Edit: Post has been updated to include changes from Reddit, any other changes visible in my latest reply.
*New and Updated suggestions are now marked, with date to indicate they were added.*
Due to many suggestions, adding them may take some time.
I personally test every suggestion before putting it on the list. Thank you for your patience.
Other Discussion Boards For This TopicDwarf Fortress Reddit (Updated Most Frequently!)
Steam Discussion Board (No Longer Updated)
Disclaimer: Due to a strange mood, I wrote a VERY lengthy post. Sit down, grab some plump helmets and dwarven wine, and let us dive in.To the Developers and Readers:Thank you for taking the time to read this suggestions post! If you have any suggestions yourself, I hope you'll consider leaving some of your own at the bottom of this thread. This list incorporates feedback from both me and other players, and is divided into a few sections to help break things down. I believe many of these will likely be addressed in the future, but I wanted to take the time to put everything into a cohesive list with sections and related content. My hope is that the developers use this list to help them prioritize different features.
There are links to the wiki for specific sections that take information from there. You can find them by clicking on the title of a section, or at the very end of this post. I also made some of my own mockups in photoshop on how some features could be implemented. Image links are available within certain sections and at the end.
Thank you for reading.
1. Tutorials
Problem: Relying on the wiki, discord, or online videos to find information on things that could be easily accessible in game, is a very time consuming process that can take away from the immersion of the game. As a single player game, the menus could have all of their important information readily available. There are a lot of menus that lack a proper walkthrough, or have nested menus that are not talked about. Here are the most important ones, as well as what information could be placed in each tutorial:
Dwarf > OverviewCould explain unmet needs, how they are supposed to be resolved, and if they need to be resolved.
Creatures > Pets/LivestockCould explain the pet system, training, and hunting.
Labor > KitchenCould explain how the cooking system works, and how cooking certain goods will kill the seed count, e.g., plump helmets.
Labor > Standing Orders Could explain going through automated commands and how they work.
Labor > Standing Orders > Sieges and forbiddingGeneral overview on how to avoid getting dwarves killed.
Labor > Standing Orders > ChoresGeneral overview on how to assign kids to specific tasks.
Labor > Stone UseGeneral overview on what non-economic stones are.
StockpilesCould explain how priorities for stockpiles are set, and linking existing workshops.
High and Low Traffic AreasCould explain why it is important for players to know they can restrict areas.
Solution: All of these additional tutorials could be added to
Information and Guides. There could also be a
[?] Icon on many pages in the top right that has information about the specific page listed, which would reduce the need to look through existing tutorials. A general introduction to the nested menus could ensure new players know they exist.
Guide [?] Icon In-Game MockupIn the current tutorial screen, some of the tutorials can also be set up similar to a file tree, and ordered in alphabetical order for easy navigation. For example, the
Meeting and Areas tutorial contains information on
Taverns, Temples, Hospitals, Libraries, and
Guildhalls. A user may want to access only the
Temples portion.
~Example File Tree~
Meeting and Areas- Guildhalls
- Hospitals
- Libraries
- Taverns
- Temples
I am leaving a link
here to Blinds’
Dwarf Fortress - Quick Tutorial series. Many of these can also be added into the game as tutorials in some shape as well.
2. Colors, Skills, Item Quality, and Room Quality
~Colors~Problem: The game has a lot of color coding. It can be very difficult to figure out what colors indicate what. In a dwarves
Overview under
unmet needs, yellow means a higher priority than white, in
Creatures > Citizens it indicates a certain profession or
no job, and for items it indicates an object that
has not been placed.
Solution: The game could have a color key that lets the user know what different colors mean in each category. This can be added to
Information and Guides.
Color Key In-Game Mockup
~Skills~Updated Suggestion, 12/17/2022Problem: Skill level names are displayed, but knowing which one is better can be confusing.
Solution: Having a
Skill Level Key to keep track of the progress of your dwarves, as well as color coding their skill names could resolve this problem. The skill level key can be added to
Information and Guides.
Skill Level Key and A Numerical Indicator In-Game Mockup V.2.
