Maddeningly obtuse at times, yet surprisingly addictive, Dwarf Fortress tasks players with trying to grow and protect a colony of stubborn dwarfs who seem determined to do anything other than what players want them to do. Hidden behind the game’s simple graphics, Dwarf Fortress boasts an impressive world simulation system that accounts for everything from the freezing and evaporation of water to the love lives of the titular dwarfs. Though many long-time fans of the punishing simulation title were skeptical when it was announced the game would be getting a graphical facelift when Dwarf Fortress arrived on Steam, the new look and streamlined interface have been welcomed by many players.
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In a patch note posted on Steam, Bay 12 Studios announced that two new members had been added to the Dwarf Fortress development team. Drawn from the game’s passionate community, new team member Putnam will be assisting with coding while SalfordSal will grow the game’s community on Discord and Twitch. Discussing the addition of Putnam to the coding team, Bay 12 Studios notes that “never before have non-Adams eyes seen the Dwarf Fortress code.” The developers credit the game’s successful Steam launch with making it possible to grow the studio after Dwarf Fortress earned nine million dollars in its first six days on Steam.
In addition to adding some new, non-Adams faces to the team at Bay 12 Studios, the post also announces the addition of a Classic graphics mode to Dwarf Fortress. As the name implies, the new Classic graphics mode replaces the pixel art and sprites of the Steam release with the original “ASCII-esque font-based glyphs” that long served as a barrier to entry to new players. Although the Adams brothers have stated that they want players to have fun losing in Dwarf Fortress, most players will probably choose to stick with the updated graphics so they can have at least some idea what’s happening the first time they inadvertently flood their fortress.
While Dwarf Fortress is unlikely to ever achieve the same mainstream success as some of its more casual, less punishing competitors in the simulation game market, its unique and engrossing gameplay is truly peerless. And with new team members helping to improve the game’s intricate simulation systems, and their tendency to create some hilariously tragic outcomes for unlucky players, Dwarf Fortress looks ready to deliver another 20 years of frustration and fun to gamers.
Dwarf Fortress is available on PC.
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Source: Steam
