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[dwarf_reform]

If I had to list one suggestion it would be this.. And I'm sure megaloads of folks have already suggested it, offered it even.. And I know Toady has either rejected this outright or at least he is currently :|

Get coding help!! I have massive respect for Toady trying to tackle this madman alone but I'd guess coding of this magnitude could easily consume two human lifespans My dad just got done dying suddenly of a massive heart attack while in the tornados that rocked the central United States this April, and as a result I can't help but focus harder on our time here on Earth..

I know of another game, Medievia, where massive coding is required and the head honcho is attempting it mostly alone :| He's gotta be over fifty years old now and getting older every second of every day.. I worry for the future of a fantastic game..

.. And maybe I'm slightly worried about croaking before I can further zombify myself on some tasty updated df too

Its hard to play df currently knowing all these other amazing changes are already coded and ready to go, as well I won't cry for early release though! Besides doing no good, he's doing this all on his own..

I believe I've heard him say his coding style is unique and that either having to adapt to someone else's style, or taking time out to teach and tutor his style to someone else would just hamper the overall process.. But we're mortal! He's mortal, and embarked on a near immortal task :|

And another thing, I'd gladly pay a forced 5 dollar bill for the next update to df The fools making minecraft say dwarf fortress is one of their influences, but obviously that influence doesn't encompass their work ethic :| Now that they're rich from selling a malnourished game the progress they're making on it has slowed to a crawl.. Not to mention they've doubled their staff and halved their output (all they've improved lately is porting minecraft to different OS, and the amount of minecraft merchandise :| )

I'd gladly pay the same price for df just for the harsh hours that have been ruthlessly bled into it by one industrious soul.. I love the freedom of choosing to donate, but the fact is that df is a quality product that offers choice while minecraft is slowly becoming a disgrace that forces you to pay :| I'm just ranting now though :| Sorry, all :|

The bottom line is this: consider help, Toady! You have a world of talented friends willing to share the burden with you.

[tilly]

I love the freedom of choosing to donate, but the fact is that df is a quality product that offers choice while minecraft is slowly becoming a disgrace that forces you to pay

Ditto!  Minecraft actually pissed me off first time I seen it.

On top of that it wasn't even very clever of an idea. All they did was combine adventuremode with dwarfmode. Instantly I couldn't help but feel forever alone in the damn thing. I prefer 200 happy dwarves building my castles.

[Neonivek]

Minecraft was certainly an interesting game... Back before the focus wasn't PURELY legos.

[nogoodnames]

Ever heard of Brook's law? It's a principle in software development that quite simply states "adding manpower to a late software project makes it later".

Also:

Not to mention they've doubled their staff and halved their output (all they've improved lately is porting minecraft to different OS, and the amount of minecraft merchandise :| )

You seem to be contradicting yourself, providing an excellent example of Brook's law.

Furthermore, the game is Toady's lifework, and he does not seem to want anyone else getting their hands into it. Were I in the same position It would be the same.

Besides the wasted time teaching a new programmer you must also consider the financial situation. Anyone truly committed to working on the game with Toady would most likely be given a significant portion of its income.

Speaking of financial issues, you also argued for the commercialization of DF. I can tell you with certainty that this is a horrible idea. Not only would it be damaging to the community and probably cause some legal problems, but it would also be severely detrimental to Toady's income. Sales would most likely be next to nothing, especially if we were made to pay for each release (speaking of which it would probably slow down development as well) and any profit made would not come close to what donations are bringing in now.

I appreciate your concern but really it is Toady One's game and he is the one to make these decisions. If somewhere down the line he thinks he needs an assistant or  wants to start commercializing the game that is his decision, but right now as far as I know he is against it and you should respect his choice.

[Ninteen45]

What's up with all these "Stop making DF for free" folks I keep seeing. is it that article that guy put up or what?

