Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft had a baby and named it [Gnomoria]
MuddBudd
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So this got linked on the Dwarf Fortress Facebook page over the weekend. Turns out it's kinda fun.
Gnomoria
What is it?
Right now, it's basically Dwarf Fortress lite. It's not nearly as in-depth as DF is, but it's still in alpha as well. The basics of mining, building and providing food for a fortress are there, and a little combat, but that's about it.
How do I play it?
Right-clicking brings up menus for building and designating, or allows you to interact with what you have selected. If you have always wanted to try DF but have found its Ascii interface too daunting, then it looks like Gnomoria is the game you've always wanted.
How much is it?
There's a short demo mode (6 days of in game time), and the full game pre-order/alpha is about $8
Wait, how is this like Minecraft?
Well, the graphics for one. Not to mention that you can tear down and rebuild anything. Soil, stone, etc... just rebuild it somewhere else if you want to.
Here's some screenshots. You can find larger versions of these on the official site.
The game, being alpha, is still a bit buggy and such. But overall it's a pretty damn good take on the 'fort-builder' genre with a good interface. I still have issues trying to sort out exactly which tile I am selecting sometimes though. His 3D selection cube is a bit tricky for me to get used to.
Here's a quick getting started guide laying out what you need for the first few workshops.
Other stuff to be aware of:
-Stockpiles can hold multiples, in most cases. More if you build crates. Varies between 32-64 of an item on each tile
-Trees are farmable, sometimes they drop cuttings you can replant
-The only crops right now are Strawberries (for wine), Wheat (for bread and beer), and cotton (for cloth). Apples can also be foraged from trees for food or apple wine.
-I haven't figured out water pressure yet but carelessness can lead to a section of fort getting flooded. Not sure how much you actually need a well right now.
-You can assign stockpiles and workshops with a priority number, if you want something done faster
-You can press 'R' to rotate things when placing them (workshops, furniture, etc...)
-Pressing ',' and '.' will rotate the camera
-The 'F' key will lower the walls of the level you are currently on, if you need to see through them
Finally, here's a quick video on the game from the guy who created it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E75mL6R42i0
Gnomoria
What is it?
Right now, it's basically Dwarf Fortress lite. It's not nearly as in-depth as DF is, but it's still in alpha as well. The basics of mining, building and providing food for a fortress are there, and a little combat, but that's about it.
How do I play it?
Right-clicking brings up menus for building and designating, or allows you to interact with what you have selected. If you have always wanted to try DF but have found its Ascii interface too daunting, then it looks like Gnomoria is the game you've always wanted.
How much is it?
There's a short demo mode (6 days of in game time), and the full game pre-order/alpha is about $8
Wait, how is this like Minecraft?
Well, the graphics for one. Not to mention that you can tear down and rebuild anything. Soil, stone, etc... just rebuild it somewhere else if you want to.
Here's some screenshots. You can find larger versions of these on the official site.
The game, being alpha, is still a bit buggy and such. But overall it's a pretty damn good take on the 'fort-builder' genre with a good interface. I still have issues trying to sort out exactly which tile I am selecting sometimes though. His 3D selection cube is a bit tricky for me to get used to.
Here's a quick getting started guide laying out what you need for the first few workshops.
Other stuff to be aware of:
-Stockpiles can hold multiples, in most cases. More if you build crates. Varies between 32-64 of an item on each tile
-Trees are farmable, sometimes they drop cuttings you can replant
-The only crops right now are Strawberries (for wine), Wheat (for bread and beer), and cotton (for cloth). Apples can also be foraged from trees for food or apple wine.
-I haven't figured out water pressure yet but carelessness can lead to a section of fort getting flooded. Not sure how much you actually need a well right now.
-You can assign stockpiles and workshops with a priority number, if you want something done faster
-You can press 'R' to rotate things when placing them (workshops, furniture, etc...)
-Pressing ',' and '.' will rotate the camera
-The 'F' key will lower the walls of the level you are currently on, if you need to see through them
Finally, here's a quick video on the game from the guy who created it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E75mL6R42i0 There's no plan, there's no race to be run
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
MuddBudd on
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A DFlike game that looks 1000000x less confusing.
Graphics that make it easy to identify things.
And something that will scratch my DF itch until I can finally figure it out.
Yes.
Unless you set the clock to double-speed, it should take you 20-60 minutes maybe? Depends on how much you pause to look at stuff/interact.
It was more than enough time for me to set up some workshops, start my farms, and harvest some stone/wood/cloth. If you buy the full game you can continue where you left off as well.
