Dwarf Fortress is one of those truly hardcore PC gaming experiences that's depth is almost impossible to find anywhere else. There's a lot of games that take a lot of getting into and have a steep, steep difficulty curve, but Dwarf Fortress is one that has frustrated and delighted gamers for years now. Chances are though, what with a new patch to play with, gamers will once again try and build a fortress and wonder what the hell they're doing.
In this new patch, the world will retain its ever changing nature that until now only occurred in its generation. All those births, deaths, kingdoms rising and falling and populations doing the same, that happened when you were making your world, will now happen all the time. While megabeast invasions aren't included in this ever evolving world, monsters and tribes will wander in and out of your territory, and marriages will take place too, keeping bloodlines flowing in the world you've generated.
Fortresses can now be retired too. If you get to a point where you've had enough with your kingdom, you can retire it and migrate somewhere new. This means you can return to it one day if you so choose, but you'll probably need to retake it as a great fortress is never going to be dormant for long.
One big feature too is a rumour system, which will give you word of what's going on in this now ever-changing world. This can keep you updated on what's happening out and about, but can also lead to disruption of your Dwarves' lives, or outbreaks of fear if certain things should happen nearby. You could of course kill everyone who saw it though and things may progress smoothly after that.
The plan moving forward is to address any bugs that this new patch has created. However, since so much was rewritten for this update, many long-standing ones may have been fixed as part of it, so the creators want you to let them know if you spot any good ones.
For a full changelog and update list, head to the official page here.
Image source: XRWN
