- v50 information can now be added to pages in the main namespace. v0.47 information can still be found in the DF2014 namespace. See here for more details on the new versioning policy.
- Use this page to report any issues related to the migration.
v0.34:System requirements
| This article is about an older version of DF. |
If you're looking for information on improving the performance of Dwarf Fortress on your computer, see Maximizing Framerate. For installation instructions, see Installation.
OS
- Windows requires XP SP3 or newer.
- Linux runs natively or using Wine.
- Mac needs Intel chip.
Note: The 40d article has detailed info on Non-Windows OS' that is probably mostly still valid.
RAM
DF is not particularly RAM-hungry. Expect the process to allocate between 300 and 700 MB with medium regions. With 512MB you may be a bit on the short side, but 1 GB is absolutely sufficient. World Generation can eat up far more than that - it's possible to encounter crashes due to being out of memory. In particular major areas for this to occur are during history, final touches in finalizing sites, and while saving. This is especially problematic with unusual generator configurations, such as worlds with large numbers of megabeasts, caves, civilizations, high or non-existant site and population limits, and very lengthy histories. User-made modifications can also increase the requirements, depending on their nature.
The most important thing to the performance of the game, however, is undoubtedly RAM latency—the amount of lag the RAM has when working. Dwarf Fortress works the RAM every single frame for every single creature, every single item, every single piece of liquid, the temperature of every tile—you get the picture. The gigantic amount of operations working at the same time—which any current processor could handle much faster than what you see—is primarily bottlenecked by RAM latency and RAM speed.
CPU and FPS are mildly correlated, but this correlation has been attributed as a non-causative one. Rather, newer CPUs seem to come with faster RAM, but for the purpose of a Dwarf Fortress computer, RAM is more important.
What is SDL and Legacy version difference?
SDL is a cross-platform application framework. The SDL version of DF uses that framework and so runs on mac and linux, along with including Baughn's new opengl code, which should be faster, allows png files for tilesets, zooming with the mousewheel, etc. The SDL version is also being actively worked on, getting features like "separate files for graphics and font", and true-type font support.
Legacy is Toady's old code, only kept in case the SDL version doesn't work for someone. There is no legacy version for mac or linux.
Experiential reports
Report format
Please read the report template page before contributing any reports.
Reports
Configuration type: Self-built PC from 2008
- Game info
- Game version: v0.34.07
- World size: Small
- Embark size: 4x4
- Age of fort: 1 year
- Number of dwarves: 15
- Average fps: 100
- Default/nondefault raws: default
- Tileset in use: Mayday
- Amount of stone dug: ~3000
- Amount of water and state: About 15 murky pools, no river or stream
- Approximate amount of z-levels: 10
- RAM usage of game: 622 Mb
- Draw mode in init.txt: 2D
- PC info
- CPU: Intel Core2Quad Q6600 @ 2,4Ghz
- MBO: Gigabyte P35-DS3L
- RAM: 4Gb DDR2 @ 800Mhz
- GPU: Gigabyte Radeon HD5850
- OS: Windows 7 Professional x64
Configuration type: Self-built PC from 2012
- Game info
- Game version: v0.34.11
- World size: Small
- Embark size: 4x4
- Age of fort: 8 years
- Number of dwarves: 232
- Average fps: 78
- Default/nondefault raws: default
- Tileset in use: Mayday
- Amount of stone dug: ~1100
- Amount of water and state: Frozen river, frozen murky pools, two artifical-made underground rivers
- Approximate amount of z-levels: 8
- RAM usage of game: 765 Mb
- Draw mode in init.txt: 2D
- PC info
- CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K @ 3,4 Ghz
- MBO: ASUS P8Z77-M PRO
- RAM: 8Gb DDR3 @ 1600Mhz
- GPU: Gigabyte Radeon HD5850
- OS: Windows 7 Professional x64