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[Oddible]

In looking over the info that is being posted about forthcoming releases, it seems a lot of attention is being put into Adventure mode.  Is this the thrust of where the game is going?  Is Adventure mode simpler or more complex (never tried, it, just getting my feet wet in fortress mode which seems insanely complex).  Or is the simplicity of Adventure mode an easier market and hence an easier way to get some income into Bay12?  I really like the construct and manage more than I like the survival party which is why I started in Fortress.  Would you think that one prepares you for the other?

[Torrasque666]

It might just seem like its for adventure mode, but thats probably because its easier to test out the mechanics if its a single entity, rather than on a fortress sized scale. Also, most of the world interactivity is (probably)going to see most focus in fort mode.

[Keldane]

Fortress mode and adventure mode are very nearly two completely different games in the same wrapper. The only real overlap comes from the fact that you can have adventurers migrate to your fortress, assuming they're dwarves (and bringing with them all those excellent combat skills you trained them in), and the fact that you can visit your fortress as an adventurer (allowing you to craft fantastic adamantine weapons, store them in lead bins so they don't scatter far, and then find and use them as an adventurer).

At least, that's the only real overlap currently.

Plans exist for allowing adventurers to start settlements with their companions, effectively building their own communities in the wilderness. How this will work has not yet been determined, as far as I know, and it will operate on Adventure Mode time scale, which (if I recall correctly) is 72x slower than Fortress Mode.

A lot of the attention looks like it's focused on adventure mode for the time being because adventure mode allows you to go out and explore the world in a way that fortress mode simply doesn't as of yet. When the time comes that you can order your armies out into the world, a lot of the features that are only visible in adventure mode may become much more visible in fortress mode. Even before that point, there's a chance that we'll see enemies that can climb walls or jump across gaps in fortress mode - features that, last I heard, are currently only present in adventure mode.

The same goes the other way, too. Currently, only fortress dwarves can pick wild plants. In the next version, adventurers will be able to pluck fruit from trees, and Toady has said that he wants to make a similar feature possible in fortress mode. I seem to remember (but unfortunately, don't have a quote handy) that he also said Adventurers will gain the ability to pick from shrubs, too. It's a small thing, and it can make a huge difference to adventurer survivability if you simply can't find anything to kill for food.

Because the mechanics of each mode differ so greatly, I don't think that one truly prepares you for the other in a control sense, though as I outlined above, it's possible to play a fortress to create gear that can then be taken for use by your adventurer. By the same token, adventurers can go out and scour the world looking for cool items, then leave them in a lair somewhere for you to embark on. Nothing says easy start like six picks, six battle axes, a small heap of whips, various pieces of armor, and a pile of bones waiting to be made into your first bunch of crafts, all of which cost you zero points on embark and which aren't scattered all over the map from a previous abandon. In theory, a diligent adventurer can gather for you enough items to completely outfit your first couple squads of dwarves.

Oh, one thing of note: Next version brings the ability to retire a fortress without abandoning it, create a dwarven adventurer, and travel the world before having them retire in your fortress, where they will be a resident when you switch back to fortress mode. With a little time spent, you'll be able to have a ten dwarf squad of demigods, all pre-trained in the art of combat and delivered right to your doorstep.

[lue]

I think the main driver behind Adventure Mode development is simply that Adventure Mode as it stands is far simpler and less diverse in its offerings. It's only made sense to me that a lot of focus would go there (in fact I can hardly believe what the next version's adventure mode is supposed to do, especially when compared to now!)

[Garath]

As far as I see it, adventure mode was so far behind on fort mode that a lot of effort goes into it now. On the other hand, a lot of the things you might see as 'adventure mode' are also related to fort mode, such as bringing the world alive during the game outside the fort or the immediate area of your adventurer. The development for raiding parties and sieges in worldgen and during the game might be to make it possible to send out your own raiders and sieges in the future, not just to generate adventurer quests. And so on, and so on. A new combat system may be more obvious as adventurer, but forts profit from it too.