-edit-
Looks like there's already some Let's Plays on youtube, this should give people more of an idea of how the game plays.
-double edit-
Oh snap, there's a rotate camera button. I didn't notice that.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
It will almost certainly never have the full scope of DF, but it has potential, so I bought it. To be honest, I'm surprised there is so much in it as it is. This is remarkably smooth and feature laden for an Alpha.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
@ShiftyPumpkin on the Twitterings. Book the Faces at [facebook.com/PerceptivePumpkinProductions]
This. It's good to see people take this concept further, outside of his box. Now my workday can't possibly end fast enough! I need to try this out. I just hope this does not end up being a monkey wrench in DF's great machinery.
Now we just need to get this guy and Tarn into the same room, so they can start working to merge both creative inputs into 1 game! I'd actually help sponsor this meeting to ensure it happens. Tarn's detail-savvy experience and this guy's grasp of graphical, user friendly UI.... That would make birds sing, flowers bloom in winter, solve world hunger and end all wars forever. Make. It. So!
That's why I love the notion of someone else using this concept, and expanding it in another direction. To show Tarn that there's a 3'rd option: Hiring people who loves his concept, and would very much like to elaborate on it, instead of just making a better looking, but way lighter clone! I just hope it goes that way, instead of this game usurping Tarn's hard work.
I'm not really sure this game will ever really take the place of Dwarf Fortress. The things you can come at the expense of the crazy depth that Dwarf Fortress has. I don't Gnomoria can, or even intend, to go as far.
I don't think he intends to, and no, it won't.
Especially right now, it clearly has way less to it than DF does, but it WILL scratch the itch for the folks who can't get over the UI issues.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
Yeah, I think there is a market for people who want a DF experience, but don't want to spend hours to learn to play it. And I've seen a number of people who play DF who see it as a fun change of pace.
Now I need someone to explain to me how to set up a stockpile better. It seems if I build a small one, my gnomes will just fill it with individual items rather than containers. But if I make a large one, they want to fill the whole thing with containers.
For all of you guys who are hung up on the outdated graphics, check out the Lazy Newb Pack (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=59026.0). It comes with two graphical tilesets (Phoebus and Ironhand) that replace the standard ASCII look. You can see some screenshots of the Phoebus tileset spoilered here: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=57557.0
If you're still having trouble wrapping your head around DF, check out the new O'REILLY book: http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920022565.do -- you should be able to use the coupon code "WKGAME" to get the ebook format for $8.99. I produce DF tutorial videos for my YouTube channel, and I still found the book to be an educational (and funny) resource well worth the money.
LoL: s1ppycup
BF3 + 4: Hardon_Edgewise (PC)
MH3U: s1ppycup (WiiU)
This guy is going to do well.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
Gnomoria isn't quite it. It doesn't nearly have all of that dwarfy complexity that we love. But as Mudd said, it'll scratch the itch for some people. Those who don't want to have to watch tutorial videos or read a reference manual just to understand how to play a game, for instance.
@ShiftyPumpkin on the Twitterings. Book the Faces at [facebook.com/PerceptivePumpkinProductions]
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
LoL: s1ppycup
BF3 + 4: Hardon_Edgewise (PC)
MH3U: s1ppycup (WiiU)
Half of the times I want to get back into DF I am deterred once I remember that it will take me 2 hours just to relearn the interface and where commands are.
PSN: Vorpallion Twitch: Vorpallion
Exactly, and I can't be fucked to bother with it. If Tarn just lifted the interface from this game then I would play Dwarf Fortress again but as it is I think I'll stick with this.
edit: watched the lets play video and digging seems much more complicated then dwarf fortress, seems just clunky at this point but might be the player
Its the player most likely. The mining in the game is easy once you figure out the part that is selected is the top of the cube graphic shown and not the mouse at all.
I was having the same issue -- I was having a hard time figuring out which square was going to be dug out. The isometric perspective also makes it tricky to tell which is the "active" level sometimes.
LoL: s1ppycup
BF3 + 4: Hardon_Edgewise (PC)
MH3U: s1ppycup (WiiU)
He mentioned on the forums he may make the top segment of the selection cube stand out a little more to make sure people can tell what they are selecting.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
LoL: s1ppycup
BF3 + 4: Hardon_Edgewise (PC)
MH3U: s1ppycup (WiiU)
Actually it kind of does that now... I've noticed if I designate a mined out wall and the area is already empty (cavern) it will show up as grey with more grey boxes leading down into the depths.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
caffron said: "and cat pee is not a laughing matter"
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.