I played DF for many years, but it was a little bit too much FUN until I started using Dwarf Therapist. I forget when this was, but the last time I struck the earth and downloaded a new update, DT had stopped being compatible. (maybe 2018-ish?)
I was bummed because although things were significantly less fun with DT - I had learned to do lots of unfun things like create garbage disposals and training rooms, do interesting shit with magma, discreetly kill human trading delegations (and sell all their stuff), and create a few high level artifacts before the dwarf who was in a weird mood went on a homicidal rampage. Or just murder him in a trap. We managed moody dwarfs on a case by case basis.
The hives were even working.
Fortress life was good. There were no aquifers. Creeping eldritch horrors were mostly confined to the sealed and reinforced cavern levels. Booze was plentiful, songs were being written, thrones were being engraved, rooms were furnished with elaborate beds and chests, and discontent was low.
This was also many eons ago, which leads me to a couple of questions.
- Is there a current version of Dwarf Therapist that works with the latest DF version?
- Is DT even necessary for the latest version of the game? (I've never used tile sets, so I'm OK with the standard ASCII graphics)
- Recommendations about the best FAQ or Wiki?
- Should I continue to torture my co-worker by describing it as "sort of like Minecraft, but with a bit of a learning curve?"
The games that best compare to DF were almost all inspired by DF in the first place, but that said, I usually sell it as "Rimworld, but with hundreds of people, and even more detail".
I used to use Dwarf Therapist all the time, but after a while there was a manager option in DFHack starting in like, .40 or .44, and now in the Steam era (.50) I haven't bothered at all. A lot of things default to "everybody does this", and you can set categories of work and fairly easily pick and choose if everybody does them, or if certain specific people do. When choosing specific people, it shows you who has relevant skills, usually sorted by best at the top. Hope this helps.
Thanks - it does help. I appreciate all the replies and I'll probably try to get back into the game.
I mainly enjoy torturing my colleague because he is very impressed about his Minecraft skills, but has never played DF. It's good natured, and we're friends. It's still fun.