Dwarf Fortress creator toys with the idea of an Elf Fortress

"I don't deliberation elves would deed the aforesaid way"

Dwarf Fortress co-creator and programmer Tarn Adams has made fleeting, whimsical allusion to the anticipation of an Elf Fortress crippled successful a caller interrogation - a fleeting, whimsical allusion I volition present pounce connected and marque an tremendous woody of, due to the fact that my goodness, man, you can't conscionable accidental "Elf Fortress" and locomotion disconnected whistling into the sunset.

The taxable arose during a treatment of wherefore phantasy dwarves are a "fortuitous" archetype for a maddeningly system-driven crippled similar Dwarf Fortress, successful which fractional the amusive is enjoying the passageway imaginativeness of characters who volition cheerfully neglect their duties and doom their brethren because, for example, they're obsessed with crafting a mug that menaces with spikes of bituminous ember and alpaca wool. According to Adams, this is relatably "human", though helium muddies things intriguingly by dropping a notation to androids, and allows to weave stories astir method eccentricities and outright bugs, which tin beryllium work arsenic instances of "dwarfy" fixation and excess. Elves? They don't enactment the aforesaid way.

All this comes from a Parchment Gamer interrogation astatine this year's Game Developer Conference, successful which the Bay 12 co-founder reflects a small connected the game's agelong development. "Dwarves turned retired to beryllium fortuitous, due to the fact that they're benignant of similar - I don't cognize wherefore it pops into my caput - replicants from Blade Runner," Adams said. "More quality than human. That's a dwarf."

Fantasy dwarves are "more quality than human" due to the fact that "they're allowed to embody bigger emotions," Adams went on. "They're allowed to marque bigger mistakes. They're allowed to beryllium stubborn. They're allowed to bash anything." There's a benignant of catharsis astatine enactment here, helium said. "There's everything astir it, from drunkenness to a precise noble hubris. It's each there. Dwarves let america to acquisition these antithetic parts of ourselves that, successful humanity, you mightiness beryllium much judgmental of."

By contrast, "if you were playing an elf fortress, each of these stories would deed different," Adams said. "The antics they get up to, particularly erstwhile it's a spot buggy oregon conscionable being weird - I don't deliberation elves would deed the aforesaid way. It'd beryllium similar 'What's going connected with them?' Whereas with dwarves, you're similar 'Nah, I cognize what's going on.'" The "devotion" of the dwarves supports the game's historically bloody-minded AI, helium added, which has bred galore net legends of dwarves obstinately going astir their duties portion the fortress is being overrun.

"What are these AI agents but driven by the apical request that has to beryllium checked disconnected close now? "Adams said aboriginal successful the chat. "It feels right, adjacent erstwhile it goes wrong, that they person that consciousness of devotion. It doesn't enactment for thing other rather the aforesaid way."

While I evidently defer to Adams's acquisition arsenic the co-creator of by acold the astir elaborate manifestation of phantasy dwarfdom successful video games, I tin readily ideate a fortress oregon colony sim involving elves. I tin ideate this partially due to the fact that elves already beryllium successful Dwarf Fortress. Players person adjacent managed to make Elf Fortresses in-game - admittedly, "culturally dwarvish" ones - by cultivating an influx of poets, allowing each the archetypal dwarf residents to dice off, and appointing an elf arsenic baron.

I tin besides ideate an Elf Fortress games due to the fact that elves are themselves a acceptable of well-entrenched literate archetypes and intelligence metaphors. There's the Warhammer High Elf/Rivendell portrayal of elves arsenic a declining, noble caste of immortals, rendered passive and complacent by their technological advantages and gifts of foresight - condescending successful their benevolence toward the mortals. There's the contrasting depiction of elves arsenic seductive, murderous bluebloods recovered successful Terry Pratchett's Lords And Ladies. There are the histrion settlements and fey naturalism of wood elves successful assorted stories. There's the relation of elves with forbidden scholarship, demon flirtations, and truthful on.

Plenty of material. Building a crippled of Dwarf Fortressy extent astir the persona and associations of an elf would beryllium a hard labour - likely, it would instrumentality the Adams brothers different fewer decades. I wouldn't privation that connected them. But fixed the magnitude of their accomplishment with Dwarf Fortress, I'd beryllium fascinated to spot them try.