There's plenty of good news in the latest Dwarf Fortress update, unless you're a macOS gamer that is. A fresh Beta update is out now.
Writing in an announcement on Steam the developers noted you'll no longer be confused whether red-clothed adult dwarves are actually children, since there's now actually baby sprites for dwarves! Oh, the game should also look a fair bit prettier with lots of new fruit, flower and leaf pictures for the "over 180 different plant and tree species". There's also a quest log and information screen for Adventure Mode.
Main addition highlights:
- Quest log and information screen in adventure mode.
- Child and baby pictures for dwarves.
- Many new fruit, flower, leaf pictures.
- Updated dwarf clothing images.
- Made good/bad thoughts about tombs work.
- Fixed error with experiment portrait mandibles.
If you're on macOS though, it's been cancelled "for the time being" as it doesn't make enough sense for them to dedicate time to when there's so much of the game still needing work elsewhere. Feels a bit odd to be on the other side of the fence for once, as that's what usually happens to Linux but Dwarf Fortress has Native Linux support already.
They've also said despite the success, they won't be hiring more programmers to speed it up. They're sticking to "Tarn’s vision, no matter how long it takes, rather than trying to optimize for speed" and they see it as a lifetime project, one that will be updated steadily "forever" but slowly. Just like playing the game itself, the development of it is not for the impatient.
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Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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12 comments
Feels a bit odd to be on the other side of the fence for once, as that's what usually happens to Linux but Dwarf Fortress has Native Linux support already.
Linux has had higher share than MacOS for a year now, after all.
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mZSq7Fq3qs Aug 15
> They're sticking to "Tarn’s vision, no matter how long it takes, rather than trying to optimize for speed"
This kind makes sense. But I bet that there would be work to do that doesn't interrupt with Tarns creative progress... maybe atleast.
This kind makes sense. But I bet that there would be work to do that doesn't interrupt with Tarns creative progress... maybe atleast.
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Linux_Rocks Aug 15
Unless it's Apple Silicon, there's no point in supporting macOS anymore for games with smaller budgets. Sequoia will probably be the last x86 macOS too.
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mr-victory Aug 15
Sequoia will probably be the last x86 macOS tooIMO Apple won't suddenly release a macOS version that doesn't have Rosetta 2. When dropping 32-bit support, Apple informed users and developers 1 year in advance. I expect the same process with x86_64->Arm. IMO macOS 16 will keep support and macOS 17 will drop it.
Last edited by mr-victory on 15 August 2024 at 8:38 pm UTC
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Linux_Rocks Aug 15
I hope so. My Late 2014 i7 Mac mini is still chugging along with the OpenCore Legacy Patcher and I'll keep upgrading till the end. lolSequoia will probably be the last x86 macOS tooIMO Apple won't suddenly release a macOS version that doesn't have Rosetta 2. When dropping 32-bit support, Apple informed users and developers 1 year in advance. I expect the same process with x86_64->Arm. IMO macOS 16 will keep support and macOS 17 will drop it.
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pleasereadthemanual Aug 16
Technically, that may not be true. Many macOS players run Steam through Whisky (free implementation of CrossOver/GPT in Swift), which reports the operating system as Windows rather than macOS, so that would likely skew the hardware survey in Linux's favour. I mean, look at the sheer number of stars this repository has: https://github.com/Whisky-App/WhiskyFeels a bit odd to be on the other side of the fence for once, as that's what usually happens to Linux but Dwarf Fortress has Native Linux support already.
Linux has had higher share than MacOS for a year now, after all.
Edit: here's a reddit post about the hardware survey in Whisky: https://old.reddit.com/r/macgaming/comments/1cju45s/valve_hardware_survey_in_whisky_lol/
Edit 2: https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey?platform=mac
You can see VirtualApple makes up 73% of the Processor Vendor for macOS. That's about three-quarters of users using Whisky/CrossOver/Some Wine Thing to run Steam instead of the native Steam client.
But then it's under the macOS category, so maybe it is being counted correctly..?
Last edited by pleasereadthemanual on 16 August 2024 at 5:40 am UTC
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pleasereadthemanual Aug 16
Unless it's Apple Silicon, there's no point in supporting macOS anymore for games with smaller budgets. Sequoia will probably be the last x86 macOS too.I have a feeling Seqoia will be the last sanctioned upgrade for my iMac, whether intel releases continue or not. I'm optimistic there'll be one last release for Intel which I can force an upgrade to with OpenCore. That should get me to the end of 2027 with security updates.
And I mean, by then, it'll be the Year of the Linux Desktop, so who cares anyway?
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Edit 2: https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey?platform=macVirtualApple is Apple Silicon. The use of that on Mac in the survey is in line with use of the M GPUs.
You can see VirtualApple makes up 73% of the Processor Vendor for macOS. That's about three-quarters of users using Whisky/CrossOver/Some Wine Thing to run Steam instead of the native Steam client.
But then it's under the macOS category, so maybe it is being counted correctly..?
In particular, none of the Mac hardware - neither CPU brand nor GPU model number - shows up in the Windows-only section at all. Individual GPU model numbers are listed down to 0.15%.
The idea that vast numbers of gaming Macs exist and are being miscounted as Windows machines seems like wishful thinking on the part of Mac users.
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The idea that vast numbers of gaming Macs exist and are being miscounted as Windows machines seems like wishful thinking on the part of Mac users.Also, even if they were being miscounted as Windows machines due to running some variant of Wine, then so what? Why would that be an indication that they need any more support than they are already getting?
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Also, even if they were being miscounted as Windows machines due to running some variant of Wine, then so what? Why would that be an indication that they need any more support than they are already getting?Fair.
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pleasereadthemanual Aug 16
I'm kind of amused how many of the Linux users here moonlight as macOS users. Well—I don't use it for gaming, anyway...I just hear whispers from strange corners of the internet.
I was disinclined to believe the macOS numbers are actually that much lower than Linux because...that sounds crazy, right?
I guess that's just the reality we live in now.
VirtualApple is Apple Silicon. The use of that on Mac in the survey is in line with use of the M GPUs.That's true! I didn't notice that.
In particular, none of the Mac hardware - neither CPU brand nor GPU model number - shows up in the Windows-only section at all.I noticed that. Then, it would be safe to say there are no macOS users being miscounted.
I was disinclined to believe the macOS numbers are actually that much lower than Linux because...that sounds crazy, right?
I guess that's just the reality we live in now.
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I was disinclined to believe the macOS numbers are actually that much lower than Linux because...that sounds crazy, right?
I guess that's just the reality we live in now.
It's been coming for quite some time.
I'd much rather we were in a world where Mac gaming on Steam was healthy, and together Linux & Mac had a robust 5%-10%-15% share to encourage multi-platform development. Especially if the same API got devs access to both as well as Windows, as it was for OpenGL, rather than needing two - Vulkan & Metal - where only one works on Windows. As it stands, Linux users have to do the heavy lifting solo to get any support from game devs rather than being able to share the burden. Sony using Vulkan for their PC ports (to counter Microsoft's DirectX box) would also be helpful for us.
Last edited by CatKiller on 16 August 2024 at 11:42 am UTC
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