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Tabletop, DnD, board games, and minecraft. Also Animal Crossing.

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Hello everyone. Hope you all have had a good week and have been able to unwind this weekend. This week I've been playing more Morrowind. I've reached a nice point of tension release where I have finished a couple of Guild quest lines, meaning for the first time my journal is getting smaller instead of stuffed with quests. Anyway, I hope you all have a good week!

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It's Fortress Friday! Today we wait for me to finish my turn and for control of the game to pass on to @gay_king_prince_charles@hexbear.net (please confirm), with the following players waiting for a chance to leave their mark on Dwarven history.

  1. (Beginning Feb. 20) @gay_king_prince_charles@hexbear.net

  2. (Beginning Feb. 27) @booty@hexbear.net

  3. (Beginning Mar. 6) @Oreb@hexbear.net

  4. (Beginning Mar. 13) @PorkrollPosadist@hexbear.net

New players are encouraged to apply in this thread. All players and spectators are welcome to load up the save and see what's going on first hand.

Lore

How to play

Importing the save

Dwarf Fortress saves are not stored in a single file. They are stored as named directories containing over a thousand individual data files. In order to load the game, you need to download a zipped archive of the save and place it in your Dwarf Fortress save directory. This directory can be located in a number of places depending on which OS you are using and what settings you have enabled.

If Portable mode is enabled (not default), the save directory will be located in the same directory as dwarfort / dwarfort.exe. If you are using Steam with the default locations, these are:

On Linux: ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Dwarf Fortress/save

On Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Dwarf Fortress\save

This directory might exist, even if Portable mode is turned off (default), but in that case it will be ignored by the game. Instead, save files are stored somewhere in your user directory.

On Linux: ~/.local/share/Bay 12 Games/Dwarf Fortress/save

On Windows: %AppData%\Roaming\Bay 12 Games\Dwarf Fortress\save

Extract the FFSeason1 directory from the archive and place it inside of the appropriate save directory, then you should see it after starting the game.

Stopping the clock

By using a combination of the "Autosave Frequency" (any setting as long as it is not "Off") and "Pause after every autosave" options, you can cause the game to pause at the exact moment the calendar ticks over to 1st Granite (the first day of the year).

After the game pauses, you still have the opportunity to do a couple minor things, like designating blueprint tiles to label hazards, noteworthy sources of material, or leaving graffiti. You can also rename stockpiles and rooms, etc. before writing the final save. You should avoid doing anything that will substantially change the behavior of the fort or generate labor tasks (like creating / removing stockpiles, changing which items are allowed to be stored in stockpiles, enabling / disabling standing orders, creating new work orders, or designating new rooms / meeting areas). Military schedules often change at the start of a season (e.g. the "staggered training" preset). This is fine.

Any blueprints left are merely suggestions. The next player is free to ignore them. If you wanted something built there, you should have microed your miners better :P

Exporting the save

When Dwarf Fortress creates auto-saves, or if you use the "save and continue playing" feature, Dwarf Fortress will write these saves to an alternate directory (e.g. autosave1 or pull the lever). When you finish your turn, you need to use the "Save and return to title menu" option and choose "Save to this timeline." You need to do this even though the game just created an auto-save. This will write the save back to the FFSeason1 directory, which you can then place in a zip archive and submit.

Making your submission.

Save files can be e-mailed to fortress-friday@matapacos.dog ahead of time. Some e-mail services (like Gmail) prohibit sending large enough attachments, but if it works on your end, it should work on mine. Otherwise, the file may need to be hosted using a third-party service. Dwarf Fortress File Depot is the canonical service for this (they have a category specifically for community games), but any service which doesn't require me to create an account or jump through flaming hoops is acceptable. Currently (as of Episode 3), the compressed save is about 58MB. It won't get any smaller with time.

Alternately, submissions can be made as a reply to the following week's Fortress Friday post, which will be posted in anticipation of a submission. This thread will be posted and used to coordinate the game and get the proper files into the hands of the next player regardless of if the anticipated turn was completed.

Whether or not the file was transferred in advance, The player who just completed their turn should make a top-level comment in this thread describing noteworthy events of their turn. You are encouraged (but not required) to roleplay and continue to spin a fantasy narrative out of it, but you don't need to write us a Tolkien novel - especially if you are pressed for time and have other shit to worry about. This shouldn't feel like a homework assignment.

My initial submission will be excessive because I am also covering the results of world-generation, the historical circumstances of the civilization we chose, and the embark. Subsequent posts will mostly be focused on chronicling events in Fortress Mode. You are absolutely not expected to export the world history and spend hours dicking around in Legends Viewer spinning up backstories for every minor goblin who gets turned into dog food.

What if a turn is not completed / running late?

