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[TinyPirate]

Is the physical copy on a ship delay or such?

My editor says: "Our "retail availability" date in the database was yesterday, May 31st. So, they should ship without delay now. I think Amazon availability is early next week."

[WealthyRadish]

The book clocks in at 240 pages or so and 80,000 words. It features nine full-page illustrations and a half-dozen diagrams by [ur=http://www.timdenee.com/comics.htmll]Tim Denee[/url]. The illustrations are based on stories from Dwarf Fortress submitted by players on the forum.You can see one here. If you buy the book, I hope you enjoy it! And please, feel free to let me know if there are any problems with the book. I'll be updating it, after all!

Changing it to

Code: [Select]

[url=http://www.timdenee.com/comics.html]Tim Denee[/url]fixes it.

I really like the idea of a book on dwarf fortress. It'd be especially neat if someone made a collection of some of the stories and other community things. *COUGH*^sequel*COUGH*COUGH*

[TinyPirate]

I do have a couple of ideas for more books, but I'm not sure if they would be viable. We'll see how this book goes and whether or not another would be doable. And thanks for the correction

[oven_baked]

Tempted to get the E-book for the illustrations as the preview looks amazing. Not so keen on the physical as it doesn't get updates (fair enough).
Maybe when (god forbid) DF development slows down i might get the physical one as it looks awesome.

[Uristocrat]

I'm ordering it now, just for the illustrations.  BTW, you goofed up a URL tag by leaving out an L when you tried to link to Tim Denee.

Thanks for that - I will try and fix... if I can find it. Where's the error?

Very first post in the entire thread.  Your link isn't linkified at all, it shows up as [ur=http://www.timdenee.com/comics.htmll]Tim Denee[/url] due to the mistake (the missing L in URL).

[Uristocrat]

Just a heads up - this is really cool. An actual book is a thousand times more useful to someone trying to pick up the game than Internet forums (really?) or a wiki.

Yeah, I plan to share mine with my second cousins, who love the idea of Dwarf Fortress but are a little intimidated when it comes to actually playing it.  I mean, you start out with a bit of gear, but after that you have to set up all kinds of stockpiles and workshops and defend yourselves and such.

[Rose]

This is really cool. I'm gonna try to get a copy once I got some cash.

[Zarat]

Shouldnt a portion of profits go to bay12?

Just wanted to bring up the legal perspective - no, legally, one does not need permission to produce a game guide like this, nor do they need to engage in any kind of profit-sharing.

That TinyPirate did collaborate somewhat with Toady and plans to make a donation is commendable and is going above and beyond what is required legally or ethically of him, so kudos to him.

[Xheia]

I just want to say that it looks like it would be a great gift to friends, as a way to recommend the game (and increase the chances of the friend actually playing it). On that note, how easy is it to gift the e-version?

Some other questions:
Adventure mode?
Would a person enjoy and be engaged in reading it as a book (without playing the game at the same time)? (thinking of its usefulness as a conversation piece, or coffee table book.)
I would ask if it's entertaining to experienced players, but I don't doubt that it would be - seeing as I reread wiki pages for fun, I don't doubt that I would enjoy the book.

[Binary Toast]

Personally, now that I understand what the book's trying to accomplish, I support it. It's not there to replace the wiki in any way, it's there to help new players; it's the tutorial that DF lacks.
I'm tempted to pull the DF book/game cd trick on a friend of mine, though I noticed one important thing missing from the book description on the website.
What version is the book current to? Given as it's going to be periodically updated, it seems important to me. While the basic information will no doubt remain useful (enough), a single version change can alter large amounts of gameplay (the recent hauling update, for example). I can make a guess how current it is based on minecarts mentioned in the contents, but it's still something you should consider for future versions.

[TinyPirate]

Binary Toast: The book is current to the April releases (includes minecarts and the awesome stockpile changes!). The print and ebook are both current. As the game updates in the future I will update the ebook and the print book will also get update (although may lag a week). I'll see what I can do about the description on the site.

Xheia: I think it's a good read, but you probably should wait and see what people say! I hope some come and answer your question! I'm told it's very easy to read and easy to follow and good fun. Also, all of O'Reilly's ebooks are shipped DRM free, so once you own a copy you can send it off to them no problem.

[ledgekindred]

Some other questions:
Adventure mode?
Would a person enjoy and be engaged in reading it as a book (without playing the game at the same time)? (thinking of its usefulness as a conversation piece, or coffee table book.)

No coverage in Adventure mode - strictly Fortress mode - although he does mention it's available.  He points this out fairly early in the book while going over the different game modes so it shouldn't be a shock by the time you get to the end and there's still no Adventure mode talk.  He briefly hits Legends mode as a neat way to read the history of your world, but that's it.

I would have mixed feelings over reading it as a "book" book.  I do like his writing style, and there's enough humor in it to be enjoyable.  Some of it is going to make more sense to someone who has hung out on b12 for a while, but still funny in a "wtf" way to new players.  (Like the comments on the perpetual idiocy of your little maniacs.)  Thing is, it's really a tutorial.  If you're not playing along with it, or have played before, you're probably not going to really follow what he's talking about after a couple of chapters in since each subsequent chapter builds on previous ones.

I think someone reading it, with no knowledge of the game previously, is either going to be intrigued enough after a chapter or two to think about picking up the game, or confused enough to put the book down.

Regardless, I've gotten about halfway through, reading it on and off since it hit oreilly.com.  I consider myself an experienced player and I am definitely enjoying it.  I'm tempted to skip ahead to minecarts, since I still haven't really figured them out myself, but I'm being patient.   

[ccoolleeiiss]

I just want to say that it looks like it would be a great gift to friends, as a way to recommend the game (and increase the chances of the friend actually playing it). On that note, how easy is it to gift the e-version?

Some other questions:
Adventure mode?
Would a person enjoy and be engaged in reading it as a book (without playing the game at the same time)? (thinking of its usefulness as a conversation piece, or coffee table book.)
I would ask if it's entertaining to experienced players, but I don't doubt that it would be - seeing as I reread wiki pages for fun, I don't doubt that I would enjoy the book.

No adventure mode, except for at the beginning, when he is summarizing the different modes, he just tells you what it is, with no instructions. Not saying that is a bad thing, because adventure mode is pretty straight foward. Once you learn the controls, you're pretty much ready in that aspect.

I wouldn't call myself an expert player, but I do know my way around Dwarf Fortress pretty well, and I still find this an enjoyable read. The comics/illustrations are funny and great, His writing style is very friendly (I think that is the right way to explain it), and, even though I haven't really learned anything yet (Just because I already knew it, not because it is a bad guide) I am still having a great time reading it.

[miauw62]

The only problem that i have with this book is:

If you are somebody that never heard about DF before, and completely dont knwo anything about it and are still a bit sceptical, would you pay 15 dollar for a ebook to learn it?


EDIT:
Btw, my excuse for not buying this book is that i dont have my own Paypal account, and thats pretty much the only thing i trust when buying things online.

[Uristocrat]

EDIT:
Btw, my excuse for not buying this book is that i dont have my own Paypal account, and thats pretty much the only thing i trust when buying things online.

Weird.  Paypal is the one I don't trust.  I've bought lots of books from O'Reilly, online and otherwise, and have yet to regret it.