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List of Dwarf Fortress developer interviews
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As Dwarf Fortress grows, more and more people are becoming interested in the behind-the-scenes workings of not only the game itself, but the lives and trails of the developers. Many game websites and podcasts have interviewed Toady, and provide unique insights into the design and development of Dwarf Fortress.
Toady sometimes attends video game and video game development conventions, for panels related to Dwarf Fortress or procedural content generation in general.
Interviews[edit]
- Dwarf Fortress - Talking with Putnam about what Lurks in the Code..
- January 15, 2023
- BlindiRL
- Dwarf Fortress - Tarn and Zach Adams Talk - Workshop Support and Release Date (November 2022)
- November 10, 2022
- BlindiRL
- Dwarf Fortress - Tarn and Zach Adams Talk - New player Tutorialization (July 2022)
- July 15, 2022
- BlindiRL
- Tarn and Zach Interview - Kitfox Festival
- April 16, 2022
- Kitfox Games
- Dwarf Fortress - Tarn and Zach Adams Talk - The Road to Release on Steam (March 2022)
- March 4, 2022
- BlindiRL
- Dwarf Fortress - Tarn Adams Talk - Steam Embark Screen, World Map, Military and Tutorials (Nov 2021)
- November 18, 2021
- BlindiRL
- 700,000 lines of code, 20 years, and one developer: How Dwarf Fortress is built
- July 28, 2021
- Stack Overflow
- Dwarf Fortress - Tarn Adams Talk, Steam UI Design, Boats, Magic and team cow manure! (July 2021)
- July 16, 2021
- BLindiRL
- Dwarf Fortress - Tarn Adams Talk, How finished is the Steam Ver? Classic Update and Magic (Feb 2021)
- February 12, 2021
- BLindiRL
- The Design of Dwarf Fortress | Tarn Adams Interview
- December 4, 2020
- Game Wisdom
- Dwarf Fortress - Tarn Adams Interview, Steam edition and Dwarven Psychology (October 2020)
- October 1, 2020
- BLindiRL
- Dwarf Fortress - Tarn Adams Interview, Steam, Kobolds, Oregon trail and Design. (June 2020)
- June 12, 2020
- BLindiRL
- Dwarf Fortress Creator Explains its Complexity & Origins
- June 9, 2020 (but filmed during the previous GDC, March 2019)
- Noclip
- Includes footage from Kruggsmash's videos.
- Q&A: Dissecting the development of Dwarf Fortress with creator Tarn Adams
- June 3, 2019
- Gamasutra
- Interview: Tarn Adams of Bay 12 Games
- May 3, 2019
- IndieHangover
- The PC Gamer Show GDC special: Dwarf Fortress creator Tarn Adams
- March 22, 2018
- PC Gamer
- Interview With Tarn Adams
- February 28, 2019
- Paprika!
- This Exists: The Creator of the Most Complex Video Game Ever
- December 19, 2016
- This Exists
- Long-term Simulation Design in Dwarf Fortress
- November 12, 2016
- NYU Game Center, PRACTICE 2016
- Simulate your very own fantasy universe: Looking at a decade of Dwarf Fortress
- July 26, 2016
- The Stoned Gamer
- Dwarf Fortress' creator on how he's 42% towards simulating existence
- March 31, 2016
- Interview by Wes Fenlon, during GDC 2016.
- Dwarf Fortress Interview with Tarn ‘Toady’ Adams
- March 4, 2015
- PC Invasion
- Interview With Tarn & Zach Adams!
- October 22, 2014
- The beginning part is Finnish, and the interview is English.
- Интервью с Тоади (Тарном Адамсом)
- Aug 30, 2014
- English with Russian subtitles.
- Hämmentävän kulttihitin uusi versio – Miksi loit Dwarf Fortressin, Tarn Adams?
- July 31, 2014
- In Finnish.