~Item Quality~Problem: At first glance, the symbols that are placed on the side of items look like flavor text
(marked with -, +, *, ≡, ☼, «»). These symbols actually represent the quality of items, and if an item has been encrusted with gems. Although item quality is explained with text when selecting an object, a user may not know which one is better.
Solution: The game could have a key to help players differentiate what level of quality each item is at a quick glance, and that the «» icons means an object was encrusted. The item quality key can be added to
Information and Guides.
Item Quality Key In-Game Mockup
~Rooms~
Updated Suggestion, 12/17/2022Problem: When selecting a room through
Place Zones, It is not possible to see what the current
Quality of a room is, e.g., all bedrooms show up as Bedroom, dining halls as Dining Hall, etc. It is possible to click on a dwarf and navigate to the
Rooms menu to find out if they have a
Modest Bedroom, but this requires searching for the dwarf belonging to that room. In
Places > Zones, all rooms can look the same, blending together.
Solution: Similar to the skills key, rooms could have a room quality key that shows the estimated value of the room, as well as a color to indicate it's current tier. In the
Places > Zones menu, names of rooms could also be changed to their respective tier and color, and be listed from best to worst.
Room Quality Key and Places > Zones Mockup V.2.Room Quality When Selecting Zones Mockup V.2.---
Problem: It is not possible to tell if a room is complete or not.
Solution: A room could be highlighted in a different color if incomplete, and could have its needed furniture listed.
---
New Suggestion, 12/16/2022Problem: It is not possible to tell if bedrooms are available at a glance without going into
Zones Placement or
Places > Zones menu.
Solution: Adding a visual indicator to each room, such as a highlight when hovering over an existing room, could provide information in the hover tooltip if a room is occupied. Also, under
Places > Zones, rooms could be sorted from occupied to non-occupied.
---
Problem: Assigning multiple characters to one dining room is not possible. The King is forced to eat by himself, when he could be eating with the Baroness, Mayor, the dwarf Exec- I mean Hammerer, and the Dungeon Master.
Solution: Allowing multiple dwarves to be assigned to one dining hall would resolve this issue.
3. Crafting Tasks, Metals, Armors and Weapons
~Crafting Tasks~Updated Suggestion, 12/16/2022Problem: Many tasks that are not craftable are marked in white. For example, when selecting the
Metalsmith’s Forge or selecting
Work Orders, all tasks can be selected regardless if the materials are available. In the
Smelter, tasks that require an item are colored orange and have a red
[Requires X] underneath.
Solution: All tasks and
Work Orders that can not be completed could be marked in orange and have a
[Requires X] label underneath.
---
New Suggestion, 12/16/2022Problem: In the
Work Orders screen when choosing encrust, it is possible to specify the gem and type of gem, but not the material.
Solution: Encrust could have material selection for ammo, finished goods, and furniture.
---
Problem: It is difficult to memorize materials as well as how many are needed for every task.
Solution: Materials needed to complete a task could be included in the hover tooltip, and if not enough of a material is available, they could be colored red.
Material Requirements In-Game Mockup
---
New Suggestion, 12/20/2022Problem: When selecting a task, if a needed item is unavailable, the task is removed, and an error occurs. This requires placing a new task back into the queue.
Solution: The task could be paused instead, removing the need for re-adding the task.
---
~Metals~Problem: Metals do not have explicit stats listed. Steel is stronger than Copper in real life, but in game they look the same.
Solution: The game could have a metal hierarchy key to determine which metals will be better depending on the gear being smelted. Smelting the best corresponding gear from a specific metal will ensure dwarves are kept safe during sieges and while invading other lands. It also incentivizes the player to dig deeper for better materials, or specific materials.
Metal Hierarchy Key In-Game Mockup
~Armors and Weapons~This section is in progress, more points will be added. If you have ideas on how armor and weapon stats could be implemented into existing menus, please let me know (I’ve figured out Item Quality Bonuses and Armor Level in my mockup so far).Problem: It is not possible to specify what ammunition marksdwarves are using.
Solution: Adding an option for dwarves to use specific ammunition would resolve this issue.
