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[Shonai_Dweller]

I'm not sure if it's been replied before. It is likely, but I'll take the chance.
I just watched the Spring update video, and it reminded me of this question I had for a while :


1. Will the graphical release have keyboard shortcuts ? Asking because it seems slower to use the mouse in certain situations...
2. Will the game have full keyboard-only support, or will you must use the mouse at some points ?

Previously the answer has been yes, the game will be controllable on the keyboard. Don't think anything's changed.

Although some people seem to expect the old keybindings to remain. Don't think that's very likely. New interface, new keys to learn probably.

[Mr Crabman]

I'm not sure if it's been replied before. It is likely, but I'll take the chance.
I just watched the Spring update video, and it reminded me of this question I had for a while :


1. Will the graphical release have keyboard shortcuts ? Asking because it seems slower to use the mouse in certain situations...
2. Will the game have full keyboard-only support, or will you must use the mouse at some points ?

Yes, keyboard-only will be supported:

in every demonstration i've seen of the new guis, all the interactions have been made with the mouse. currently, i play with the mouse completely disabled via the init files - will the new graphical interfaces [which are looking very very pretty, by the way!] be usable with just my keyboard?

DG: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=169696.msg8197475#msg8197475

Yeah, the situation remains unchanged from my reply to DG.  The plan is to support a non-mouse approach.  There are some complications to this, but it seems feasible given that DF has managed it (in whatever inglorious fashion) to this point.  Seems likely we'll just need to support multiple interface setups now, for the numpadless WASD people, to the mouseless-by-choice.  As we mentioned previously, the new look of the menus/etc. in Classic will need to be aligned with whatever's going on in Premium, since I can't maintain two entirely separate interfaces, but that can be made keyboard compatible.  I still have all the old cursor code, etc., and that may just have to be something that's turned on in an option, especially for dragging out rectangles and so forth where it doesn't align with the new paradigm very well.

[falcc]

Will universal beards for dwarves ever qualify as an INIT setting? If so, what category of work do you think it would fall under? It's not hard to mod in, but is it a tonal slider kind of thing? Something that's more suitable for the cultural updates when there's generated genders to go around? If it's never in the INIT is there any intention to direct Steam users who really expect one experience or the other from Dwarves to the file where you already tutorialize it?

[Rose]

Will universal beards for dwarves ever qualify as an INIT setting? If so, what category of work do you think it would fall under? It's not hard to mod in, but is it a tonal slider kind of thing? Something that's more suitable for the cultural updates when there's generated genders to go around? If it's never in the INIT is there any intention to direct Steam users who really expect one experience or the other from Dwarves to the file where you already tutorialize it?

Universal bears can already be very easily be modded in. The raw files are no more difficult to mod than the init file.

[A_Curious_Cat]

Will universal beards for dwarves ever qualify as an INIT setting? If so, what category of work do you think it would fall under? It's not hard to mod in, but is it a tonal slider kind of thing? Something that's more suitable for the cultural updates when there's generated genders to go around? If it's never in the INIT is there any intention to direct Steam users who really expect one experience or the other from Dwarves to the file where you already tutorialize it?

Universal bears can already be very easily be modded in. The raw files are no more difficult to mod than the init file.

But, why would you want to replace the different types of bears in the game with a single type of “universal bear”?

I think it’s nice that the game has different types of bears.  I mean, besides the size differences, there’s the fact that pandas have a different diet from other bears.  That, at least, should be reason not to replace them with a single “universal” type.

[clinodev]

Will universal beards for dwarves ever qualify as an INIT setting? If so, what category of work do you think it would fall under? It's not hard to mod in, but is it a tonal slider kind of thing? Something that's more suitable for the cultural updates when there's generated genders to go around? If it's never in the INIT is there any intention to direct Steam users who really expect one experience or the other from Dwarves to the file where you already tutorialize it?

I'm not sure making this an init setting would make sense. Dwarf Fortress does not take place in the Third Age of Middle Earth, or the Forgotten Realms of D&D, (and female dwarves in D&D don't have beards anymore either anyway.) Female dwarves are beardless, elves are vicious, insulting cannibals, and so on. I think new players are unlikely to have any sort of universal expectations one way or another, really. One throwaway line in a film with no examples a cultural phenomenon does not make. Incidentally, even Tolkien probably meant this as a joke, it seems. His friend C. S. Lewis' (ultimately villainous) dwarves had sprung up from the stone fully formed, all male and bearded, which given some are described as the descendants of others, seemed a bit off to Tolkien. Converting it into a cultural misunderstanding was an amusing solution.

Unless and until Tarn and Zach start making changes to the stock setting, bearded female dwarves are a mod, of which there are certain to be dozens if not hundreds on the Steam Workshop for players to choose from.

[Shonai_Dweller]

Yeah, not sure what the problem is. Dwarf Fortress female dwarves don't have beards.

Many fans of specific fantasy worlds cry at the thought of a beardless female dwarf and will want to mod one in. Therefore Tarn gives instructions on how to do so (along with many other modding guidelines) in the dwarf raws.

[voliol]

Raws inserting init options is an interesting suggestion to put forward, especially as init files will be moved to become in-game settings (iirc). I'm sure some modders/players would appreciate little toggles/sliders for e.g. custom entity invasion caps. If it the Steam Workshop implementation turns out simple enough this might be overkill though.

[Bumber]

Female dwarves are beardless, elves are vicious, insulting cannibals, and so on.

I think beards for female dwarves exists commented-out in the raws, FWIW.

[Shonai_Dweller]

Female dwarves are beardless, elves are vicious, insulting cannibals, and so on.

I think beards for female dwarves exists commented-out in the raws, FWIW.

