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[Mesa]

Gentlemen. Ladies. And other odd people among us.
This is it.

The time we have all been waiting for.
The time. What is the time? It's hard to fully explain its true meaning, but one thing I can tell you know that counting it is a moot point in this strange place that is Bay12 Forums.
For we have waited nearly 2 years for this very moment, and we may wait for even longer. Who knows? I don't, but what I do know is that this wait will be very worth it, I kid you not.

Time is the ultimate test of patience and willpower, and unfortunately not all of us could withstand this test, which is why we're not the same group as we were many months back. I myself only arrived relatively soon, and many of you did after and before me, and many more will. Many have also left, and many will leave. That is a natural course and we cannot stop it.

What can we do then?
Wait.
"Is that it?", you may ask.
The answer is simple - "Yes.".

As sad as it sounds, this seemingly simple task was indeed a tough one for many of us, myself included, and some of us were bested by it, and that defeat could manifest itself in various forms - some were frustrated. Others had dreams of things they wished for but could not get them. Others have left.
And they are not to blame. Patience is a virtue indeed and not everyone was gifted with it, and they cannot stand against the never-ending flow of time.

Days passed. Weeks passed. Months passed. But you kept waiting, and waiting. And you did not stop waiting.
And those who were unbroken by time, are reading this post here on this day, and I salute you.

For soon, we shall enter a new era.

The fabled era of the new release - of the unknown, of !!SCIENCE!!, of !!FUN!! and of great written and unwritten tales.
The era that shall be on the mouths of our peoples, future and present. We are on the border of two releases - one current and one new. We do not know what awaits us past that border, and we have nothing but ourselves to bring to it.
But we are not afraid to cross that border, for we have crossed many such borders in the past, and we will cross many more borders in the future. For there are no borders that we cannot cross, as long as we keep hoping and never give up.
And I beg - let the living not lose hope ever. For even if hope is our only treasure left, it is our most precious treasure and we should protect it at all cost. Because with hope and will there are no barriers that cannot be broken, and with no barriers, there is no such thing as "impossible".

I have witnessed many great releases in the past - I've seen the rise of Minecraft, the dawn of Terraria and all of its major breakthroughs, I've been there when Mann VS Machine was unveiled, and I've seen many more.
But none of those were quite as impressive as this is going to be...

So come. Let us venture into the deep, dark depths of this new, great release. Together. For we have been waiting for it together, and we shall enter it together. As one!
Now go. Enjoy DF2012 while you still can. For when the new release hits the main page, all you will be left with will be you, DF2014 and hope. Fulfilled hope.
Your wishes are soon to be granted, and that is all thanks to you.


*phew*
_{That was fun to write. (inb4 modders coming in and saying that they have their pre-emptively updated mods to bring along to DF2014)}

[Putnam]

DF2014 is annoying to update for; I definitely don't have anything updated fully yet, though the DBZ mod is about halfway there.

[thvaz]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/04/16/dwarf-fortress-the-detailed-roguelike-thats-easy-to-play/#more-201633

Rock Paper Shotgun did a great piece on Dwarf fortress. They want to help bring more people in. This is great.

[Mesa]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/04/16/dwarf-fortress-the-detailed-roguelike-thats-easy-to-play/#more-201633

Rock Paper Shotgun did a great piece on Dwarf fortress. They want to help bring more people in. This is great.

YES! MORE EXPOSURE TO THE GLORIOUS ADVENTURE MODE! PURGE THE FORTRESS SCUM!
*ahem*

Go on.

[misko27]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/04/16/dwarf-fortress-the-detailed-roguelike-thats-easy-to-play/#more-201633

Rock Paper Shotgun did a great piece on Dwarf fortress. They want to help bring more people in. This is great.

It always helps DF that it is so, memorable. It really creates such an endless stream of amazing things that nearly everyone who really gets into becomes a proselytizer.

I will admit surprise at the use of "Easy-to-Play", but I'll take it. We really should keep up efforts to ease the transition for folks; without the wiki I would have dad many more problems.

[Mephansteras]

I raised an eyebrow at 'easy to learn' as well, but I suppose for Adventure mode that's actually pretty true. Fortress mode is where the UI really starts to get in the way of learning the game.

[thvaz]

Dwarf Fortress IS easy to play. Fortress and Adventure Mode. I first played it when I was 25 yo, while studying and working, and I only needed the "How to Survive your First Winter" tutorial in the wiki. I am far from being a genius, I have no Asperger's, and I hadn't (and still haven't) a lot of free time. What is needed to learn Dwarf Fortress? You have to want. It is certainly not a game that will play itself for you.

[TD1]

I started when I was 14. At the time, it was hard. I don't know whether it would be now or not, but I have a feeling that it is still much harder than most other games.

[Untelligent]

Dwarf Fortress was easier for me to learn than Nethack. Having all the keyboard commands you could potentially use displayed on the screen helped.

[PDF urist master]

DF was not as impenetrable as its reputation for me, but while I have learned it, I have not mastered it. still don't know how minecarts work, but I've built a perfectly functional fort around my inability to use it.

[flabort]

DF was not as impenetrable as its reputation for me, but while I have learned it, I have not mastered it. still don't know how minecarts work, but I've built a perfectly functional fort around my inability to use it.

My problem is military. I just can't get a grip on it.
My few successful attempts at getting a squad together usually lead to me trying to build training facilities.
Which lead to using up all my miner's efforts, all my mechanisms, basically every single hand in the fort is diverted to a simple coinstar, even the trader guy (yeah, haven't figured out stacksplitting macros yet), and I run out of food because the farmers decide to quit farming in favor of jumping in and out of the incomplete coinstar pit for no reason.

[DG]

If you're asking for someone to give you reasons to play DF, you probably shouldn't be playing DF yet.

[Tawa]

I started when I was 13. I mostly stuck to adventure mode, whacking goblins with big sticks, until one day I started reading about traps on the wiki and decided it would be !!FUN!! to have goblins get kicked into pits full of wooden spikes instead.

Of course, I embarked on a serene island the time I tried that, meaning I was safe from the gobbos. Skewering unicorns isn't as fun.

[Talvieno]

edit: misread something. disregard this.

edit edit: I still stand behind what I said, though: This game is beautiful and you're doing an amazing job. We love you, Toady. Keep up the incredible work.

[Wimopy]

I have no idea when I started. Possibly 40d, but I'm thinking sooner. That was... oh my, six years ago, roughly. That means... around the age of 12-13, too.
I played adventure mode too, but Fortress Mode wasn't THAT hard to get into. I recall surviving a siege or two as well. It's not really the controls you need to learn, much more what to prioritise, how to plan ahead, etc., I think. You can pretty much figure out with the UI how to do what, but what you most likely need a guide for is which of those things you actually should do.

You know, like, everyone can figure out how to build walls, dig tunnels and create farm plots, but how to create farms inside the tunnels that are protected by walls and then get the farm to produce enough food before winter/the first siege and to actually be able to trade in the autumn is a different thing entirely.