.


Pictured - Dwarf Fortress, Fortress Mode

One area that will also change is the difficulty modes. In the original there's three modes Demigod, Hero and Peasant. The confusing thing is the harder the naming sounds, the easier it is, as it's supposed to represent your power. They're going to tweak them so that the "Demigod" mode gives players more instructions and ongoing help - more like a tutorial mode. Plus they will also "tweak the Hero level encounters with gods to something that strikes a balance again, leaning toward a more epic feeling", "expand dungeons and temple relic hunting to facilitate more direction for Demigod characters" and "provide more healing options". The Peasant mode will remain as a sandbox, with Hero mode having a mixture and be an in-between difficulty.

Adventure Mode is currently planned to release in April, with a Fortress Mode update due out soon. When the Adventure Mode update released the Fortress Mode will also get some additional benefits like the addition of portraits, a whole new soundtrack and site map visuals on embarking.

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Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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9 comments

soulsource Jan 30
If I could have one wish for Dwarf Fortress, it would be the current version of the game, feature-wise, but with the controls and UI from before the Steam release. I'm not talking about the ASCII art, I know that's an option in the game, but about the keybindings and especially the building menu functionality.

I know that this would be no easy task, with all the changes to the game other than controls, but I found the old ones more powerful. Especially when it comes to building, where the new controls are just overly convoluted (or even buggy). Building stairs is a chore now, because you can't place individual stair pieces. So you have to designate more than you need, and then cancel designations again... Or, worse, some combinations that were easy to do in 0.47 just can't be done due to broken input, like building up-stairs from already dug-out areas into not-dug-out areas.
Craggles086 Jan 31
QuoteIn the original there's three modes Peasant, Hero, and Demigod and they're going to tweak them so that the "Demigod" mode gives players more instructions and ongoing help - more like a tutorial mode.


Was that tutorial mode going to be built into Demigod mode, or peasant mode?

Adding it to Demigod mode seems a little counter productive.

Might have to give this another go. When I first tried this game I could not work out how to navigate the menus for gardening plots and food production. Was able to get into many money making endeavours, but rich and starving did not work for too long.
Eike Jan 31
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Quoting: Craggles086Was able to get into many money making endeavours, but rich and starving did not work for too long.

There seems to be a hidden lesson to be learned... ;)


Last edited by Eike on 31 January 2024 at 11:32 am UTC
Liam Dawe Jan 31
Quoting: Craggles086
QuoteIn the original there's three modes Peasant, Hero, and Demigod and they're going to tweak them so that the "Demigod" mode gives players more instructions and ongoing help - more like a tutorial mode.


Was that tutorial mode going to be built into Demigod mode, or peasant mode?

Adding it to Demigod mode seems a little counter productive.

Might have to give this another go. When I first tried this game I could not work out how to navigate the menus for gardening plots and food production. Was able to get into many money making endeavours, but rich and starving did not work for too long.

The article should (?) make that pretty clear:
Quotethey're going to tweak them so that the "Demigod" mode gives players more instructions and ongoing help - more like a tutorial mode
Specifically says the Demigod mode.

The names are confusing for sure though.
So the Forum at bay 12 looks to be one that is still used by everyone.

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php

also an answer to the farming question.

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=67744.0


Last edited by Craggles086 on 1 February 2024 at 2:56 am UTC
Quoting: Liam Dawe
Quoting: Craggles086
QuoteIn the original there's three modes Peasant, Hero, and Demigod and they're going to tweak them so that the "Demigod" mode gives players more instructions and ongoing help - more like a tutorial mode.


Was that tutorial mode going to be built into Demigod mode, or peasant mode?

Adding it to Demigod mode seems a little counter productive.

Might have to give this another go. When I first tried this game I could not work out how to navigate the menus for gardening plots and food production. Was able to get into many money making endeavours, but rich and starving did not work for too long.

The article should (?) make that pretty clear:
Quotethey're going to tweak them so that the "Demigod" mode gives players more instructions and ongoing help - more like a tutorial mode
Specifically says the Demigod mode.

The names are confusing for sure though.
It might help to swap the order in the article so it goes from easiest to hardest (to align with how difficulty levels are usually presented): Demigod, Hero, Peasant. The names describe the character you'll be creating and how powerful they are relative to everyone else, so a Demigod is stronger than a Hero is stronger than a Peasant – hence why Demigod gets the tutorial, as it's the easiest.

Though I've still lost plenty of Demigod adventurers to a single battle by being cocky or underestimating the enemy…
Liam Dawe Feb 1
I was going by how they listed them, but yep it's confusing.

Edit: article text tweaked on that 1 bit.


Last edited by Liam Dawe on 1 February 2024 at 10:16 am UTC
14 Feb 3
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This is good news. I like a challenge in games sometimes, and learning curve is alright, but I find that patience for those two things is thinner as my years add up. I tried the original Dwarf Fortress a couple times and didn't want to take the time to learn how to do what I wanted to do. Learning controls is not fun. Learning gameplay mechanics is. I decided I'd rather play RimWorld, a game I have nearly 100 hours in.

I'll be interested to see how well the Adventure mode gets reviewed.
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