For 20 years 2 brothers have been working on a fantastically deep game – Coming to Steam now because they need money

The most complex world simulator comes to Steam after 20 years - Is so deep, cats die

The brothers Tarn and Zach Adams are in their 40s and have been developing the indie game “Dwarf Fortress” since 2002: The story generator is considered the forerunner of modern survival hits like RimWorld and is known for its enormous game depth. But now, after 20 years, the brothers are planning a commercial launch of their lover’s game on Steam. Because at some point, life as an indie developer who lives off campaigns at GoFundMe comes to an end. At 50, it’s just not that cool anymore, say the brothers.

Why is Dwarf Fortress such a unique game? Dwarf Fortress is known for its enormous game depth. The simulation of a fantasy world has been in development for 20 years and the brothers tried to simulate every detail of their universe as accurately as possible in the game.

Dwarf Fortress tells stories. The brothers say that while they’re not great storytellers, somehow their game has become so special over the years because they just kept making it.

Forever and ever, for 20 years, Dwarf Fortress has grown in features, complexity and depth.

Dwarf Fortress on Steam Announcement Teaser

The story of the “dead cats” in dwarf pubs from 2015 is legendary:

  • In Dwarf Fortress, cats hang around in pubs where dwarfs get drunk
  • Drunk midgets often spill beer on the floor of the pub: the contents of their stomachs contain alcohol
  • Cats, in turn, walk over the vomit and their fur soaks up the substance
  • Cats regularly clean their fur in Dwarf Fortress by licking their fur. They absorb substances that stick to their fur
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All of this is simulated in code in Dwarf Fortress.

However, a bug in the code miscalculated how much alcohol the cats ingested during the process. As a result, Dwarf Fortress pubs were once full of dead cats – and not even the developers could tell at first glance what exactly went wrong.

Besides these little things, Dwarf Fortress simulates practically everything: the game creates gigantic fantasy worlds with hundreds of characters, a backstory and much more.

The most complex simulation of a fantasy world comes to Steam after 20 years – Is so deep, cats die

After 20 years the game gets music and graphics – Plans to launch on Steam

What’s happening now? This Dwarf Fortress has been running for 20 years, but without “real graphics”, the game is actually text-based. Everything is represented with ASCII code.

The brothers say the decision was made not to use graphics in the classic sense because development could proceed so much faster.

However, in December 2022, Dwarf Fortress is now slated to release on Steam in a “premium” version, with pixelated graphics, music, and a bunch of things to make the mammoth project easier to enjoy.

Fear of getting sick in the US without insurance turned things around

Why is this happening now? As the brothers say in an interview, their priorities shifted in 2019: Zach was diagnosed with skin cancer. The cost was $10,000, much of which was covered by health insurance he obtained through his wife.

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But he wondered: what if this had happened to his brother, Tarn, who has even worse health insurance than Zach?

Especially with the advanced age of the two, the previous life was somehow no longer possible:

“It’s just not sustainable, not at our age. You can’t hold GoFundMes forever until you can’t anymore and then you die at 50. That’s not cool.

Tarn Adams

So the two have teamed up with a Canadian publisher and now want to release a “premium” version of their game in hopes of making a steady living.

According to her statements, the number has been going “incredibly well” so far.

Dwarf Fortress will be released on Steam on September 6th – the classic version is free.

We recommend RimWorld to anyone who wants to play “something similar” to Dwarf Fortress:

Ultra complex survival game on Steam already has 98% positive reviews – Gets even deeper with 3 new big features

Reference-mein-mmo.de