best game evar (until Nov 30)

dwarf fortress

the most detailed graphics ASCII has to offer.

insane world generation (takes 15-20 minutes on medium end machines) that uses fractals to place terrain, simulated weather/climate and river erosion, and 1050 years of civilizations rising, falling, and spreading myths and legends before you even start to play.

2 game modes: dwarf fortress mode; cross of dungeon keeper, sim city, and the sims. and adventure mode; play as some guy wondering around killing stuff.

remember the motto "Losing is fun!"

lost your fortress to goblin raiding party? start a new fortress, raise an army, send it out to kill the goblins living in your old settelment, and pick up where you left off.

been playing non stop for like 3 days, and i can almost make it first winter.

 

by god, i can barely tolerate the constant punishment that is ADOM, let alone taking 20 minutes between games that invariably last for literally 30 seconds as i get killed by the slightly aggressive kitten on level 1.

Fine, I'll see what it's about...

 

Someone pointed at this a while ago. I'll try it. The world is flippin huge!

 

Are there any more; modern games like this? :p

I guess im simply not "Old School" enough to enjoy this properly..

 

give me trade wars or food fight, L.O.R.D , now those were great ascii games

 

i continue to advocate the Doom RL; it is one of what i have discovered to be 'coffee break' ascii games. It's simple, but there is still an element of strategy in it, and you don't have to know three pages of commands to play it.

http://doom.chaosforge.org/

Also, I personally think Linley's DungeonCrawl is the quintissential modern ascii classic. Only a bit more complicated then Doom, half as complicated as ADOM, but it has creative levels and each map has a clear stylistic difference from the other maps (suprising, for an ascii game.) and, as usual, high level of character customization. Not a coffee break game, but simple enough for people who aren't die hard ascii gamers.

http://www.dungeoncrawl.org/

 

if you need "graphics" (what, 'D' for dog and 'd' for puppy dont do it for ya?) go here (i use the very bottom one with really funky dimensions, 1100x300 i think).

the thing about adventure mode is that it has an extremly vercitile combat system (i assume the dwarf fortress mode does as well, but ive yet to be attacked...the cold killed me first).

example (from dubious quality)

unfortunately i cant get my fps up past about 15 (a healthy dwarf moves 1 space every 10 frames). if i cant get it to go any faster (without doing something lame like turning off weather/temp) ill give doomRL a shot.

shinzon: 'dungeon keeper' is a simplified version of fortress mode. it just doesnt have traders. or weather. or animals. or alcohol. or as good of a craft system. or size of maps. or a persistent world. or the range of emotions your guys have (DK only has happy, angery, and content). but it does have shinier pictures. :D

 

"the cold killed me first."

"Finally I have an Adventure Mode story worth telling that isn't about a grisly death at the hands of chipmunks."

Once again, I cite my two games- sure, maybe they aren't as hard as this, but I tend to not enjoy kick-in-the-nuts level difficulty settings in the first place.

edit:
there is a dwarf fortress manual... for reading the dwarf fortress manual. granted, the mini-manual is only a few pages, but i think i've made my point.

 

I prefer Angband...

http://www.thangorodrim.net/

Download available (links on the site don't work for me): http://files.filefront.com/Angband+306exe/;6982196;/fileinfo.html

 

I downloaded Dwarf Fortress, but for the life of me, I can't figure the damn thing out. I read the manual on the website, but it didn't help much. If anyone could point me to a much more thorough and easy to understand manual, i'd be happy to give the game another try.

 

no manual will prepare you for this game, you just have to to experiment, but the wiki is quite well written , if not tooo organized.

http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Main_Page then go to 'your first fortress' it is a good walkthrough for a generic startup, and it explains a few of the massive menus (dont be afraid to explore them though).

after you start to get the hang of it, go here http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Main_Page for a guide/index/table of context.

buttery- the motto of the game is "loosing is fun" for a reason.

 

Thank You Mr. Quackums. The wiki helped a GREAT deal, and actually gave me some sense of what the hell I was supposed to do, how to do it, and why it needed to be done, which was what the manual on their main page was very lacking in. I'm starting to enjoy this little game now that I know how to play.

 

I cant stop playing this thing... And yes I heard played and beat Dungeon Keeper :p

Why did they stop making games like this? with current techonology they can do some crazy shit!

 

I found the guide below very helpful. It explains most of the things you need to do and all the keys you need to press.

http://www.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Your_first_fortress

It's surprisingly addictive once you get into it.

 

...:eek:

 

well now that i don't have to read a manual within a manual just to START the damn game, I might give it a go!

I still wish the freaking thing had a GUI, tutorial missions, an in-game advisor ala Sim City or civ 3, and an instantly accessed FAQ tips section. Man, I'd play it then, for sure.

also i really really REALLY don't trust that motto. "Losing is fun," my fanny.

hey, is there a point or story to adventure mode? or is it just fortress mode without resources or extra meat shields?

 

you lose alot in this game... once you have built a decent city, a goblin raid comes and your city gets occupied by goblins and you have to start over ><.

It's hard to survive very long.

 

wooo, this game is fun once you figure out all those damn controls, AND if you follow the quick start guide. My fort survived my first winter! But.... I also chose a location with no trees, anywhere, whatsoever. So yeah... I expect a fairly grisly demise fairly soon.

 

Zzt! *

 

This game is crazy addictive. I've got this massive fortress in a volcano, which coincidentally has an aquifer running 2 tiles away from a lava stream :D . Who needs soldiers for defense when you can flood your entrace chamber with molten rock!?

I'm waiting for my guys to build enough stone mechanisms so I can make a dozen or so screw pumps, which will allow me to dam the lava flow and make myself my own little resivouar and moat. Then i'll be all set to stick in some fortifications and crossbowmen to keep the pesky goblins away and let my guys get in-and-out of the fort during a siege instead of just sit there idling until the enemy goes away and I un-lavafy my entrance chamber.

The only problem with living by a volcano is the magma-men, they like to walk in my entrance chamber when its flooded and break down the door, killing everyone on the first floor and making me re-load my last save.

P.S: How do you see what year/season/time it is? I can't tell if i'm barely past my first winter or in my fifth.