# Forum > Gaming > Gaming (Other) >  Dwarf Fortress (with actual graphics)

## J-H

I always bounced off of this game because I'm not interested in memorizing 50 different ASCII characters and what they stand for.

How is it now?  How's the interface, and clarity/visibility of what is going on?

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## Gnoman

There's a few ways in which the interface is less powerful now, and some really important missing features - Toady clearly decided that the commercial release was taking too long and published. Still, being heavily mouse-focused makes it more approachable even if some functionality is effectively dummied-out, and the graphics are a considerable improvement over the older tiny tilesets you could do even if they radically shrink the window you can see.

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## NeoVid

If you're effectively a first time player, you won't have the issue of running into things you know should be possible but currently aren't, and you'll have time to get used to the mechanics as they are before more of DF's infinite options get implemented in the Steam version.

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## Delicious Taffy

Oh hey, I remember that game. I had read about the whole "Boatmurdered" thing and wanted to try it out, so I grabbed it and some kind of graphics mod so I could tell what was happening more easily. I couldn't figure out how to do anything in it, aside from a handful of tiles I managed to dig up, so I abandoned it in some remote folder on an old computer.

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## Batcathat

> Oh hey, I remember that game. I had read about the whole "Boatmurdered" thing and wanted to try it out, so I grabbed it and some kind of graphics mod so I could tell what was happening more easily. I couldn't figure out how to do anything in it, aside from a handful of tiles I managed to dig up, so I abandoned it in some remote folder on an old computer.


This reminds me of something I've been wondering  how hard to figure out would people say that (the graphical version of) Dwarf Fortress is? I've been thinking about trying it for years, but aside from the graphics (the first few games I played either had ASCII graphics or no graphics at all, but I suppose I've gotten spoiled over time) it also seems to be suuuuper complex (which can be great, once you figure everything out, but also rather time consuming).

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## Gnoman

The game now starts with a optional tutorial of sorts (which just picks a relatively gentle place to embark and hand-holds you through the most basic tasks - it is not only possible but easy to get wiped out during it), and there's a help popup on every tool. Flaws in the actual interface* aside, learning how to use the interface you have has never been easier.


This is actually quite annoying, because the pop-ups currently reset on every new fort.



*Should clarify this some in the light of this comment:




> If you're effectively a first time player, you won't have the issue of running into things you know should be possible but currently aren't, and you'll have time to get used to the mechanics as they are before more of DF's infinite options get implemented in the Steam version.


The current interface issues haven't removed any of the underlying features - indeed, more !!Fun!!** has been added to snare the greedy. There's a lot of information you can't easily recall (combat logs and petitions being the big ones), and the new interface has eliminated some useful tools (the biggest one being the ability to check wagon access to your Trade Depot, which was previously accessed by pressing D. The game now scrolls with WASD. This is all getting fixed via patch - this list was longer on release.

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## Telok

I've played semi-steady since the 2d days and basically wait a month or two of patches before upping to a new version. As this is one of the long wait/big update things I'm giving it at least three months.

Of course I'm running linux instead of windows, so my wait may be a bit longer than even that given the new player base. But typically I wait untill things are reported mostly stable to update.

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## Cespenar

Still seems pretty unenterable to newcomers, in my opinion. And this is coming from a long time ASCII-roguelike fella.

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## Artanis

> Still seems pretty unenterable to newcomers, in my opinion. And this is coming from a long time ASCII-roguelike fella.


One of the biggest barriers for new DF players (other than the graphics - or lack thereof) has been figuring out what you're supposed to _do_. It's better in that regard with the introduction of a (thoroughly basic) 'tutorial', but still pretty rough, yeah.

Funnily enough, I think that games like Rimworld and Oxygen Not Included are some of the best things to happen to Dwarf Fortress. A Rimworld player can just kinda "Play Rimworld I Guess" and survive long enough to start to get the hang of it.

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## Corvus

They have hit almost half a million copies sold in the first month.

https://www.pcgamer.com/we-win-and-i...under-a-month/

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## dojango

When you have nothing left to burn, you must set yourself on fire

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