I love Rimworld and play it a lot. I frequently see posts and articles comparing the two. I got Dwarf Fortress, watched tutorials, printed out flow charts, and really gave it a try for several hours.
But I didn’t get into Dwarf Fortress :( some of the mechanics are weird. Many things are not intuitive or don’t make sense. Like seeds that are needed for growing mushrooms are defaulted to be used in cooking and the setting to turn that off is difficult to find.
I finally realized an analogy today. Rimworld is like The Sims while Dwarf Fortress is like Sim City. Rimworld you directly control people and micromanage a colony. Dwarf Fortress is Sim City - you zone things and say generally what you want to happen, but don’t control your meeples directly.
Thoughts on the comparison? Any other folks like Rimworld but not Dwarf Fortress?
Appreciate that dwarf fortress is an 18 year old game. They first released it in 2006 and even then the interface was clunky and never a priority. It is a dwarf simulation engine first and an interactive game second.
RimWorld owes its existence to Dwarf Fortress the way Halo owes its existence to Doom, or World of Warcraft owes its existence to RuneScape. Dwarf Fortress is the precursor for all games like RimWorld. So comparing their interfaces will always set Dwarf Fortress up to lose, just like if you compared the controls in Halo against the original Doom. I think you have to approach Dwarf Fortress more like playing a piece of gaming history, and a look into the world of a very interesting human, Tarn Adams, rather than a modern game competing against modern titles.
Huh, I didn’t know that history. But that makes some more sense. It’s always difficult going “backwards” in a game. Like if you play the latest in a series, the first is more “meh”. Respect where due - I appreciate that DF paved the way.
I was playing DF before RimWorld so it had clicked before RimWorld even existed. Then the Steam version came out and I had to relearn everything because it didn’t have the keyboard commands anymore and they rearranged the menus. lol
My RimWorld is modded up to be closer to DF, too. The only one that’s kinda wonky is the layers mod that makes it “3D” like DF is. It is as close to “sci Fi DF” as I can make without making my own game (which I also am working on).
DF, even after the stream release, doesn’t have the polish that rimworld does. I don’t think either creator would argue that.
I like them both, but I was also there for the math breakdown. For the scamps lost under the bread fiasco. For the butterfly door. DF is easier to like if you’ve played it for a decade or more.
DF definitely didn’t feel as intuitive. A game like that needs a Weenie Hut Jr tutorial to introduce you since a lot of the mechanisms don’t make overt connections (to me at least). I remember some elves came to trade and I offered them a bunch of stuff but they got pissed off and rejected it. Some googling later let me figure out they don’t like wooden things :[ but I didn’t know that going in and it would have helped to know
If you still want to get into DF, I’d heavily recommend googling up quickstart guides, either the text ones on the wiki, or some on youtube, ans following them pretty exactly for a while until you get the hang of the basics enough to start experimenting. It’s how I got myself into DF, and I’ve used that method successfully with other games that are so complex that they are intimidating like Stellaris.
Edit: Aaaaand I didn’t realize I was necroing a 3 month old post xD
I definitely did try that! I printed out some flow charts and guides to help. Maybe it needs to be on the computer and not the Steam Deck (no hotkeys or mouse). I understand the complexity and tried to welcome it, but I think there should be some handholding. Like I tried to make soap, so I made a Soap Maker station. Then it needed ash and lye, but idk how to make those. I needed some upstream thing to say “hey use a charcoal kiln to get ash” or something. I remember another example was that they wanted cups to drink. I eventually found out how to make them, but the cups were put in a chest and not used :[ fml dwarves need to help me help them
I still get the notice for a new comment regardless of post age :D
xD yeah, I’ve been playing DF for about a decade now and I dont think I’ve ever fully set up even a clothing chain, I’ve DEFINITELY never gotten into soap making or cheese making. The game is VERY unintuitive at times, so I agree it could be better at being more understandable!
I’ve been playing Rimworld for many years and assumed a lot of the DF mechanics would be necessary in some small capacity. Like if I didn’t make soap, the dwarves would all get dirty and a plague would come or something.
I really really liked the world building aspects! Very cool to have a world with history.
I may try it again later, but on the computer
Yeah, DF is like Rimworld in that it looks like a low powered game, but it’ll eat up as many resources as you give it, so a tower is a better host for it. And in fort mode I tend to get around the production chains that intimidate me too much by using trade. I’ll focus HEAVILY on a production chain I understand and enjoy and build up a LOT of excess in that category, and then sell it off for the resources I need but dont want to make when the seasonal traders arrive, because unlike rimworld, they show up consistently unless you have pissed their empire off. I also wouldnt sleep on adventure mode either, DF builds a whole world for you to explore, and the Shenanigans you can get up to in it are pretty great. Becoming a legendary wrestler and running around breaking peoples arms, stealing their weapons, and then throwing said weapons into the faces of their allies is a rush
