Dwarf Fortress News

"You will not believe what the hell just happened in Dwarf Fortress!" my pal will tell me, proceeding to share a screenshot which, to me, is indistinguishable from e.g.:

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"That's wild!" I will reply, not wanting to hurt their feelings. But how delightful, then, to watch the latest video from the upcoming premium edition, where co-creator Zach Adams demonstrates defending against a goblin attack and you can actually see it's a goblin attack.

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Hello!

We have another video update this week. We have listened to your feedback so this time, we will be showcasing one specific task. This video shows digging out an underground well and setting up the cistern/water supply for it.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

It's a little confusing because of the Z level changes, but I think that'll always be true without a voice over, and even then, it's still there. It's much easier to understand Z levels when you play, so this may end up being one of the more challenging subjects for a video, since it involves several Z levels.



Over in Tarn land, I've been working on the military screen, and progress has been good.The internal rewrite that I thought might take days or even a week or more is done, quickly, so we're in good shape. I've done all the squad assignment stuff and the new order interface. Now, having done the internal equipment rewrite, I need to do the equipment and scheduling interface.

For the full video and a list of timestamps, check out the video on Youtube. Please continue to give us feedback on these videos as we continue to go through these menu-heavy updates.

-Alexandra and Bay 12 Games

Hello!

Tarn has been busy working on all the menu updates so while he's busy with that, we have 10 minutes of new gameplay footage from Zach in a new desert fortress! You'll be able to see many of the new menus discussed in previous updates in action:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Watch as Zach digs out new areas for workshops and bedrooms using the labor and nobles menus to designate the proper spaces.



Here is a first look at the desert terrain:



Here is what it looks like underground where you can see a well and some mushroom trees:



For the full video and a list of timestamps, check out the video on Youtube. During this menu period of development we thought that showing more videos a couple times a month would be a bit more interesting so let us know what you think!

-Alexandra and Bay 12 Games

Hello!

We went back this time and did some cleanup to make sure it didn't pile up on us too badly. For instance, you may have noticed in the seasonal update videos when I had the camera over three-dimensional terrain, like the hills outside, that dwarves, buildings, and items would disappear whenever they were on the lower levels - it would only print those play elements when they were on the top level being viewed. Not so hard to handle, but I never got around to it. Until now!



Now you can see everything down below, not just the terrain.

And just a whole lot of other random hanging stuff over the two weeks. It's possible to deconstruct buildings now, set bins and barrel numbers on stockpiles, and place weapon traps. It highlights which object you've recentered the screen on, you can shift the info pane between contained objects and their containers, and you can pop the info pane from held items up to the creature holding them. You can move the camera now by holding and dragging with the middle mouse button in additional to the previous WASD option. It's clearer now which stockpile options are set. Flowers, cloth, and grassy stairs print correctly. You can recenter on announcements, certain mouse clicks don't bleed through menus to the map underneath, and more. Nothing earth-shattering, but all either necessary or very helpful.

But enough of that for now! We've started in on the remaining chunky to-do items, and we'll be back with some more interface updates for next time.

- Tarn

Hi again!

The game has several special locations that can be given names and which can spread out over several meeting/bedroom/etc. zones, even across different z levels. Dwarves that work in places like this have always had special labor assignments, even before we added the work detail system from the previous news update, and we need to support this in the new interface. Locations also have various other functions we've also supported now.



Traditionally, Dwarf Fortress has had four types of locations you can set up: taverns, temples, libraries, and, more recently, guildhalls. Taverns and libraries allow you to opt-in to more visitors from the outside world, as people come to relax and study. Since, multiple zones like meeting areas and bedrooms can be assigned to a single named location, you can make, for instance, a library which has both a scriptorium and a place for scholars to meet, or you can allow the priests in your temple to have their own private quarters which are still accounted as part of the temple.

In the tavern above, both of these tavern keepers are part-time. The first isn't specialized (the green hammer), so they'll do odd jobs all over the fort. The second is specialized, but they are also assigned to a carpenter's shop. Of course, they have little to do without any goblets! You can set the level of items stocked using the controls there. Most locations need items of different sorts.



Some locations, the temple and guildhall, can be affiliated with organizations in the fortress (and in the case of religions, the entire world.) As their value increases, for instance, you can recognize the priesthood which allows you to assign the fort's priest and then high priest of that religion. The temple in the image has risen from "shrine" to "temple" status, but more migrants that belong to the Creed of Walls need to arrive before a priest can be assigned. Religions are generated during the world historical process, and priests can comfort stressed-out dwarves. Functioning guilds allow dwarves to share their skills in demonstrations.



For the Steam release, hospitals have joined the list of multi-zone locations! They were always one of the more involved single-purpose zones, and doctors one of the more complicated professions, so it sped up the interface-making process to just pull them over rather than trying to support their in-between oddness, ha ha. Now you can make big named multi-level hospitals now with specialized operating rooms and traction benches in the osteo ward or whatever you like, and bedrooms for the doctors to sleep in - or just throw everything together in one zone as before.

- Tarn