[mtrpcic]

I'm always fascinated by Dwarf Fortress whenever I cross paths with it, particularly from a technical architecture point of view. How did they architect the history simulation? How do they efficiently update everything on each tick? What is the game loop like?

If anyone has any resources or links to articles, either definitive from the DW developer, or conjecture based on exploration and research, I'd love to learn more about how DF works.

[jonchurch_]

One of the creators (Tarn, specifically) does interviews fairly often, talking about the game and progress.

Here's a video telling a very famous story about tracking down a bug that involved alcoholic cats https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAhHkJQ3KgY

There was also a recent article about Dwarf Fortress published to the Stack Overflow blog https://stackoverflow.blog/2021/12/31/700000-lines-of-code-2...

Edit: There's really a decent amount of stuff out there, they've been making the game for almost 20 years now. So here is a talk that tries to explain DF to an audience, and does talk a little about the simulation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykLm2o_cX9w

I adore DF and am one of those folks who enjoys playing, not just watching videos on youtube. If you do want to give it a go, make sure you find an "Intro to DF" type video and follow it. It's a big learning curve but I love the game so much, and knowing the story of it's creation over time makes me love it even more. It is truly a labor of love by two brothers who have chosen to make it their life's work.

[professoretc]

I read the SO blog post and thought it was a pretty cool coincidence that Adams was talking about SplitMix64 when I had just recently given a talk about it. Then I scrolled down and saw the video of my talk.

[nonethewiser]

that's amazing. congrats

[ilyt]

> If you do want to give it a go, make sure you find an "Intro to DF" type video and follow it.

Honestly if someone don't mind spending few bucks waiting for Steam release and incoming slew of tutorials might be a better option.

And if you do mind, well,free ascii version will eventually get the new UI too

[knoebber]

> How do they efficiently update everything on each tick?

The player is responsible for some aspects of keeping their game running efficiently.

See: https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Maximizing_fr...

[thoughtFrame]

There's another game like that that surprised me: Amazing Cultivation Simulator. I got this video ( https://youtube.com/watch?v=wJxM3POU92w ) recommended on youtube and I watched it start to end with my jaw dropping more every time a new mechanic was described. Before that I had thought that big systemic games were stuff like Zelda Breath of the Wild, Minecraft or Dward Fortress. But this simulator game is one I'd like to see the code of

[praptak]

Last time I checked they didn't do it particularly efficiently and avoiding "FPS death" was an important part of the lore: cap the number of dwarves, avoid flowing water, wall off unused parts of the mine to reduce costs of pathfinding, add pathfinding weights to tiles, etc.

There's not much published about the internals because the creators keep it to themselves.

[WastingMyTime89]

Cats are the death of fortress. Dwarf fortress is an incredible game but you are right that it’s actually amusing the amount of weird things you know you should avoid or manage as a regular player.

[praptak]

Ah yes, "catsplosion". Better make sure to keep only one sex of cat.

[2000UltraDeluxe]

Bah, put the kittens in a cage and release them upon unexpecting intruders. 50-60 kittens will tear a Kobold apart if you lock them all into a small room.

For the un-initiated: Yes, Dwarf Fortress is a brutal game.