![]() I use FMOD for sound.Īll of this has been constant over the course of the project, except that SDL got introduced a few years in so we could do the ports. But handling your own engine is also a real pain, especially now that I’m doing something beyond text graphics. I’m not sure if I’d use something like Unity or Unreal now if I had the choice since I don’t know how to use either of them. We went with those because it was easier to port them to OSX and Linux, though I still wasn’t able to do that myself of course. I use OpenGL and SDL to handle the engine matters. I’ve been using Microsoft Visual Studio since MSVC 6, though now I’m on some version of Visual Studio Community. ![]() Q : What programming languages and other technologies do you use? Basically, what’s your stack? Has that changed over the 15-20 years you’ve been doing this?Ī: DF is some combination of C and C++, not in some kind of standard obeying way, but sort of a mess that’s accreted over time. Our conversation below has been edited for clarity. If you want more, we also spoke with Tarn on the podcast. I reached out to Tarn Adams to see how he’s managed a single, growing codebase over 15+ years, the perils of pathing, and debugging dead cats. Up until now, he’s relied on donations to keep him going, but he’s currently working on a version with pixel graphics and a revamped UI that will be available for purchase on Steam. He writes all the code himself, although his brother helps out with design and creates stories based on the game. For the first four years it was a part time project, but since 2006 it’s been full time. The entire game is product of one developer, Tarn Adams, aka Toady One, who has been working on Dwarf Fortress since 2002. ![]() And it all takes place in an ASCII interface that looks imposing to newbies, but feels like the text crawl in The Matrix: craftsdwarf, river, legendary megabeast. Individual dwarves have emotional states, favorite gems, and grudges. The simulation runs deep, with new games creating multiple civilizations with histories, mythologies, and artifacts. It’s a free game where you play either an adventurer or a fortress full of dwarves in a randomly generated fantasy world. The Steam and itchi.io version currently has no known release date.Dwarf Fortress is one of those oddball passion projects that’s broken into Internet consciousness. Players can still opt for the free version without those niceties, which is still being worked on and still available on their website, but Tarn and Zach are also putting a paid version because "some of the creator’s close family members have developed serious health issues within the past 6 months, and money to support them is tight," according to a FAQ that went up today. Kitfox stresses they don't even have access to the source code, so the experience will still be the same regardless. This means that the ASCII-based Dwarf Fortress is getting actual graphics, as well as Steam workshop support, though pretty much everything else is staying the same. While the game has long been free, as Tarn and Zach would subsist on donations from the community, the two have teamed up with Kitfox games of Shrouded Isle and Boyfriend Dungeon fame to spruce it up a little to sell the game on digital storefronts. The game would frequently get patch notes like "Stopped vampires from pinning their crimes on babies and children" and "Adjusted the value of bees." The game is, and always has been, developed by a pair of developers that make up Bay 12 Games. Tarn Adams and Zach Adams started working on Dwarf Fortress in 2003 and have been steadily improving it without shaking any of its foundations for the past two decades. While that changes now! Well, that time is sometime down the line, but relatively speaking, it's now.ĭwarf Fortress will be coming to Steam and itch.io, a fairly massive change for the nearly 20-year project. It's also pretty likely that, either because of those reputation or the side-effect of not many people talking about it, you probably have not played it. ![]() Its fans are the most dedicated in the world, creating worlds out of play sessions and entire lives out of its emergent narrative. You might have only heard of Dwarf Fortress for its reputation as an inscrutable piece of gaming lore that is as difficult to play as it is to understand on a basic level. ![]()
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