If you anticipate not being able to complete your turn, just let us know (the sooner, the better) so we can make adjustments. Shit pops up. There are more important things in life than a stupid game. We won't be mad at you.

In case Fortress Friday rolls around and there is no submission, Tentatively, I think we give the player 24 hours to actually make their post before we start openly contemplating passing to the next player, followed by another 24 hours to find out which of the next players is actually available. So if there is no update by mid-Saturday, we find another candidate, and if there is no word by mid-Sunday, they are given the green light to play.

What if a turn is completed early?

You can tease us (it's reassuring to know progress is being made), but hold on to your spoilers until Fortress Friday. I think keeping this thing on a regular schedule will do a lot to keep everybody looking forward to updates and keeping things organized. If anticipation is eating away at you, try to fill in some lore and backstory.

Rules

There are not many hard rules, but generally

  • You play for one year in-game time. Turns should begin and end on 1st Granite.

  • Avoid using blatant exploits (the game is built of cheese, so this is sort of like the pornography rule, "you know it when you see it.") Things like perpetual motion machines or material duplication schemes should be shunned. Some things classified as exploits, like "atom smashers" should be fine as long as their applications aren't egregious.

  • Try not to save-scum (Do save though. Crashes happen, and named "save and continue" saves won't clutter the main save).

  • You are free to use DFHack, but do not use any of it's "Armok" (god-mode) features. Also, try to keep it modest. The fort shouldn't fail catastrophically if the next player doesn't have DFHack installed.

EDIT: Sorry for the ping @Moonworm@hexbear.net although you're still welcome to rejoin.

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Blue Spheres was always annoying to me as a kid, I still really struggle with it on replays as an adult. Maybe I should learn to love it more.

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You play as a Secretary of Armament in a fictional long-1930s scenario, where a nondescript world war is raging and you must decide how to outfit the troops. You have a certain amount of different materials and access to the labor of a certain number of workshops, and must choose to allocate that labor between tasks, while also deciding on doctrines that maximize the advantage of the equipment and minimize it's flaws. The key things you must do it

  • Produce gear and research new patterns and designs

-Procure and refine raw materials

-Adjust your tactics to make the most of your equipment and minimize casualties

These factors, along with the situation on the front(s), will determine your choices. When outfitting assault troops, what type of armor offers the most reasonable protection for the least weight, material and labor? Or do you give the shock troops really nice armor at the expense of your line troops? Do you issue plated greaves to lower the number of lost legs, or do you stick to leather boots to keep mobility higher in the mud? Perhaps you can split the difference with a lightweight scaled leather boot that saves resources by using the small metal clippings left over from other processes, but then again, is more labor-intensive than just strapping on one big plate? What pattern of helmet do you use, and why? Can you afford the metal to issue frontliners with protective faceplates? Can you really afford not to, when lost eyes mean an experienced soldier is wasted? What pattern of helmets do you issue, and what's the ratio of weight/metal used/percentage of casualties prevented? How cautious or aggressive are your tactics, and can you get away with less expensive armor if you put more emphasis on fire support?

What kind of textiles are available to you, and how do you distribute them? Is it better to make everyone's uniform 20% fireproof, or would it make more sense to make specific troops 80% fireproof? What patterns of coat do you give out, and how do they fare in summer and winter? Make sure you save the breathable cotton for the desert troops and the insulating wool for the mountain regiments. Does your doctrine call for long movements? Better ensure everyone has a good capacity canteen, but not too big because ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain on the march. Do you have enough leather not to worry about gear, or will some people have to make do with cloth shoes and legwraps so that everyone can have a good belt? And what about build quality? Triple stitching and leather treatment may seem like overkill now, but if your gear pouches and harnesses can survive in the mud of no mans land long enough to be stripped from corpses and re-issued, it'll be a lot less work in the long run. Conversely, maybe you choose a uniform pattern that's a little less protective so that cloth can be saved to make more bandages. Even 5% more bandages produced over the course of the war means a lot of lives saved. Might that be worth a slight bump in temperature casualties? And what about gloves?

And that's not even getting into firearms. When an old rifle becomes obsolete, must you disassemble whole production lines, or can you find clever ways to repurpose them? Maybe do what the Soviets did in WW2, cut a rifle barrel in half to make two submachine gun barrels? That's certainly quicker, but how quick is too quick? Is it better for a squad to have two rock-solid smgs or four minimal ones? Again, maybe you can split the difference, using the cheaper weapons to fill out rear echelons and support units and free up the high quality stuff for the shock troops. But new weapons take time to train with, and do you have that kind of time? Might it be better to let an experienced unit keep their slightly obsolescent rifles that they've grown highly proficient with? For how long? Perhaps those fancy new artillery pieces can make up the difference, or the unit can be put into a low risk role while they get retrained. How stingy is too stingy when it comes to metal? You don't want a too-heavy gun, but you also don't want something flimsy enough to bend or open enough to get mud in it too easily. An overly heavy smg is less maneuverable in close combat, but make it too light and it will be hard to control on full auto, lowering the hit rate and costing you more ammo.

