I think this whole issue has been blown out of proportion. Saying that the interface is a main driving factor for the departure of a large % of new players is wholy ignorant of what Dwarf Fortress has come to represent.
This game in it's whole represents a fortress ( ahah irony) against the growing casual market and a citadel of hope for the crashing hardcore game development. I have come to love difficult games, and I oft to stick to them much more when I am stuck than other easier games. And the idea that DF needs an interface change to help increase player base - when the current base is strong - and grows slowly and stabily.
Basically, If you want a game were things are easy to see and understand however are less rewarding in the long run, DF isn't your game. If the Interface is such a hot topic, were is the legion of people complaining about the graphics? Tilesets are just an attempt to cover over the basic graphics right?
Because Everyone here loves the graphics - ASCII or loves the Tilesets. Or Finds the gameplay strong enough to overpower the weakness some see in it.
The interface... I mean come on, if any of you here are longer term players you would not be complaining, as I see no current problem with it. I have easily memorized the macros, and I only use the large map as the start to figure out fortress location - otherwise the interface has done nothing but be simple and useful - effectively built to serve it's purpose.
In fact, the interface is probably the main factor in saving us from the flood of casual gamer takeover - or dumbing down. The minute every person who doesn't like the hard learning curve the game is known for sees that the older interface which contains it's own learning curve has been dumbed down for the masses, what is stopping them asking for the game play to be more simplified at the start to provide for an easier game entrance.
Don't pressure Toady for this, he has always made the best decisions when it comes to his game, which he graciously provides to us for free. He works slowly - steadily and effectively. He chooses to follow our suggestions at his own whim, and for us to demand him to change gears completely to focus on a less important factor ( unless interface overrides gameplay ) when he focuses on what drives most of us to play ( Gameplay and Complexity ).
It is completely true in this case, that the "silent majority" who doesn't complain, who supports via small suggestions and bug reports (pays there taxes), and donates without fan fair, easily tops the loud minority in this forum.
If you dislike the game's interface, that is fine, however do not pressure Toady to change it, in a method that will encourage speed and easy-use over stability and support. I dislike many things. I wish there was more fluid dynamics and I think the environmental life dynamics could be updated, however I remain quiet. Toady ultimately has to code, and ultimately so far, from what I think we all have seen, since we are here, he has done a damn fine job of it.
Screw interfaces if it causes such pain for Toady. He is not a slave, He is not your personal toy. He is a human being which devotes his life to provide us a product, rarely given. Look at Will Wright's Spore, and how far it has been simplified to fit into the more casual market- which disgusts the hardcore gamer in me. The minute Toady begins making things easier and less complex -thus less rewarding to master and use, is the minute, we will lose the hardcore -donating- stable base, and start gaining the less stable larger more vocal casual base.
Don't demand, Ask. Don't scream, be reasonable. And most of all - Trust Toady.
The minute we begin saying something is to hard for us to handle, is the minute we need to question if DF is the game for us. I want Quality over Quanity. If it takes Toady two years to produce a viable and stable interface that pleases all, then so be it, because I know, that time will be spent wisely and usefully, not unrationaly and broken like the masses demand.
This is not a discussion over good hacking versus bad hacking, it is a discussion over trusting toady or becoming greedy.
Donate if you can, Play when you want, and Be supportive.
Or Shut up and leave.
Toady is like the vast herd of buffalo that went extinct because extreme demand and the lack of control of said demand. Think before you speak (or Type) and remember what DF is. A game for the Gamers who cherish difficulty and reward, in which Losing is Fun.
Not a game were you can jump in for 4 minutes and accomplish alot, but a game were you can jump in for 4 minutes get absorbed and spend 4 hours in it.
Long live Hardcore DF and the Toady that runs it!
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Topic: Third party interfaces and "Losing control of the project" (Read 139529 times)