[antymattar]

Well... considering that toady is already considerably deprived of living quarters(if you read the new york times magazine article about DF, you would know) it wouldnt hurt.... but then again, it would poison everything cause "who the hell is going to pay for an ascii game!? and one like this?"

Also, focusing on life is important but really, if you do it all the time, it consumes a big part OF your life.

[coolio678]

what's wrong with minecraft? It wasn't inspired from dwarf fortress too much (I don't think) and it is a completely different type of game. Back to this suggestion. I think toady and threetoe are enough. This isn't because "oh, I can't be bothered to offer jobs" it's the fact that this is Toady's life work. I wouldn't want to have the dream image of my game to be changed by having a team of people constantly giving new ideas, not coding things in the way toady would like, office space, and payment.

[Wimopy]

And anyways, someone else might not understand the way Toady codes, or the other way around.

And forcing us to pay... would just cause piracy, with less people buying than donating now.

I'm sure this has been suggested before too, but it's his game, and an unfinished (and in a few ways rather buggy...) game isn't worth too much anyway. Now, if it were actually finished, it might be able to work. (We all know this is one of those games that will just keep on improving though.)

[Bohandas]

Too many cooks spoil the broth.

[True-Chaos]

As a programmer, I have to agree, While simply hiring more people would surely be nice and would long term increase output, But short term and $$ wise it would hurt. Hiring a single coder, even if it was a Bay12'er who was working partly out of love would take 75%+ of Toadys monthly income.

A better option I think would be to open source *LIMITED* sections of the code, Ei the UI, and crowd source it, which would let alot of the modding/programmer fans contribute

It would still take work for Toady to separate the UI out from the code, but long term, assuming the community did pick it up, it would not only allow a better UI, but would mean Toady wouldn't have to worry about it himself

[Bohandas]

ALSO, when the time comes to flesh out things like dialog, descriptions, adding more accurate colors and densities to materials, expanding the help screen, and things like that, these things could theroetically be handed off to volunteers without having to release any code at all.

[tolkafox]

If you don't know enough of Toady's coding right now, you probably can't help him?

I mean seriously, if someone really wanted to help him out they would ignore his isolation and go out of their way to assist him. You have the program, and thus the code, right?

[Vector]

I mean seriously, if someone really wanted to help him out they would ignore his isolation and go out of their way to assist him. You have the program, and thus the code, right?

People create boundaries around themselves for a reason.

[dwarf_reform]

Too many hands would indeed spoil the broth Its a facet to the whole thing I never even considered.. Toady Broth is something that only one person can create, and the recipe is dead-on majestic as it is Here it is almost Christmas time and all I want is this df update So much already in that I could spend days and days and days enjoying

Also, forcing to pay isn't the best idea.. I was just a bit irritated because Minecraft shows up out of nowhere throwing around df as an "inspiration" and then proceeded to get right to financially scalping anyone in reach, and for a fairly barebones game :| Thunder thieves :|

The worst "fun" you can have on Minecraft besides a Creeper exploding or an enemy killing you is either:
a. falling too far
b. digging out lava you didn't know was there (and then not being ready to simply step away and live)
c. sand or gravel falling on you

Theres next to no reaction deaths/chain reactions on Minecraft.. Trees cant fall, ground can't collapse, I've seen more dangerous enemies on Super Mario.. And, as someone stated above, its a cold and empty and unmoving world where random natural uniquities get old within a few hours of sightseeing :| And as far as it being a lego/creative building game, its poorly underfed on design blocks :| Gotta improvise way too much :|

Now I'm ranting a lot more and didn't mean to I'm going to try to channel an ocean into the underworld now..

[King DZA]

Yes, we all love Toady's broth.

Another important thing to remember is, as much work as it is, he does it because he enjoys it. I highly doubt he gets up every morning pissed that he has to work on DF some more without stable pay. He does it because it's what he loves, and loves sharing it with others. Hiring a staff of people to do the coding for him would take most(if not all) of the joy out of his work.