As the release of Dwarf Fortress Adventure Mode edges ever closer, the PR machine over at Kitfox Games is slowly starting to whirr into action. That’s good news for us as we’ve now just been given our first proper look at the game via a new devlog from Tarn Adams at Bay12.
More specifically, the 10 minute demo shows off the combat and explains how that will work in Adventure Mode. If you’re eagerly awaiting the upcoming update and want more insight into how everything is going behind the scenes, check out the video below and keep on scrolling down for more details about the game.
Original: If you’ve been keeping track on Dwarf Fortress for as long as I have, you’ll be delighted to hear that the retail version of the game is going to get its long awaited Adventure Mode in April 2024, if all goes to plan.
Dwarf Fortress Adventure Mode is the roguelike mode that builds on the impressive simulation side of the game, and turns it into a more traditional RPG experience. While there’s not an authored story mode to grapple with, players can still fight and explore, along with a healthy dollop of role-playing. Here’s how the devs put it, to save us both from my tragic attempts at regurgitation.
Fight: If you’ve read some Fortress Mode combat logs, you know part of what to expect. Combat in Adventure Mode is turn-based, and you can aim at body parts and wrestle as you see in those logs, with even more detail. Ever tried to convert your entire Fortress population into necromancers or vampires? Nothing will stop you from seeking these things out as an adventurer (why not both?), and using your new powers as you see fit.
Roleplay: Play as an animal person and ride around on a giant animal with a small animal on your shoulder and another animal running alongside. Dance in a meadhall or under the earth. There are even bandits and giant rats if you are feeling nostalgic. Or you can offend the gods and become a giant rat for a week, or offend a mummy and become cursed for the rest of your miserable short life.
Explore: Visit your old fortresses, or retire in a town and recruit yourself later. See the world to its full extent, from the glaciers to the deserts and jungles, from the kobold caves and night troll dens to minotaur labyrinths. Face the demon emperor of the goblin civilization on their home turf and use ancient knowledge to bend them to your will. There are really quite a few things to do.
Dwarf Fortress sandbox challenges
The post also goes into detail about some of the problems players may experience, plus we’re given an outline of what’s left to do.
Problems mentioned include: the game’s reactivity is harder to parse, characters fell less rounded, combat is tough and it’s not always easy to heal, and because some aspects of the game are thrown together by procedural generation they’re not always as satisfying or as intuitive to navigate.
On top of tidying up the menus for Adventure Mode, there are still a few things to sort before it’s ready for mass consumption.
What’s left to do in Dwarf Fortress Adventure Mode
Chief among the new additions is the implementation of a new soundtrack, but there’s also a very cut and pastable bullet list in the Steam post where I grabbed all this good stuff. According to Bay12, they’ve still go to…
- do some basic cleanup in the human towns, with how shops and other buildings handle items and furniture
- clean up how property is recognized
- generally tighten up the city side of the experience to give the new player some grounding
- old adventure menus must also be fully converted for mouse + keyboard
- the graphics and audio must be complete
Finally, the devs addressed how mythology is going to adapt to the new game mode, with Bay12 going to “use this opportunity to set the stage for the framework, to be expanded upon in the future.”
As part of the post, we got to look at some additional artwork, showing procedural portraits. Check those out below, Dear Reader, as I leave you with news that there’s a Fortress Mode update coming in the next couple of weeks, too!
If you can’t wait for April to play Dwarf Fortress Adventure Mode then you can check out the original version of the game, which is one of the best free roguelikes!
