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[UXLZ]

The fact that Dwarf Therapist is basically mandatory should show one of the massive, gaping, void-like holes in the UI.

No, you probably couldn't do much more with a purely keyboard driven interface (aside from making the menus quicker to switch between), but the point is that DF finally gets some mouse support for the UI.

[flabort]

What is this there...a...passed you speak of?
I just use vanilla DF, no utilities, and I do fine...ish.

[alexandertnt]

I think the DF UI isn't that bad, actually. It's functional, at least.

There are numerous tweaks that could improve it though. For example, when you try to build a door and it gives you the error bessage no door, is hardly a helpful error message when you are still learning the game (wtf? Isn't that what I am trying to build?). Maybe call the option "Place Door" and have the error message something like "No door item in stockpile", or something, which would hint to the player that they need to somehow work out how to create a door item first.

[SealyStar]

The DF interface is unusual for a game but like a lot of "serious" specialized software: extremely powerful with enough knowledge, but artificially complex and alienating to the unexperienced. Mechanically, Dwarf Fortress isn't that difficult to play. Of course, this is not to say there would not still be a steep learning curve with an improved interface. On the surface, though, it is ridiculously complicated and clunky, and about 80% of the game's legendary cult-classic but popularly-alienating "difficulty" and "learning curve" can probably be ascribed to it.

Don't defend DF's interface. Champion everything else about the game but please for the love of God don't pretend that the UI is not terrible. You can justify it as the best Toady can do with his resources and probably very difficult to change at this point, but don't act like it's still not a glaring flaw. Honestly, DF with an intuitive, simpler interface could probably unseat HL3 for "most anticipated game of all time".

[Bohandas]

For reasons too involved to explore in depth here I have personally come to view ugliness, austerity, and asperity as more pleasing to the senses than beauty, so I have no problem with the graphics and readouts end of DF's user interface; the controls leave much to be desired however

EDIT:
Though most of what is to be desired from them lies in the issue of their poor documentation

[alexandertnt]

The DF interface is unusual for a game but like a lot of "serious" specialized software: extremely powerful with enough knowledge, but artificially complex and alienating to the unexperienced. Mechanically, Dwarf Fortress isn't that difficult to play. Of course, this is not to say there would not still be a steep learning curve with an improved interface. On the surface, though, it is ridiculously complicated and clunky, and about 80% of the game's legendary cult-classic but popularly-alienating "difficulty" and "learning curve" can probably be ascribed to it.

I actually quite agree with this. DF is quite a complex game, but I think most of the difficulty in learning the game comes from learning the GUI and interperating the graphics, not actually from the game mechanics. Infact, when you get over the UI/GUI, most of the complex interactions aren't actually necessary for normal play (you don't need logic gates to sustain your fort ) and the game becomes actually fairly intuitive and playable.

Some of these improvements could also help veteran players too. Not having to use tools like Dwarf Therapist (and not being dependent on them being updated for the latest version), for example. Isometric graphics would make it much easier to perceive the 3d world, instead of the rather clunky way it works now, layer-by-layer.

Honestly, DF with an intuitive, simpler interface could probably unseat HL3 for "most anticipated game of all time".

This too. Improving the UI could make DF a considerably more accessable game without "dumbing it down", which is effectively an objective improvement.


I really hope he plans to improve it sooner rather than later, it would help attract more players to the game. Obviously it's entirely up to him though.

[UXLZ]

I think Toady had the UI slotted as 'slightly more important than graphics', which, by my knowledge, estimates the arrival of a massive UI upgrade as some time... Never.

I'd have to say though, if the UI wasn't so damn arcane the game would be incredible. At the moment, I *want* to play it but I just can't bring myself to because it's so, so terrible. It's not even the appearance, it's just functionality.

[Niveras]

There are definitely improvements that could be made to the interface; the game allows you to micromanage labors but doing so for a large (the definition of such varying by player) number of units with the default interface is very tedious. Similarly, I feel there are a few other UI functions that could either be added wholesale, or improved. Who really uses the room display function, for example? Repurposing that into a tool for managing rooms, burrows and stockpiles all together would be nice (basically an "designated area" equivalent to the stocks menu).

I also feel that some of the interface problems are kind of tied into the game mechanics themselves. It might be possible to (as an example) have zones, burrows, and designations in general all fall under one general control, but doing so would require a rewrite to those mechanics rather than just how they're accessed through the UI. Likewise, while the take/feed stockpile system is a nice new mechanic for organization, the accessing that functionality felt more like it was just patched in to the existing UI, rather than trying to find a better, more accessible place for it. And then we have all those dfhack improvements that add, I feel, very useful functionality to existing menus (being able to search a text string in virtually any screen, and filter that screen to only the results, for example).

Maybe a lot of those will get done "eventually," although even I agree the UI is tolerably functional right now and bug quashing and new mechanics are more important than streamlining the interface, making it more user-friendly.

[Sergarr]

Mario 64 MMO.

[Cowboy Colt]

Mario 64 MMO.

[i2amroy]

Isometric graphics would make it much easier to perceive the 3d world, instead of the rather clunky way it works now, layer-by-layer.

Is it strange that I actually prefer the top-down, layer-by-layer over isometric graphics? Like I enjoy isometric stuff for taking pictures of forts and whatnot, but for actually working in and around my fortress I much prefer the top-down graphics (with the notable exception of things moving up and down).

[Graknorke]

No, I think it's more or less universally agreed that isometric is fucking useless with anything busy, especially if you need to be going through something (as with mining).

[puke]

I would not mind something 3d that still showed you a slice at a time. 

Like: everything below the z-level you are looking at appears solid, everything above is removed. 

This would let you see lower terrain contours and features, upper levels would not obstruct.  Could scroll between levels, or rotate out for a perspective view.  That TWBT thing sort of does this now, but it has dependencies that I'm not supper happy about using.  Ideally, something more like the old lifevis or obsidian, but would "snap" to an overhead view of one z-slice at a moments notice.

I often find myself going to pen and paper or some sort of doodling app (or a spreadsheet...) to make sure the 3d structure I am excavating will be correct -- having this capability within the interface would be super handy.

[Krevsin]

Newtonian Aurora.

'nuff said.

[timferius]

Newtonian Aurora.

'nuff said.

For a quick second there I was pretty sure you were advocating a mass shooting simulator...... I definitely did a double take there... May just be my brain, since it'd merged the two incidents in my head.