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[shultays]

How Tarn will continue to update dwarf fortress after the steam release? Will he just work on regular DF and steam release won't be receiving updates? Or will he stop working on regular DF and from the release on only work on steam version? I doubt but maybe he will keep both up to date?

I am asking because afaik a separate company works on steam version. But I doubt they will be continue working on it after the release. But maybe that is wrong and the team will continue working on it and release updates, keep steam version up to sync as well?

[Starver]

The simple version of the explanation, AIUI, is that Steam (and Itch.io) will have the core updated DF with loads of fancy resources (graphics, sounds, at the very least) as their standard add-on pack. The core updated DF without these will be as playable (though edging back more to the "DOS 6.22 DEFRAG" look than the Transport Tycoon one) but by no means as 'pretty', and will be an optional fall-back for those that go the Steam/Itch route or the default (but just as 3rd-party-art-moddable) version for everyone else.

There'll be no core forking that means needing to add mechanical changes to the operation of both versions, it'll be done to the one (give or take anything that has to deal with OS-specific things, for whatever of various platforms it gets ported out to). The only real forking involved is testing that for every new aesthetic update is serviced both by some form of both Basic and Premium graphics.


BICBW. It's been a while since I saw this discussed, and I may have missed some more recent caveat/announcement, or grossly misunderstand the original intention.

[PatrikLundell]

As Starver said, the code base of the Premium version (commercial, via Steam and Itch.io) and the Classic version ("free"/donation based) is intended to be the same, although there currently seems to be issues with the Classic version UI.

The work process post release "cleanup" (bug fixes and other emergency stuff) is intended to be a twin branch work process such that most of the work is spent on the next "real" release, while some time is spent on the "current" release with things like bug fixes and isolated improvements. Note that the code base is intended to be common to both the Premium and Classic versions, so the changes to each branch would apply to both versions simultaneously.

It's not really a case of a separate company working on the commercial version(s), but the publisher being involved in the production of Premium version specific features, which are not part of the code itself (tile sets and music, primarily).