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[bombzero]

The way i see it, Toady and his brother are two people working on a game that tops every corporate pile of dog shit out there in complexity.

i have only been playing for less than half a year, and i get it quite well, i like it in fact.

sure you need a couple third party utilities, sure you need a few mods here and there to keep it fresh, sure were bogged down with bugs, sure we are the most psychotic group of people on the planet, sure we play a game most people think is 'stupid' since it does not have fancy graphics, sure you need a powerful processor to play it, sure you have to look at a wiki, forum, help menu, and a few video tutorials to understand it, sure dwarfs are pretty damn stupid sometimes, sure SOME of the key assignments make no sense ,sure.... nope, fuck. lost my train of thought.

[Alastar]

I think the principles behind the interface are sound. The game itself requires a bit of commitment, so an interface that's efficient when mastered is preferable to an interface that's friendly while still learning it, if the two are in conflict. Wanting it to be unfriendly "just because" is misguided elitism.

While Starver made a good argument that most perceived inconsistencies aren't, I think the interface would benefit from more standardisation. Maybe some quirks will seem more justified as additional content is added, maybe I'm still not getting the zen of it... but I'm still muttering "why did he do it that way?" from time to time.

[Sonlirain]

The ingame UI is fine really...
It's just that you HAVE to use Dwarftherapist to seriously play this game otherwise you will go INSANE trying to find someone good at a certain task that needs to be done.

Seriously... try finding a proficient soapmaker in a 80+ fort without using DT.

[bombzero]

Seriously... try finding a proficient soapmaker in a 80+ fort without using DT.

easy. they compose 90% of my last migrant wave! but in all seriousness, Dwarf Therapist is a wonderful program that is outright necessary to playing DF.
also, tilesets will save your eyes, even if its just a duller colored ASCII scheme

[Tehsapper]

Well, I don't think DF interface is too complicated and hard to learn. You only need to learn and remember all these 15 keys, which isn't so hard I think. After a week of playing you can get used to them.
The only thing I don't like is controlling 60+ fort without external programs like Dwarf Therapist is just nearly impossible. Finding a gem cutter or miller in horde of soapmakers and fish dissectors means wasting a lot of time.

[look_of_disapproval]

Dwarf Fortress Interface is too Simple

Dwarf Fortress Interface is too Simple

Interface is too Simple

ಠ_ಠ

[Loud Whispers]

ಠ_ಠ

+1

[freeze]

Just remap ESC back to space like it's supposed to be and everything will be fine.

[bombzero]

Just remap ESC back to space like it's supposed to be and everything will be fine.

you know, i have tried having the back/exit/quit whatever you wanna call it key as both space and Esc.

im not entirely sure witch is better but i think i like Esc for some reason.

[Tintoko]

Look, I'm playing this game and right away I'm amazed at how stupidly simple the controls are. I mean the game only really makes use of 75% of the keyboard. Theres a lot of unused keys. Also using the arrow keys to move the tile cursor is just too easy. This game is meant to be hard! Moving the tile cursor should be done by typing in the X, Y, and Z coordinate you want it to be at. Whats this added mouse use for??? How am I supposed to enjoy the game when I can just draw where I want my dwarves to mine? Is this preschool??? I thought this game was meant to be hard.

I've thought of the ultimate solution. All commands should be typed in binary. Also no more window showing the world, just a string binary bytes. Anybody with any real balls should be able to translate those into their ascii equivalents and know what they're doing. I mean if you wanna cheat you can draw the map on some paper. Sure you'll have to re-draw every second but hey, this game is supposed to be hard.

Whats that? The interface has to be better than what I suggested so that people will actually play the game? Why would we want people unwilling to put the time and effort into learning rapid binary to ascii translation to play the game? I mean with that logic why don't we just add some nice GUI and full mouse support and make this thing so easy to control that anyone can do it? I mean this game is supposed to be hard! And everyone knows a game can't be difficult if the interface isn't difficult.

Seeing this ignorant post, you have either not continued the game or you are braindead, mate, do you know how hard it is just to build a simple fortress?
You have to press almost all keys to come up with a fortress, learn your facts before posting.

[GTM]

I use a program that randomly shuffles the keyboard mapping in the config file just to add a little extra challenge. Also the extended ANSI character set is for noobs, I only use the original 128 ASCII characters for my tileset.  YMMV.

[Gatleos]

Look, I'm playing this game and right away I'm amazed at how stupidly simple the controls are. I mean the game only really makes use of 75% of the keyboard. Theres a lot of unused keys. Also using the arrow keys to move the tile cursor is just too easy. This game is meant to be hard! Moving the tile cursor should be done by typing in the X, Y, and Z coordinate you want it to be at. Whats this added mouse use for??? How am I supposed to enjoy the game when I can just draw where I want my dwarves to mine? Is this preschool??? I thought this game was meant to be hard.

I've thought of the ultimate solution. All commands should be typed in binary. Also no more window showing the world, just a string binary bytes. Anybody with any real balls should be able to translate those into their ascii equivalents and know what they're doing. I mean if you wanna cheat you can draw the map on some paper. Sure you'll have to re-draw every second but hey, this game is supposed to be hard.

Whats that? The interface has to be better than what I suggested so that people will actually play the game? Why would we want people unwilling to put the time and effort into learning rapid binary to ascii translation to play the game? I mean with that logic why don't we just add some nice GUI and full mouse support and make this thing so easy to control that anyone can do it? I mean this game is supposed to be hard! And everyone knows a game can't be difficult if the interface isn't difficult.

Seeing this ignorant post, you have either not continued the game or you are braindead, mate, do you know how hard it is just to build a simple fortress?
You have to press almost all keys to come up with a fortress, learn your facts before posting.

...

I'm sorry, I'm only a 14th level Sarcasmomancer, this is getting too intense for me. You're not being serious, are you?

[KurzedMetal]

You know, i played DF for a while, I forged some metal weapons, killed a few titans, was fun but... i just got tired of the interface.
Now i only lurk this forums, from time to time, hoping for the 'Presentation Arc' and the 'Interface Overhaul'.
Anyone here who says the interface is "Ok" are retarded fans with no objective view of the problem.
You can get RSI just for playing DF.

Bye forums, c ya in another several months or maybe not.

[Urist McEngineer]

You know, i played DF for a while, I forged some metal weapons, killed a few titans, was fun but... i just got tired of the interface.
Now i only lurk this forums, from time to time, hoping for the 'Presentation Arc' and the 'Interface Overhaul'.
Anyone here who says the interface is "Ok" are retarded fans with no objective view of the problem.
You can get RSI just for playing DF.

Bye forums, c ya in another several months or maybe not.

Learn Dvorak.

[KurzedMetal]

Learn Dvorak.

Learn to use your brain before typing:

...The Dvorak layout is intended for the English language...

And not for games with deficient interfaces.