The Adventure Mode for Dwarf Fortress is approaching and the team has outlined some of their plans for it, like making it much more approachable for newer players and giving it a fresh coat of paint.
In the post they mention how difficult it is to do such a mode in a game like this, because it's a sandbox game at its core so it has no direction, it's random and cracks will show. So they're continuing to update it to improve the visuals and interface to make it clearer and better for newcomers - just like they're doing with the Fortress Mode.
They're adding in combat animations, various combat icons, new menus, improvements to how towns are handled for places like shops, cleaning up how property is recognised, tightening up the city side of the experience to give new players some grounding, old adventure menus will also be fully converted for mouse + keyboard and more.
Pictured - Dwarf Fortress, Fortress Mode
One area that will also change is the difficulty modes. In the original there's three modes Demigod, Hero and Peasant. The confusing thing is the harder the naming sounds, the easier it is, as it's supposed to represent your power. They're going to tweak them so that the "Demigod" mode gives players more instructions and ongoing help - more like a tutorial mode. Plus they will also "tweak the Hero level encounters with gods to something that strikes a balance again, leaning toward a more epic feeling", "expand dungeons and temple relic hunting to facilitate more direction for Demigod characters" and "provide more healing options". The Peasant mode will remain as a sandbox, with Hero mode having a mixture and be an in-between difficulty.
Adventure Mode is currently planned to release in April, with a Fortress Mode update due out soon. When the Adventure Mode update released the Fortress Mode will also get some additional benefits like the addition of portraits, a whole new soundtrack and site map visuals on embarking.
You can buy it from:
I know that this would be no easy task, with all the changes to the game other than controls, but I found the old ones more powerful. Especially when it comes to building, where the new controls are just overly convoluted (or even buggy). Building stairs is a chore now, because you can't place individual stair pieces. So you have to designate more than you need, and then cancel designations again... Or, worse, some combinations that were easy to do in 0.47 just can't be done due to broken input, like building up-stairs from already dug-out areas into not-dug-out areas.
In the original there's three modes Peasant, Hero, and Demigod and they're going to tweak them so that the "Demigod" mode gives players more instructions and ongoing help - more like a tutorial mode.
Was that tutorial mode going to be built into Demigod mode, or peasant mode?
Adding it to Demigod mode seems a little counter productive.
Might have to give this another go. When I first tried this game I could not work out how to navigate the menus for gardening plots and food production. Was able to get into many money making endeavours, but rich and starving did not work for too long.
Was able to get into many money making endeavours, but rich and starving did not work for too long.
There seems to be a hidden lesson to be learned... ;)
Last edited by Eike on 31 January 2024 at 11:32 am UTC
In the original there's three modes Peasant, Hero, and Demigod and they're going to tweak them so that the "Demigod" mode gives players more instructions and ongoing help - more like a tutorial mode.
Was that tutorial mode going to be built into Demigod mode, or peasant mode?
Adding it to Demigod mode seems a little counter productive.
Might have to give this another go. When I first tried this game I could not work out how to navigate the menus for gardening plots and food production. Was able to get into many money making endeavours, but rich and starving did not work for too long.
The article should (?) make that pretty clear:
they're going to tweak them so that the "Demigod" mode gives players more instructions and ongoing help - more like a tutorial modeSpecifically says the Demigod mode.
The names are confusing for sure though.
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php
also an answer to the farming question.
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=67744.0
Last edited by Craggles086 on 1 February 2024 at 2:56 am UTC
It might help to swap the order in the article so it goes from easiest to hardest (to align with how difficulty levels are usually presented): Demigod, Hero, Peasant. The names describe the character you'll be creating and how powerful they are relative to everyone else, so a Demigod is stronger than a Hero is stronger than a Peasant – hence why Demigod gets the tutorial, as it's the easiest.In the original there's three modes Peasant, Hero, and Demigod and they're going to tweak them so that the "Demigod" mode gives players more instructions and ongoing help - more like a tutorial mode.
Was that tutorial mode going to be built into Demigod mode, or peasant mode?
Adding it to Demigod mode seems a little counter productive.
Might have to give this another go. When I first tried this game I could not work out how to navigate the menus for gardening plots and food production. Was able to get into many money making endeavours, but rich and starving did not work for too long.
The article should (?) make that pretty clear:
they're going to tweak them so that the "Demigod" mode gives players more instructions and ongoing help - more like a tutorial modeSpecifically says the Demigod mode.
The names are confusing for sure though.
Though I've still lost plenty of Demigod adventurers to a single battle by being cocky or underestimating the enemy…
Edit: article text tweaked on that 1 bit.
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 1 February 2024 at 10:16 am UTC
I'll be interested to see how well the Adventure mode gets reviewed.
See more from me