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I'm wondering if there are any other DF players floating these boards. I just started playing it seriously (I'd tried previously but could never wrap my head around the game) within the past week and I'm enjoying myself a great deal.
For those who have never heard of it, Dwarf Fortress is an ASCII (think Rogue in terms of graphics) based strategy fortress builder with an RPG mode on the side. It's learning curve is incredibly steep (I'm not kidding. I've seen straight walls that were less steep than the learning curve in this game) but once you've gotten the basics down the game becomes insanely fun to play.
I'm going to say right off that this game is not for everyone, you have to micromanage a LOT of stuff (you have to make individual beds for your dwarves, individual tables, et cetera) but after you've gotten the bases covered it runs itself fairly well. Of course, you'll likely always be keeping busy doing one thing or another (nothing beats diverting a river to drown a group of goblins attacking your fort).
All-in-all I recommend this game highly for someone looking for an incredibly indepth RTS/RPG who doesn't mind ASCII graphics and is willing to invest in the learning curve.
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Here's a few relevant links for those interested:
Main Website
- For downloading the game, obviously :p
Dwarf Fortress Forums
- Very friendly community; some good stories too
Dwarf Fortress Wiki
- Use it. Love it. It's chock full of incredibly useful information
Your First Fortress
- A quick-start guide for first-time players; I highly recommend using it your first time playing
How to Correctly Start Fortress Mode
- A really good starter guide; it covers a lot of the basics - very helpful
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I should also mention that this game is incredibly graphic. Here's an example of what a combat with a Giant Leopard looks like in 'Adventure Mode" (I began combat by throwing a chunk of ice at the thing's head - I luckily hit; notice how I spent a good portion of the fight on the ground 'cause the thing actually knocked me down!):
Screenshot
That's not all, though, in Dwarf Fortress mode (that'd be the RTS portion of the game) various horrible things can happen. For example, if your dwarves are starving you can slaughter their pets (even kittens and puppies!) for food. Other, more horrible things can happen as well (more so in Adventure Mode than anything) such as the massacre of towns (including women and children) and the stealing of babies (goblins do this often in Fortress mode - It's annoying).