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[xtc]

I love that the graphics are text based. Now I can read the code, I find it far more immersive than actual graphics. It's like reading a book versus watching a film.

In my head I see dwarfs running around darkened tunnels. I love reading the combat reports; cheering when a goblin's brain is dashed out.

But I had a silly moment when I read up on giant cave spiders. I was so excited. I was imagining Shelob from Lord of the Rings. I thought "wow, I wonder what they look like?". It turns out you get the letter S. Oh yeah... I forgot it was just text!

[Malecus]

"It's like reading a book versus watching a film."

I've never thought of it that way before, but it really is true.

[Mickey Blue]

Indeed, one thing I do like (and honestly I felt the same whether I was using a graphics pack or using vanilla graphics, which I do now) about DF is that the graphics are so simplistic (to the point of virtually non-existent) it forces you to use your imagination to see what is going on, the extreme level of detail put into nearly everything in the game as well only adds to this.

As a result it feels so much more epic then pretty much every other game.

-MB

[Artifakt]

Wow, I was wondering why Syrupleaf was so awesome...It's because it is a book. The screenshots would have diminished this factor in any other game.

[Buttery_Mess]

I love how vague the description of original monsters is. It really lets your imagination run wild.

[Girlinhat]

I enjoy the simple graphics, but I use Mayday's tileset simply to understand what I'm looking at.  I don't look at a "W" and ask "Is that a wolf or a walrus?" and when I go to cut down trees, I know what I'm cutting.  Aside from that, I rather like the simplicity of the graphics.  After a few weeks of playing, you find yourself imagining the reality of it, your dwarves running around the darkened caves and rooting up their plump helmets, the animal breeding pit of several mature grizzly bears tied to the wall just barely out of harm's way, the soldiers lining up in their oh-so painstakingly crafted steel armor with platinum stud, all masterwork of course...

I particularly like the fights against large beasts, Giants and Ettins...

[TolyK]

I use Phoebus is nice. Text looks fine, and it's really funny to read those reports.
Also sometimes I just pause the game and go through a whole announcement log just 'cause.

[Crazy Cow]

This is the reason I love text-based graphics. My friends all ask, "How do you play that?" and I respond with the answer that it allows me to use my imagination. They don't understand how important that is for me. For example, I play Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, a rougelike that is very similar to DF in the way of difficulty. I tried playing the tiled version at one point and instantly hated it. The graphics resembled nothing like I was imagining the game, so I switched back to simple text graphics. Don't get me wrong; I love good graphics and play many games where I enjoy the detail put into it. Some games even depend on good graphics to get players immersed in the game. When I play a text-based game, though, and switch to tiles, I feel like my imagination is being forced into one particular state of mind.

[Artzbacher]

This is the reason I love text-based graphics. My friends all ask, "How do you play that?" and I respond with the answer that it allows me to use my imagination. They don't understand how important that is for me. For example, I play Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, a rougelike that is very similar to DF in the way of difficulty. I tried playing the tiled version at one point and instantly hated it. The graphics resembled nothing like I was imagining the game, so I switched back to simple text graphics. Don't get me wrong; I love good graphics and play many games where I enjoy the detail put into it. Some games even depend on good graphics to get players immersed in the game. When I play a text-based game, though, and switch to tiles, I feel like my imagination is being forced into one particular state of mind.

I completely agree on the tilesets. They do however help in making new players understand what's going on. Then they grow accustomed to the graphics and the wonderful ASCII is spoiled.

[Girlinhat]

I just use the tileset so I can actually play at all.  Otherwise, the confusing unicode goes over my head.  First time I attempted to play, I couldn't harvest wood, because every species of tree has a unique character, and I couldn't tell those characters apart from grass.

Even with the tileset, I still view it as a mere representation.  Yes, my axedwarf is a little picture of a dwarf with an axe, but I understand that's merely a stand-in for the might armored soldiers.  If anyone has played Supreme Commander, and zoomed out until the units are replaced by symbols, that's basically what I see.  Sure, there's symbols, and that works well enough, but the real joy of it is down there, zoomed in.  Except, that the zoom is with imagination (Spongebob Rainbow!)

[Musashi]

I just use the tileset so I can actually play at all.  Otherwise, the confusing unicode goes over my head.  First time I attempted to play, I couldn't harvest wood, because every species of tree has a unique character, and I couldn't tell those characters apart from grass.

Even with the tileset, I still view it as a mere representation.  Yes, my axedwarf is a little picture of a dwarf with an axe, but I understand that's merely a stand-in for the might armored soldiers.  If anyone has played Supreme Commander, and zoomed out until the units are replaced by symbols, that's basically what I see.  Sure, there's symbols, and that works well enough, but the real joy of it is down there, zoomed in.  Except, that the zoom is with imagination (Spongebob Rainbow!)

Same here. Just because there are some graphics that may tend toward a certain interpretation isn't important, in the end, my imagination is more powerful than the pixels. I'm just too bad with ASCII to completely give up tilesets.

[Zrk2]

The graphics are like the matrix, after a while you see the meaning behind the text, not the text.

Also, I get asked if I'm defragging my processor every time I play it when there are people about!

[TolyK]

I just use the tileset so I can actually play at all.  Otherwise, the confusing unicode goes over my head.  First time I attempted to play, I couldn't harvest wood, because every species of tree has a unique character, and I couldn't tell those characters apart from grass.

Even with the tileset, I still view it as a mere representation.  Yes, my axedwarf is a little picture of a dwarf with an axe, but I understand that's merely a stand-in for the might armored soldiers.  If anyone has played Supreme Commander, and zoomed out until the units are replaced by symbols, that's basically what I see.  Sure, there's symbols, and that works well enough, but the real joy of it is down there, zoomed in.  Except, that the zoom is with imagination (Spongebob Rainbow!)

Same here. Just because there are some graphics that may tend toward a certain interpretation, in the end, my imagination is more powerful than the pixels. I'm just too bad with ASCII to completely give up tilesets.

QFT

The graphics are like the matrix, after a while you see the meaning behind the text, not the text.

Also, I get asked if I'm defragging my processor every time I play it when there are people about!

QFT

[Girlinhat]

"What're you playing?"

"I'm defragging, leave me alone!"

[bucket]

Yeah, it's pretty convenient for the purpose of unashamedly gaming during work hours.