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[HitmanQc]

Hi everyone

I heard a lot about the fact that Dwarf Fortress requires a very good computer. I just want to know if it's possible to enjoy this game without an amazing pc ? If I disable some features and I choose a small embark size in a small world, will I be able to keep my fortress for a long time ? Or will it be unplayable?

Thank you very much for your help

[Xazo-Tak]

RAM and processing speed per core is the only thing that matters, as Dwarf Fortress has extremely weak graphics and can only use one core.
I don't know about RAM, but even a 2Ghz single-core processor (Such a thing should be hilariously cheap in this age of 4Ghz 8-cores and such) should be fine.

[TurboSlug22]

Yea these days processors seem to show off with their core count instead of clock speed, so even a 5 year old pc can have solid clock speeds these days... This is because DF doesnt utilize multiple CPU cores

So really, you're in good shape - don't worry - just enjoy the game : ) choose a 2x2 embark and youre solid

[HitmanQc]

Alright thanks a lot guys 

[Melting Sky]

Keep your embarks small (3x3 max)
Your history short (Under 250 years)
Your world small (Medium at the largest)
Avoid embarks with lots of moving water such as shorelines or huge waterfalls.

That should probably let you play even the new version of DF on most machines.

[Meph]

If you dont mind mods, have a look at accelerated df in my signature. Its designed to save fps, it makes the game a lot faster.

[HitmanQc]

Awesome !  Thank you very much for the mod !

[JRHaggs]

Just turn the graphics settings down. Duh.

heh

[Graknorke]

Just turn the graphics settings down. Duh.

heh

Pssh scrub, I get 300 FPS on Ultra everything m8.

[ShadeJS]

Hi everyone

I heard a lot about the fact that Dwarf Fortress requires a very good computer. I just want to know if it's possible to enjoy this game without an amazing pc ? If I disable some features and I choose a small embark size in a small world, will I be able to keep my fortress for a long time ? Or will it be unplayable?

Thank you very much for your help

One solution is to use [PRINT_MODE:TEXT] on a beefy computer, then you can 'ssh' to that box to play df. Though I haven't tried this in the current era.

[Kerbalrocketry]

Yea these days processors seem to show off with their core count instead of clock speed, so even a 5 year old pc can have solid clock speeds these days... This is because DF doesnt utilize multiple CPU cores

So really, you're in good shape - don't worry - just enjoy the game : ) choose a 2x2 embark and youre solid

Intel is the way to go with DF as they go for higher clock speed and cache size per core.
DF doesn't need a beefy PC, it needs a good processor and plenty of RAM. Though the RAM problem is less now, an 8gb kit is cheap and plenty for games.

[Jake]

Yea these days processors seem to show off with their core count instead of clock speed, so even a 5 year old pc can have solid clock speeds these days... This is because DF doesnt utilize multiple CPU cores

I just got a secondhand Core 2 Duo box as an interim PC while I put together a proper gaming machine. Cost me £36.99 (about US$60) and it gets 50-60FPS with fifty-odd dwarves on a 3x3 embark, with no settings disabled and running on Windows Vista.

[enizer]

Windows Vista isn't that bad, after installing service pack one, it's kind of like Windows 7 beta.
It's less efficient on RAM, but otherwise about the same performance.
If you DON'T install SP1 however, then Vista is hell.(though still not nearly as bad as 8 imo)

On FPS, however, I notice that its very easy to underestimate RAM in computers when it comes to dwarf fortress.
RAM speed isn't a heavy factor on many games, but it's huge in Dwarf Fortress.
Testing on an FM2 A10-5800k system, swapping between 2133 and 1333 RAM, the difference in FPS was about 40%
Which is worth remembering, when you consider(at least where I live) the price difference for that ram is tiny.
(EDIT: of course that needs a CPU that supports that ram, 2133 ram did not do much for my 1100T for example, which refused to run the RAM at speeds over 1600)

With designing fortresses for FPS, one thing that hasn't been mentioned so far, is wide corridors.
I learned this only recently, and wish I had known this from day one:
Narrow corridors are evil!
They cause pathfinding collisions, which causes an FPS drop when it happens.
And if every corridor is narrow, that's going to be happening constantly.
Example: one fortress I had recently I run at 40 fps normally, but when I need to go to the 1x1 stairway to the caverns(terrain issue) my fps drops to 15 or so.

[Jake]

Windows Vista isn't that bad, after installing service pack one, it's kind of like Windows 7 beta.
It's less efficient on RAM, but otherwise about the same performance.

And therein lies the primary problem I have with it. Did I mention that the PC in question is a refurbished "ultra-small form factor" box (I think it's mini- or micro-ATX) with only 2GB and no free slots? Vista's occupying about half that just sitting idle.

[enizer]

Ooh, yeah, I'm not a fan of those ultra compact things, have repaired so many of those things that I want to take an axe to them more then any software.
If it's a ddr2 or ddr3 system though it can probably support more memory then it comes with, most of those things do, although I would of course look it up before thinking of buying anything.

And yeah, vista should definitely not be installed on any compact thing, while the 7/vista difference on my big desktop tower was less then 5%, that was with 8gb of ram.

There's a reason my Lenovo T61 originally came with windows xp, even though it runs windows 7 perfectly, it was made before windows 7, and they didn't feel it performed well with vista.