- Dwarf Fortress 2014 Interview with Tarn Adams
- July 6, 2014
- Capntastic
- NewbQuest Ep.3: Tarn Adams, Game Designer and Developer of Dwarf Fortress
- June 5, 2014
- NewbQuest
- UMN VGDC Interview with Tarn Adams
- October 30, 2013
- Skype interview with the University of Minnesota Video Game Development Club.
- Let's Interview: Tarn Adams- Dwarf Fortress!
- May 9, 2013
- Interview by MrSavaGhost.
- The Minds Behind Dwarf Fortress
- May 8, 2013
- Interview by GiantBomb during EVE Fanfest 2013.
- I'm Tarn Adams of Bay 12 Games, co-creator of Dwarf Fortress. AMA!
- March 23, 2013
- Reddit AMA.
- Interview with Tarn Adams
- Dec 13, 2012
- Interview by Penn State Physics Club.
- Dwarf Fortress developer interview
- August 9, 2011 - PC Gamer
- (Taken from the forums)
- Short
- An Interview with Tarn Adams
- December 22, 2010 by Elijah Meeks
- 1 Youtube video, 1 screenshot, 1 fancomic image (Bronzemurder)
- Nullpointer Dwarf Fortress Interview
- Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - Tom Betts
- The blog seems to focus on game design. The interviewer is doing a PHD on "The Sublime in Digital Games", and is a head coder at Big Robot.
- Images
- The Adams Brothers Stop By For A Talk (Part 1 Direct Link) (Part 2 Direct Link)
- Recorded by Richard Hofmeier for an article in PORK Magazine - February 2011
- (Taken from the forums)
- 1 hour 45 minutes long
- DarkDiamond 60 minutes interview
- April 15, 2009 - By Raphael 'Dasuraga' Gaschignard
- Podcast link seems broken
- Short
- Roleplaying Public Radio Audio Interview
- First comment is at May 20, 2008 - by Ross Payton
- Links to synopsis of interview and a link to the podcast.
- Approximately 1 hr 30 min
- Gamasutra: The Making of Dwarf Fortress
- February 27, 2008 - by John Harris
- Ten pages long!
- GeekNights interview - Talk radio interview
- January 15, 2008 - Rym and Scott
- Download link for mp3
- Languidiir/A Madman interview
- 4 hours long
- Game conference speech: "The Wonderful Power of Storytelling"
- Cannot find date - by Bruce Sterling
- Plain text
Articles[edit]
- Dwarf Fortress has now racked up 600,000 copies sold on Steam
- March 22, 2023
- PC Gamer
- Slow and steady wins the race: How Dwarf Fortress reinvented itself after 20 years
- January 26, 2023
- GamesIndustry.biz
- After spending 20 years simulating reality, the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to a new one: being millionaires
- December 12, 2022
- PC Gamer
- Tons of game developers praise Dwarf Fortress in celebration of its Steam launch
- December 6, 2022
- PC Gamer
- Dwarf Fortress Steam Edition threatens to make it playable for just about anyone
- Septemper 5, 2022
- PC Gamer
- Meanwhile, in Dwarf Fortress, players build computers powered by vampires
- April 5, 2019
- PC Gamer
- Dwarf Fortress's next big update will let you play its adventure mode with a proper RPG party
- April 3, 2019
- PC Gamer
- Tutorials and mouse support could make Dwarf Fortress on Steam vastly easier to play
- April 2, 2019
- PC Gamer
- If Dwarf Fortress sells millions on Steam, its creators will give the money away 'as fast as possible'
- March 27, 2019
- PC Gamer
- Why Dwarf Fortress started killing cats
- April 13, 2017
- Eurogamer
- Why the creator of Dwarf Fortress is really excited about boats
- March 21, 2017
- PC Gamer
- The creator of Dwarf Fortress doesn't really like to play games like Dwarf Fortress
- March 19, 2017
- PC Gamer
- Dwarf Fortress creator Tarn Adams talks about simulating the most complex magic system ever
- March 16, 2017
- PC Gamer
- How Two Brothers From Silverdale Made The World’s Most Complex Video Game
- June 8, 2016
- Seattle Weekly
- Dwarf Fortress will crush your CPU because creating history is hard
- July 23, 2014
- Polygon.
