How Two People Created Gaming’s Most Complex Simulation System
ThatGuyGlen・2 minutes read
Dwarf Fortress, developed by Tarn and Zach, is a complex game with detailed simulation features and a dedicated community. Despite initial challenges, the game has evolved, with a premium edition released in 2022 exceeding sales expectations and bringing financial stability to the creators.
Insights
- The Adams brothers, Tarn and Zach, dedicated over two decades to developing Dwarf Fortress, starting from childhood projects in BASIC inspired by classic games like "The Temple of Loth" and roguelikes such as Hack, Rogue, Larn, and Ragnarok.
- Despite fan requests for modern updates, the brothers focused on expanding features rather than changing the core design of Dwarf Fortress, with Tarn primarily handling programming while Zach worked on narrative details inspired by ancient history, creating a detailed and atmospheric world that sets the game apart.
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Recent questions
What inspired the creation of Dwarf Fortress?
Games like "The Temple of Loth" and roguelikes.
How did Dwarf Fortress evolve from its initial stages?
From ASCII graphics to a focus on features.
What were the challenges faced during Dwarf Fortress development?
Financial difficulties and bug tracking.
How did the partnership with Kitfox Games impact Dwarf Fortress?
Exposed the game to a wider audience.
What sets Dwarf Fortress apart from other games?
Complexity, detailed simulation system, and community involvement.
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Summary
00:00
Decades of dedication to Dwarf Fortress
- Dwarf Fortress has over two decades of development history with creators Tarn and Zach Adams committed to lifelong work on the game.
- The brothers, Tarn and Zach, grew up around computers from a young age due to their father's work in wastewater treatment.
- Tarn and Zach developed about 400 projects in BASIC, inspired by games like "The Temple of Loth" and roguelikes such as Hack, Rogue, Larn, and Ragnarok.
- Tarn and Zach started developing their first fantasy game, Dragslay, in BASIC, which eventually evolved into Slaves to Armok: God of Blood, a precursor to Dwarf Fortress.
- Mutant Miner, a turn-based game inspired by Miner VGA and Dig Dug, led to the idea of Dwarf Fortress, where players manage a fortress and explore ruins in a roguelike style.
- Dwarf Fortress was initially developed in ASCII graphics, allowing for rapid feature implementation, leading to a shift from the 3D game Armok to focus on Dwarf Fortress.
- Dwarf Fortress' landscapes are created using the character set CP437, giving the game its unique aesthetic, with mods available for players preferring graphical representations.
- Despite fan requests for modern updates like graphics and tutorials, the brothers focused on expanding features rather than changing the game's core design.
- Tarn focused on programming while Zach worked on narrative details inspired by ancient history, creating the atmospheric world of Dwarf Fortress.
- Tarn's academic success led to a postdoctoral research position, but the pressure of academia led to depression, prompting him to choose game development over his academic career.
11:41
"Dwarf Fortress: From 2D to 3D"
- Dwarf Fortress initially was a 2D game where players controlled seven dwarfs exploring from left to right, encountering a river, chasm, and magma.
- Players could build items and craft while facing dangerous encounters, with an endgame of mining adamantine ore on the far right of the map.
- Dwarves in the game had detailed personalities with attributes like imagination, curiosity, and emotions divided into four categories.
- The game simulated detailed physical attributes for dwarves, including muscles, blood vessels, and nerves, leading to violent combat.
- The game was inspired by history books and other games like Starflight and Ultima, with combat systems influenced by Cyberpunk 2020.
- The game's development was initially financially challenging until donations started increasing after the release of the alpha version.
- Tarn began working full-time on Dwarf Fortress in 2007, supported by donations from fans, allowing the project to be self-sustaining.
- The brothers focused on maintaining the game's forum, sending personalized rewards to donors, and constantly adding new features.
- Tarn worked long hours on Dwarf Fortress, living a lifestyle dedicated to the game, with plans to implement 2,600 ambitious features.
- The game evolved from a 2D to a 3D version, adding a z-axis for more intricate structures and a more interesting world, challenging to program.
23:00
"Dwarf Fortress: Complex game, community-driven development"
- Tarn's addition of more poisonous effects led to a bug where dead cats would vomit and die in the game, especially near alcohol.
- The issue was traced back to an old code causing cats to ingest alcohol from their paws after walking on spilled beer or wine.
- Due to a mistake in the code, cats ingested large amounts of alcohol, leading to alcohol poisoning symptoms.
- Dwarf Fortress, created by Tarn and Zach, is known for its complexity and detailed simulation system.
- The Legends mode in the game allows players to explore extensive production logs and diaries, inspired by a video game called Hack.
- The game's development involved self-taught C and C++, using OpenGL and SDL for the engine, and FMOD for sound design.
- Tarn prefers using his own engine over existing ones like Unity, despite the challenges it presents.
- The community plays a significant role in bug tracking, mod creation, and maintaining a wiki for the game.
- Tarn and Zach rejected offers to work with big game studios and license the game's name, prioritizing their independence.
- A partnership with Kitfox Games was formed due to a family health crisis, exposing Dwarf Fortress to a wider audience.
34:15
Kitfox Revamps Dwarf Fortress, Achieves Massive Success
- Kitfox worked on commercializing Dwarf Fortress by addressing issues that made players disengage, such as poor text graphics, nonsensical keyboard input, lack of mouse input, and absence of tutorials, implementing tutorials, tool tips, menu changes, and AI adjustments to attract more players.
- Due to time constraints, the team opted for a top-down 2D pixel art style over 3D graphics, hiring artists Mike “Mayday” Madej and Patrick Martin “Meph” Schroeder for pixel art and musician Dabu for a premium soundtrack.
- The premium edition of Dwarf Fortress was released on December 6th, 2022, exceeding sales expectations by selling 160,000 copies in 24 hours and nearly half a million in a month, resolving the brothers' health insurance issue.
- To manage the growing community, Kitfox hired content creator ‘SalfordSal’ and programmer ‘Putnam’, marking the first time someone outside the brothers had access to the game's source code, with plans to continue improving the game and adding features like a complex magic and myth system.
