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[Mesa]

Link to album

Yesterday curiosity got me and I decided to grab the absolute very first public alpha of Dorf Fort (which I was not around to play when it first came out...but who really did?), all the way back from August of 2006, so well over 11 years ago, and see how it holds up today, and I was surprised just how much there already was back then (and what we nowadays take for granted was missing, like Z-levels, the ability to pick your embark location or being able to customize your worldgen parameters).

And I think it just kind of goes to show that Toady&Threetoe really seem to have had a rock-solid vision for the game from day one considering that 11 years later, in the days of 0.44, it really doesn't...play or look fundamentally different (at least compared to other long-runner games).
Sure, there's a lot, like a LOT more to it in every area other than the visuals, which I'm sure would become that much more noticeable if I spent more time with that vintage version (which I might), but in principle, the core gameplay has stayed the same since then.

So yeah, for anyone curious and/or nostalgic, take a look at the album.

[KittyTac]

Link to album

Yesterday curiosity got me and I decided to grab the absolute very first public alpha of Dorf Fort (which I was not around to play when it first came out...but who really did?), all the way back from August of 2006, so well over 11 years ago, and see how it holds up today, and I was surprised just how much there already was back then (and what we nowadays take for granted was missing, like Z-levels, the ability to pick your embark location or being able to customize your worldgen parameters).

And I think it just kind of goes to show that Toady&Threetoe really seem to have had a rock-solid vision for the game from day one considering that 11 years later, in the days of 0.44, it really doesn't...play or look fundamentally different (at least compared to other long-runner games).
Sure, there's a lot, like a LOT more to it in every area other than the visuals, which I'm sure would become that much more noticeable if I spent more time with that vintage version (which I might), but in principle, the core gameplay has stayed the same since then.

So yeah, for anyone curious and/or nostalgic, take a look at the album.

20 years later, people will look at 0.44.02 this way...

[Mesa]

Link to album

Yesterday curiosity got me and I decided to grab the absolute very first public alpha of Dorf Fort (which I was not around to play when it first came out...but who really did?), all the way back from August of 2006, so well over 11 years ago, and see how it holds up today, and I was surprised just how much there already was back then (and what we nowadays take for granted was missing, like Z-levels, the ability to pick your embark location or being able to customize your worldgen parameters).

And I think it just kind of goes to show that Toady&Threetoe really seem to have had a rock-solid vision for the game from day one considering that 11 years later, in the days of 0.44, it really doesn't...play or look fundamentally different (at least compared to other long-runner games).
Sure, there's a lot, like a LOT more to it in every area other than the visuals, which I'm sure would become that much more noticeable if I spent more time with that vintage version (which I might), but in principle, the core gameplay has stayed the same since then.

So yeah, for anyone curious and/or nostalgic, take a look at the album.

20 years later, people will look at 0.44.02 this way...

Perhaps, though in 20 years 0.44.02 will be but a long-forgotten memory, another stepping stone in DF's devcycle.
At least 0.21.93.19a has the benefit of being THE first version, the one that started it all. 0.44.02 is great at present, don't get me wrong, but it's not gonna go down in history the same way - after all who even remembers a version like DF 0.40.23 (December 24, 2014)?

[KittyTac]

Link to album

Yesterday curiosity got me and I decided to grab the absolute very first public alpha of Dorf Fort (which I was not around to play when it first came out...but who really did?), all the way back from August of 2006, so well over 11 years ago, and see how it holds up today, and I was surprised just how much there already was back then (and what we nowadays take for granted was missing, like Z-levels, the ability to pick your embark location or being able to customize your worldgen parameters).

And I think it just kind of goes to show that Toady&Threetoe really seem to have had a rock-solid vision for the game from day one considering that 11 years later, in the days of 0.44, it really doesn't...play or look fundamentally different (at least compared to other long-runner games).
Sure, there's a lot, like a LOT more to it in every area other than the visuals, which I'm sure would become that much more noticeable if I spent more time with that vintage version (which I might), but in principle, the core gameplay has stayed the same since then.

So yeah, for anyone curious and/or nostalgic, take a look at the album.

20 years later, people will look at 0.44.02 this way...

Perhaps, though in 20 years 0.44.02 will be but a long-forgotten memory, another stepping stone in DF's devcycle.
At least 0.21.93.19a has the benefit of being THE first version, the one that started it all. 0.44.02 is great at present, don't get me wrong, but it's not gonna go down in history the same way - after all who even remembers a version like DF 0.40.23 (December 24, 2014)?

Or, at least, the artifact release.