---
New Suggestion, 12/19/2022Problem: Editing existing uniforms in
Squad Sidebar > Equip is possible, but can feel unintuitive. In order to change an existing uniform, the player must select the
Details menu (in
Squad Sidebar > Equip) of a soldier, click the desired gear, give a desired name in the name box, and then select
Confirm and Save Uniform. This however creates a new uniform, as opposed to updating an old one.
Solution: In the
Squad Sidebar > Equip menu, a new button called
Edit Uniform could be placed next to
Add Uniform at the top of the screen.
---
Problem: Armor and clothes are worn together, but military dwarves refuse to swap shoes. They are unwilling to use any of the boots that are crafted for them.
Solution: Allowing military dwarves to swap their shoes without having to remove all clothing would resolve this issue.
4. Alerts, Game Speed, Menu and Map Navigation, Visibility, and Search
New Section, 12/20/2022~Alerts~New Suggestion, 12/20/2022Problem: Many important alerts such as
ALERT, DIPLOMACY, Migrants, and the start of
Combat will not pause the game.
Solution: An option to have
ALERT, DIPLOMACY, Migrants, Weather Change, and the start of
Combat trigger pause would resolve this issue. An option to turn on or off which events pause the screen could also resolve this issue.
New Suggestion, 12/20/2022Problem: Important alerts such as
Migrants, Weather Change, and the start of
Combat do not have audio to alert the player they occurred.
Solution: Migrants, Weather Change, and the start of
Combat could have audio added. A mod that solves some of these can be found
here.
New Suggestion, 12/20/2022Problem: It is not possible to see if it is
Raining or
Snowing visually, a player must check their current alerts to tell what the weather is or look in the top right at the calendar.
Solution: A visual to indicate rain or snow would resolve this issue.
---
~Game Speed~Problem: The active game screen tick speed can be adjusted by using
Alt + and
Alt -. However, the speed is tied to the frame rate, making it very difficult to navigate menus on lower speeds.
Solution: Separating these seems unlikely at this stage, not sure if this can be solved without a large overhaul. For those who wish to see the FPS counter that also reflects the tick speed, go to your
Settings > Game and enable
Show Frames-Per-Second. Then, use
Alt + and
Alt - to see the adjustment.
Resolved Suggestion, as of Version 50.04Problem: During combat, constant pausing is required to simulate frame by frame combat.
Solution: Having a hotkey similar to classic that can be pressed while the game is paused to simulate frame by frame combat could solve this issue.---
~Menu and Map Navigation~Updated Suggestion, 12/20/2022Problem: It is possible to select a character from Creatures > Citizens by clicking on the
Recenter and
Magnifying Glass shortcuts next to dwarves names. However, these shortcuts do not exist on the
Nobles and Administration, Labor, Workstation, Room, Tavern (Room Details), and
Temple (Room Details) menus.
Solution: Adding the
Recenter and
Magnifying Glass shortcuts to the
Nobles and Administration, Labor, Workstation, Room, Tavern (Room Details), and
Temple (Room Details) menus would resolve this issue.
Recenter and Hourglass Shortcuts In Other Menus In-Game Mockup
Updated Suggestion, 12/23/2022Problem: The
Magnifying Glass icon can be useful, but clicking on the image may be more intuitive.
Solution: The
Magnifying Glass icon could be removed and replaced with a hyperlink on the portraits of characters and names.
---
Updated Suggestion, 12/16/2022Problem: Dwarf happiness is only visible in
Creatures > Citizens.
Solution: When selecting a dwarf, happiness could also be visible under the
Overview screen. The ability to see why the dwarf is happy could also be provided when hovering over the icon.
---
New Suggestion, 12/19/2022Problem: In
Squad Selection > View Positions > Assign Position, When picking squad members, it is difficult to tell at a glance if someone has experience due to everything being white. It is also not possible to sort dwarves based on their military profession.
Solution: The text underneath squad members with no relevant skills could be slightly grayer, and have an option to sort by military profession and be listed from best to worst.
---
Problem: Smoothing and engraving large portions of the base makes it near impossible to see the tiles underneath during the process.