- Dwarf Fortress in 2013
- July 2, 2013
- Gamasutra.
- Kitsap creators of Dwarf Fortress make losing fun
- April 06, 2013
- Kitsap Sun
- Dwarf Fortress diary: How seven drunks opened a portal to Hell
- August 9, 2011
- Has pictures!
- Where Do Dwarf-Eating Carp Come From?
- July 24, 2011
- Gaming Class Hero: Dwarf Fortress
- October 11, 2011
- A review / introduction to the game. Mentions the more well-known community forts and links to several DF resources.
Podcasts[edit]
- Dwarf Fortress Talk, the official Dwarf Fortress podcast
- August 6, 2009 - February 4, 2021 by Toady One, Rainseeker and Capntastic
- 28 podcasts with transcripts
- Dwarf Fortress & Caves of Qud roundtable: The masters of simulation talk roguelikes, AI and making the infinite compelling
- April 26, 2023
- PC Gamer
- Also features the developers of Caves of Qud
- Stack Overflow Podcast Episode 377: You don’t need a math PhD to play Dwarf Fortress, just to code it
- September 21, 2021
- Stack Overflow Podcast
- Has a transcript
- Dwarf Fortress Looms (Villains and Steam Release)
- March 12, 2020
- Literate Gamer
- Dwarf Fortress Roundtable Episode 21: In which Toady One and ThreeToe talk about the upcoming release
- January 12, 2020
- Dwarf Fortress Roundtable
- The second part of a two-part interview. The Adams Brothers discuss the (future) development of Dwarf Fortress, and the upcoming villains release.
- Dwarf Fortress Roundtable Episode 20: In Which The Adams Brothers Join Us to Talk About Some Game They Are Making
- January 1, 2020
- Dwarf Fortress Roundtable
- The first part of a two-part interview. The Adams Brothers discuss the history of Dwarf Fortress.
- Kakebytes Episode 25 - Dwarf Fortress: Toady One Returns
- May 2, 2019
- Kakebytes
- Kakebytes Episode 16 - Dwarf Fortress
- August 22, 2018
- Kakebytes
- The most Complex RPG around? Feat. Tarn Adams Of Dwarf Fortress
- July 14, 2018
- Crit Hit
- Literate Gamer Episode 30
- Mar 8, 2017
- Literate Gamer
- Roguelike Radio, Episode 121: Simulation
- April 30, 2016
- This is episode 121 of Roguelike Radio, where Mark Johnson, Darren Grey, Tarn Adams and Sami Maaranen discuss Simulation in Roguelikes.
- Red Pages Podcast, Episode 70: Overpowered Webs
- March 5, 2016
- Special Guest Tarn Adams returns to the Red Pages Podcast to discuss Dwarf Fortress, plus Star Wars, House of Cards, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Disgaea, King's Field, The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy III.
- Dwarf Fortress with Tarn Adams
- October 22, 2015
- Software Engineering Daily interview
- Extrasode 2: Chatting with Tarn Adams
- June 14, 2014
- Red Pages Podcast
- Episode 19: Throw the Vampire Down the Well So My Fortress Can Be Free
- June 14, 2014
- Red Pages Podcast
- Special Guest Tarn Adams mines right into the Red Pages studio to discuss Dwarf Fortress, plus True Detective, Two5Six, The Economic History of Medieval Europe, Tomb Raider, Colossal Cave Adventure and Designasaurus II.
- Road to TWO5SIX: Tarn and Zach Adams
- April 29, 2014
- Written in preparation for Toady's (then) upcoming appearance at TWO5SIX in Brooklyn.
- Roguelike Radio, Episode 49: Interview with Tarn Adams
- October 23, 2012
- Roguelike Radio
Panels and presentations[edit]
- Let's Learn Dwarf Fortress Steam Edition - EP1
- Alexandra of Kitfox Games playing a preview of Premium with Tarn and Zach commentating.
