Print

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

[CypherLH]

I'm curious as to what people think about the long term future of Dwarf Fortress.

Firstly, do we have reason to expect that the game will still be active, updated, and supported out to the end of this decade? I'm not sure what, if anything, Toady has said about the very long-term future of the game.
Second, what do people think Dwarf Fortress will be like by then, assuming it continues to be updated that long?

My own hopes are that Toady keeps pushing ahead with the pure simulation, so that we're much closer to the complete 'Fantasy World Simulator' from the top on down. From living breathing civilizations down to individually tracked, and breeding, squirrels in the forest. I'd like to be able to embark each of the races and have separate modes, appropriate for each. Control a Dwarf Fortress or a Human Town/City or a Eleven TreeHome, etc. With appropriately different options for each. Plus a civilization or Empire mode where you can act as the leader of an entire civilization or Empire. Or a hybrid of the two : Start off as a Dwarf Fortress or a City or a TreeHome and then be able to expand your control out into the world and create your own Empire(sounds like Army ARC is already heading in that direction). I'd like adventure mode to be more playable and for the world to be so incredibly well simulated that it really feels like a living, breathing, real fantasy world. Lastly, a "god mode" where you can play as a deity within the game and have basically total control over anything you want : play as a distant and wrathful God....compete against other Gods for more worshipers....or manipulate ever single little detail in every corner of the world just to tinker with things.

Oh, lastly, sentient AI for every intelligent entity would be nice, hahaha I don't ask for much! But seriously, it'd be cool if organized groups within the game world exhibited an "intelligence" at least approaching that of something like an ant colony, I.E. emergent collective intelligence with cascading levels of loyalty and chains of command, etc. I suppose you could argue that the game already approaches this, and will get closer once civilizations have more memory and politics, and things like Guilds are introduced, etc.)

Anyway, would love to hear other people's opinions on the very long term future. Part of what excites me about this Game/Simulation is more the potential of what it could be rather than the game as it currently us.

[Tofu]

You know, I've thought about this a lot before, and I really hope that Toady works on this for many, many years forward.
I don't know of the challenges ahead, but I'd very much like it for him to complete his goals with the game, as well as Threetoa.
I don't have much more to say, but I'd like it for there to be more recreational things in the game (bards, games etc.) and some more "pointless" people doing things in the fortress, like town criers, philosophers, painters and such.
Writing would be cool to have implemented, with books and stuff recording history and fiction.... and guilds and guild halls and such would be amazing too.
Who knows? this game is by far the best I've ever played, and It only improves over the years...like a nice wine or whiskey I must say.
Curious to see what others have to say >.>

[Gatleos]

I'd like to be able to embark each of the races and have separate modes, appropriate for each. Control a Dwarf Fortress or a Human Town/City or a Eleven TreeHome, etc. With appropriately different options for each. Plus a civilization or Empire mode where you can act as the leader of an entire civilization or Empire. Or a hybrid of the two : Start off as a Dwarf Fortress or a City or a TreeHome and then be able to expand your control out into the world and create your own Empire(sounds like Army ARC is already heading in that direction). I'd like adventure mode to be more playable and for the world to be so incredibly well simulated that it really feels like a living, breathing, real fantasy world. Lastly, a "god mode" where you can play as a deity within the game and have basically total control over anything you want : play as a distant and wrathful God....compete against other Gods for more worshipers....or manipulate ever single little detail in every corner of the world just to tinker with things.

Toady's actually planning on most of those modes. I haven't heard anything about the "God Mode", but eventually he's planning on fleshing out civilization, settlement and adventurer games so you can take control of your fantasy world from any level you want. It's gonna be awesome.

[Cruxador]

I'd like to be able to embark each of the races and have separate modes, appropriate for each. Control a Dwarf Fortress or a Human Town/City or a Eleven TreeHome, etc. With appropriately different options for each. Plus a civilization or Empire mode where you can act as the leader of an entire civilization or Empire. Or a hybrid of the two : Start off as a Dwarf Fortress or a City or a TreeHome and then be able to expand your control out into the world and create your own Empire(sounds like Army ARC is already heading in that direction). I'd like adventure mode to be more playable and for the world to be so incredibly well simulated that it really feels like a living, breathing, real fantasy world. Lastly, a "god mode" where you can play as a deity within the game and have basically total control over anything you want : play as a distant and wrathful God....compete against other Gods for more worshipers....or manipulate ever single little detail in every corner of the world just to tinker with things.

