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[freakdog]

So, now's the time to ask. What is the best portable device for playing DF. Something that runs linux or windows? Something with a large screen? Something with a real keyboard?

Am I better off running an Amazon cloud instance with a specific setup for single thread performance and connecting through a remote desktop?

What are your thoughts?

[CaptainArchmage]

Am I better off running an Amazon cloud instance with a specific setup for single thread performance and connecting through a remote desktop?

I'm thinking the absolute best arrangement would be remote desktop support for the best single thread performance you can. An infrastructural system that doesn't have power restrictions on the processor really helps.

[falcn]

If you have iPad:

http://mifki.com/df/

Check out "Installation" -> "Linux & Cloud" section

[wierd]

chromebooks with either crouton, or mrchromebox + galliumos seem to work OK for small to medium sized worlds.

I have an older samsung chromebook 3 (Celes), running galliumos.  It currently has a standard sized embark with 100 dwarves running at about 15fps. It is fairly light weight, has great battery life (8hrs active use), and has "acceptable but a bit sluggish" performance.

[Criperum]

[SmileyMan]

I have a quad-i7 desktop replacement laptop. I wouldn't want to actually put it on top of my lap though, and on battery it gets about 45 minutes!!!

Runs DF an absolute treat though...

[wierd]

I recently did some research for a friend of mine (who was enamored by my hacked chromebook), and I believe I found the most power-user/hacker friendly model.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015806LSQ/ref=twister_B01FX0N0T4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

It is fully supported (with full UEFI replacement bios available via MrChromebox), and can run windows 8.1, or Linux. It has an NGFF SSD inside instead of cheapsauce eMMC storage (meaning you can upgrade or replace the internal storage), and it can come with an i3 processor.

It gets the advantages of a long battery life, reasonable CPU, and low cost-- but small memory size. (Not as big an issue if you use linux, as you can use zram based swap, and the hit is not near as bad when it allocates more than 4gb.)

It should not roast your gonads like an i7 would.

[mikekchar]

I've discovered that text mode in Linux is really efficient, battery-wise.  Admittedly this laptop is geared towards good battery life, but I can get about 8 hours of DF on a charge (which is about all I can get on it for *anything*).   I would try that before I would try exporting displays, etc.  Almost certainly it will even be better than SSHing in over a WiFi connection (because the WiFi radio is relatively expensive).  Main hint for extended battery life is to keep the display brightness down (believe it or not I set it to only 11%).  Modify your colors for your terminal to have a fairly large contrast difference and use a fairly big font.  The other main point is that if you have an Intel processor you can use an application called "powertop" to tweak power settings.  Just be careful not to permanently set up the settings because you can cause your machine not to boot (no way you can do that from the app itself, but if you follow some tutorials to set up the power tweaking permanently, then you can be in for a rough day if a kernel change breaks that functionality).

I've gotten to the point that I actually prefer using text mode now (although it took a bit of getting used to -- especially since there are no square TTF fonts that I've been able to find anywhere).

[funkydwarf]

Get an apple device and get Mifki's remote fortress setup with a computer at home.

You would need a data connection on the ipad but the remote fortress looks very very good. I would pay 10 bucks for an android client in a second, I even sent him a small donation for making it , cause it looks so nice, even though I will never buy an apple device, simply to expensive and I dont need the easy experience they offer.  Hands down looks to be the best way ever to play df in a small package, completely rewritten for the touch display and no keyboard.

Or a surface 3 with an i5 or i7  may run it local very nice, but the lack of a keyboard could make it tough to play. If I was working my old job I would consider buying an old ipad just for that. But Im broke these days following a dream.

[falcn]

I will never buy an apple device, simply to expensive

you can get an older iPad below $100 from ebay. should still work for df remote

[wierd]

I've discovered that text mode in Linux is really efficient, battery-wise.  Admittedly this laptop is geared towards good battery life, but I can get about 8 hours of DF on a charge (which is about all I can get on it for *anything*).   I would try that before I would try exporting displays, etc.  Almost certainly it will even be better than SSHing in over a WiFi connection (because the WiFi radio is relatively expensive).  Main hint for extended battery life is to keep the display brightness down (believe it or not I set it to only 11%).  Modify your colors for your terminal to have a fairly large contrast difference and use a fairly big font.  The other main point is that if you have an Intel processor you can use an application called "powertop" to tweak power settings.  Just be careful not to permanently set up the settings because you can cause your machine not to boot (no way you can do that from the app itself, but if you follow some tutorials to set up the power tweaking permanently, then you can be in for a rough day if a kernel change breaks that functionality).

I've gotten to the point that I actually prefer using text mode now (although it took a bit of getting used to -- especially since there are no square TTF fonts that I've been able to find anywhere).

You want a monospaced console font.  Even then, a 1:1 aspect ratio in the glyph is going to be a bit hard to find. Most are going to be 1:2. 

I have already started work on a different font for a specific purpose, otherwise I would consider making one that is square (as my research shows a decided lack of them)

[Gashcozokon]

You definitely want a physical keyboard. Beyond that it depends on budget. If you can afford a device with the horsepower to run a local copy, but that is generally overkill when there are remote options available. As already pointed out the Apple product route is one way for Mifki's project. But Adeon's DFTerm is another great option as long as you are ok running the 32-bit version. And update a few of the key-bindings.

Spoiler: Links & Details (click to show/hide)

• The Manual; should help cover the basics of configuring your first admin user
• The Server; install this on your desktop or main PC where df is running
• The Client; Use this on your laptop or other remote location to connect to the Server
• The Tilesets from the Wiki converted to TTF; You likely only want the one below, but included for completeness
• The Mayday Font (I updated this a bit to include roots)
• The List of Address Offsets

that you need to allow the program to recognize which version you are playing.[/li]
[/list]
I only just found this link tonight myself, so I haven't used it and have no idea, but it claims to be able to convert png tiles to ttf files.

Code: [Select]

Some basic general usage commands when connected to the "Lobby" of DFTerm
[ALT]+<1-4> Switch Frame focus. ie [Alt]+3 to select (Main Menu).
[Ctrl]+r Toggle Frame Border.
[Ctrl]+f Maximize Frame.(Move to Top)
[Ctrl}+x Hide Frame.
[Ctrl]+l Lock Frame.
[Ctrl]+P Open DfHack Command line (please don't abuse)

There are certain key combos that don't send through DFTerm. Fortunately they are fairly few and far between, mostly being related to the Military menu.
What they are: What I generally re-bind them to:
 [Shift]+[Enter] [Shift]+" (DoubleQuote)
 [Shift]+[Escape] [Shift]+` (The Tilde ~)
 [Shift]+[Tab] ` (Backtick, the Tilde without pressing Shift)
 [Shift]+[Space] [Alt]+[Space]


Spoiler: Sample Screenshot (click to show/hide)

[NAV]

I have a quad-i7 desktop replacement laptop. I wouldn't want to actually put it on top of my lap though, and on battery it gets about 45 minutes!!!

Runs DF an absolute treat though...

Same bro 

Is it cause of the weight, heat, or fertility killing radiation?