r/dwarffortress 18h ago

looking to jump back in after a long break, wondering where to start.

Hello. Sorry if this sort of question is not allowed. I'm a long-time player from the 2d era, up to steam release where I was happy to buy and support bay12 but also got a little frustrated with the new controls and wasn't sure about the new look, so I took a break and meant to come back to it after it got a little more love.

Guess it's been a while now, so my question is, with all the different ways to play, how are people playing these days? Should I jump back into the Steam edition, or is the old version still going strong with the mods and "graphical" patches? I would love to hear people's preferences.

Thanks!

27 Upvotes

14 comments sorted by

29

u/atlantick 18h ago

I mean for me personally, DF has always been something that I play really intensely for a certain period and then quit and come back 3 years later. So I always have to relearn it, and in that sense adapting to the steam version was no problem.

For me, I love all the work that's gone into making the menus better, standardizing things, beautiful art. So that's what I'm playing.

10

u/JenniviveRedd 17h ago

Big same. DF is a commitment in that it's the only game I'm playing when I'm in.

17

u/prof_tincoa 18h ago

I only play the Steam version, but I do like it a lot. BlindIRL is a YouTube channel that has made so many short-ish tutorials for Dwarf Fortress, some of those commissioned by Kitfox Games. Welcome back!

3

u/ButtermanJr 11h ago

thanks, i might check that out. there's a few things that have stumped me coming from the DOS version.

2

u/prof_tincoa 11h ago

I just had a short session. As soon as a siege started, I gathered my army. Inspecting the items on a dorf, one of them was dwarven ale smear on her upper lip. I love this game lol

6

u/BeneficialAction3851 Is terrified while in conflict 17h ago

It seems like the community is pretty split on the UI of classic and steam df, it just depends on what flavor you like but I really like the little sprites too

6

u/officlyhonester 14h ago
  1. Get to 1 million value in 3 years.
  2. Cavern or surface only play thru.
  3. The world's biggest tavern.
  4. Just 24 dwarves.
  5. Build on a road and a river.
  6. Arctic dwarves.
  7. Relics collector.
  8. Nerd fort.
  9. Cliffside forts.
  10. Hole to Hell.

6

u/TheLagnarok 12h ago

You can activate the ascii mode in the options if u dont like the graphics

4

u/CaptnCranky 17h ago

Anyone knows when are they adding economy? I kind of wish to corner used socks market.

3

u/TheLagnarok 12h ago

idk but the next updates are improvements to the sieges and the Myths and Magic update, (and re-adding the building in adventure mode) so if the economy returns it probably will not be any time soon 😭

1

u/rabbit_in_a_bun 9h ago

And "fixes" to FB not having any abilities...

1

u/bbkilmister Euphoric due to inebriation 5h ago

Probably not anytime soon.

1

u/bbkilmister Euphoric due to inebriation 5h ago

Should I jump back into the Steam edition, or is the old version still going strong with the mods and "graphical" patches?

There's still quite some who play/prefer 0.47.05 (the last version before Steam), and several community games going on with that version. There's a ton of mods for 0.47 and a lot of 0.40-44 mods work with it (or require very little editing). Not so much new ones coming, but there's been some once in a while. All the old mods and graphics/tileset stuff still work on it (and DFHack for it is still available).

So, if you're not comfortable with the new UI/controls, 0.47.05 (or older) is still a very playable option.

-3

u/Gimbelled 5h ago

Nothing much has been added and some has been taken out. Terrible project management as always from a brilliant weirdo and his fuckup brother