Toady's actually planning on most of those modes. I haven't heard anything about the "God Mode", but eventually he's planning on fleshing out civilization, settlement and adventurer games so you can take control of your fantasy world from any level you want. It's gonna be awesome.

God Mode is a post-1.0 goal. If I recall correctly, he talked about it briefly in one of the DFTalk episodes. In particular, he mentioned it in relation to time deities, since they should be able to travel through time, but that's not likely to ever be technologically viable to the depth which he feels would be necessary.

[Interus]

Eventually I want graphics, and that bugs me.

I should say that the game loosely reminds me of Spore.  In fact, there was an space stage alpha that I played that had a few minor similarities(mostly it used basic symbols to represent the creatures and plants being moved around).  I'm a bit worried about how well the current programming would translate into a more graphical environment, since I've heard it's being made with no concern for that.  I am however hopeful that it'll end up where the descriptions that you read now(Is tall, corpulent, covered in ecru hair, that kinda thing) are background information.  I'd like to see a dwarf fortress that procedurally generates the species based on the raws, and then alters each individual slightly to match the given description.  I don't want it to look quite as cartoonish as Spore, but I'm not sure how it looks matters as much as actually being able to see things since I don't have a great imagination.

When I say it bugs me, I mean that I'm worried more than annoyed.

Oh, as a minor thing, eventually I'd like to see things not take up the same amount of space regardless of size.  The way walls work right now does annoy me, and I'd hope that they're different 10 years from now, though its' not like I expect it any time soon.

[Artzbacher]

Current development is rather fast, isn't it? Dwarf Fortress is already one of the best games ever created. Imagine Toady and Threetoe working on it for ten more years with current development speed. No game would ever be able to reach Dwarf Fortress' greatness. On the other hand, when the caravan and the army arc are completed I have a hard time imagining any other game beating DF in terms of depth and gameplay, so maybe ten more years is a little excessive...

[Africa]

I'm really only interested in the Fortress Mode and in how advancements improve that. When making the world more detailed (i.e., a functioning economy, political turmoil, armies on the move, etc) makes playing a fortress deeper, more involving and more challenging, I'm all for it. When it involves modeling what material everything is made of, or making realistic models of wildlife migration and breeding (rather than just abstracting that, with similar results) then I don't see the point of it.

[Haedrian]

Writing would be cool to have implemented, with books and stuff recording history and fiction.... and guilds and guild halls and such would be amazing too.

That already can happen during engravings. Which is actually quite a cool effect. Sometimes you get engravings of events that happened in the fort. Writing history on rock is the dwarven way!

[NW_Kohaku]

I see a major future schism between the playerbase as procedural magic and the ability to create more steampunk features get added into the game, the ability to play as elves or whatever becomes added to rival with playing as dwarves, players start getting on board the game to grow flowers and raise sheep with their adventurers as opposed to the short and bloody adventures we have now.

Since this is a game that tries to be so many things, it will eventually let the people who demand it become different things to eventually see the things they want become implimented.  There's already a minor divide between graphics and ascii users, and bearded females and nonbearded females, but once Toady actually starts making decisions on how to use magic, this forum can potentially explode into factions over the way DF should handle these sorts of issues.

edit: A tantrum spiral shall ensue when Toady finally declares that Dwarves can become pirates and Elves can become ninjas.  Then, the eternal blood fued shall truly begin.

[Fayrik]

edit: A tantrum spiral shall ensue when Toady finally declares that Dwarves can become pirates and Elves can become ninjas.  Then, the eternal blood fued shall truly begin.

So... Kobolds get to be honourable Knights in shining loincloths?
Just beware the Goblin Dungeon Masters.

As with every conflict related to DF. There's more than two sides to this! 

[NW_Kohaku]

No, clearly kobolds will become a mockingbird.

[Max White]

No, clearly kobolds will become a mockingbird.

So it's something like your standard mod then?

[NW_Kohaku]

Dwarves already throw flaming bears at their enemies in combat, and laser guns that shoot swords are just a reference to 40d era crossbows with bluemetal ammo.  It's not that far off.

We'll need to wait for Toady to make going to the moon possible, though.

[Fayrik]

No, clearly kobolds will become a mockingbird.

So it's something like your standard mod then?

... I now have the urge to make that into a mod.
All of it.

[Gatleos]

No, clearly kobolds will become a mockingbird.

So it's something like your standard mod then?

... I now have the urge to make that into a mod.
All of it.

I'm starting a timer for ten years. If I can't mod in a battle between time-traveling pirates riding flaming sharks and ninjas that can transform into dinosaurs set to The Final Countdown by then, I'm sending an angry letter.