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[Scoops Novel]

Think of this as holistic gameplay advice.

[Salmeuk]

dwarf fortress is a game, but also a great tool for generating stories. The simulation gives you input, and from this you draw connections between character, object, events.

however, playing for too long will make you look at other games in the same way. Tools for story generation. The gameplay, or challenge, or skinner-box impulsiveness merely exists to convince you of the worthiness of the stories generated. Look at the most popular shooters, refined after thirty years to reward perfect aim, positioning, and tactical awareness. What story is being told here? That of the exceptional individual, overcoming environment and foe with gunpowder and metal. Very cowboy, very 'murica, and very popular. The story is easy to fall into, here, so much so that it is invisible to most players.

But, returning to DF, and this is where DF stands out: the story is not forced on you. there is no specific narrative, really, beyond maybe the goblin sieges or regularity of were-creature ambushes. It is entirely up to the player to bring connections into the simulation, make these data points feel real, or alive.

This lack of handholding is absolutely central to enjoying this game. This notion of inner creative impulse to tell stories, is also important. Could someone really enjoy DF as a mere game, these days? Someone not interested in storytelling, in roleplay, only interested in the material occurrences within the simulation. They would get bored, tired of the same-y ness inherent in having 100 different kinds of stone that all perform almost identically.

But when you are able to write about that stone, wrap it in narrative, that's when it gets good. perhaps the rich red color of bauxite is something your dwarves idealize, it reminds them of a dragon's blood, and choose to build all furniture from this stone. Then, that rather unimportant difference in the game is suddenly VERY important to the player.

I keep ranting about this shit and I refuse to stop. DF is meaningful to many game devs for a reason! The more game that allow the player freedom to associate with objects in a non-materialist way, the closer we are to meaningful and art-ful games.

[HmH]

Losing is fun.

Also, playing the game is only half the fun. The other half is discussing all the stuff that's happening in the game.
Just like with every other hobby. A hobby is fun, but it's twice the fun if you have people to share it with.

[Loud Whispers]

I'm with Salmeuk on this one. The game gives you all the details in the world to weave together. I'll never forget such wonderful moments that came about like that.

The time my top blacksmith didn't run away, but instead used his crossbow to hold off a forgotten beast at the cost of his life - because although he could outrun the forgotten beast, the dwarven child running with him could not.

The time my military commander sleeping in his trench bunk almost got assassinated by a berserk dwarf, who was furious at having spent so many blizzards patrolling the snow whilst his officer slept in a warm bunk.

The time when my Dwarves kept the giant badgers at bay... Until the river froze.

This kind of ability to let loose and let things happen is vital. It's fairly easy to play hyper-conservatively and have little to no exposure to the threats the game presents, but then most of the time you also miss out on the sheer procedural potential DF offersq

[HMD Majesty]

The time my top blacksmith didn't run away, but instead used his crossbow to hold off a forgotten beast at the cost of his life - because although he could outrun the forgotten beast, the dwarven child running with him could not.

The time my military commander sleeping in his trench bunk almost got assassinated by a berserk dwarf, who was furious at having spent so many blizzards patrolling the snow whilst his officer slept in a warm bunk.

The time when my Dwarves kept the giant badgers at bay... Until the river froze.

That one Mayor who banned the Export of Spears before any Spears had been made.

We suspect that Dwarf had some Form of Paranoia.

While We're here:

Dwarfs are entertaining to watch because they're stupid.

[anewaname]

"Crafting rock slabs and coffins before you need them is good planning."

[Magmacube_tr]

All things come to an end. Even the single most well protected fort will crumble, as long as time still goes on.

Enthropy will rise.

[RLS0812]

dwarf fortress is a game, but also a great tool for generating stories.

Could someone really enjoy DF as a mere game, these days?

.
The answer is "YES" . DMs such as Kruggsmash are very good at weaving some sort of 'narrative' from Dwarf Fortress, however I find the legends generator to be incredibly wonkey and prone to looping the same events indefinitely.
  I've ran into a human character that stole the same artifact over 50 times in his life, returning it to the same individual, who displayed it in the same tavern so that the named character could steal it again. No history or reason why this was happening.
 One of the more amusing extremes was a goblin fortress that was attacked 1,037 times [ LINK ] .