Solution: Changing the opacity of the tiles would resolve this issue. There is a mod that does just this, I will add a link
here.
---
Problem: It can be difficult to keep track of enemies on the map, especially maps with dense vegetation.
Solution: Having a slight transparent background color for enemy units can help identify their current position.
---
Problem: When moving with the
w a s d keys, the moving distance is much larger than pressing and using the
middle mouse button. This may be desirable for some, but a user may want to reduce the amount of movement.
Solution: Adding an option in settings that allows the user to move in smaller increments would resolve this problem.
~Search~Updated Suggestion, 12/19/2022Problem: It is not possible to search for items in the
Diplomacy screen when making requests for next year's caravan.
Solution: The ability to search for specific items when making requests, and listing all categories in alphabetical order would resolve this issue.
---
Updated Suggestion, 12/19/2022Problem: It becomes difficult finding dwarves, animals, items, rooms, artifacts, and other objects as a players base continues to grow. This affects the following menus:
Creatures, Tasks, Places, Labor, Work Orders, and
Objects.
Solution: Adding a search function to the
Creatures, Tasks, Places, Labor, Work Orders, and
Object menus would resolve this issue.
---
Updated Suggestion, 12/20/2022Problem: Typing in partial names in the search bar for an existing item, e.g. “copper boot” instead of “copper high boot”, does not bring up the desired result. Currently, the wording needs to be exact to find said item. Some other examples include:
When using the
Stocks or
Assign New Display Items menu, typing in "gems" into the search bar will return an empty screen, the exact gem name needs to be provided.
When using the
Stocks or
Assign New Display Items menu, typing in "armor" into the search bar will return armor stands, but not armors. Typing in "armo" will provide some of the armor items, but not all of them.
When using the
Stocks or
Assign New Display Items menu, typing in "artifacts" into the search bar will return an empty screen. In order to find the artifact, the material it was made from has to be typed in instead of its name.
When using the
Stocks or
Assign New Display Items menu, typing in "damaged" or "masterwork" into the search bar will return an empty screen. Items cannot be found just by their quality.
Solution: Allowing for partial matches or similar categories to appear in the search results would resolve these problems.
---
Updated Suggestion, 12/19/2022Problem: The
Work Orders screen can become difficult to navigate as the amount of work orders grow.
Solution: Having tabs/filters at the top that categorize work orders by workshop, or a search option to find a specific work order could resolve this issue. The ability to create groups of work order could also be a great addition.
---
New Suggestion, 12/16/2022Problem: When using the search function in the
Trade Depot > Trade screen, items in bins are not filtered correctly. For example, if searching for limestone blocks, both limestone and other objects in the bin will show up.
Solution: When searching, only the relevant search could show up for objects in bins.
5. Click Intensive Activities
Updated Suggestion, 12/19/2022Problem: A few of the screens could use a
Select All option:
Resolved Point, as of Version 50.04Burrows - Ability to Select All dwarves, and Select All non-combat dwarves.Labor > Kitchen - Ability to turn Off/On all brewables or cookables.
Zone Placement > Pen/Pasture > Select Animals - Ability to select and sort all animals.
Diplomacy - Ability to
Select All goods in a category when requesting resources.
Trade Depot > Trade - Ability to
Select All goods on both sides.
Solution: Adding a
Select All option to all of these menus would resolve these issues.
---
New Suggestion, 12/20/2022Problem: Making multiple
Tomb zones is incredibly click intensive. When creating a
Tomb, it is possible to create multi rooms to house multiple dwarves, however, each grave requires its own room and a door.
Solution: Tomb zones could allow for multiple dwarves to be housed in the same zone, or a
Graveyard room could be added.
---
~Search Related~Problem: The search function is not consistent on every screen. In
Stocks and when creating a
Work Order, the search allows the user to look through the whole catalog without clicking on specific sections. In
Workstations, a category must be selected first.
Solution: The search function could be the same in all of the menus.
---
Problem: The
Search Bar needs to be clicked in order for the search process to begin.
Solution: The
Search Bar could be in an always selected state, as when other keys are used the current menu closes.
