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[Max White]

So my sister was just sitting next to me, and noticed I was playing this wonderful game, and asked what it was. So I explained the name of the game, and the simple overveiw of what it was about, and what was going on within my fort. She then said that there was no way that was going on, as it was just a bunch of symbols, so how could I tell? I told her that the game was very descriptive, even though there were minimal graphics. She said that was stupid, as it was just like reading a book.

Yes, it is a little like reading a book, I guess. I love books...

[Iced]

As good as Matul Remrit is, and as beautiful as that video was, you people need to read Gemclod http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3349669&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1

made by the same forum that did Boatmurdered, it's content (and singing) is far better in my opinion.

[Sutremaine]

Awesome video, great capturing of the spirit and atmosphere of the average fort. Nice to see female dwarves getting some recognition, the forums are a proper beard-fest when it comes to dwarven representation.

Was that a coffin being carried by the two dwarves near the beginning? I thought I saw one of those medical discs on the forehead of the dwarf behind.

[Maklak]

I just read the entire bravemule so far, and I liked it alot. There were only a handfull of things I didn't like as much as the rest. I won't bother to make an account on somethingawfull, so I'll just comment here.

"Another dwarf was teaching me numbers by having me count cats twice" --- I think this would be better if he decided to count stuff on his own to meet his responsibility of a bookkeeper. He started by counting cats. Then he counted them again, and there was one less cat. I see where Your version tried to be funny, but accusing the leader of inability to count is somewhat insulting. Maybe he is just being careless and sloppy and forgetfull?

"Farmer being fierce with the crop" --- I think it would be better keep graphical look and feel consistent. Picture of farmer firece to the crop is different.

"Religious dwarf worhiper of god of butterflies and peace" --- "Broken language" your dwarfs use add to the feel of the story, but hers is somewhat undecipherable. Like with anything, if you overdo it, it is not good. Some others border on this. Maybe tone it down a bit?

Explanations of some things that happened in game terms are good, as they help people who played DF appreciate bravemule even more. Maybe each or at least some posts on bravemule sites could link to comments.

It would be nice if pictures in Your dwarf rooster had jobs on them, not just names. (I'm talikng about one or two jobs under pictures.) That would help people use dwarf rooster as a simple "who's who reference". For example: "Leader", "Miner", "Doctor and Butcher", "Soldier", "Squad Leader", and the like. With around 40 dwarfs it gets difficult to remember who does what, and who is who. Sure, the artist did a good job of making them look different and painting them with tools, but (at least for me) some are not abvious enough.

"Dwarf getting a new cat" --- I liked the look on his face, but cat as a light source was somewhat disturbing.

That short film --- Wow, I watched it a few times and liked it.

Stonesee --- good Idea using it, tough it looks somewhat too cartoonish / JRPGish / WoWish.

What I have written here sounds like criticism, but please don't take it as such. I like bravemule a lot. I was trying to give you feedback.

[Star Guarded]

As good as Matul Remrit is, and as beautiful as that video was, you people need to read Gemclod http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3349669&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1

made by the same forum that did Boatmurdered, it's content (and singing) is far better in my opinion.

Gemclod is great and I recommend it, especially all the non-overseer contributions to the story like the music and "inventions" (game modifications).

Awesome video, great capturing of the spirit and atmosphere of the average fort. Nice to see female dwarves getting some recognition, the forums are a proper beard-fest when it comes to dwarven representation.

Was that a coffin being carried by the two dwarves near the beginning? I thought I saw one of those medical discs on the forehead of the dwarf behind.

Yeah, that was a coffin. And thanks! I agree about female dwarves.

Maklak: thanks for the criticism! a lot of people said that about the update with the religious dwarf, so I hear you.

[squeakyReaper]

Gemclod was a moderately enjoyable read, though I found it...  lacking in something.  Can't put my finger on it.  Which is sad, because I love Marcus and Eiba.

[Maklak]

I've read some more updates to brave mule. The horse statue looks great. At first i thought the mason was making various furniture from stone, and when his skill improved enough, the horse statue was his first masterwork item, but an artifact makes even more sense.

Since they are making stone flutes with gem corks for trade, they might as well throw in +granite toy boats+ and -<<-lead goblets->>- decorated with glass.

How did you mod the mules? Are they breeding? Are they trained into war mules? There sure seems to be many of them. Clod speaking "to the mules that oversee the burrow" was almost as funny as "saw a clod today, day ruined". Also, blue Trumped would look funny, maybe he got infection from that throat wound or something.

