Of Mad Elves and Madder Dwarves

Behold, from humble beginnings arises the start of a great fortress. Seven dwarves stand on the shores of a great ocean, armed only with two picks, two axes, and a meager amount of food and booze. They must carve a fortress into the earth and sustain themselves for the glory of their kingdom.

 The dwarves immediately set out to gain self-sufficiency. Several large rooms are ordered to be dug into the soil just beneath the surface. In time, these rooms will become 400 tiles of pure farm, enough to supply even the largest fortress with food and drink twice over.

 The farm starts small, but looks good. A crop of plump helmets, the mushrooms that are the backbone of every dwarven diet, will be ready for harvest in a few short weeks.

 Meanwhile, the miners dig a 3x3 staircase deep into the stone, hoping to find valuable resources to build the fortress. Eventually, iron is discovered. Glorious, glorious iron. Iron means swords and armor and traps, the three things that are absolutely necessary for a fortress to survive a goblin siege or ambush.

 After basic industries are set up, construction begins on a trap-filled entrance to the fortress. Stone is hauled from deep underground and formed into a large structure. Halls will soon be constructed and filled with traps, and a drawbridge will be installed to block off the fortress in the event of attack.

Elven traders come to the fortress, bearing exotic animals and fine cloth. The elves are a fickle bunch, refusing all products at all related to wood. The dwarves are uneasy, but welcome trade.

Goblins attack! A small ambush of five, perhaps six goblin warriors spring out of nowhere and attack the fortress. The drawbridge is raised as the dwarves hurry to complete the trap-hall. Six goblins is not a threat to a thriving, powerful fortress, but this one is weak. Its army has yet to be established due to the slowness of the metal industry, and there are no traps to defend from invaders.

Tragedy strikes! A wave of migrants, hopeful new immigrants to the fortress, enter the map and attempt to enter. The drawbridge cannot be lowered, the goblins cannot be allowed inside. The migrants die outside, slain one by one by the small band of goblins.

Eventually, the goblins grow bored and leave, but the damage is done. The elven traders trapped inside the fortress have gone mad, likely from the high amounts of testosterone and badassery contained within every dwarf fortress, and their horses have kicked in the skulls of three incredibly social dwarves. Everyone takes their deaths hard, some harder than most. A particularly strong dwarf throws a tantrum, and punches his wife's skull in. Her death drives more people into a blind rage, and eventually the entire fortress is reduced to a screaming crying pile of blood and tears and broken bone.

Typical.

Concerning Dwarves

Dwarf Fortress is not only a game of wild adventure and beating people to death with the skulls of elf children. Dwarf Fortress also contains Fortress Mode, wherein the player controls a band of dwarves as they try to raise up a fortress in the wilderness.

If Adventure Mode's complexity can confuse a new player, then Fortress Mode will make them tear out their hair, pluck out their eyes, and use them to strangle their entire family.

The user interface is... lacking, to put it nicely. A complete absence of tutorials makes it difficult for a new player to learn how to play without help, and the complex and seemingly random button-assignments can make remembering controls a task for even the most experienced players.

For example, in order to build a wall one must hit b followed by C followed by w and then k and h or u and m depending on how wide or tall or short or thin you want your wall to be.

Some controls are somewhat easier, and the players have hints to help them recall what each button.

If I want to build a carpenter's workshop, then I want to hit (b)uild, (w)orkshops, (c)arpenter. Building a magma forge requires (b)uild, (v)vvforge, (m)agma.

It's weird. It's Dwarf Fortress. Don't question it.

Further posts in this blog will deal with Fortress mode and the way that the new release has influenced how it is played.

In the meantime, there are several examples of early forts that have shaped the history of the Dwarf Fortress fanbase.

Bronzemurdered

and the famed Boatmurdered

(it should be noted that I am not the creator of either of these fortresses, and that I do not in any way take credit for the magic they bring to the world)

Both are a bit old, having been made when earlier versions of Dwarf Fortress were the only options available (Boatmurdered is especially dated, having been created prior to the introduction of the z-axis in Fortress Mode), but are fantastic examples of what makes Dwarf Fortress so... fun.

Here's a few excerpts from Bronzemurdered.

Ooh, spooky. I wonder what happens next? (EVERYONE IS MURDERED. JUST. JUST EVERYONE.)