Dwarf Fortress bug reports are incredible. Since this is lemmy I’m sure people have heard of the alcoholic cats but it’s a fun reread
I just can’t beat the drunken cat bug… That was the one where the cats were showing up dead all over the tavern floor, and it turned out they were ingesting spilled alcohol when they cleaned their paws.
I think that bug explains very well just how deeply complex Dwarf Fortress really is. Drinks can be spilled. Some drinks have alcohol. If cats step in something it sticks to their paws. Cats clean their paws, causing them to ingest what’s on them. Enough alcohol will kill a cat. Put together: dead drunken cats.
I vaguely remember that part of the problem was the game didn’t differentiate between licking a small amount of ale and drinking a whole glass. So the cats were basically chugging a beer each time they cleaned their paws
Tarn once explained it in more detail: the game’s code is object oriented, and the small amount of beer on a cat’s paw inherited all the variables of a full mug of beer. And the game uses a creature’s body size + amount of alcohol ingested to calculate/simulate drunkenness (all the way to alcohol poisoning and death).
Yeah, no, it’s ridiculously, nonsensically complex. In the most delightful and unexpected ways. Like, it’s not necessarily complex in the ways that you think it is or should be complex. It’s complex in ways that you never even would’ve imagined. For no real reason. Just because.
I’m digging rimworld and have df owned but odd sometimes the names of things are “fuzzy” to my eyes. maybe font, coloring, whatever … I just can’t find myself connecting to the names. I’ll keep trying though.
You can give them nicknames in game if that makes it easier. You can also change the pool of names or even the entire dwarven language if you want, it’s all text files (at least in the ascii version, not sure about Steam)
Check your resolution and scaling settings if it’s literally blurry. If you’re not using an integer multiple of your monitor’s native resolution, fonts can become hard to read because they don’t scale evenly into the pixels available. Sometimes games launch for the first time with weird defaults for resolution, so worth having a look if you haven’t already.
I’ve seen and picked up describing Rimworld as Dwarf Fortress for babies (positive). Sometimes I want a baby game! Like, 1000+ hours of a baby game. Don’t judge me.
Good luck bit you won’t be able to dive in blind, it’s far to complex to do it without tutorials and so on. It’s a bit hard to get into it initially as the learning curve is steep and the UI clunky. (I played several years ago though so hopefully it improved)
Also just for people to know the game is open source and free (like in free beers) if you don’t want to buy it on steam. On Steam you support the developers though
IIRC, the devs re-used code for dwarves blinking, which resulted in cats licking their beer-soaked paws at the same rate as blinking. Even a small amount ingested per lick at that rate led to alcohol poisoning.
I like the one where they let werewolves sense other evil creatures and it resulted in an update where they all immediately climbed to the tallest thing they could (usually trees) and start screaming because they sensed the circus below
Dwarf Fortress bug reports are incredible. Since this is lemmy I’m sure people have heard of the alcoholic cats but it’s a fun reread
I vaguely remember that part of the problem was the game didn’t differentiate between licking a small amount of ale and drinking a whole glass. So the cats were basically chugging a beer each time they cleaned their paws
My favorite bug ever.
Tarn once explained it in more detail: the game’s code is object oriented, and the small amount of beer on a cat’s paw inherited all the variables of a full mug of beer. And the game uses a creature’s body size + amount of alcohol ingested to calculate/simulate drunkenness (all the way to alcohol poisoning and death).
Oh my god, I didn’t know how complex Dwarf Fortress is (I’ve played rimworld so I’m familiar)
Yeah, no, it’s ridiculously, nonsensically complex. In the most delightful and unexpected ways. Like, it’s not necessarily complex in the ways that you think it is or should be complex. It’s complex in ways that you never even would’ve imagined. For no real reason. Just because.
I’m digging rimworld and have df owned but odd sometimes the names of things are “fuzzy” to my eyes. maybe font, coloring, whatever … I just can’t find myself connecting to the names. I’ll keep trying though.
You can give them nicknames in game if that makes it easier. You can also change the pool of names or even the entire dwarven language if you want, it’s all text files (at least in the ascii version, not sure about Steam)
thanks!! good ideas.
Check your resolution and scaling settings if it’s literally blurry. If you’re not using an integer multiple of your monitor’s native resolution, fonts can become hard to read because they don’t scale evenly into the pixels available. Sometimes games launch for the first time with weird defaults for resolution, so worth having a look if you haven’t already.
here’s an example of an online calculator, in case anyone else faces similar problems:
https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/technology/aspect-ratio-calculator.php
there’s a bunch out there, doesn’t matter much which one you use; it’s a simple way to calculate ratios, so you don’t need to do it by hand.
i like this one because of the “nearest standard resolution” hint!
oh solid point. i’m going to check that.
I’ve seen and picked up describing Rimworld as Dwarf Fortress for babies (positive). Sometimes I want a baby game! Like, 1000+ hours of a baby game. Don’t judge me.
This might be the best advertising I’ve seen for this game, and now I want to try it.
It’s on sale on steam right now. I said screw it and am diving in mostly blind, only watched one video on steam after reading this post. Wish me luck
Good luck bit you won’t be able to dive in blind, it’s far to complex to do it without tutorials and so on. It’s a bit hard to get into it initially as the learning curve is steep and the UI clunky. (I played several years ago though so hopefully it improved) Also just for people to know the game is open source and free (like in free beers) if you don’t want to buy it on steam. On Steam you support the developers though
And on Steam you get actual graphics!
Just try and fail and then start reading wiki for whatever you can’t get working.
Good luck… And when you get frustrated watch a 30 min starting tutorial before you abandon the game.
As soon as you are able to keep a fort alive and prospering, you’ll feel like a god!
Don’t go in blind
IIRC, the devs re-used code for dwarves blinking, which resulted in cats licking their beer-soaked paws at the same rate as blinking. Even a small amount ingested per lick at that rate led to alcohol poisoning.
Why was the game tracking when dwarves blink wtf??
Because they would go blind if they got blood in their eyes
so it knows for how long dwarves are affected by spilled beer in their eyes, duh
Have you seen that Rick and Morty episode with the mini universe in a box? That’s Dwarf Fortress lol
I like the one where they let werewolves sense other evil creatures and it resulted in an update where they all immediately climbed to the tallest thing they could (usually trees) and start screaming because they sensed the circus below
It’s a different but amazing flavor of shit crusader kings or rimworld say
I wouldn’t even put CK in the same sentence. Love me some Paradox grand strategy, but DF is a different beast entirely.
I hear you. Same spectrum, different end of it lol