Halloween Nope

Exhuming the Past

Retro-style graphics are certainly a popular choice among indie game studios.  I have to admit, I have a soft spot for pixel art.  It tends to bring back memories of playing games on my Apple IIc.  Nostalgia aside, there is a good reason to utilize older visual styles in that they tend to be less resource intensive than high-res textures and massive poliginal count 3D objects.  That said, there is one style that might be better left buried.

The original Sony Playstation had some great games and, thanks to its CD-ROM drive, high quality music/sound for the time.  What it didn't have though, was enough memory.  Textures, in particular, were very blocky with a tendency to warp when viewed from certain directions.  The lack of filtering and low polygonal models didn't help things either...even so, there are a few surprisingly nice looking games.  Just last month, I posted some animated GIFs from Vagrant Story that still hold up surprisingly well.  Another game that uses the limited processing power of the PSX to its advantage is the first Silent Hill.  The short draw distance introduces clastrophic aspects of horror by blanketing the player's surroundings in fog or darkness.  The monsters that emerge from the gloom are also murky and shrouded, giving off vague impressions rather than particular details.  It ends up working extremely well in this case because the player's brain is forced to fill in the gaps (a key aspect of the horror genre).

Perhaps influenced by the original Silent Hill, a number of more recent indie horror games have tried to emulate the visual style.  Inspired by a post on the 4Chan message board and made into a game for the Haunted PS1 Summer-Spooks Gamejam in less than 30 days, Lost in the Backrooms is one such example.  Currently, it's available for download over at itch.io for free.  Overall, it isn't a bad game (especially considering the constraints under which it was made), but Lost in the Backrooms does end up feeling a lot like the "Blair Witch" except with a bunch of empty halls instead of a forest.

Another obscurity is Paratopic.  Once again, it's an indie horror title.  The look is very PSX era aside from better draw distances.  There's also a story of sorts (albeit told in a very convoluted manner).  Perhaps that, too, is in the spirit of the original Silent Hill.  There are more examples I could go into: Back in 1995, Vaccine, Banned Memories, Devil Daggers, Garden Variety, Prototype Mansion and Dusk.  However, I think people familiar with the visuals of those games will understand what I'm getting at.  No Gouraud Shading, low-poly rendering and little to no filtering on blocky textures, are the hallmarks here.

Getting back to my original point, the presentation in these games is very...grimy.  The 3D objects are too jagged to have the impressionist vibe of Overland.  Simultaneously, the textures are too muddy and unfiltered to give off the clean simplicity of Grown Home.  I understand that what I'm saying here is highly subjective.  By all means, if PSX era graphics are your prefered aesthetic don't let me ruin your enjoyment.  Some people still like CRT monitors and vinyl record players after all...I, for one though, would be happy if this particular mold-ridden corpse of game presentation was not brought back from the dead in a big way.

First Fortress, Final Year

We're now into our third year, and the amount of migrants has gone from a sporadic trickle to a nonstop flood.  The miners, carpenters, and masons are working like mad to to get enough bedrooms made for everyone.  In addition to that, we have a mayor and captain of the guard demanding sumptuous accommodations for themselves.

On a more positive note, we have converted the old meeting hall into a hospital (complete with soap, beds, splints, crutches, traction benches and a chief medical dwarf).  Our militia has swollen to seven, two of whom are noteworthy.  The first is "Iron Fist" the planter.  He got the nickname after beating a wolverine to death in the strawberry garden with his bare hands.  The other is a newly arrived hunter who has already roused my ire.  Before I assigned him to the military, he took to hunting opossums near the stream with his crossbow.  That was perfectly fine, but one day he decided to bring down a wild mare.  In this endeavor he succeeded by killing just such a horse.  However, an enraged stallion chased him away before he could collect the corpse for butchering.  The image of a dead horse rotting in the sun doesn't sit well with me.  Equine symbols have become synonymous with the fortress.  There are five such statues on display outside, and countless stone figurines of horses have been traded to merchants in exchange for goods...this may well be an ill omen.

