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What do you use to view Dwarf Fortress?

The enlightened third eye: Monoscii master race
The acceptable red pill:      Vanilla DF tilesets
Graphical blue pill (why):    Sprite tilesets (casuals pls go)
3Dpiggudisgusting:            Isometric viewers (it's practically farmville)

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Author Topic: Beyond quality: Monoscii  (Read 32690 times)

Loud Whispers

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Beyond quality: Monoscii
« on: March 29, 2015, 05:53:38 pm »


In the argument between vanilla tileset users and sprite tileset users (pointless since we know vanilla users are almost right and tileset users certainly wrong), vanilla often trumps with some very good arguments. No time need be spent making sprites for an infinite myriad of beasties, imagination paints greater pictures than pixels ever will. Information of an immense scale is condensed, yet not impenetrable - it's like looking into the matrix and somehow being able to distinguish at will what is a bridge, what is a walled off level and what is a cat falling on a goblin at terminal velocity. And naturally, vanilla is sweet, sweet vanilla.

So perhaps it is best that we distill the vanilla tileset to create the abomination that is this, to maximize DF immersion and player enjoyment. Toady pls implement streamline grafix.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

With Monoscii I can watch the opening cutscene at blistering gorillion*1080p. Look at that beauty.

But enough with the next-gen graphics of Monoscii, more on streamlining UI. I believe Monoscii will make this game more accessible to newbies because the UI will be so streamlined it's practically 2D ez to navigate.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The UI literally being 2D lines certainly helps. Here I am navigating the menu to create a new world, before it would take me days just to find the right submenu!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Worldgen is immaculately simple too. I didn't have to worry about rejections or finding the perfect world, I merely rolled my face over my keyboard and hit [esc] when all the lights stopped blinking. If it wasn't a perfect world, tough luck, DF is hardcore (inability to distinguish between biomes removes frustration at dodgy worlds).

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And just look at that! If you ask me, that's the best representation of a forest and river I've ever bloody seen in a video game, fuck you EA. You can easily make out the wagon, the 7 Dwarves and the tree trunks scattered across the grassy plains. Fucking gorgeous.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Dwarves cutting down trees and gathering plants - look at the terrible damage they have wreaked on the local ecology, elves avert your eyes. It's necessary if they are to build shelter and gather supplies before winter strikes. Monoscii easily allows me to plan ahead with my deforestation industry, I swear Monoscii has practically allowed me to develop Pollarding and Coppicing for my Dwarves.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

All is not hunky dory in Dorf land, I had accidentally embarked on a spooky lair inhabited by a spooky woman of the night.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I feel it's cheap to lock an inhabitant in their own home, but if it's in Monoscii then it's permissable. All's fair in love and mono.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And of course Monoscii is perfect for all those who love absolute symmetry, no longer will you have to fear for stray arrowbolts or corpses ruining your planned obelisk of OCD compulsion - here are the digging plans for my farms. What they will grow, only Monoscii will know.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And of course, the stockpiles through which my lazy idlers are piling up booze and socializing instead of working. I'd throw them in the river if the Monoscii would not end my game in retribution.

Really, you shouldn't ask yourself why you should throw away vanilla or sprite tilesets. You should ask yourself why not. Monoscii is clearly the only tileset that isn't for filthy casuals. Once you go Monoscii you can never be free... Of the ignorance of a world without Monoscii.

Pancakes

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Re: Beyond quality: Monoscii
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2015, 05:58:31 pm »

Beyond quality is appropriate, although the symbol for dwarf should look more... alcoholic.
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Loud Whispers

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Re: Beyond quality: Monoscii
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2015, 06:04:15 pm »

Beyond quality is appropriate, although the symbol for dwarf should look more... alcoholic.
Doublescii is unfortunately 95% Herescii and 5% Haemogoblin.

Orange Wizard

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Re: Beyond quality: Monoscii
« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2015, 06:04:40 pm »

I love your work.
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Crashmaster

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Re: Beyond quality: Monoscii
« Reply #4 on: March 29, 2015, 06:18:49 pm »

What, no download link? C'mon.

