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[Antmf]

Still somewhat new a day haven't played the game in about 4-5 months give or take. So my question is do I play DF2014 or LNP? And what are he differences between the two?  Thanks.

[TurboSlug22]

Dwarf fortress starter pack 40_09 r1 is the most recent as of this post, its what you want if you'd like to try the most recent version : )

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=126076.0 for windows users

[UristWoodie]

LNP is for Linux at this point.
Starter Pack is the new (and maintained) incarnation of LNP for Windows.

I'm a big fan of the Starter Pack...allows you to set/leave everything vanilla, or add utilities/config changes as you desire.

(My preferred set is to set a very low population limit, low child limit, turn off sound, turn on water depth, and switch graphics to Phoebus...SP makes it very easy, including copying saves to the latest DF version)

[TurboSlug22]

(My preferred set is to set a very low population limit, low child limit, turn off sound, turn on water depth, and switch graphics to Phoebus...SP makes it very easy, including copying saves to the latest DF version)

Ya dude! Phoebus all the way!

[Agdune]

as someone who's played since the first public release, I demand you play vanilla! it just isn't learning to play DF if you aren't overwhelmed and being reduced to tears every other attempt!

That said, the move to 3D nearly broke me. So much had to be un-learned... I don't know how I'd have gone if I'd not learned and gotten used to the comparatively simple mechanics of ver. 22 prior to being dumped in the more recent versions...

nope, nope, all must learn the game as I did; flailing and in a minor state of panicked confusion! Tilesets are for weaklings!

[TurboSlug22]

Its true that they say the game should be played vanilla because that's the most authentic gameplay experience you can get. That said, my understanding is that ease of development was the reason that no time has been put into advanced graphics, which I think has helped the game be that much more detailed otherwise and I'm very thankful for that. I think however that if someone in the community wanted to put in the time to add to the game, I really appreciate that too... It is hard to find a good addition that also comes with that authentic feel but I can choose between several graphics packs : )

[BigD145]

Vanilla. Throw in a basic tileset of your choice if you need to and learn how to customize the init files yourself. Don't be lazy.

[Melting Sky]

nope, nope, all must learn the game as I did; flailing and in a minor state of panicked confusion! Tilesets are for weaklings!

Nah, real Dwarves don't learn the game playing vanilla, they take four hits of acid and load up the matrix tile set while on fire.

[BoredVirulence]

nope, nope, all must learn the game as I did; flailing and in a minor state of panicked confusion! Tilesets are for weaklings!

Nah, real Dwarves don't learn the game playing vanilla, they take four hits of acid and load up the matrix tile set while on fire.

I can't decide if ASCII is easier than the matrix tileset, because it has a certain amount of logical consistency (color), or if its equally hard because several of the symbols are pretty arbitrary. I say this as an ASCII purist, who learned in ASCII and loves it.


I say vanilla. If you want to modify your game with tilesets, that's your business, but there is something worthwhile in learning to do it yourself before you automate the process. Some people won't even try modifying their game if there isn't an easy way to automate it, and thats just against everything we value in DF. DF doesn't hand you anything, you have to make it work, and there is nothing wrong with making life easier but there is value in doing it the hard way at least once. ASCII is nice for everyone to experience, and I think everyone should experience it, but tilesets are a personal choice and no one should be required to do anything.

[Dyret]

nope, nope, all must learn the game as I did; flailing and in a minor state of panicked confusion! Tilesets are for weaklings!

Then again there are people who find ASCII a lot more intuitive and understandible than tilesets, not that it'll help the panicked flailing any, DF being what it is.

[Gojira1000]

Bah, play it how you like. Tiles and ASCII are both simple symbols that represent imaginary things. Use whatever parses best for your brain.

[Baffler]

I learned with tilesets and still use them for screenshots, but most of my normal play is in the square version of the default ASCII. I cannot abide rectangular tiles.

[Skullsploder]

I learned via a video tutorial that used the LNP for 34.11, so I never experienced the ASCII, at least not until the new version came out.

I must say, I quite like the ASCII (although I hated the rectangles, but now I've learned that there is a way to make it square), and intend to play the new version with ASCII tiles.

Utilities, however, I don't plan on giving up. I regularly see the exact same UI upgrades provided by Therapist and DFhack in the suggestions board, and I think: if you want it in the game, it's already there to be used.

So yeah, use Therapist, because the UI around labour is horrible, and it gives you an incredible amount of at-a-glance information about the state of your dwarves, without revealing anything you couldn't manually check in-game; and use DFhack because the ability to use search functions in DF's insanely long lists is wonderful, as are the buttons for mass-trading (as opposed to repeating down-enter three hundred times to get rid of your xXsocksXx), and things like autobutcher too if you're lazy.

Using DFhack to spawn yourself a giant obsidian castle with lava lakes though, is not so cool.