Did I mention I'm using an AZERTY keyboard? This complicates things at times...
I've been turned off Dwarf Fortress on a number of occasions, and each time it's been frustrating because I could see a glimmer of something amazing. If it was just annoying I'd chuck it, forget it, and never come back: it's annoying to feel that there's something very deep happening but that you can't really understand it or control it.
Even now that I've worked out how the interface works, I still feel like I'm peering in at a magical word through a keyhole, and slipping bits of paper under the door. It's a great game but the interface is really a weak link for me, because I'm not old enough to get nostalgic about ASCII graphics. Once you get the hang of the controls it does work perfectly well, but I can't help but think that a game this deep and complicated really deserves an interface (input and output) worthy of it.
"ASCII portal", for example, is perfect, because there's little information to convey and few possible actions. You really don't need anything more than ASCII graphics. But Dwarf Fortress has a staggering amount of information to convey and thousands of possible actions, which is a bit out of step with its Spartan GUI. That's just my 2 cents anyway.
I might just start again actually - but I'm no closer to getting these graphics working. How do I fix this Rayback problem?