- November 10, 2022
- Originally live streamed on Twitch.tv
- Dwarf Fortress Steam Edition Demo with Tarn and Zach Adams - PAX West 2022 panel
- Septemper 14, 2022
- PAX West 2022
- UCSC CMPM 147 Generative Design, Tarn Adams Guest Talk November 2019
- November 19, 2019
- UCSC Generative Design
- Dwarf Fortress Live - PAX West 2019
- September 3, 2019
- PAX West 2019
- System Design, On Fire, All the Time: Controlling Chaos - PAX West 2019
- September 2, 2019
- PAX West 2019
- Toady and three other indie developers discuss system design.
- InterPlanetary Festival 2019 Games Panel
- June 15, 2019
- InterPlanetary Festival 2019
- Tarn Adams - Villains in Dwarf Fortress
- October 10, 2018
- Roguelike Celebration
- Toady talks about villains and their network systems
- Secret Identities in Dwarf Fortress
- October 6, 2017
- Experimental AI in Games 2017
- Toady talks about an upcoming update.
- Emergent Narrative in Dwarf Fortress
- September 16, 2017
- Progression Mechanics 2017
- PCG Shotgun: 6 Techniques for Leveraging AI in Content Generation
- February 28, 2017
- GDC 2017
- Procedural content generation has garnered more attention in recent years, both in indie games and AAA titles. Unfortunately, there is no "one algorithm to rule them all". PCG techniques are necessarily as wide and varied as their potential implementations. Using examples from the speakers' own work, this lecture presents 6 practical ways to implement AI-driven procedural content generation in games.
- Dwarf Fortress Design Inspirations
- September 17, 2016
- Roguelike Celebration
- Zach and Tarn Adams talk about Dwarf Fortress.
- Dwarf Fortress (the first decade!)
- September 11, 2016
- Busan Indie Connect 2016
- The co-creator of Dwarf Fortress will talk about the game's development. Included will be the history of Dwarf Fortress, a discussion of the online community, keeping the game freely available for ten years, as well as map generation and other mechanics
- Procedural Generation Analysis
- September 9, 2016
- PAX Dev 2016
- Tyler Coleman, Tarn Adams, Mitu Khandaker-Kokoris, Tyriq Plummer, and Zach Aikman
- The Dwarfmoot Experience
- June 11, 2016
- Dwarfmoot 2016
- Richard Garfield, Bioware, Tarn & Zach Adams
- Practices in Procedural Generation
- March 14, 2016
- GDC 2016
- Procedural generation changes the design approach of every system it touches, offering infinite variation. But how is it used in a concrete way, for developers actually at work on their game? Designers from Dwarf Fortress and Moon Hunters will share their tools and methods for implementing procedurally generated experiences, by live-editing their game systems during this session.
- Designing a Procedurally Generated Game
- August 29th, 2015
- PAX Prime 2015
- Indie game devs discuss design problems and joys of procedural generation. Hosted by Tanya X. Short (Kitfox Games - Moon Hunters). Panelists: Kepa Auwae (Rocketcat Games - Death Road to Canada), Tyler Sigman (Red Hook Studios - Darkest Dungeon), Tarn Adams (Bay 12 Games - Dwarf Fortress), Ryan Clark (Brace Yourself Games - Crypt of the NecroDancer). At PAX Prime in Seattle, Washington.
- Games as Art - EVE at the MoMA
- May 10, 2013
- EVE Fanfest 2013
- EVE was added, along with 13 other games, into the New York Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection, and displayed in an exhibition titled "Applied Design". Paola Antonelli, senior curator at the MoMA was joined by Adam Saltsman, designer of Cananbalt and Tarn Adams, co-creator of the cult classic Dwarf Fortress, both of which have their games featured alongside EVE at the MoMA. The Presentations was followed by a panel on the topic moderated by Goddur, professor of design at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts.
See Also[edit]
- Future of the Fortress Q&A with Toady
- Dwarf Fortress Talk podcast
- Reception of Dwarf Fortress
- Legacy of Dwarf Fortress