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Dwarf Fortress Talk

Dwarf Fortress Talk is the official podcast of Dwarf Fortress, hosted by Toady One, Capntastic, and Rainseeker.

The podcast usually has a topic. This was in the past decided upon by forum polls, but later podcasts had current developments as their topics. Most talks feature questions from listeners, as well as outtakes (such as mistakes that did not belong into the edited versions). The isn't on a regularly schedule due to time constraints of the hosts, though ocassionally, only two of the hosts will be part of a cast.

Dwarf Fortress Talk 1 - Forum Questions

Posted Aug 6 2009; [Transcript|http://www.bay12games.com/media/b12_call_1_transcript.html Transcript]

The first Dwarf Fortress Talk mostly uses forum questions to start discussions on various development plans.

Dwarf Fortress Talk 1
How is dialogue going to work; will it pass the Turing Test?
Dialogue should improve in steps from the current model of canned questions and answers. Sentence construction from pieces, tone, and conversation between more than just two people should happen, and time should pass in conversations. Passing the Turing Test is not a consideration.
Will the 2D nobles make a comeback?
Having different groups in dwarven society is an important goal, as the fortress can be too calm until individual problems occur. The different pulls and needs of the groups represented by these nobles are an important factor in this, especially if a dwarf belongs to two conflicting groups. Family relations also figure into these dynamics.
However, these nobles won't be hardcoded. There is a start to procedurally generate entity positions with goblin society, which should eventually lead to nobles and groups like this.
Tracking just what happens due to these groups and relations is also important. You might get reports on guild meetings in a similar fashion to combat reports, using new conversation engines as discussed previously.
Can souls be applied to inanimate objects and/or as part of artifacts?
Not in the upcoming release (0.31.01 at the time) - souls exist for creatures in that release, though they can hold multiple souls in theory. But the soul separation should eventually lead to things like being in an object or being a ghost.
Do you have plans to leave constructed walls unengravable?
Toady One isn't against it, but it is a bit of a roadblock to have something be both an engraving and a construction, but not a big one. It also raises the question on what an engraved construction means - is it pre-carved, or is it carved after construction?
One of the arcs is focused on artifacts. What are some examples of quirks that you've thought to apply to them,...
There used to be basic artifact powers, but there haven't been detailed plans. Magic should feel magical, and artifacts shouldn't be some kind of +3 fire sword, however.
... and will artifacts be able to be created in more ways than a dwarf commandeering a workshop?
The first step is that dwarves can become attached to weapons and armor now, eventually giving them names - such as after killing a major foe. Artifact creation should also happen in world gen, and for non-dwarves.
After jumping is implemented how will the dwarves in fortress mode decide when to jump?
Jumping holds some issues in regards to pathfinding, and dwarves probably should only jump if in danger.
How will player created mod packs and graphical sets be affected by the upcoming major update?
"Pretty much everything will be broken ... but it'll be pretty easy to fix too". Supporting old mods is nearly impossible with major releases.
How exactly long, wide and tall is a tile in Dwarf Fortress? Are they cubes?
"[B]ig enough to hold a thousand dragons as long as nine hundred and ninety nine of them are lying down" and "not so big that a dwarf doesn't have to crawl under another dwarf to get through a corridor".
It is a serious question whose answer has many repercussions - much may have to be changed to make sense, and it invites things like multi-tile creatures, which in turn would cascade to heavy pathfinding changes.
Are we going to have dwarven drunkenness?
It's clearly important that it comes in, but the question is how it works in game, as dwarves already drink a lot. For humans, it should work realistically. For elves, it is undecided.
For every new mechanic, there is the question on how the five stock races should interact with it, and now the underground animal people are getting civilizations as well, raising similar questions, such as their ethics. Civilizations are technically mutable right now, and could differ in certain aspects from others of the same type, but that isn't implemented right now.
Why ... didn't [orcs] make it into the game?
The terms orc and goblin are basically interchangeable to Toady One, and though the game is inspired by Tolkien, it shouldn't adhere too closely to the Tolkien universe, and will move away from it anyway.
Could my civilization made entirely of fuzz whose only organ is a pair of eyes function?
Their lack of hands would cause trouble. It isn't necessary for a creature to have blood or other things however - if it isn't defined for a creature, the game doesn't assume that the creature needs it after all.
What sort of books do[es Toady One] read?
Toady One reads less books than he would like. Several of those that he had read at the time are related to the design of the game in some fashion.
Is magnetite armour going to be picking up stuff?
Magnetism is a strange effect to code due to it being continuous, and is a bit of a magic-like effect, so if it happens, it may have to wait for magic to come in. Silverware shouldn't stick to it, though, even if inns and the like seem like they should come into the game.
Is there going to be an arena room at any point?
Arenas themselves are an important fantasy staple and should come in at some point, but it isn't clear how much dwarves themselves would appreciate blood sports, similar to the dwarven ethics on poison ought to make dwarves uncomfortable.
Long distance goal of Dwarf Fortress
Toady One and ThreeToe want a game that, when you start it and make a world, is in some way new, a story into which you can insert yourself. You could be an adventurer or a dwarven outpost. Ideally, you could play anything - it is planned even before version 1 that you could play the whole dwarven civilization when you achieve that level through play, and elven settlements and megabeasts should be possible as well.
Is magic in [...] Dwarf Fortress ... what are you planning on doing with it?
Magic should feel magical - if magic becomes too industrial, it may destroy the feel of fantasy, and adventurer spellcasters shouldn't just level up to get fireballs. But different people have different views of how magic should be handled, and modding may support the different views. Stock dwarves might be limited to magic artifacts, whose powers they might not even realize at first. Demons and other enemies may have malevolent magical powers.
Do you have any plans to make the dwarves have the ability to [prospect]?
The real problem here might be that mineral distribution is sub-par, so a better distribution might make this less important. Others may want to know where features are to avoid those breaking their fortress layouts. Mostly, it's a question of finding an implementation that keeps the feel of the game.

