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[Tofu]

So, dear bay12 community.

I'm having a presentation in my Norwegian class about Dwarf Fortress in a few days(teacher's weird, don't ask) and I wondered what I should talk about...
Then it hit me: why not ask you guys what YOU would like me to talk about?
That might be more fun

so, anything you'd like me to talk about in particular? Anything you think I should put in there? Just say what and I'll be happy to see if I can put it in there, and I'll give feedback once I'm done with it

[Darvi]

Geology.

[Music]

How a computer can recreate geological, ecological, and social environments on such a high level but the greatest challenge is telling us what is going on.

[PremierMeridian]

How one kitten can lead to a complete breakdown of reality with it's offspring... and then feed a small community.

[Azated]

How, with the right knowledge and sufficient magma, it is possible to build a computer inside a computer.

[Tharwen]

The power of simple graphics to make the player fill in the gaps and create the story for themselves rather than have it told to them directly.

This game can be far more emotional than any fully graphic modern game, and it's because the user idealises the world they're playing in subconsciously, basically making it as awesome as possible without even trying.

[ed boy]

How, with the right knowledge and sufficient magma, it is possible to build a computer inside a computer.

It used water, not magma.

But I second this.

[metime00]

The power of simple graphics to make the player fill in the gaps and create the story for themselves rather than have it told to them directly.

This game can be far more emotional than any fully graphic modern game, and it's because the user idealises the world they're playing in subconsciously, basically making it as awesome as possible without even trying.

This.

Also talk about how the complex yet completely unorchestrated situations lead to an attachment to the situation and participants in the game's story more than a hand crafted story, and can be repeated over and over.

[NW_Kohaku]

Maybe you should be more specific about what the class is, or what sort of overarching point you want to make is...

Dwarf Fortress right now is something of a "Push button, receive procedurally generated world stocked with thousands of characters and procedurally generated creatures" program which happens to have a game in it, too.

Since the audience isn't going to be actually playing the game, describing the story of whats going on behind the scenes is probably more telling than anything else.

Use legends viewer on a few generated worlds to gather some good data, and maybe alter the maps with fantasy map maker to make the maps look more exciting to an audience.

You might also want to go for something like Stonesense or digging up images from Undergrotto or the dwarven computer as examples of master engineering and computational flexibility.

Bragging about how the game is complex but in ASCII might be great if they are actually already players of the game, but it means nothing to someone who hasn't looked at the game, and reeks of elitism, so it doesn't make for a compelling argument.  You have to talk about what's actually under the hood to make it work.

[Tofu]

Thanks, guys, for the really, really good replies. You touched on a lot of the subjects I was hoping to squeeze into the presentation, and I'll try to put in as many of these as possible

Maybe you should be more specific about what the class is, or what sort of overarching point you want to make is...

Yeah, the class is my Norwegian class, and I'm not supposed to make a point. We got a task right before the summer break, as a sort of easy, fun, quick thing, and my teacher asked me if I could, perchance, enlighten the class about my favourite game or something, since he knows I do that sort of thing.
It's just for me to "present it" if you will, to the class(but I suspect; mostly the teacher) and just talk about who made it, what's the point, and what makes it special. hope that helps

Feel free to add more if you guys want, I'll put my ears up sharp for the next days till I'm doing these things.

[NW_Kohaku]

In that case, I guess I'd talk about goblin repeaters, just because the idea of powering your machines by having an immortal goblin you trapped run back and forth looking for a way to get to your dwarves as a means of powering your machinery sounds like the sort of exploitive and funny thing you could tell a class that gives a good gist of what DF is like, without having to go into something that would probably upset at least someone in the classroom (like kitten butchering).

Also, be sure to include flavor elements like dwarven engravers engraving images of themselves enjoying cheese, or the mayor who hates spiders being tormented by spiders in the mayor's bedroom.  (Or the engraver engraving an image of themselves engraving an image of themselves engraving an image of...)

Be sure to start with a snappy quote, like, "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a happy face engraving images of itself on a wall, forever."

[Chessrook44]

Plus, it might be fun to mention the bugs that come up and produce hilariously entertaining results.  Like Planepacked.  Or the DEADLY CARP.

[Tofu]

Wow, this thread is about on the verge of being dead. Well, it kinda is.
I just thought I might Inform you on the outcome of the presentation.
It's now a couple days since I had it, but I got pretty clear feedback from the teacher:
It's a solid 5+ (I think that is the same as a B+ or something).

What I find most funny about this though, is that this is a pretty darn niche game(kinda),
and all of my classmates are hardcore athletes, except for maybe two or three...But I was
the only one in my class who managed to awaken some interest in what I was talking about.
What I mean with that is that they all asked questions, even the girls
And they seemed generally excited to hear about it. I kept talking and answering questions
for at least 5 minutes after the presentation was done, and considering that all the other
15 or so presentations went by without a single question, I call that a win.

Thank you all for your input, I actually used a lot of the material you guys wrote here.
It made it all so much better

Once again the Bay12games community prevails!

[Dutchling]

hurray

[Chessrook44]

Now I only wish I could have seen it.