---
New Suggestion, 12/19/2022Problem: In the
Trade Depot > Trade screen, it is not possible to collapse bins on the fortress trade screen (right side). This can lead to a lot of frustration when having a large amount of bins up for trade.
Solution: Similar to the merchants trade screen, the fortress trade screen could have the ability to collapse bins.
---
New Suggestion, 12/16/2022Problem: Finding a dwarf with specific skills or traits can be a long process of opening the
Creatures > Citizens page, and then selecting dwarves one by one.
Solution: Having hotkeys to quickly cycle through dwarf info cards back and forth could resolve this issue.
---
Problem: The
Search Bar needs to be clicked in order for the search process to begin.
Solution: The
Search Bar could be in an always selected state, as when other keys are used the current menu closes.
---
~Construction/Task Related~Problem: During construction, it is not possible to disassemble multiple pieces of furniture at once.
Solution: Just like there is the
m>x command for walls, stairs, and tiles, a command for furniture could be added.
---
New Suggestion, 12/19/2022Problem: When placing floors, it is not possible to see how much stone will be used for construction until after placement.
Solution: Adding a visual that indicated the size of the grid placement (1x2, 2x5, 5x10, etc.) and also lists the amount of stone that will be used before placement would resolve this issue.
---
Resolved as of Version 50.03Problem: Placing floors requires clicking each stone individually. This is fine for mixing different stones, but if only one stone is needed, it is very click intensive.
Solution: Typing in how much stone will be used for each floor piece would resolve this issue.---
Problem: When placing furniture of the same material multiple times, it is necessary to
Select Material After Placement, and then place the material every time.
Solution: An option to
Use Last Material under
Keep Building After Placement, would prevent having to re-click
Select Material After Placement every time the user wants to pick out a specific material.
Use Last Material In-Game Mockup---
New Suggestion, 12/16/2022Problem: When using the
Place Structure menu, after selecting the category and then selecting a structure to place, right clicking will close all menus. In order to select another object, the
Place Structure menu has to be reopened, and the category reselected. The same applies When selecting a Workshop, clicking
Add New Task, and picking a category. Right clicking will close the menu, which requires reopening the Workshop, clicking Add New Task, and selecting a different category.
Solution: For
Structures, right clicking could go back one menu, to allow the user to select a different structure for placement. For
Workshops, right click could work in the same way, as left click can be used to exit the menu by making a selection outside the active window.
---
Problem: When navigating to the
Work Order screen, the
o key is pressed, then a separate click is needed to
Create a Work Order, and then a click is needed to initiate search.
Solution: Having a shortcut key to jump to
Create a Work Order and having search already selected would resolve this issue.
---
New Suggestion, 12/16/2022Problem: Work Orders can only be kept on one save, making new ones can be very time intensive especially on more complex orders.
Solution: An ability to export existing work orders from one save to another could solve this issue.
---
Problem: When hovering over not placed items, such as engraved walls and bins, it is possible to see the
Item Quality, but when hovering over placed items, such as furniture, the
Item Quality is only visible after selecting the item.
Solution: Placed items could have their quality visible on hover. There could also be options to toggle which objects have item quality visible, e.g., engravings.
6. Sorting
Problem: A lot of bins and barrels have only 1 or 2 items. The dwarves will grab a new container instead of filling an existing one.
Solution: Dwarves could prioritize filling existing containers instead of grabbing new ones.
---
Problem: Butchering older animals is very click intensive. In order to check an animals’ age, an animal must first be selected, and then marked for slaughter under
Creatures > Pets/Livestock.
Solution: An
Age category sorting option under
Creatures > Pets/Livestock could be added, and an option to directly slaughter an animal from its creature sheet could also be added.
Age Category and Slaughter Option In-Game Mockup---
Problem: It is not possible to see used units in all categories under the
Stocks menu.
Solution: The
Stocks list could have an orange indicator for all categories that are placeable or equipable. All categories could also be divided into a used and unused section to help easily distinguish which items have been placed or are in use vs items that are available.