The dwarf raws are full of comments teaching how to mod a creature yes, including an example of adding beards for female dwarves if you want (since it's a popular mod).

[falcc]

Thanks everyone for acknowledging the part of my comment about how it is not difficult to mod in universal beards. It is indeed tutorialized in the Dwarf raws, which has been a big help for me in learning how to add of remove aspects of sexual dimorphism from modded creatures. Since Toady has talked extensively about the possibilities of tutorialization I wondered, and asked explicitly in my question, whether that tutorialization would include directing people to that file through the game. As long term players we're very familiar with digging through folders but outside of DF I don't know a lot of Steam games that use moddable raw files in the same way. There are a lot of aspects of Dwarves that players might think of wanting to mod and I understand they aren't all qualified to be init settings. Which is why I assumed the possibility of just directing people to the file somehow.

A lot of trans folks I know who are looking forward to the more accessible UI. Toady has already always done a great job at making the game accessible thematically for us and the plans he's described for the future have always been more progressive than I've expected. So how difficult is it meant to be, in the long term, for a complete newbie to know how to change this? Unless you're on the Kitfox design team I'm not sure anyone but Tarn is really qualified to describe his feelings on the matter.

[Mr Crabman]

1: How do you expect multi tile creatures (when they become a thing in however many years) to work?

By this I mean, wagons are 3x3 at all times and cannot change their shape/footprint at all, only rotate (so they're "stiff"), and if they were 2x3 instead presumably they would still be able to rotate, but only still be 2x3 rectangles (ie they don't have limbs that can move separate from the body, and they are basically just boxes shape-wise).

So basically, would other creatures also be "stiff" and non-complex like wagons, and if not, do you expect this do be a problem for the premium version? As an example I can almost imagine a long snakelike creature that can move diagonally (because it's not stiff), but this would be quite disjointed looking in a tileset (though ultimately it would be a worth it even if it looks a bit strange).

2: Maybe a silly question and I expect the answer is yes, but would multi-tile creatures be viewed from the top down (like wagons in the Premium tileset) as opposed to a side profile (like the large creatures are currently)?

3: How big would be big enough to justify a creature being multi-tile?

4: I know smoothly moving creatures between tiles instead of blinking from tile to tile won't be happening on the release of Premium (from what you said before), but is it on the table for being added later at some point?

5: Has the situation with Linux support for the Steam version changed since last time you were asked?

6: When the siege update comes, will siegers have to have a supply line/eat food brought from the outside or with them?

7: Will the likes of clowns and other procedurally generated creatures have some of their generation logic exposed to the raws one day (eg, adding new body types/parts and abilities/interactions that can be had and the like)?

8: You've said you're considering Steam achievements for encouraging players to try new things they might not otherwise ("start a honey industry" for example), but what are your thoughts on achievements for challenges to undertake, like "live on an embark for X years without doing X", or events like "encounter your first X"?

9: To what extent will magic generation be controllable? You've mentioned for example having no deities, or having a slider for "how magical" a world is overall, but how far/specific would this control go? I guess this ties in to question 6 a bit as well.

10: Other than the "stingers" for announcements you mentioned elsewhere, how much new music will be in the Premium release?

[Beag]

Since you've mentioned there'd be more updates after the steam release but before the myth and magic arc is there any chance any of those updates could add ways for player adventurers to acquire combat magic similar to what sentient undead can use to help tide us over for the big wait?

[FantasticDorf]

Raws inserting init options is an interesting suggestion to put forward, especially as init files will be moved to become in-game settings (iirc). I'm sure some modders/players would appreciate little toggles/sliders for e.g. custom entity invasion caps. If it the Steam Workshop implementation turns out simple enough this might be overkill though.

Things like Mephs launcher in effectuality carries this out in a way that a steam-launcher may be able to understand because of the breadth of modding that is taking place, (not that I could understand it personally, it pulls on strings a lot in a way i think most modders without a background in ui or code couldnt replicate too well)

Some sort of middle territory for cool stuff like "Disasters On/Off" is already boolean to whether RAW is commented out or enabled on which entity is a singular example that the Masterwork Launcher uses to distinguish race count and variety parameters (given through the obscenely aggressive obstacle nonplayable only races you can load in for yourself as opponents), preloaded player civilizations (dwarf/kobold camp/orcfort/humanfort) and whether additional aesthetic buildings (meph torches) & ascii/graphicspacks are loaded. It could be the future for the modding scene but whether it'll be integral would have to be down to the considerations of Toady, but a lot of of it is already on the Worldgeneration Advanced settings for modifying the starting world with overarching probably should be init things like necromancers, whether villians can commit experiments and have lieutenants etc.

It might be down a similar road as the eventual city planning RAW rework on the distant horizon if we view immediate-term advances and progress with future goals. Asking big questions like in a high realism slider, can you acceptably just remove religion from the game along with all church buildings to be inoffensive (from a pragmatic sense) to persons sense (or lack of) of faith?

*^ above in my post isn't a question directed at toady, just a hypothetical statement.

[FantasticDorf]

Since you've mentioned there'd be more updates after the steam release but before the myth and magic arc is there any chance any of those updates could add ways for player adventurers to acquire combat magic similar to what sentient undead can use to help tide us over for the big wait?

Everything is moddable, there's already ways to turn yourself into supernatural entities or put yourself in the correct places to recieve the powerful combat abilities (reading custom spells, turning yourself into a class of creature who can access them, good old fashioned necromancy) you can twist the question into parameters wherein more of those supernatural elements are in the game (which really probably if Toady crossed the Rubicon would need to develop the slider, wg, or init controls to settle the "more magic bad" versus "more magic good crowd")