Developer Bay 12 Games has announced a major update for the Steam release of Dwarf Fortress that, among other things, also adds a Classic Mode to the game. The mode essentially replaces the Steam version’s pixel art graphics with the ASCII visuals found in the original free version of Dwarf Fortress.
Alongside the update, the studio has also revealed that it has expanded its team with long-time members of the Dwarf Fortress community. The team expansion includes Putnam, who will be the first outside developer to officially work on programming Dwarf Fortress, and SalfordSal, who is joining the game’s community management team.
Other parts of the update to Dwarf Fortress include the addition of Steam tading cards, new graphics for picked outdoor plants, and quality of life features like the ability to alter the frequency of the game’s music. Check out the patch notes below for a complete list of changes in the update.
Dwarf Fortress was released on Steam earlier this month, and has seen quite a bit of success since its launch.
Graphics additions/changes
- Can now swap back and forth from Classic tile mode (in video settings.)
- Graphics for some picked outdoor plants.
- Updated engraved walls.
- Added some custom symbols.
- Enabled Steam trading cards.
Audio additions/changes
- Added a music frequency option in the audio settings (default 3-5 minutes, can be set from 10 minutes to 10 seconds.)
- Made outdoor ambiences alternate between being more active and a few neutral wind ambiences.
- Made the wild ambience use some randomly spaced howls and giant footsteps.
- Updated trade depot ambience.
Other bug fixes/tweaks
- Ability to add/remove all civilians/soldiers from a burrow
- Can advance the game one frame (default key = period)
- Made assigning multiple squad positions continue to position 10 instead of stopping at 9