On and on, tradeoffs and adaptations, until you finally have a finely tuned and equipped fighting force just in time for the battlefield to change again. I'm inexperienced at game design stuff so the plus side of this is that it would mostly be programming rather than graphics or animations. Just a whole bunch of variables interacting with each other. Sounds like a nightmare to get the hang of, but maybe not too bad after. Anyway, that's my number two or three dream game idea.

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I'm addicted. Found out about it on NextFest.

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Highschool setting.

Cute mascot character that makes perverted jokes about the underage characters.

The super intelligent and capable rival character that is Machiavellian and treats the other characters like garbage but is still treated with respect and awe by the other characters because they're so smart and capable.

The characters are constantly repeating themselves and stating the obvious.

The deaths are so twisted like the Joker.

Transphobia.

"Women just don't understand male friendship!"

I don't like the artstyle. There's something "2010s ahegao hoodie" about it.

Anyway, this rant is 16 years late but I just wanted an excuse to talk about anime tropes that I hate.

bear-chill

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This is possibly one of the best videos he has put out and I was actually floored when I realized he was actually building up to comparing Bioshock and Rapture City to Zionism and Israel. I never would have made that connection in a million years (never played the game) and yet the way he works up to all but stating it while the images behind him fade to showing the destruction of Gaza hit like a fucking train.

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About Company:

Founded in 2012, Yotta Games dedicates itself to becoming a global developer and publisher of video games. Right from the start, we have created and published more than 10 games for mobile and web, and are serving 200 million players around the world.

Yotta Games performs well and is the top 10 in the overseas mobile game field. Based on the team’s powerful R&D strength and 3D marketing ability, we will always focus on producing and promoting games loved by worldwide players.

Job Details:

Responsibilities:

Responsibilities:

  1. Review and analyze game scripts and narratives to ensure they align with local language standards and cultural context;

  2. Identify and flag inappropriate expressions, cultural references, or content that may conflict with U.S. linguistic norms or social values;

  3. Collaborate with writers and development teams to provide constructive feedback and suggestions for necessary changes;

  4. Conduct research on American cultural nuances to inform content adjustments and narrative direction while preserving authenticity;

  5. Assist in the localization process to maintain narrative integrity and ensure language accuracy within U.S. cultural frameworks;

  6. Participate in playtesting to assess player experience and gather insights related to linguistic clarity and cultural relevance;

  7. Ensure adherence to industry standards for sensitive content and avoid misinterpretations due to U.S. regional language variations;

  8. Research and understand language variations in different English-speaking regions to ensure content accuracy, sound authentic, and avoid misinterpretations caused by these regional differences;

  9. Verify compliance with legal regulations regarding game content, including copyright and language-specific guidelines.

Qualifications:

Qualifications:

  1. Strong understanding of game narratives and scriptwriting, with a background in narrative design, localization, or script editing preferred;

  2. Bachelor’s degree in English, Creative Writing, Linguistics, Literature, Communications, or a related field preferred;

  3. Excellent command of American English, including slang, idioms, and regional dialects, in particular the LA area;

  4. Deep knowledge of U.S. cultural norms, social values, and linguistic practices;

  5. Detail-oriented mindset with a focus on identifying language inaccuracies, idiomatic mismatches, or culturally inappropriate phrasing;

  6. Familiarity with U.S. legal frameworks related to video game content, including copyright laws and language-specific regulations;

  7. Strong communication, interpersonal, organizational, and teamwork skills;

  8. Excellent writing skills for refining and clarifying narratives;

  9. Experience in the gaming industry is a plus;

  10. Knowledge of Chinese language is a plus.

  11. Knowledge of English language regional variations in other English-speaking countries a plus.

Benefit:

Additional Information

Job type: Full-time in-office position

Location: SHANGHAI, Loushanguan Rd Line 2 Metro Station

Work Visa: Provided

Salary: 15k-30k RMB (depending on experience)

Working hours: Monday to Friday 10am-7pm (including one-hour break)

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E: Forgot that blizz is a Microsoft company, which is massively complicit in the Palestinian genocide, so I'm boycotting and encourage others to play a better game aswell 🫶

What are your thoughts? Anyone still playing/diving in again/quiting?

Ain't played since Shadowlands launch and not kept up at all with the game but I hear it's been a relatively upward trend overall?

I've literally not seen a single screenshot or read more than the sentence "it's launching soon" about the new one, but I feel the calling deep in my bones.

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