Dwarf Fortress News

After 23 years of making Dwarf Fortress, even its creator is still 'terrified' of drowning all his dwarves with aquifers: 'Part of the problem is we are just not good at videogames'

In Dwarf Fortress, aquifers are a scourge. They're layers of subterranean, water-bearing rock that continually, endlessly leak when breached by dwarven miners. They can be managed and even exploited with careful construction, but in my experience, their main utility is proving that—no matter how competent at Dwarf Fortress I might get—I'm only one overlooked, unsealed tile away from a disaster I'll only notice once the dwarves in that quarter are already neck-deep in floodwater...
Read more.

Dwarf Fortress' creator is so tired of hearing about AI: 'Press a button and it writes a really sh*tty, wrong essay about something—and they still take your job'

While Tarn Adams, creator of Dwarf Fortress, is technically a millionaire—he's never quite minced his words like one, especially about the nonsense that goes on in the gaming industry. Last year at GDC, he came out swinging against a brutal year of industry layoffs. This year, while speaking to PC Gamer's own Lincoln Carpenter, he had some similar steam to vent...
Read more.

Noclip are doing a 4-part documentary on Dwarf Fortress with part 1 up now

With filming that's been going on and off for three years, Noclip are doing a 4-part documentary series on Dwarf Fortress. The first episode is now live.

Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/03/noclip-are-doing-a-4-part-documentary-on-dwarf-fortress-with-part-1-up-now/

Hotfix: Patch 51.08

[h3]Patch 51.08[/h3]

Adventure Mode

Fixed an input issue when discovery popups appeared

Update 51.07: Easier reconstruction and pet protection

Hey everyone,

It's Alexandra here as we continue along with the routine patches after Adventure Mode release. We have quality of life fixes for Fortress Mode including the new ability to use the previous material when replacing constructions. No need to go back through the menus over and over again! Over in Adventure Mode your speed is now displayed properly. Lots of other adjustment and fixes here as well.

So far the lua tests are going smoothly and we are receiving really great feedback. If you're a mod-minded urist and want to play round with the lua update, you can check it out on the Experimental Branch.

[h3]Release notes for 51.07[/h3]

Fortress mode

Allowed use of last material when placing simple one-stage buildings and constructions
Stopped land holders without a residence from automatically moving to and gumming up capitals
Animals marked for slaughter and then assigned as war animal pets are now unmarked for slaughter
Stopped hidden zones in NPC fortresses on reclaims from clouding information in tomb and dungeon sheets
Work orders: changed "stone stones" to "stone boulders" and "stones" to "boulders", because they can be made from ice

Adventure mode

Allowed ordinary destiny adventurers to start anywhere in their civilization
Handled infinite loop having to do with sites near oceans
Unstackable items no longer stacked in character creation
Movement blocking announcements are displayed during travel properly
FPS display no longer blocks the speed readout
Potential containers are no longer shown with nonsense directions when placing items
Classic combat indicators are displayed in the correct position
Changes to fort mode sound level sliders no longer affect adv mode sound levels

General updates

Stopped projectiles and falling creatures from falling through thin floors if they hit a sideways obstacle first
Creatures with multigrasp weapons should no longer be generated with shields
Fixed potential troublesome loop involving stone inclusion loops
Creatures without exertion have their exertion set to zero
Handled situation where FPS caps could underflow
Fixed potential overflow in corpse sizes

See you in the next patch,

Alexandra