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[Kogut]

It is not alpha, it is only called alpha.

[blue sam3]

It is not alpha, it is only called alpha.

It is alpha. Toady is still building significant core features. That is the very definition of Alpha software, almost word for word.

[greenskye]

I would just like to add my $.02 and say that I agree with NW_Kohaku.

Right now playing DF feels like looking through a key hole on this great and complex world. There are all of these things we can do, but I can really only see bits and pieces of it at a time.

Just the other day I wanted to watch a fight between two dwarves. This involved carefully advancing with the one-step button until a combat report popped up (.), checking the combat report (r), escaping back to the main screen, and advancing till the next one. When I don't follow the combat logs all I see is some flashing and a few seconds later a dead dwarf (or goblin, or FB, or whatever).

If all I watch is the main screen combat could consist of simple hp checks. Where is the difference? Why can't I have scrolling combat logs? Why isn't there a "watch" function? I feel like I'm constantly fighting the interface to see what I want to see and to do the things I want to do.

I'm a programmer too and I can tell you that at some point refusing to rewrite code because you might change it later is more of a handicap than a boon. Every new feature that Toady adds is something he'll need to write an interface for. All of this is making a mountain of work for him to do later that will be even more daunting then. Even if his rewrite will have to be changed later, it will be much less work (if he isn't stupid, and he isn't) than saving every interface improvement for the end.

-snip-
Dwarf therapist is already out, just use that, and he'll fix things when he can.

We could solve (and have solved) almost every DF issue by pointing to a mod/utility and saying make due. When is it time for the game to actually fix these things?

It is not alpha, it is only called alpha.

It is alpha. Toady is still building significant core features. That is the very definition of Alpha software, almost word for word.

While it's true that alpha is generally considered complete after features have been added, the fact that the game is publicly available does change the circumstances, not to mention the game has been developed (and available) for 5+ years. Toady offers the game in a semi-working state in the hopes you will donate to further it's development. Toady can't survive without the fans donations. Seeing as his salary is basically payed by the fans he has to at least keep them mollified lest they lose interest. That isn't to say that he has to give up on his vision of the game, but providing a working and playable game is somewhat necessary. You may be perfectly content with the game and its progression right now but many other (paying) fans are not. Toady has to carefully balance these two factions.

[Xeorm]

I'm a programmer too and I can tell you that at some point refusing to rewrite code because you might change it later is more of a handicap than a boon. Every new feature that Toady adds is something he'll need to write an interface for. All of this is making a mountain of work for him to do later that will be even more daunting then. Even if his rewrite will have to be changed later, it will be much less work (if he isn't stupid, and he isn't) than saving every interface improvement for the end.

Saving it till later won't add work that he has to do, so I don't really see how this is that relevant.

We could solve (and have solved) almost every DF issue by pointing to a mod/utility and saying make due. When is it time for the game to actually fix these things?

When he gets to that stage that he wants to polish it that way.  Currently he's adding more functionality to the game, such as designing cities. He can only work on so much.

You may be perfectly content with the game and its progression right now but many other (paying) fans are not. Toady has to carefully balance these two factions.

I would agree, I do want dwarf fortress done and out now.  I do wish that the program had more than one developer.

[freeformschooler]

You may be perfectly content with the game and its progression right now but many other (paying) fans are not. Toady has to carefully balance these two factions.

I agree with most of your post but whoa whoa whoa let's back up here.

1) "Paying": no one is "paying" for Dwarf Fortress. You are donating to Toady so he (and presumably Zach/ThreeToe) can continue to live off of your donations as well as the hundreds of others which would not be fazed if you yourself stopped. It is not the same as "paying" for access to the alpha game -- like Minecraft, in which we did "pay" for alpha access.
2) "Has to": I don't thing that's the right wording here. He doesn't "have to" do anything. He may please the fans by doing one thing or another, be it bug fixes or adding features, and you may write nine thousand and one paragraph suggestions, but in the end, it's not the fans' countless recommendations that make him do what he does with the game.

Otherwise, yeah. Can't argue. (Also, I'm a programmer too, so I know where you're coming from here)

[greenskye]

You may be perfectly content with the game and its progression right now but many other (paying) fans are not. Toady has to carefully balance these two factions.

This was probably too strong for me to say and I apologize.

What I'm trying to get across is the conflict between Toady wanting to make the game however he pleases and pleasing the people who help pay for his current way of life. These two items may or may not always align. When they do conflict with each other Toady does have to weigh whether or not doing what he wants will impact his standard of living and whether or not it is worth it. These are conflicts that most of us go through in any job. Sometimes the jobs that pay the most aren't worth it because they require too much time. At least in America you always have the choice of quitting your job and (trying) to find another.

Yes, Toady can do whatever he pleases. Whether or not he can do what he wants AND still have the same standard of living is up for debate.

P.S. After some recent issues at work where I'm being overwhelmed with new feature requests I'm feeling a bit more sympathetic to Toady. I think I'm beginning to understand the whole "Let me get one darn thing finished before yet another feature is added!!" feeling.