 My "advice" is not to get overly attached to a fortress. They all will eventually fall ... some to beasts, some to war, others to uncontrollable dork rage, and many many are prone to FPS death .

[HmH]

  I've ran into a human character that stole the same artifact over 50 times in his life, returning it to the same individual, who displayed it in the same tavern so that the named character could steal it again. No history or reason why this was happening.

There's something romantic going on between those two, mark my words.

[Loud Whispers]

  I've ran into a human character that stole the same artifact over 50 times in his life, returning it to the same individual, who displayed it in the same tavern so that the named character could steal it again. No history or reason why this was happening.

There's something romantic going on between those two, mark my words.

A dashing tale of romance, roguishiness and cunning wit!

[drumlan_]

“This time it’ll be different”

Until it isn’t, but hey loosing a fortress to the dragon and the resulting tantrum spiral will always be FUN!

[muldrake]

Think of this as holistic gameplay advice.

2022-05-28 In 2022, late spring, ( of Felsite) The Necessary Philosophy for Dwarf Fortress was authored by the human Novel in Bay12forums.
The Necessary Philosophy for Dwarf Fortress
A melancholy, depressing essay written by the human Novel

But, returning to DF, and this is where DF stands out: the story is not forced on you. there is no specific narrative, really, beyond maybe the goblin sieges or regularity of were-creature ambushes. It is entirely up to the player to bring connections into the simulation, make these data points feel real, or alive.

I like how even when you're not actually playing the game but just digging stuff out of legends, you realize these idiot dorfs are actually living their own lives in this thing and could not care less about whatever cockamamie scheme you're trying to rope them into (that could probably get them killed).  Also you sometimes just feel like doing something and don't even need a purpose for it.  For instance, I accidentally set off something I'm not sure was a strict loyalty cascade, but sent a woodcutter to cut down a tree that (whoops) had a bunch of dwarves in it.

Everyone was mostly fine except one guy who got pulped by falling logs, and then the woodcutter went and chopped his head off with the same axe he'd cut the tree down with!

And then dwarves involved with this spent years occasionally attacking each other, but not the full immediate riot when it's a total loyalty cascade.

Anyway that feud was the most dramatic event in the fort's history so far so I made statues of the historical figures involved and now I have a bunch of gold and aluminum and bronze statues of dwarves from the fort chopping each other's heads off on the main drag of the fort so everyone gets to walk by them all the time.

And to bring it back to the philosophy thing since this has rambled a bit, I like to see how they interact with these objects, and sometimes the story is something you dig out looking at these dorfs, their histories and relationships.  Like you'll notice someone got a good feeling from standing next to a masterwork statue, then look at the statue, and it's a statue of their dad chopping off their best friend's brother's head.  Well. . .okay. . .you do you.

[Salsa Gal]

Anyway that feud was the most dramatic event in the fort's history so far so I made statues of the historical figures involved and now I have a bunch of gold and aluminum and bronze statues of dwarves from the fort chopping each other's heads off on the main drag of the fort so everyone gets to walk by them all the time.

Who better to memorialise than your fort's most petty murderers

[muldrake]

Anyway that feud was the most dramatic event in the fort's history so far so I made statues of the historical figures involved and now I have a bunch of gold and aluminum and bronze statues of dwarves from the fort chopping each other's heads off on the main drag of the fort so everyone gets to walk by them all the time.

Who better to memorialise than your fort's most petty murderers

Building statues (and slabs) of people involved in weird historical events you haven't figured out sometimes gives you more details (for instance Urist McAxemurderer who started the whole thing was laughing when he beheaded someone who had done nothing to him).

[WerePanda]

Some advice I have is don't feel bad about loosing interest in Dwarf Fortress for long stretches of time. I started playing when I was in middle school, and then stopped and started over and over again until now as an adult. To this day I have only encountered adamantine once, and no fort has ever gotten larger than 200 dwarfs. The beauty I find in this game is that you can learn something new every time you return, and it will never go away in our lifetimes. There is so much depth to this game that there's no worry in taking your time to drink it all in.