Dwarf Fortress Adventure Mode – a procedurally generated campaign that lets you get as close to the celebrated dense colony simulation as a more classic roguelite – is now available as a free update on Steam. This game represents perhaps the most cavernous, yawning blind spot in my pile of shame. I have it but haven’t played it yet. I’ve already read a lot of elaborate statements about their benefits – please sell them to me in the comments in seven words or less. Here’s the trailer:
But Graham certainly played it, calling its older incarnation “a good way to explore the joys of a procedural world and a high level of simulation.” Personal anecdotes and experiences are great and all, but what I really want is some deeply impersonal, bullet-pointed features from the store page. Here are the adventure modes:
- Go anywhere! Explore any civilization, gain reputation and recruit followers to join you
- Explore your fortress and simulation in a up-to-date, more embodied way
- Explore mythical dungeons to find magical items and artifacts and fill your quest log
- Hints on mythology and magic as a starting point for future simulation enrichment
- An additional hour of music by Dabu and Simon Swerwer, presented as the second volume of the original soundtrack
As Graham described here, Adventure Mode sounds tailored to aspiring bearded men like me, with an emphasis on tutorials and a more personal feel since you only play as one character. Here are further insights from co-creators Tarn and Zach Adams
“In our earliest concept of the game, you were supposed to lose… lose for a reason! Even before your fortresses existed in the extensive, procedurally generated world, they were destroyed and became haunted ruins that you can explore in an RPG-style adventure. Years later, as our fantasy worlds have grown larger and more elaborate, the adventure mode experience is much more impressive. Now the whole world is connected in a way you can see. Visit distant lands that send caravans to your fortresses, or seek out and kill monsters that have previously troubled your dwarves. An extensive combat system that can only be viewed from afar in Fortress mode, you can now unleash violence on your enemies… or, if you so choose, travel the world and recite poetry to a room full of wombats.
In… wombats, you say?