We have three more artifacts, two of which are rather unimpressive (a hatch cover and a bone amulet).  The most recent one though is a nice leather shield.  I gave it to Blue Bell...may it guard her well.  There would have been yet another artifact in the fort if not for a lack of desired construction materials.  The dwarf in question was a wood burner who, due to excessive obtuseness, went nuts and attacked our poor bookkeeper while he was on the way to his office.  Another dwarf tried to intervene and suffered a serious leg injury for his trouble.  Eventually, the human hammerman put the berzerk dwarf down for good with a blow to the noggin.  I don't have anyone officially appointed to the position of Hammerer, but it seems this human has preemptively assumed the role.  Overall, the incident was a bad bit of business with two dwarfs now in the hospital and a third dead one consigned to our tombs five z-levels down.

All the new rooms have been carved out so I decided to have the miners do a bit of exploratory digging.  Thus far, the only metal I've found that can be smelted out of all this rock is zinc.  I really need to get some better equipment for my militia so that they'll be ready in the event of a...what's that?

Oh no!  Get everyone underground!  Hurry!  A group of ten goblins has arrived outfitted with iron armor and weapons of iron and silver.  I call out the militia while the goblins are preoccupied with a couple of water buffalo we have (correction, had) in a pasture outside.  Now, here is where I make a serious tactical blunder.  Thinking that the stream will be difficult for the goblins to cross in their heavy armor, I send out the militia to attack while their forces are split on either side of the waterway.  My spur-of-the-moment plan doesn't work at all.  The archer goblins on the far bank let loose volleys of their deadly arrows, hitting one dwarf in the leg (dropping him before he can even swinging his weapon).  There is a brief clash...and my dwarfs are massacred.  Even Iron Fist is helpless against the goblin onslaught...but what's this?  There are only five dead dwarfs.  Where is Blue Bell?  Where is the Beekeeper?

As it turned out Blue Bell was engaged in her favorite off-duty pastime, hauling huge boulders in the mines far below.  She heard the alarm, but for some reason didn't drop the big rock she was carrying.  Hence, she missed out on the disastrous initial skirmish.  As for the Beekeeper...he overslept.  In fact, right after his companions-in-arms were slaughtered he stumbled out the front door (sleepy-eyed) toward the goblins.  I ordered him back inside, but he ignored the command and instead continued his slow advance as surprisingly ill-aimed goblin arrows flew past all around him.  Closing in, he entered a martial trance and hacked left and right as he drove right through their center.  Sadley, the blows from his copper axe couldn't penetrate iron armor.  Even so, two of the goblins were injured by the shear ferocity of his blows.  Then it happened...an arrow hit the Beekeeper in the arm causing him to lose his grip on his axe.  More wounds follow and he perishes after being impaled by a goblin spear...twice!  Poor Beekeeper...he had the heart of a warrior.

The situation has become dire to say the least.  I've ordered the doors locked, but we have no hope of repelling the siege.  With more than seventy dwarfs still inside (including a baby and six children) we have no choice.  The fort must be evacuated.  The question is, how do we get out?  Remember that this fort is built into one of two hillsides with a stream between them.  My miners have managed to dig a tunnel under the flowing water to the other hill.  All they need to do is clear a little more dirt and we'll have a way out.

We've broken through to the surface, and the dwarfs are fleeing out the exit in single file.  The human bard has agreed to lead them to the safety of her hometown not far to the south.  The goblins, who were milling around the front entrance, take notice.  The exodus is taking too long because there are so many dwarfs.  We need more time.  I ask Blue Bell to do the impossible; she must fend off the goblins.  In a bit of comradery the human hammerman joins her.  The goblins approach and many blows are exchanged.  The hammerman goes down despite a heroic effort.  Blue Bell, with bronze spear in hand, strikes down one goblin...then another.  The fighting rages on for awhile, but she is pierced by many goblin arrows...dying much like Boromir in Lord of the Rings.  Her noble sacrifice was not in vain though, the dwarfs have escaped...and while the fort is lost, as long as they survive things can begin again someplace new.  Strike the earth!

