Ironman Mode + Impossible Difficulty = Dwarf Fortress Mode no cage traps or drawbridge edition
Losing is fun and I will enjoy every second
This shall be my turnbased roguelike for a loooong time I think. Modding support is likely to come and when that comes... Well its game over this game will be endless enjoyment
Ooh, it's like if nethack took 20+ hours to beat. AKA really disappointing if you lose. Good luck.
(the hours was just a guess)
So it'll be like DC:SS? *zing* (Actually, I have a Draconian Monk near the end of the game right now, I probably have put over 20 hours into him, and definitely more time into worrying about him. Will likely be ending him tomorrow, for better or worse. It will be exciting regardless of the result-- the sort of thing I play roguelikes for.)
Anyways on Neonivek's Difficulty <> Fun point.... It can depend on what you're looking for. Personally I approach a lot of games as if they are challenging puzzles that can be solved in various freeform ways, and it is my goal to solve them. Other people prefer more of a relaxing romp through enough of a challenge to feel like they've accomplished something. Many modern games do well enough to fit both styles quite well-- for instance I'm playing Borderlands 2 roughly 3 to 4 levels out of depth, which turns it into a bit of a puzzle game because of just how much stronger enemies are than me. Sometimes it takes a half dozen attempts to figure out how to 'solve' particularly nasty problems. But there is something deeply satisfying when I achieve it, even if it is by some cheesy exploit like finding a blind spot.
So yes, if you're looking for "fun" than you probably don't want to throw it up to iron-impossible. But you probably don't want to buy a 5x5x5 rubix cube either, or participate in two dozen correspondence chess games at any given time, or ladder in Starcraft for hours upon hours attempting to reach masters. However, there are masochists around that enjoy trying to solve these puzzles. And that is what iron-impossible mode is: its a puzzle that exists to be solved. And even better for our masochistic needs: we arn't even sure it can be solved yet.