Dwarf Fortress is a game created by Zach and Tarn Adams, the creators of the open-world roguelike dwarven civilization simulator that revolves around carefully ordering your dwarves to start building your epic fortress and slowly turning it into a game of micro managing your new civilisation by means of food production, keeping people happy, enlisting a Military force for protection and expanding to support against the incoming migrants.
The game is incredibly detailed and has been worked on for many many years non stop by Tarn and Zach Adams.
Since I'm not very good at explaining anything, here are the features directly from the website.
Dwarf Fortress is a single-player fantasy game. You can control a dwarven outpost or an adventurer in a randomly generated, persistent world.
Although Dwarf Fortress is still in a work in progress, many features have already been implemented.
The world is randomly generated with distinct civilizations spanning centuries of detailed history, hundreds of towns, caves and regions with various wildlife.
The world persists as long as you like, over many games, recording historical events and tracking changes.
The game can be played in 2 ways, as a civilisation simulator or as an old school roguelike. Either way are fun, especially after you meet your civilisation in the roguelike mode.
-Command your dwarves as they search for wealth in the mountain.
-Craft treasures and furniture from many materials and improve these objects with precious metals, jewels and more.
-Defend yourself against attacks from hostile civilizations, the wilderness, the depths, the dead and creatures of the night.
-Support the nobility as they make demands of your populace.
-Keep your dwarves happy and read their thoughts as they work and relax.
-Z coordinate allows you to dig out fortresses with multiple levels. Build towers or conquer the underworld.
-Build floodgates to divert water for farming or to drown your adversaries... and don't forget the magma!
-Surgery, sutures, splints, crutches and more: care for your wounded dwarves instead of leaving them to fend for themselves.
-Much much more...
-Play an adventurer and explore, quest for glory or seek vengeance.
-Meet adversaries from previous games.
-Recruit people to come with you on your journey.
-Explore without cumbersome plot restrictions -- thriving capitals, villages, catacombs, labyrinths, bandit camps, caves and more!
-Seamlessly wander the world or travel more rapidly on the region map.
-Travel by day and search for a place to shelter as night falls.
-Accept quests from the town and civilization leaders.
-Retire and meet your old characters. Bring them along on an adventure with a new character or reactivate them and play directly.
-Z coordinate allows you to move between twisting underground caverns and scale structures, fighting adversaries above and below.
-Earn a reputation as a hero with the various civilizations in the world.
-Steal a mummy's treasure or learn the secrets of life and death at a necromancer's tower.
The combat model uses skills, body parts, individual tissues, material properties, aimed attacks, wrestling, one-time opportunities, charging and dodging between squares, bleeding, pain, nausea, various poison effects and much more.
A dynamic weather model tracks wind, humidity and air masses to create fronts, clouds, rain storms and blizzards.
Over two hundred rock and mineral types are incorporated into the world, placed in their proper geological environments.
Add new creatures, weapons, plants, metals and other objects via modifiable text files.
Extended ASCII character set rendered in 16 colors (including black) as well as 8 background colors (including black).
Changeable via Graphic Packs
Here is a popular story from a players experience in Dwarf Fortress
I must start by saying that I am a cold, emotionless man. I’ve seen a lot of bad things, and I usually just give them a “meh”. I won’t cry at a movie and I won’t fawn over cute animals. This made me all the more shocked when I was genuinely moved by something that happened in my fortress, something I feel compelled to write about.
I had embarked on a fairly peaceful spot and for the first five years we had nary a goblin. I did some trading, pierced the aquifer and got a few gems and some silver and plodded along. I had but one squad in the beginning, with Zasit Avedineth, Axe Lord at it’s head. When those wasters of elves showed up with a giant jaguar I was only too happy to take it. It was immediately trained up and put into the service of Zasit Avedineth as a giant war jaguar (what other game has these?).
They trained together all day long, embarked on a few skirmishes and trained up all the new recruits. Anywhere the axe lord was, the jaguar was soon to follow. Everything was just peachy.
Then came Usmza Sadtusnung Obrazongong Sloron, dragon.
Immediately the whole military (about 30 out of 80 dwarfs, with several legendaries among them) was mobilized, but the dragon was too fast. Before he could reach the door of the fortress the drawbridge was raised, blocking the dragon’s entrance, but also locking half the military inside. In a ferocious battle, which involved lots of fire, shin punching and a particularly courageous dog biting the dragon in the head, the dwarfs slew the beast. It was not however, without causalities.
Some of the dwarfs had been caramelized, others had lost limbs, and the particularly courageous dog had bled out. The bridge came down and the survivors limped to the hospital. A couple of enterprising dwarfs dashed to the battlefield to pilfer the goodies of the fallen, but aside from that, the smoky wasteland was left alone. Then I saw As Kizestolon, Giant Jaguar. At first I was delighted – my Axe Lord must be around too. It took me a minute to realize what the reports confirmed. As Kizestolon had been trapped inside, while his master had been first to the dragon. Avedineth had only lost a leg in the scrap, but had bled to death in the aftermath and was dragged back to be returned to the stone from whence he came.
Maybe he knew what had happened, and maybe he didn’t, but I shed a tear for As Kizestolon sitting alone in the ash-strewn center of the burning forest, still the pet of Zasit Avedineth.
That’s loyalty.
And lastly, a comic representing one of the famous play throughs:
I warn you now, the game has a really steep learning curve, and if graphics is something you idolize over, then this is not your game.
Although you can install graphic packs to remove the ASCII with things easier to look at.
Well thats that, if you're interesting in this game I advise you get the Lazy Newb Pack, it stops you having to set up everything and comes with some default settings and utilities that most people end up getting at some point.