How did the burrow become flooded?

Do clods have one big dormitory with scattered beds or 1 tile "rooms"?

I'm curious as to what terrible fate befalls elf caravan this spring.

[Hyndis]

The sheer awesomeness of the video caused me to get all teary eyed.

So much win. I don't think I can handle that much win all in the same place.

[Oglokoog]

She said that was stupid, as it was just like reading a book.

Yes, it is a little like reading a book, I guess. I love books...

It is exactly like reading a book. Why does she think that's stupid, though?

[NW_Kohaku]

Saying books are stupid in my house would have gotten me disowned.

When I was little, I would keep all the books I read in the last year near my bed, and I was always proud when I managed to out-read my own height in books when I measured on my birthday.  Every room in my house had a bookshelf.  Books are a status symbol!  They are the mark of an inquiring mind and well-rounded philosophical and intellectual foundation for your life.

Maybe you need to start by telling your sister she has no worth as a person if she doesn't at least read a new book every month or so. 

[thvaz]

Maybe you need to start by telling your sister she has no worth as a person if she doesn't at least read a new book every month or so. 

I know it is a joke, but otherwise nothing you learned with the books were worth something if you really believed this.

[NW_Kohaku]

Maybe you need to start by telling your sister she has no worth as a person if she doesn't at least read a new book every month or so. 

I know it is a joke, but otherwise nothing you learned with the books were worth something if you really believed this.

That depends wholly upon what books I have been reading, now doesn't it?  Who wouldn't want to read up on social psychology and social engineering just after your annual reading of The Prince to learn how better to ruin your family member's lives? MuuhuuhaaHAHAHAHAHAHAaaaaaaaaaa! *sigh* Ahhhh, good times.  Good times.

[Hungry Elephant]

While I approve of and enjoy the Kotaku article itself, I don't like how most of the comments are saying that DF should be given prettier graphics and less complexity.

ASCII and overcomplexity is what makes Dwarf Fortress...Dwarf Fortress. DF without complexity and ASCII graphics just wouldn't be the same to me

Who said so never played DF.
It was exactly what I was thinking before actually playing it.
After you get in the game, you realize that the solution of ASCII graphic is the only one viable. Because there are too many things to represent and it cannot be done with a different approach.

Or maybe you can, then you need a SUN rack of 10 computers to run the bloody thing.

[Hyndis]

Ever play Evil Genius?

In theory, one could do Dwarf Fortress using those sort of graphics. Evil Genius is much like Dwarf Fortress, except with an Austin Powers theme. There are hilariously over complicated traps, no direct control over your minions, invasions you need to defend again. However the game is also very simple compared to DF. No sandbox mode, no random generation, and only one level to build on.

There is no good way to display the entire map at once. Moving the view up or down Z levels is really the only way to accomplish this, as the alternative would to be just remove the Z levels. This is what Evil Genius did. It removed the Z levels, such that there is only one level to build on for the sake of simplicity and approachability. But nothing you could possibly build there would be remotely as grand as in DF.

[Star Guarded]

I've read some more updates to brave mule. The horse statue looks great. At first i thought the mason was making various furniture from stone, and when his skill improved enough, the horse statue was his first masterwork item, but an artifact makes even more sense.

Since they are making stone flutes with gem corks for trade, they might as well throw in +granite toy boats+ and -<<-lead goblets->>- decorated with glass.

How did you mod the mules? Are they breeding? Are they trained into war mules? There sure seems to be many of them. Clod speaking "to the mules that oversee the burrow" was almost as funny as "saw a clod today, day ruined". Also, blue Trumped would look funny, maybe he got infection from that throat wound or something.

How did the burrow become flooded?

Do clods have one big dormitory with scattered beds or 1 tile "rooms"?

I'm curious as to what terrible fate befalls elf caravan this spring.

I gave them the war_trainable tag (or something like that). There's a couple war mules and a ton of mules, and some little ones from horses/donkey breeding.

The reason for the burrow flooding isn't supposed to be obvious, but it's explained if you read back to 1051: Limestone when Kou talks about the flaws of the lever system controlling the floodgate. Basically: dwarf error. The clods have 1 tile rooms, I think. It's been a few months since I played 1052. As for the elven caravan .. we'll see :]

Thanks for continuing to read the story! The artist and I work on it pretty much all the time, even if we only update a couple times a month.