Epilogue

So concludes my first attempt at Dwarf Fortress.  Not a bad run, all things considered.  I learned a lot and have already begun a new fort in another world utilizing what I learned from my first try.  Incidentally, I did go back to the fortress in adventure mode to properly entomb the remains of Blue Bell and the Beekeeper.  I figured they deserved that much, at least.  I also found the artifact earring, amulet, and hatch cover, but couldn't recover the leather shield...possibly because the ASCII icon for it looks exactly like any other piece of leather clothing.  While I was looking around near the stream outside the fort, I happened upon a wandering bard.  After chatting for a bit, I gave him the hatch cover.  I didn't have any use for it, but perhaps it will inspire him to share the tale of this fort and the dwarfs that once dwelled within.  

First Fortress, Second Year

Looking through my dwarf's personality traits, it appears that most are polytheistic.  In order to satisfy their spiritual desires I've ordered the construction of a temple complex arranged in a clover shaped layout.  The "petals" are three rooms, each dedicated to a different deity.  I selected the three most popular, but for the rest I added a stairway in the center of the complex that leads down to another chamber for general use.

A human caravan came to trade, and had a variety of interesting items.  We didn't have a whole lot to offer in return, but with our meager bins of semi-precious stones and carved nicknacks we managed to secure some fruits and vegetables...as well as a bar of silver.

No sooner had our trade negotiations with the humans concluded than one of our dwarfs entered a strange mood.  He promptly claimed a workshop and after gathering up quartzite (plus that one bar of silver), got to work on a mysterious construction.  As it turned out, the object was just an earring.  I had it placed on a pedestal just outside the entrance to the temple area.  Even though it's nothing special in terms of value, it is the first artifact made in the fortress.

More migrants...and a lot of them!  We now have a much wider range of skill sets in our labor force: a planter, a lye maker, an armorsmith, a milker a beekeeper and a butcher.  I'm going to have to expand the housing accommodations...since our fort has over twenty dwarfs, I decided to build a tavern too.  The meeting hall just isn't big enough anymore.  The craftsdwarf is hard at work whittling wooden goblets, while the carpenter puts together chairs and the mason carves some stone tables.  We've stocked up quite a few barrels of apricot wine, perry and (of course) beer in an adjacent room.  As for someone to run the place...I decided on the Milker since there aren't any milk producing livestock around anyway.

Our fort now has its first baby boy, and it was the tavern keeper who gave birth.  She must have been pregnant before arriving here.  Less than a week after the little was born though he almost ended up being the first death.  A wolverine spotted him while he was "helping" his mother pick peaches.  The animal must have thought he would make an easy meal.  What followed was a frantic struggle between mother and wolverine while the militia leader rushed out from her newly completed training hall to help.  Incidentally, I gave our military commander the nickname "Blue Bell" owing to her blue pet peacock and the name of our community" (The Bells of Color).  Anyway, Blue Bell still didn't have a proper weapon at that time.  In fact, all she had was a wooden shield.  Apparently, that was all she needed though because she bashed that wolverine to a red paste before collapsing from exhaustion.  Thorin Oakenshield would have been proud.  Among the dwarfs there were surprisingly no injuries.  I should feel relief, but a disturbing thought crept into my head...what if that wasn't an ordinary adult wolverine, but rather the young offspring of something far larger?

More migrants have arrived, and after trading with some dwarf merchants, I've decided to add two more citizens to the militia: a hunter (armed with an elven bow) and the Beekeeper (who has some talent with an axe).  Hunting is unnecessary at the moment, what with all the fish we're catching, and the Beekeeper has been unlucky with the six hives we placed outside for him.  It's my understanding that wax and honey aren't especially lucrative industries at the moment anyhow so perhaps military service is for the best.

Humans have come to visit in the past (no doubt to sample the booze).  However, two in particular wish to join The Bells of Color.  I agreed despite some unspoken reservations on my part.  One of them is a bard with a beautiful singing voice and a knack for telling interesting stories.  The other is a soldier armed with a warhammer so big it would make a troll blacksmith blush.  Speaking of trolls, there's a bridge going over the stream now that would make a good home for one.  I also decorated it with a few horse statues in various poses.  It seems to have gotten the attention of some real horses.