[Mesa]

Link to album

Yesterday curiosity got me and I decided to grab the absolute very first public alpha of Dorf Fort (which I was not around to play when it first came out...but who really did?), all the way back from August of 2006, so well over 11 years ago, and see how it holds up today, and I was surprised just how much there already was back then (and what we nowadays take for granted was missing, like Z-levels, the ability to pick your embark location or being able to customize your worldgen parameters).

And I think it just kind of goes to show that Toady&Threetoe really seem to have had a rock-solid vision for the game from day one considering that 11 years later, in the days of 0.44, it really doesn't...play or look fundamentally different (at least compared to other long-runner games).
Sure, there's a lot, like a LOT more to it in every area other than the visuals, which I'm sure would become that much more noticeable if I spent more time with that vintage version (which I might), but in principle, the core gameplay has stayed the same since then.

So yeah, for anyone curious and/or nostalgic, take a look at the album.

20 years later, people will look at 0.44.02 this way...

Perhaps, though in 20 years 0.44.02 will be but a long-forgotten memory, another stepping stone in DF's devcycle.
At least 0.21.93.19a has the benefit of being THE first version, the one that started it all. 0.44.02 is great at present, don't get me wrong, but it's not gonna go down in history the same way - after all who even remembers a version like DF 0.40.23 (December 24, 2014)?

Or, at least, the artifact release.

Maybe. Still, it'll be interesting to see what new features end up cropping up in that time period that in the future people will take for granted, as a basis of the DF gameplay, that nowadays we are only dreaming of. (Like Z-levels or sending out squads were at one point.)

[thvaz]

I don't remember if i played the very first version back in the day as I was informed about the game a couple of weeks after the first release. By then it should have some bugfixes already.

It was very different but surely, a lot of things were very similar. There are some features that later were removed of deactivated like economy and guilds. It was less simulation and more gamey, with a clear path of progression.

[SmileyMan]

Have you discovered the joys of digging out a cavern larger than 7x7?

I built all my forts with grids of pillars for a couple of years after the 3D version came out, until I discovered I didn't need to!

[Dwarfu]

I was not around to play when it first came out...but who really did?

*raises hand*

Have you discovered the joys of digging out a cavern larger than 7x7?

I built all my forts with grids of pillars for a couple of years after the 3D version came out, until I discovered I didn't need to!

HAHA! Memories...I still eye wells suspiciously.

[thvaz]

HAHA! Memories...I still eye wells suspiciously.

Good call! It was such a fun feature. With creatures climbing now it should happen again, someday.

[PlumpHelmetMan]

While the earliest version I've played is 43.05 (I'm still a major newbie compared to many of you), from what I've heard there is indeed a surprising amount that has stayed the same since the initial release. Still, I'll be interested to see how much features like mythgen will shake up gameplay.

[Robsoie]

Wells are still dangerous, but for a different reason .

[Fieari]

HAHA! Memories...I still eye wells suspiciously.

Good call! It was such a fun feature. With creatures climbing now it should happen again, someday.

True!  I guess the only way would be if you could set a creature's RAWs so that it lives in the aquifer itself somehow... like a slime creature or a magic being that can actually move through the water-infused rock/soil.  It would spawn as if from the edge of the map, except at the edge of an aquifer.  Alas, the code doesn't support it at the moment.

[thvaz]

HAHA! Memories...I still eye wells suspiciously.

Good call! It was such a fun feature. With creatures climbing now it should happen again, someday.

True!  I guess the only way would be if you could set a creature's RAWs so that it lives in the aquifer itself somehow... like a slime creature or a magic being that can actually move through the water-infused rock/soil.  It would spawn as if from the edge of the map, except at the edge of an aquifer.  Alas, the code doesn't support it at the moment.

I rarely embark in aquifers, so most of my wells are fed by constructed channels. Some players may even make wells connected to water in the caves. Toady only has to code the AI to use such opportunities again.

Wells are still dangerous, but for a different reason .

Even in the old times it was a bad idea to put wells in training rooms as the soldiers would constantly dodge into the well.

[Urlance Woolsbane]

I find that a lot of the game's stranger or more obscure features make a lot more sense when one realizes they've been there from the start.
Looking at Dwarf Fortress's development is not unlike viewing geological strata; Fortress Mode in particular is a visible amalgam of various eras. You've got the 0.21 layer, the 0.28 layer, the 0.42 layer and so on. Once Mythgen arrives there will be another variety of sediment, quite distinct from the last.

It's a fascinating evolution: The version with the rampaging elephants is quite different from the one where everyone's writing about animal embryos, but they're unmistakably the same game.

[KittyTac]

I started really playing half a year before the new release, so still 0.43.05, but I first took a look into this game when it was in, like, 40d-ish? I think? But I was young and couldn't figure out getting past worldgen. I thought marveling at the geography was the whole point!