Dwarf Fortress refuses text graphics, but not its essence.

The development of the developer from ASCII to two-dimensional graphics is caused not only by the desire to sell more copies - there is also a desire to improve the game and introduce a wider audience to it

The game Dwarf Fortress is difficult to attribute to any category. This is a simulator, and RPG, and rogue-like. It automatically creates a two-dimensional world, and the player must manage the construction of the fortress and help the dwarves survive in it. In the game there are goblins, gods, riddles, quests, geese, booze, cats, etc. - and all these elements interact unpredictably with each other. After one of the updates, players began to notice that drunken cats wander around the neighborhood, and periodically vomit. The reason was that in the update appeared taverns, because of what spilled beer began to appear on the streets, on which cats walked. When they then washed, alcohol got into their bodies, and they got drunk. So deep is the simulation of this world.

However, players only have to imagine the cats, as Dwarf Fortress is fully displayed in ASCII, resulting in a huge fictional world in which graphic beauty is no more than in a Word document. No more games that would look or be similar in gameplay to this one. But now this situation is changing.

For 15 years in a row, Bay 12 Games distributed Dwarf Fortress for free and developed it thanks to fan support through contributions and Patreon. March 13, Bay 12 Games announced the launch of Dwarf Fortress sales through Steam and Itch.io. Selling a game is not the only radical policy change. Version for Steam abandons the characteristic ASCII graphics in favor of two-dimensional sprites.
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The unique style of ASCII graphics defined the appearance of the game for almost two decades. Departure from the cult appearance will change the game, but perhaps it will change for the better. Developer Tarn Adams (who founded Bay 12 Games with his brother Zach) wants to introduce Dwarf Fortress to a completely new audience. The Adams brothers collaborated with the developer of Kitfox Games (which released Shrouded Isle) and the team of amateur modders to update the graphic style of Dwarf Fortress without losing its essence.

In fact, Adams thinks that switching to two-dimensional graphics gives them a unique opportunity to make the game more accessible and fix problems inherited from older versions.

“ASCII was not a fully aesthetic choice, it has its limitations,” Adams told me by phone.

He says that the decision to use ASCII in the game was made by chance. “The Dwarf Fortress project began as an ASCII game Mutant Miner. It was supposed to be such a small and insignificant toy. ”

However, Mutant Miner has evolved. In Bay 12 Games they added elements to it, arranged it, and finally realized that the step-by-step ore mining game had turned into a procedurally created real-time strategic simulation. They left the ASCII style because it worked quickly. Because of this, they did not have to worry about the schedule.

"We released the game in ASCII and continued to work in this style for the same reason - the development went very quickly, and we could not draw," said Adams.

Continuing the development of Dwarf Fortress, the company faced the limitations of this choice. Developers have only 128 ASCII characters at their disposal, so the goose, goblin, and gremlin use the same letter g. “Even with the use of color, overlaps are starting to come out,” said Adams. He cited the example of an asterisk, which in Dwarf Fortress is used to denote a turtle, a fire, and a precious stone. He said that, as far as he remembers, the asterisk in the game is already used to designate 15 different objects.

Adams understands that, despite the limitations of ASCII, there is something iconic about this style. He knows that giving up ASCII will change the game, but he wants to preserve its essence.

“In a sense, this is impossible,” said Adams. - She has a really unique look. But at the same time, the two people we attracted to create sprites belong to our community for ten years already. They are modders. They understand everything and feel the game. ”

Bay 12 Games has cooperated with Kitfox Games. Creative director of the latter, Tanya Short, attracted to the development of Dwarf Fortress modders Mike "Mayday" Madeya and Patrick "Meef" Martin Schroeder, so they painted sprites for the release of the game on Steam. “I really like the dwarf painted by Mike Mayday,” said Adams. - He has an exhausted look, this is not a happy little snow-white gnome. Poor dwarves. They do not know what awaits them. I really like the new direction of development. ”

However, a two-dimensional facelift concerns not only changes in appearance, but also the presentation of the game to more people - simplifying access and correcting old mistakes.

“All questions about the availability of the game are discussed,” said Adams. - We look at the interface and menu structure, as well as common problems that arise in players, and repel them from the game.

One of the major problems that Adams hopes to cope with is topography. Dwarf Fortress allows players to build a fortress with many levels, and in such a world it is difficult to move with the help of ASCII. In the current mode, players move through the layers of the game, and they have to keep the whole fortress in mind. The process is similar to flipping through the pages of a book. With ingenious darkening of the levels in a two-dimensional graphics, multi-level fortress is easier to create.

“Before that, having 16 colors, I could not do this,” said Adams. - If the lower level is dark green - we do not have more dark green shades, and it will be superimposed on something dark green above. And as a result, the top from the bottom will no longer be distinguished. This is confusing. ”

Adams also pointed out that the ASCII style has scared off many potential players. People with color blindness and dyslexia have difficulty understanding the game. Dwarf Fortress uses color to distinguish between creatures — g stands for both goblin and goose, only with different whites. If you do not see the color, you can not distinguish between them.

Adams really likes the future of Dwarf Fortress, but he knows that some will always be on the side of the ASCII original. “There is a group of ASCII lovers who really liked it, for example, that the dragon is denoted as D, because they can imagine a dragon who has lived in their imagination all their lives,” he said. “Now we have a great looking dragon, but he will have more properties assigned by the artist, not the player. This is a compromise. ”

However, Bay 12 Games does not refuse the ASCII version of Dwarf Fortress. She plans to continue updating the game using Unicode, and with any copy sold on Steam and Itch.io, an ASCII version will also be included. "Everyone and everyone will be able to perceive Dwarf Fortress the way they want it."