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[Erithtotl]

I don't follow these boards that close.  I have played DF for years.  I have donated money.  It's really hard to find useful information.   Threads like 'Future of the Fortress' have hundreds of pages of posts.

I can't help but notice that DF releases used to come every month or two, sometimes more frequently than that, but we haven't had a new release in over year.  So I'm wondering if someone who is in the know could clue me in?  I'm not demanding anything, just curious.

I know if I was an outside coming to the site for the first time and I saw the last update was that long ago, I'd reconsider supporting the game.

[dragon0421]

I asked a couple days ago in the Future thread and Toady responded that his goal is by the end of the year. But it will be done when it is done.

[Aqizzar]

Glad I got here before a giant flamewar could start.  Here's the quick answer-

That sticked thread above, "Future of the Fortress: List of Remaining Items", is discussion of the ongoing devlog and Toady's updates about his work.

As for why there hasn't been an update...  Last September, Toady decided he wanted to wrap a bunch of huge save-compatibility breaking updates into one release, to save people the trouble of staggering over save-breaking releases.  However, as he has admitted, he bit off more than he could chew.

He knows people are getting anxious over the long wait, and is doing all he can to finish as cleanly and quickly as possible.  He was hoping to release by Christmas (the closest he has ever come since last year on giving a firm date), but even that he's not confident in.  Very late December maybe, probably no later than January.  But the only safe answer is it will be released when he releases it.

[Demonic Gophers]

Right now, it's looking like the release will probably come early next year.  If we're lucky, it may be out by Christmas, but Toady's most recent comments suggest that isn't likely.

This update includes a lot of major changes.  It's going to be breaking save compatibility, and Toady wanted to fit in as many of the changes that will do so as he could, so that it'll be a long time before he has to do so again.  Some of these changes are pretty drastic, and probably required completely reworking how things like combat function.  I believe Toady's also said that he never wants to go this long between releases again.  I'm not certain about that, but he's definitely planning to go back to frequent releases after this one comes out.

I heavily recommend keeping an eye on this page.  It has a lot of news regarding Toady's progress on the next version.  It's also updated frequently, often times with a post every day.  Seeing this stuff is very reassuring that Toady really is making progress, and that the next version is going to be worth the wait.

[Duke 2.0]

 The end of the year comment was made before all the interviews and such made recently. Now he isn't terribly confident that he could make such a deadline. February might be a more realistic goal.

 Do note that he wants to get rid of as many save-breaking compatibility things out of the way now as possible. Last time that happened was the 2D/3D conversion, and that also took nearly a year. After he finishes this update than he should return to the release once every month or two schedule. Then we can just transfer saves to the new versions as they come.

 And looking at the updated feature list, there will be a lot of playing.

 Edit: Damn you Aqizzar!

 Edit2: DAMN YOU GOPHERS!

[Demonic Gophers]

Edit2: DAMN YOU GOPHERS!

[Capntastic]

Keep in mind the last long-cycle release brought us a whole 3rd dimension to play with.

[DG]

11:22, 11:23, 11:24, heh.

[Neonivek]

Keep in mind the last long-cycle release brought us a whole 3rd dimension to play with

While I only got into Dwarf Fortress AFTER it went 3d, to my knowledge a lot of people still want the game to be 2d. So bad example?

Anyhow I am keep waiting for as long as Toady keeps updating at least once a week. As long as I know, as much as you can know this being the internet, he is still working on it I can stave off impatience.

Though I have gotten quite impatient a few times already.

[LegoLord]

Keep in mind the last long-cycle release brought us a whole 3rd dimension to play with

While I only got into Dwarf Fortress AFTER it went 3d, to my knowledge a lot of people still want the game to be 2d. So bad example?

No, they want some of the feature in the 2d version (the most wanted ones going into the next release), but 3d is something most people like.  You can't be as inventive with your traps in 2d.

[Duke 2.0]

Keep in mind the last long-cycle release brought us a whole 3rd dimension to play with

While I only got into Dwarf Fortress AFTER it went 3d, to my knowledge a lot of people still want the game to be 2d. So bad example?

No, they want some of the feature in the 2d version (the most wanted ones going into the next release), but 3d is something most people like.  You can't be as inventive with your traps in 2d.

Seems 2D was for 'fun', while this whole section of 3D is more of an engineers dream.

[Jude]

Yeah, I don't think anybody wants DF to stay 2D. The old version was a very different game - it was almost linear, in a way, whereas now it's a total sandbox. The linear aspect meant there could be certain challenges guaranteed, but being linear and being 2D weren't what made the 2d version harder or "funner", and it's not like difficulty will never be recaptured in 3D.

Plus, the 2d versions are still there to be played for anybody who wants to.

[Neonivek]

Well it was that they missed guarenteed challenges and non-guarenteed survival.

[Untelligent]

The main problem I have with the 2D versions is that they lack much of the optimizations that came later, so I get about 10 FPS before I've even struck the earth.

I'm also certain few people, if any, miss the unavoidable ending.

[Neonivek]

I wouldn't miss it.

If there was a guarenteed losing scenario in the game I'd hope my actions would matter according to world history.