Strangely Evocative

Back when I was little, I played a version of Rogue on a friend's IBM PC.  I remember that experience quite well because it (now famously) relied on ASCII for the visuals.  Ampersand represents the player's position in an underground multilevel dungeon.  Various other keyboard symbols are used to indicate objects of interest; "*" for gold coins, "?" for magical scrolls, ":" for food, "!" are potions, "+" marks doorways, "%" is a stairwell, "/" are wands, "]" is armor, "=" is a ring, and so on.  Letters of the alphabet represent monsters.  Some are fairly obvious; "H" for hobgoblin, "S" for snake, "D" for dragon.  Others are a bit less so; "A" for Aquator, "Q" for Quagga and "U" for Ur-vile.  I'm not sure what "J" is supposed to be...maybe Jerry the dungeon janitor (complete with mop, bucket and blue overalls).  I'm kidding, of course.  "J" is for Jabberwock.  At the time, I don't remember the game doing all that much to stimulate my imagination.  However, fast forward 26 years to the release of Dwarf Fortress and the results were noticeably different.

The first time I tried adventure mode in Dwarf Fortress, I started in a forest wilderness. Because of the line-of-sight mechanics, I got the impression that it was a dark and overgrown place.  The "O" letters scattered about (representing tree trunks) blocked my view somewhat, creating sight lines that radiated out from my character like a beacon in the gloom.  Commas, apostrophes and quote marks all around the place indicated tuffs of grass and other forest undergrowth.  Despite being nothing more than a bunch of keyboard gobbledygook it was a strangely eerie scene, in large part, conjured up by my own imagination.  I decided to head west because the lay of the land slowly elevated in that direction.  This too led to feelings of more apprehension because, as my character ascended each new Z-level, I couldn't see what was over the next rise beforehand.  As it turned out, wolves were waiting in ambush.  The results were predictably grewsome with my character turning in to their meal for that day.  

Much later in fortress mode, I remember the first time a human trade caravan came to visit.  As the wagons unloaded their goods in the trade depot, I noticed an "H" move leisurely, but deliberately to a spot that was both nearby and out of the way of foot traffic.  Almost immediately a vivid image of a tall man dressed in traveling clothes and a cloak appeared in my head.  I even pictured him gently resting his hand on the hilt of the sword sheathed at his side, while watching over the business proceedings like a hawk.  It's odd how the mind will fill in information gaps like that.  Combat can invoke a similar reaction.  In fortress mode, dwarfs tend to move about at a measured pace, when in a battle their icons will skitter around with blazing rapidity which lends itself to feelings of frenzy and desperation.  It can also be quite disturbing to see a wounded character slowly inch across the screen while leaving a trail of crimson ASCII behind them.  

I know I'm not alone in this.  There are countless pieces of art and even whole videos featuring what other players of Dwarf Fortress imagined while looking at nothing more than a bunch of dancing letters and static symbols.  If I were to hazard a guess, I would say this is one of the main appeals of playing Dwarf Fortress.  Because of that, I'm a little bit worried about the graphically upgraded version that is set to release in later 2022.  This new version appears to improve the game in a lot of ways (especially when it comes to the UI).  However, the addition of detailed sprites might actually lessen the experience for those of us with big imaginations.  I sincerely hope that I am wrong though.