Parents: talk to your kids about Dwarf Fortress

So if you’ve been wondering why I seem to have gone missing from the world of the living lately, it’s because I recently started playing Dwarf Fortress.  Those of you who know what Dwarf Fortress is are probably shaking your heads already, but for the rest of you, I’ll endeavor to explain.

Dwarf Fortress is easily the most detailed and immersive fantasy RPG ever created.  In it, you command a group of dwarves as they seek a new life in an unclaimed territory, designing their new home, seeking all sorts of precious metals, and defending their dwarven hordes from all manner of evil monsters. The graphics (what little there are) are basically ASCII, so you do all this by scrolling through an endless array of text-based menus, which sounds rather tedious but is actually what makes the game so awesome.

For every dwarf in your fortress, there is a detailed list with their personal history, their relationships, their likes/dislikes, their strengths/weaknesses, skills–even their thoughts!  And when there’s combat, the game generates a blow-by-blow where you can read exactly what happened to whom, who got injured, and what those injuries exactly were.  This extends to every part of the game, so that when you’re in overworld mode you can actually look up the histories of every person in every civilization.

What really makes it insane, though, are the crazy, crazy ways in which your fortress can die.  Kobolds, Goblins, vampires, were-creatures, tantrum spirals, catsplosions–the possibilities are endless.  If your dwarves are unhappy, one of them might throw a tantrum that sets everyone off so that they all kill each other.  If they don’t have socks, apparently they’ll riot over that as well.  And heaven help you if a forgotten beast gets loose in your dwarven hall.

The learning curve for this game is ridiculously steep, which is why I haven’t gotten into it before now.  I actually tinkered with it a couple of years ago, but could never get into it because I had no idea what was going on.  Some youtube tutorials and the lazy newb pack helped remedy that, and now, sixty some-odd hours later, I feel like I might have an idea of how it maybe works.

The things that make the game appealing are largely the same things that make fantasy appealing: the chance to build and live in a world full of crazy-awesome fantasy stuff.  The graphics might be horrible, but the level of detail is so incredible that with a bit of imagination, you can really immerse yourself in it.

… which is why I probably went a bit overboard.  That tends to happen with me and games–I tend to binge a lot when I first get started, then go cold turkey for a while, then come back for more before gradually easing into a more healthy level of play.  Right now, I’m just getting over that first binge; I’ll probably go cold turkey for a while, taking care of all the things I’ve neglected before easing back in.

But wow, this game has given me a TON of story ideas.  I really want to write about a band of dwarves now, or reread Lord of the Rings, or get back into classic high fantasy in some way.  It’s too early to say whether it’s just a phase or a genuine shift, but I’m happy to follow it out and see where it leads.

In the meantime, I’ve got a bajillion other things to do, and writing currently tops that list.  Later!