you've inspired me.. think i might try streaming 23a. after all it was the version that seized my youthful imagination and forever attached me to this wonderful game
honestly, totally agree...
the river flooding is a completely forgotten mechanic that added so much danger to new players. farming is and has been a completely contained process since we lost the need for seasonal water management. you can see in old fortresses how players would create elaborate room setups to contain the water flow, and prevent dwarves from opening the door during said floods.
i forgot about migrants bringing anvils...
there is something to be said about how the animals had less fear of dwarves, or at least, large predators were truly aggressive. while the modern version interprets animals in a more or less naturalistic way (more afraid of us than we are of them), this has reduced that elephantine terror of realizing that cute little fox left the map, opening up a slot for a grizzly bear or elephant herd or whatever to run in an attack your woodcutters
anyways. its clear that 23a was never meant to be the full game, you know? The vision was always much much larger. you see this brilliant glimmer of genius in this early version kind of like a half-completed sketch by a great renaissance painter. incomplete but beautiful
in some ways the need for a mimetic representation of an earth-similar world is a detriment to the fantasy of it all. but the argument could also be made that this makes the appearance of a weredonkey all the more enthralling.
frogmen spawning from wells
exactly. it seems as though DF has walked away from these gameified elements, yet it somehow retains the alluring and legendary status as 'most difficult / complex / steep learning curve' game. despite so many of the actually dangerous or challenging features no longer existing
here is a curious thought experiment: what if 23a was given the 'premium' treatment? you know, updated graphics, new UI (with keyboard inputs this time...), bugs removed and maybe a few nice features like building walls and a balanced economy.
I think it would be radically successful