Dwarf Fortress Talk 2 - Sieges and Megabeasts

Posted Sep 1 2009; [Transcript|http://www.bay12games.com/media/df_talk_2_transcript.html Transcript]

The second Dwarf Fortress Talk talks about sieges, as voted on by the community, and megabeasts before moving into hearer questions. It has a guest host, Ampersand.

Dwarf Fortress Talk 2
How long have sieges been in Dwarf Fortress and what is their purpose?'
Sieges have been in since before the first release. They could come from the underground animal people, the ever-increasing goblin sieges, and an attack by the undead. They are a way to add some combat to perform as well as a challenge. Right now, sieges are a bit better at respecting the civilizations of the world and their relations, but artificial ramping up of the sieges with non-existing populations still happens. That should improve in the future.
I put up a bunch of traps and they all die, then they run away.
Traps are ridiculous right now. They allow that a core element like sieges can be treated as an optional challenge. That needs to be fixed, and traps nerfed, though the details are not worked out yet. Siegers also need to become smarter about things like this, and have countermeasures. The players should need to adapt their strategies, though player cleverness is likely to beat the AI often still. But making use bridge building, dirt ramps, siege engines, fantasy warbeasts, and flying and digging can help them. Digging is a controversial thing, if only for fortress aesthetics, so that particular tactic might be an init option. There are other ways in which siege AI needs to be improved, such as understanding terrain, moving bridges, and pathfinding.
Are you planning on allowing trap disarming in fortress mode?
It's a reasonable idea. They'd probably need to see it in action first, but could become suspicious of similar circumstances.
Do invaders actually have goals when they invade?
Kind of, depending on the creature. Humans want to kill everyone, as do goblins in large numbers. Elves try to shoot you, but aren't necessarily out to kill everyone. Snatchers and item thieves only try to make it in, to their target, and then out again. Hopefully this improves as real army movement goes in. A siege might end up with a diplomatic meeting.
Is there ever going to be a time when goblins actually ... demand tribute ...?
There are kind of fake tribute relationships in worldgen that amount to nothing, so that should eventually happen. There are several goals towards more complex diplomacy on the dev pages. A lot of improvements in that regard and other war-related issues require the Caravan Arc to be completed.
Is there a possibility through the siege mechanisms to start eliminating entire populations?
This is part of the reason that actual populations and moving armies should go in early. Right now, losses mean very little to the opponent, and they really should.
So will sieges tie into wars? Will you be able to siege other peoples and then it'll show their place...?
Inspired by Civil War documentary, such actions will probably take place mostly on a zoomed-out map with units and army lines and such. This is also important due to the probable number of combatants in the area and the scale of the conflict - there can't be thousands of soldiers on a dwarf mode map at once. There is also the question of what happens when those thousands of soldiers come to your fortress and its environs. You'd probably first contest them with your outside army before they reach your fortress, and then they might send two hundred soldiers or so at a time, and various circumstances might lead them to give up.
I can see a few things that would possibly trigger ... a war ... like a stolen artifact ..., or ... goblins kidnapping the king's son