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A

A-

B+

B

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C+

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C-

D

F

[DFAddict]

Here is the link (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/dwarffortress/player_review.html?id=700209&tag=all-about;review1) to the review that I posted on Gamespot. It's shown below with some minor changes. Tell me what you think.

Review of Dwarf Fortress (v0.28.181.40d) by Bay12 Games

Attention: Nerds, Fantasy lovers, Castle building fans, Dwarf enthusiasts, Game programmers, and Roguelike game fans.

Dwarf Fortress (Chapter II - Slave to Amok: God of Blood) is so horrendously in depth it's nearing insanity. Everything from the dynamic flow of water in the moats to several dozen types of ore, gems, and utility stone is by the book. You carve out your humble abode by digging straight into the ground or into the side of a mountain. When I first started playing this over a year ago it was only two dimensions and fun but frustrating. With the most recent version the possibilities of X, Y and Z dimensions is mind boggling. Micro-managing and planning gamer types will be endlessly obsessed. Starting and restarting over and over becomes necessary but incredibly addicting. I recommend replacing your desk chair for a lounge chair as you tweak thirty different jobs for your, up to, 200 individual dwarf characters (which you can change because DF is open source). Keep in mind this game is still in alpha. Download it now and fuel the game revolution!

Thumbs up to:

1) "Goo goo gah gah." It's only in alpha which is the infant stage of all computer games. It's so new you're not even allowed to capitalize the 'a' in alpha! Seriously, next phase is Beta where most companies start to allow access to demo versions. Bay12 Games has opted for an alpha release. Their 2008 donation report totaled over $32k which means there's much more to come.

2) "I just peed a little." You'll be giddy every time one of your colossal, brilliantly hatched, meticulously engineered and carefully manifested plans comes to fruition. I have been playing and replaying this game for over a year and I always go back to it.

Thumbs down to:

1) "Wha?" For the first few hours there is a tough learning curve but there is an in depth Wiki and active forum. I usually get five replies within 24 hours. The controls are comprised of letter key strokes, arrow keys and some detail work using the mouse.

2) "Damnnn!" It doesn't look pretty. It definitely needs a GUI facelift which may come as soon as the next release a few weeks from now or as late as the Beta version, I hope. The graphics consist of letters, numbers, symbols and simple graphics.

Main site: http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/index.html
Wiki: http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Main_Page

[Danarca]

I'm in the phase between being drunk and sleeping, so i'll just point out that dwarf fortress is NOT open source >.< otherwise it seems good, though you could easily add some more detail, on the gameplay, right now the review doesnt state much about the actual game. Ill let other, more sober, folk get into closer detail :p

[DFAddict]

I guess 'moddable' would of a better choice of words. That's actually the one thing I added after posting it on Gamespot.

[BlazingDav]

The irony with this is, if you grade it highly, when its finally released someday (fully), it may quite literally break every scale previously applied to it, or any other game. A new rating will be needed, dwarfy!

[Julius Clonkus]

The irony with this is, if you grade it highly, when its finally released someday (fully), it may quite literally break every scale previously applied to it, or any other game. A new rating will be needed, dwarfy!

Well, dwarves tend to break things. Furniture, your designation layout, goblin sieges, their spine while sparring...

I rated it A, so I can go for A+ for the next version. After that? Well, we could always do stuff like AA AAA AAAA...

[XSI]

I have no idea what grades and letters do, the grades in all schools I know is a number of 1-10.

Anyway, I noticed this

"thirty different jobs for your, up to, 200 individual dwarf characters"

That would be up to what your computer can handle for dwarf characters, I personally go with 500 as cap, but with a good enough computer you can handle a lot more. Besides that, great review, and I agree to it, of all the fancy new games I've got I just keep coming back to DF.

[NobbZ]

I have no idea what grades and letters do, the grades in all schools I know is a number of 1-10.

