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[Zemat]

Well, it's more about people tastes than preventing little kids from being exposed to violence. By Broken Bolt comments I believe his kid is still unable to handle violence. I was like that before I was 10. I couldn't even watch movies like Bambi because Bambi's mom death terrified me. Now I revel in tearing to bits deers and stuff (in game. In real life seeing dead animals still depresses me, although it's more of a sentimental reaction than a rational one. I'm a proud meat eater).

I know several grown people that cannot handle violence at all and some that even consider fluffy Zelda games to be murder simulators after watching them and cannot watch nature programs because they cannot handle the reality of predators hunting prey (not my case, I love predators). Think whatever you want of them but I think it's wrong to force them to be exposed to violence.

[Kagus]

Hell, Bambi got to me too.  Which was strange, because I used to play DooM and Diablo with my dad as well...  But I think that was a couple years later.  I was still young enough to sit on his lap while the blood slowly poured down the screen in DooM, though.

And let us not forget GTA:VC.  Or Postal 2.  I love both those games, and they're about as bad as it gets! (Well, the makers of Postal 2 state that the game is only as violent as you choose to make it.  Fun thing is, it's true.)

[Dark]

I was going to write a big rant about stuff but instead im going to offer some very simple advice:

Do not leave him in the dark. Tell him its a violent game and that you want to remove the badies from it, if he's unhappy about this then maybe you ought to reconsider.

After all, this game is nothing more than graphics and text on a computer screen, the real world is far worse than Dwarf Fortress ever could be.

If you lie to him and change the game behind his back, then you are betraying his trust, and that makes you a bad person!

(ps, please dont be angry at me)

[Zonhin]

quote:Originally posted by Dark:
(ps, please dont be angry at me)

Screw you.

[ January 19, 2008: Message edited by: Zonhin ]

[Dark]

An example of what Dwarf Fortress can never do to your 4 year old kid that people can.  

[Mechanoid]

quote:Originally posted by Broken Bolt:
Has any one altered the game so it's only about building?

You can remove some of the more violent tags and make everyone get along, but DF is at it's heart a harsh and violent game, some of which you simply cannot remove.

Namely construction accidents.

Dwarves will always find a way to kill, if not others, themselves; if not by elephant or hippo or goblin, then by digging through a wet wall and flooding the fortress, or by digging a channel under another dwarf, or removing a traffic-heavy bridge.

[What the hell do you expect with a game where the mantra is "Losing is fun!"
A happy ending?]

 

quote:or, barring those, does anyone know of a roughly similar game without the battle components?

Lego.
Definitely lego.

[ January 19, 2008: Message edited by: Mechanoid ]

[0x517A5D]

I've got to disagree with a lot of these responses.

I very much suspect you will be driving.  At four a kid can manage a keyboard but is not likely to remember what key does what action.  DF uses nearly the whole keyboard.  Also I imagine he wants to join in and do something that dad likes to do.

As such, you will be able to determine, at the time of each game event, how to describe it.  "That dwarf has gone to sleep, so this other dwarf is going to take him to bed."  (Not to a coffin, understand, to bed.)

In fact, you should be giving descriptions like this all the time, simply to explain the normal events of the game.  

"These dwarves are putting plant seeds in the ground."  (Later)  "See these?  Those are new plants.  Remember the plant seeds that were put there?  They made new plants."

"We need to make more bedrooms for the new dwarves.  Where should they go?"

As far as modifying the game to prevent violence, you should also have a look in the raw\objects folder.  Some of the creature* files could be moved out of that folder to remove certain creatures from the game.  At a minimum you need to keep creature_domestic.txt, creature_equipment.txt, and creature_standard.txt.  I would also suggest keeping the "vermin" files: amphibians, annelids, birds, insects, other, reptiles, small_mammals.  But the "monster" files like subterranian can go.

Guys, the parent knows best.  If a kid is not ready to face the facts of life, let him be protected for a while longer.

[Kholint]

Not sure how well DF would handle a child-friendly mode. Part of the reason I play this game over something like the Sims is that dwarves can have miscarriages after getting both eyes gouged out (whereas in the Sims you can only burn them to death in a house fire).

[Aquillion]

I have to agree with 0x517A5D.  You're going to have to play the game with your kid anyway, if they can't read (can they read?)  And if they can't read, they're only going to know what things on the screen mean if you tell them, so you can just tell them about the good/interesting/building-farming stuff.

Also, for modding:  You can turn off sieges and so on.  Giving dwarves noemotion will make them never have tantrums, but I don't know if you actually need to do that...

A much better way of dealing with it:  Give dwarves an absurdly high damblock, make it so they don't breathe or need to eat or drink, and make them immune to fire, heat, and cold.  At that point, not much can hurt them aside from a collapse...  even if you flood the fortress, your dwarves won't drown (they can swim!)  Even if you flood it with lava, they'll be fine, since you made them immune to heat and fire.

[Tahin]

I'm no parent, but it seems like DF is not a kid-friendly game. If you really want him to be able to play it, I'd go with what 0x517A5D says and just have him sit on your lap and explain what's happening.

DF at it's base is a management simulation. It's very educational, actually, when you think about it. It forces you to think about how to best order a group of psychopathic idiots around. However, it deals with some very "M-Rated" concepts, such as death, miscarriages, loss of loved ones, tentacle rape, etc.

I really don't know where I'm going with this. I kind of wish someone had given me the opportunity to play a game as great as this from a young age, but I'd wait another year or two before you introduce him to it. Four seems a tad young.

EDIT: Evil, evil spelling errors...

[ January 20, 2008: Message edited by: Tahin ]

[jonnym]

you could do with getting rid of the butchery as well...
you dont want a fell mood now do you?

[Lord Licorice]

I'm very curious as to how much Broken Bolt's son understands about the game itself and its goings-on.  Does he actually understand the little moving symbols and can associate them with what they represent?  How much explaining do you have to do versus how much he can pick up on just by watching the interactions?  Does he control the game much, or is it something you do for him?  What's his reading level?

If your kid can already read fairly proficiently and associate the interaction of symbols to build a story and understanding at four, I'd suggest in heavy investment into math tutoring.  He's going to fly past his classmates in kindergarten.  

[Kagus]

Hell, I was reading at four.  Couldn't understand why it took everyone else s'dang long.

I read books for entertainment.  Okay, so it's not like I read Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged", but that's really just a matter of preference.  I wouldn't read that now.

[The Hidden]

If you have the time to, you could edit on every single raw file creature that their corpse will disappear after death, and you can also change the color of blood as well.  If you also want to, you could edit and remove ALL weapons and abilities to attack all together.

This would probably take hours, if not days.

[ January 19, 2008: Message edited by: The Hidden ]

[Fenrir]

If you turn off sieges, turn off megabeasts, edit out the kobold thieves, turn off all hunting jobs, and resist the temptation to splatter the elven caravans and diplomats, you should be able to play on a calm map with no worries.