Endgame Viable

I think I’m getting a little weary of Dwarf Fortress. I’m starting to detect some repetition in how each game plays out. The outcomes aren’t exactly the same, but the events that happen along the way are starting to feel a bit routine. There’s always artifacts, there’s always a cavern system, there’s always goblin invasions, there’s always forgotten beasts and titans and ettins, there’s always unhappy dwarves, etc. It feels a little like if I build the same fortress plan every time, I’ll get the same outcome every time. If I prepare for goblins using *this* method, I’ll always be able to handle them. If I put *these* things in my fortress, I’ll always be able to make my dwarves happy. If I approach the caverns *this* way, I’ll never have a problem with them. (1676 words.)

Bhagpuss’s recent post and also one of his older posts that I can’t remember-because for some reason I never, ever bookmark things I want to refer to later-remind me of a theory I’ve had for a while now but I haven’t quite been able to articulate, so I’ll give it a shot now. This also touches a little bit on “Gevlon’s final post,” which I haven’t read yet, but Bhagpuss quoted some of it. (875 words.)

I can’t stop chuckling about this so I have to mention it. I got an email. Someone saw my Dwarf Fortress videos on YouTube and sent me a Steam code to try their game. I’m an INFLUENCER now. Live image of a YouTuber becoming an influencer. This is hilarious to me. After 4 years of putting videos on youtube, someone thinks I'm an influencer and sent me a code to try their game… all it takes is 4 long years of punishing work, a thousand hours of video editing, and you get a free game! THE DREAM IS REAL (510 words.)

ArenaNet is laying off an undetermined number of employees on the orders of NCSoft. Random Guild Wars 2 screenshot because thumbnail. I actually don’t have much to say about this, but I felt like it was big enough news to warrant a blog post to mark the occasion. To be perfectly blunt, I’m so numb to the game industry right now that this barely elicited a mild shrug. It’s a weekday, so of course another major MMO studio is suffering losses. Reminder to all the kids out there: Don’t work in the game industry, unless maybe you’re the one running the company. (521 words.)

One of the interesting things about Dwarf Fortress is that your “save game file” (which is actually a huge directory of tiny files) contains not just your fortress, but the entire world around your fortress, including all of the other AI-controlled fortresses and civilizations on the map. In RimWorld, if you get an itch to try something different, you simply save your game and start a new game with a new colony. If you don’t like it, you load up the old game and resume the old colony where you left off. (1665 words.)

I’ve been trying to think about how to approach this particular story, and whether I should address it at all. It doesn’t really affect me personally, and it’s dangerously close to Expressing A Political Opinion On The Internet. Which is basically an invitation for the world to come over here and yell angrily because there is only one correct opinion on everything and conformity must be enforced at all costs. Because yelling at people is historically proven to be the best way to change their views. And thus Reddit was born. Ahem. Anyway. (2326 words.)

I created a new world called Emeecamo, “The Eternal Universes.” I used all the default settings except I set the mineral occurrence to “Frequent” because I’m a filthy casual and I don’t like looking all over creation for metals. Unlike my last world, which was dominated by humans, Emeecamo has a fairly balanced population between all the races, and almost all of them are at war with the goblins. All but the dwarves, oddly enough. (644 words.)

Amostitdun turned out to be kind of a boring fortress. Everything just kind of worked fine and the dwarves went about their lives. They had plenty of food and drink and housing and most everyone seemed happy, except a few pesky killjoys. I got tired of managing them when they reached the population cap of 200. Just like RimWorld, it’s just not fun for me to play this kind of game unless I’m reacting to some kind of threat or obstacle. When everything is going fine and there’s nothing to do but build stuff, it’s less fun for me. (829 words.)

First! Wait, what? Other people have written about Anthem too? Oh. Oh well. I guess here’s another. Roger basically wrote the exact same post that I did. In fact, I dare say most every reaction to Anthem I’ve seen from newcomers to the free demo weekend is basically the same: “It’s okay if you like that sort of thing, but it’s not for me.” That’s what this post is, so buckle up. (2134 words.)

January has been a PC simulation game month, continuing from December. The big oval room is a bustling tavern in my most-recent fortress, Amostitdun. Dwarf Fortress, 69 hours. Yeah, I kinda still play Dwarf Fortress. It’s really not that bad once you learn it. No, really! I mean, if you’re a programmer, that is, who’s spent decades using programming text editors, moving cursors around and learning keyboard shortcuts. And also someone who’s played a month and a half of RimWorld beforehand to get the hang of this specific kind of game. If nothing else, it’s a very intellectually stimulating game, and there is no shortage of new things to experience and learn. It’s a giant brain teaser puzzle. RimWorld, 41 hours. I have to sheepishly admit I haven’t played any RimWorld since I started playing Dwarf Fortress. Subnautica, 11 hours. I started out playing a half hour a day in January, but one day I forgot to play and I haven’t been back since. I reached a point where I didn’t know where to go or what to do next, and the whole routine of “wander around until you find the next thing to do” gets old pretty quick for me. Guild Wars 2, 3 hours. This was the brief time I played Living World Season 4, Episode 5, All or Nothing. No PlayStation 4 games were played. I didn’t pick up a controller all month. (266 words.)