Sometimes I really hate being right.  A giant wolverine attacked a fisher dwarf as he was returning to the fort with his catch of the day.  It bit his leg so he punched it in the head.  Then it bit his arm.  So he punched it in the head again with his uninjured arm.  That gave the beast pause.  Although the fisher dwarf was too badly hurt to make an escape his ferocious defense bought enough time for the militia to come to his rescue.  The Hunter put at least a half-dozen arrows in the giant wolverine before the Beekeeper closed in and dealt it several harsh blows with his axe.  Once again though it was Blue Bell who got the kill, this time, with a bronze sword.  Overall, everyone seemed more upset by the rain (which began falling) than the vicious animal attack.  Dwarfs....     

First Fortress

As you have probably noticed, I've been mentioning Dwarf Fortress a lot  in recent blog posts.  Well...the reason for all that is I have been trying to teach myself how to play the game.  I gave adventure mode a shot for awhile, but (after getting devoured by a pack of boogeymen) decided to move onto fortress mode.  After watching Kruggsmash's crash course introduction video, I was able to get off to a decent start.  So, with respect to Dwarf Fortress tradition, here's my story.

Year One 

According to the map selection screen, the place I have chosen is a savannah region; a temperate zone tucked up against the mountains where a stream winds between two hills.  I decided on the slope that was closer to the wagon and had our miner get to work.  The dormitory, farm, brewery, and meeting room all came together fairly quickly.  For fun, I had my seven dwarfs chase down a wild hare.  What ensued was a re-enactment of the famous Monty-Python-and-the-Holy-Grail white rabbit battle.  One dwarf, in particular, was bitten no less than six times.  Thankfully, none of the bites drew blood.

There's no shortage of quality or variety when it comes to lumber here: walnut, willow, apricot and ginkgo are everywhere.  There's also a particularly large peachtree growing out of a shoulder of land just above the hillside entrance.  Its branches extend nine z-levels above the trunk, and the roots go at least three z-levels down.  Just before the end of spring the banks of the stream became white.  For a second I thought is was snow (as absurd as that sounds), but as it turned out there's actually just a lot of cotton grass in the area.

We have a pair of fisher dwarfs who have had a lot of luck catching river trout.  Birds-of-prey and herds of horses frequently visit us.  One of the cats we brought along has become a legendary climber while the other has proven to be quite the mouser, catching several rats and even a frog.

While the carpenter's workshop has been cranking out tables, chairs, barrels, bins, beds and doors, the miner has been digging down through dirt and sand to the bedrock.  It's mostly quartzsite, but there are traces of cobaltite, sphalerite and cinnabar.  I had the stonemason get started in his new workshop.  I have a special request for him.  The merchants came, but sadly we didn't have anything to trade.  After the fact, I asked our resident craftsdwarf to make a couple dozen quartzsite figurines.  My intent is to trade them away the next time a caravan arrives.  The image I chose was of a dwarf contemplating his pickaxe in outstretched hands.  Incidentally, I saw our expedition leader walking around with one in hand before going to bed.  Maybe, for dwarfs, these things are the equivalent of plush toys?

Two new migrants arrived.  One of them has a pet blue peacock following her.  This new arrival has the occupation of "fish dissector," but her skill set mostly consists of combat abilities.  I put her in charge of the militia since we already have enough dwarfs fishing right now.  There aren't any good weapons lying around right now though so I hope trouble doesn't rear its ugly head...speaking of rearing, that special stone carving project has been finished by the mason.  It's a statue of a horse rearing triumphantly.  I had it placed by the trunk of the peachtree that overlooks the fortress entrance.

Fall has come and we have no shortage of fresh fruit.  The brewer has gotten to work making peach cider, which will please more than a few dwarfs.  I've heard more than a little grumbling about having to drink the same old grog all the time.  Down bellow our miner and mason have been working on more permanent accommodations.  So far we have nine smoothstone bedrooms complete with doors, cabinets, chests and beds (of course) in various states of completion.  I've also assigned our resident craftsdwarf to practice a bit of gem cutting using some semi-precious stones we found.

It's winter and the elves are here to trade.  They don't have much of value, but in the interests of diplomacy we offered some of our figurines in exchange for a bow and some arrows.  Spring can't come soon enough...