I dunno very well, but if I compare to the german rating scheme that is used in schools, that would be something like:

A very good (95%+)
B good (90%-95%)
C average (75%-90%)
D just enough (50%-75%)
(E not enough (25%-50%))
F very bad (0%-25%)

There are other scales for the percentage, so in the german armed forces you need at least 75% for getting a D in many cases, 60% in some other.

[Lukas]

I give it a B+. It simply is a really, really good game. Of course just like any game it has its drawbacks, some might get more bothersome than others, but overall It was really good. The main reasons I rated it down is the steep learning curve, and the the way the menu is set up. I enjoy using the keyboard a lot; that's not the issue; but unless you memorize where everything is its hard to navigate. Why can't built walls not be deleted by the q button, for example? things like that.

[Skorpion]

A solid A, because it keeps my interest better than any other game I have installed. No A+, because the interface is hard to cope with.

[AtomicPaperclip]

An A-, so I can give future releases an A+

[Impaler[WrG]]

The lack of objectivity on this Poll is appalling, first off grading anything with an eye towards future expectations is contrary to all fair grading practices.  Second most people here are clearly not grading DF, but rather their own level of fan-boy obsession with it.  Third their are more then enough faults with the current version (GUI, poor balance, lack of end game, bugs) to put it firmly in the C and D range if we try to use anything approximating the standards used by the Game-Review industry.  A game needs to be at the top of its genre (StarCraft, Half-life) and be brilliant creatively AND technically to get the top marks.

[G-Flex]

Publishing a review of a constantly-changing alpha-stage game seems like an incredibly poor idea to me. This review will be out of date within a month - two tops.

And like Impaler just mentioned, our views will be skewed anyway because we're not reviewing it as a finished product; we're reviewing it with the knowledge that it'll get better, and reviewing based on what something will or may be is not exactly fair or useful.



And yeah, both the "open source" and "up to 200 dwarves" statements are entirely wrong.

[darkflagrance]

A game needs to be at the top of its genre (StarCraft, Half-life) and be brilliant creatively AND technically to get the top marks.

The lack of games approximating Dwarf Fortress probably puts in the top of its own genre. It seems to me akin to something like Space Invaders; simple and full of flaws but good for the gameplay it afforded at its time.

[Draco18s]

I have no idea what grades and letters do, the grades in all schools I know is a number of 1-10.

I dunno very well, but if I compare to the german rating scheme that is used in schools, that would be something like:

A very good (95%+)
B good (90%-95%)
C average (75%-90%)
D just enough (50%-75%)
(E not enough (25%-50%))
F very bad (0%-25%)

There are other scales for the percentage, so in the german armed forces you need at least 75% for getting a D in many cases, 60% in some other.

Sigh.  An A is not 95% and higher.  It's 90% and higher.
B is 80%
C is 70%
D is 60%
And an F is anything lower than that.  A + is at X7% and higher, while a - is X0% to X2% (eg. 97% is an A+ and 72% is a C-), roughly speaking.

I will however say that the local schools in Pennsylvania have decided to screw with this to counter "grade inflation."  So they shifted each grade to be like, an 8% gap, rather than a 10% gap.

Drexel also decided to change the GPA system, so an A and A+ both get you a 4.0, an A- gets a 3.7, the B+ a 3.3, etc.  Everyone was real upset, as it didn't give a reason to achieve anything better than an A (like every other college and university in the state that differentiates between + and -; A+ gives a 4.3, IIRC) while at the same time making an A- "not as good" as an A.

[Enzo]

The lack of objectivity on this Poll is appalling, first off grading anything with an eye towards future expectations is contrary to all fair grading practices.  Second most people here are clearly not grading DF, but rather their own level of fan-boy obsession with it.  Third their are more then enough faults with the current version (GUI, poor balance, lack of end game, bugs) to put it firmly in the C and D range if we try to use anything approximating the standards used by the Game-Review industry.  A game needs to be at the top of its genre (StarCraft, Half-life) and be brilliant creatively AND technically to get the top marks.

Dwarf Fortress fans are giving Dwarf Fortress a high rating? I TOO AM APPALLED.