New Suggestion, 12/19/2022Problem: It is very difficult to find
Artifacts in the
Stocks menu, and it is not possible to search for artifacts by name in the
Search Bar. This also makes it difficult to pick out items for
Pedestals and
Display Cabinets.
Solution: The
Stocks list could have an
Artifacts Tab, and allow searching for existing artifacts.
7. World Map, Logs, and Extras
New Category, 12/16/2022~
World Map~
New Suggestion, 12/16/2022Problem: Outside of the embark screen, it is not possible to zoom in on the
World Map towards a desired location. Opening the map also sends you towards the center, as opposed to being centered on the fort by default.
Solution: The map could allow the ability for zoom and be centered on the fort by default.
---
New Suggestion, 12/19/2022Problem: In the original Dwarf Fortress, it was possible to see a variety of color coded markers on the map to identify different events from
News and Rumors. This included the following:
Abduction - A person has been kidnapped from the site
Artifact - An artifact was known to be in the site
Army movement - An army was marching on the site
Occupation - A site was conquered and is now under military occupation
Refugees - A group of refugees fled from the site before a military raid or invasion
Change in leadership - A leadership role was assumed or changed persons
Site reclaimed - An abandoned ruin was reclaimed
Solution: A reintroduction of map markers to indicate different events would resolve this issue.
---
~Logs~Problem: The logs system that was in place in the original that preserved logs is currently missing. Dismissing a log will make it impossible to reopen it in any of the existing menus. This is being addressed according to mod /u/clinodev here.
---
~Extras~Resolved Suggestion, as of Version 50.04Problem: After a wall is engraved, a very subtle wall imprint can be seen, but it can be difficult to tell it apart from the rest of the smoothed walls.
Solution: Engraved walls could be more visible. A mod that makes engraved walls more noticable can be found here.---
Problem: When a Temple is built, it is not possible to see the Deity, or what they stand for, e.g., gambling, death, life, etc., after the zone placement is made.
Solution: When checking the details for a temple, it could list this information.
---
Problem: In the
Tavern tutorial (which is hidden within the
Meeting and Areas tutorial) It is said to “have a Stockpile with Booze in it, preferably close by”. Having the stockpile outside of the tavern designation causes the tavern keeper to not serve alcohol to guests.
Solution: Removing “preferably close by” could resolve any misunderstandings.
8. Other Suggestions
~Hint System~Scenario: A dwarf stumbles upon a task to craft something, but does not know how to complete it. They sit there, pondering what they could do. Suddenly, a thought bubble appears over their head. The user clicks on the thought bubble, and the dwarves' thought reads “The Forger has been slacking off, If only I had some
bronze bars laying around”.
A hint system that is incorporated through the use of thought bubbles could be a fun idea.
---
Thank you for making it this far. If you have any suggestions of your own, feel free to leave them in the discussion below. If something on this list is already addressed, let me know and I will strike it from the list (a link to confirm the change would be appreciated). Many of these may be moved around as more suggestions are put in. I am looking forward to hearing from all of you.
Wiki and Other Links:Dwarf Fortress WikiSkillsRoomsItem QualityMetalsWeaponsArmorsWorld MapBlinds’ Dwarf Fortress - Quick Tutorial SeriesBlinds’ Tutorial SeriesMy In-Game Mockups[?] IconColor KeySkill KeySkill Key V.2.Item Quality KeyPlaces > ZonesRoom Quality and Places Zones V.2.Quality and Room ValueQuality and Room Value V.2.Material RequirementMetal KeyRecenter and HourglassUse Last MaterialAge CategoryDwarf Fortress Mods MentionedObvious Engravings by Trainzack
Audible Alerts by Trainzack
See-Through Smoothing Designations by Trainzack
Other Discussion BoardsDwarf Fortress Reddit(Updated Most Frequently!)
Steam Discussion BoardCredits: Thank you to /u/RedX1000 for being a boss and reading through this massive post with me. Thank you to everyone who shared their suggestions over Steam, Reddit, and Bay12Forums, your encouragement has made this happen.
Author
Topic: [Steam] How Dwarf Fortress Steam Edition Could Be Improved (Read 6910 times)