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[StreetPizza]

Beep boop. StreetPizza bot activated. Protocol 1337-1, "Thread Rerail" activating...

I audibly "holy shit"-ed when I saw "Fact: Tarn Adams is one of the, like, three people who have finished the Romance of the Three Kingdoms." on the MetaFilter comment section for this article. Three Kingdoms? THREE?! KINGDOMS?!

Well, this is gonna make playing Six Degrees of Separation a wee bit easier now, innit?

[Gergination]

Being that Mr. Adams has a doctorate degree in Mathematics, which is awesome, do we refer to him as Dr. Toady One The Great?

[Lexx]

Being that Mr. Adams has a doctorate degree in Mathematics, which is awesome, do we refer to him as Dr. Toady One The Great?

Oh great math god?

[ImBocaire]

I think the "The Great" overrides all other honorifics. However, were one to omit that, his proper name would be Dr. Toad.

[accoro]

The amount of respect I have for Toady and ThreeToe has more than quadrupled since reading this thread. Truly inspirational. Nothing screams "follow your dreams, screw conformity and living safely" more than giving up and turning down multiple well paying jobs to follow a passion.

On the off chance either one of them reads this, I'd like you to know you've inspired me to stick in at college, whereas a week ago I was thinking about dropping out and getting a simple 9-5.


Thank you, sincerely.


Edit: typo!

[Lexx]

The amount of respect I have for Toady and ThreeToe has more than quadrupled since reading this thread. Truly inspirational. Nothing screams "follow your dreams, screw conformity and living safely" more than giving up and turning down multiple well paying jobs to follow a passion.

On the off chance either one of them reads this, I'd like you to know you've inspired me to stick in at college, whereas a week ago I was thinking about dropping out and getting a simple 9-5.


Thank you, sincerely.


Edit: typo!

They're definitely very inspiring. More power to you both for not choosing the easier/well traveled roads.

[thegoatgod_pan]

I had the oh-man-I'm-a-geek moment when I read that Tarn plays Arkham horror. Also I love that MoMA is picking up on it, I'm in grad school for art history and I've been torturing all my friends and colleagues with talk of DF as vanguard art, now can go "hah hah!"

[Aeon Blue]

Thanks for posting this, I really enjoyed it. Reading about Toady's hardcore programming life brought to mind this quote from one of Octavia Butler's books:

"And a sweet and powerful
Positive obsession
Blunts pain,
Diverts rage,
And engages each of us
In the greatest,
The most intense
Of our chosen struggles"

People often look down on those with obsessions, but I wonder if it doesn't take a (positive) obsession to achieve anything truly great.

[EddyP]

20 years? But I want it nowwwwwwwwwwwww!

[zehive]

20 years? But I want it nowwwwwwwwwwwww!

on the bright side, only 20 years until optimization!

[Carnes]

Came here to post the article.. i saw it on slashdot during a break.  I love how dedicated these two are!

When DF hits 1.0, there should be a party.  Of course the party will have to end around 9-10pm because we'll all be much older.

EDIT: Finished reading the article.
I liked this part: Paola Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design at MoMA, describes as being about the “communication between people and objects.” Antonelli selected several simulation games for display in the show but was struck by the combination of “beautiful aesthetics” and “mind-boggling” complexity in Dwarf Fortress. “When you are playing Dwarf Fortress, you are God, and the world is talking back to you,” Antonelli said. Then she added, with a laugh, “And you are a very anal god.”

But i was kind of sad to hear that there are DF meetups?! Only sad in that i heard about them on NYTimes instead of this forum. 

[scion-of-fenrir]

Tarn and Zach reached the last drawing: two dwarves standing beside a massive tower under a starry sky. The scene had been rendered and colored, and all that was left to do was for Tarn to write a caption, conceived by the donor, along the bottom. “Time for my chicken-scratch,” Tarn said. Using a black Uni-Ball, he carefully lettered the caption, which read, “We shall build a tower so tall, we can mine the very stars themselves!”

"JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE?"

[TheeBaconman]

Tarn and Zach reached the last drawing: two dwarves standing beside a massive tower under a starry sky. The scene had been rendered and colored, and all that was left to do was for Tarn to write a caption, conceived by the donor, along the bottom. “Time for my chicken-scratch,” Tarn said. Using a black Uni-Ball, he carefully lettered the caption, which read, “We shall build a tower so tall, we can mine the very stars themselves!”

"JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE?"

Ours will be a pick that strikes the heavens!!

To the 20+ years until 1.0 is released!!   MAGMA!!! MAGMA!! MAGMA!!!

[Flaming Toadstool]

I would gladly wait the rest of my life for 1.0. Even unto death, I will still play DF, considering hell has computers. And if not, there will always be !!MAGMA!! to play in.

[Syrup Roast]

I propose a toast.

To !!MAGMA!! *raises mug*