TheFlame52

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Re: Beyond quality: Monoscii
« Reply #5 on: March 29, 2015, 06:24:00 pm »

I lol'd, 10/10

Loud Whispers

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Re: Beyond quality: Monoscii
« Reply #6 on: March 29, 2015, 06:29:33 pm »

m-logik

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Re: Beyond quality: Monoscii
« Reply #7 on: March 29, 2015, 08:06:40 pm »

I like featureless irregular polygons as much as the next guy, but I can't bring myself to stoop to this level of casualness. Real hardcore players unplug their monitor.
Lights out anascii mustard rice reporting.
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AceSV

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Re: Beyond quality: Monoscii
« Reply #8 on: March 29, 2015, 08:11:52 pm »

The next logical step is to forego the big blockish rectangle and just make each glyph a single pixel.  You could see your entire fortress all at once. 
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could God in fact send a kea to steal Excalibur and thereby usurp the throne of the Britons? 
Furry Fortress 3 The third saga unfurls.  Now with Ninja Frogs and Dogfish Pirates.

utunnels

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Re: Beyond quality: Monoscii
« Reply #9 on: March 29, 2015, 08:24:27 pm »

In theory, if you give each ascii character a different color, you can read them...
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The troglodyte head shakes The Troglodyte around by the head, tearing apart the head's muscle!

Risen Asteshdakas, Ghostly Recruit has risen and is haunting the fortress!

Afghani84

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Re: Beyond quality: Monoscii
« Reply #10 on: March 29, 2015, 09:16:04 pm »

In theory, if you give each ascii character a different color, you can read them...
but what about the colorblind?  :-[
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Orange Wizard

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Re: Beyond quality: Monoscii
« Reply #11 on: March 29, 2015, 10:00:57 pm »

In theory, if you give each ascii character a different color, you can read them...
but what about the colorblind?  :-[
We must cater to them by offering a tileset that is nothing but black squares.
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Please don't shitpost, it lowers the quality of discourse
Hard science is like a sword, and soft science is like fear. You can use both to equally powerful results, but even if your opponent disbelieve your stabs, they will still die.

Insert_Gnome_Here

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Re: Beyond quality: Monoscii
« Reply #12 on: March 30, 2015, 04:21:00 am »

Monitors! What is this casual gaming heresy?

Some people claim that they are real hardcore players just because they play by reading and writing punched cards, but even that is somewhat casual. The true way to read DF output is to touch voltmeter leads to the relevant dekatron pins you are using and determine in this way what the internal state of the program is.

The first person to play DF on the Analytical Engine gets *so* many internets.
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Quote from: Max™ on December 06, 2015, 04:09:21 am
Also, if you ever figure out why poets/bards/dancers just randomly start butchering people/getting butchered, please don't fix it, I love never knowing when a dance party will turn into a slaughter.

Loud Whispers

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Re: Beyond quality: Monoscii
« Reply #13 on: March 30, 2015, 05:46:34 am »



So on suggestion I made the new version of Monoscii which has every tile be 1 pixel, the entire map nearly fits into the screen just fine. Monoscii Lite is superior in every way, the information is denser, crisper and cleaner. pUrists will finally be one step closer to the most pUrist DF possible. Now all I need to do is create Monoscii Monochrome (One pixel, one colour, functionally just a black screen) and Monosciizophrenia, which is DF so hardcore it can only be accessed through your brain while you're in a catatonic/meditative/vegetative state.
I imagine it will look a little like this:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Before and after casual mode:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Note that the one on the left has been zoomed out to the maximum, the one on the right has only been zoomed out once (and even then only misses 1/8th of the map without zoom).


Here is what it looks like normally, by default with no fullscreen. Here the Dwarves are being managed from the units screen, idlers being selected for carpentry duty.


The Dwarves are setting up a palisade around the camp. It's a quiet, happy affair. Some wild pixels were successfully scared away from the Fortress walls.


The Palisade unfortunately doesn't hold up to a goblin ambush. No survivors. Dwarf Fortress is a harsh game, you must take your Fun and eat it.

Naryar

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Re: Beyond quality: Monoscii
« Reply #14 on: March 30, 2015, 06:43:09 am »

what
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