Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

Extended ASCII (Original)

Tilesets (Mayday DFG for instance)

Other (Custom ASCII tiles, etc.)

[zwei]

My main gripe with "default" is that set is not square.

I ended up tweaking one of Anikki 8x8 sets to my liking-

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It is still mostly ascii, but with little touches.

[LegoLord]

There is a 16x16 version of the default, Zwei.  It's in the art folder.

[Hummingbird]

Furthermore, if you set the window size to 960x300 using the original 640x300 tileset, you can stretch the tiles into becoming squares!

[Dasqoot]

... You'll probably get about 50/50 results on the poll...

It was 103 to 103 when I voted for graphics, so that's a pretty damn accurate guesstimate Impaler.

Mostly I like all the little details in the different graphic packs. They are each little marvels of ingenuity packing that much character into like a 16x16 pixel little dude. I can play and have fun either way though.

[zwei]

There is a 16x16 version of the default, Zwei.  It's in the art folder.

Ay, but i did not like that one much, is is too big, besides, it was not default: If i have to fiddle with init file, it is not default :-)

It is fun to tweak tileset anyway

[Timst]

... You'll probably get about 50/50 results on the poll...

It was 103 to 103 when I voted for graphics, so that's a pretty damn accurate guesstimate Impaler.

Yep, I was going to quote that yesterday or so, but he was exactly right.

[thedrelle]

It's true that the forums here suffer from "hardcore" syndrome, those that like DF enough that we shrug off ill mention of the ASCII - but the truth is whenever I see DF mentioned on any other forums it's ultimately mentioned with mayday's pack, which has gained popularity as the unofficial goto graphics set for those wanting to get into DF but have no idea what's going on. That will skew the vote towards ASCII here.

I think that's the best way. I personally have difficulty recognizing the characters, i am dislexic. i can, however visualize better with the mayday graphics pack.

and as far as toady is concerned, he should keep on with whats important. he's got the customiziability already, so he can leave the simple graphic tilesets to other people, and when it gets to a point where it's necessary, he can add full graphics.

[andrea]

It is all a matter of tastes, I suppose. I think that ASCII is much easier to read, everything is clear, easy to access informations. on mayday's pack, I can't understand anything. they are tiny pictures of something that makes everything look weird.
After a day at most, ASCII started to look good, but I just can't bring myself to like graphics, graphics are much more information that my brain has to process to understand what I am looking at. mainly the background I think, but simpler icons themselves are a big plus for me.

it isn't even habit, since I am 17 and DF is my first ASCII game.. it is just easier to read for me. I will be very sad when ASCII gets dropped.

[PsyberianHusky]

I'm still kinnda new but I have grown to like the ASCII. However learning the game is so much easier with a tile set.

I do think the ASCII makes the game hard to approach, and normally I would not care how many people approach a game because I like the DF community in its current state, however more people hooked means more money for Toady meaning the cycle can feed itself so UI should be on the to-do list .

[PTTG??]

I use my own tileset. I feel that in order to be a true graybeard of DF, you must make your own tileset, preferably out of raw stone.

[Buddybud]

Urist McBuddybud cancels make tileset: Needs non-economic stone!

[Impaler[WrG]]

My prediction of a 50/50 split appears to be startlingly accurate after more then 200 votes the difference is only a handful.

[Timst]

As previously noticed, yep, you were absolutely accurate. ASCII had never been more than 5 % higher or lower than Tilesets.

[MathijsBuster]

It is all a matter of tastes, I suppose. I think that ASCII is much easier to read, everything is clear, easy to access informations. on mayday's pack, I can't understand anything. they are tiny pictures of something that makes everything look weird.
After a day at most, ASCII started to look good, but I just can't bring myself to like graphics, graphics are much more information that my brain has to process to understand what I am looking at. mainly the background I think, but simpler icons themselves are a big plus for me.

it isn't even habit, since I am 17 and DF is my first ASCII game.. it is just easier to read for me. I will be very sad when ASCII gets dropped.

I myself have a hard time reading the ASCII symbols and prefer the graphic packs. But after reading your reply I'm starting to think something else plays a part:

Some people have an easier time thinking in numbers and actual letters/words and other people have an easier time thinking in pictures. When I think of a train, I envision a train automatically. Some other people think of the word train, and don't actively envision the train until actively wanting to.

I'm guessing computer programmers tend to be 'number-thinkers', and so are other people in the mathematical business. Maybe these kind of people prefer ASCII?

Artists (maybe not architects), people that don't actively have a job in mathematics and the like tend to prefer actual pictures, because they can't easily distinguish or put the link between a 'Sī and something thatīll gnaw your head off if you let it get any closer. Maybe those people prefer the tilesets?

I guess that's also why some people have such a strong like to one and a dislike to the other.
It's... just a theory however.

[Organ]

It's interesting because I had the opposite experience from a lot of people, the first time I tried the game it came bundled with Mayday and didn't get past embark because the font was just aggressively ugly. After I had forgotten about the game, I came across it with ASCII and somehow the entire aesthetic clicked much better and I immediately took a liking to the game. I almost didn't realize the two were the same. This from someone who had no previous background in roguelikes or computer programming.

ASCII keeps things squarely in the symbolic realm, and leaves plenty of room for a clean and functional design that just plain looks good. OTOH, tilesets make an attempt to convey actual representations in tiny squares, and only get halfway there. They lose the clean, unified aesthetic for cramped squares of pixel vomit and badly spaced fonts. I think that the ASCII graphical interface is perfectly fine for anybody with enough sense to use the dwarf wiki--it's the functional interface that is the real culprit in turning people away from the game.