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[mikekchar]

[...] is there any update on MacOS versions [...]

My guess: expect it to be months.

My reasoning:  About a month ago the Linux version was ready to be tested "tomorrow".... And then it appears that life circumstances have interfered (See the last monthly update).  We have to wait for family issues to stabilise (hoping for the best!).  Then there are two more trade shows, which will interfere with coordination.  Then I *guess* the Linux version will be going out *as long as there are no problems* (which I think is unlikely, so tack on another couple of weeks).  And *then* the Mac version can be *started*.

Even with all of those things said, priorities will also be an issue.  For better or worse, this is a programmer led project and as a fellow programmer you know what it means when project managers aren't really involved :-).  Both good things and bad things...  It's going to happen eventually, but honestly I just can't see it realistically happening quickly.  It's not that it's impossible, but to do so would mean really restructuring the way they are organising themselves and I don't see that happening.

[lethosor]

May I also softly hint that MacOS users comprise about a third of the market (I could find the source but that would be pedantic even for me) and that as MacOS has switched to ARM64/aarch64 it might be prudent to release a version for the mac and linux users on ARM? I know that I at least have not bought a copy yet as it doesn't run on my personal computer. Perhaps this is true for a significant number of people.

At least historically, DF users on Linux have far exceeded users on macOS. My understanding is that's part of the reason why Linux is being prioritized.

Many of the delays on Linux have been due to library issues. DF v50 on Windows recently upgraded to SDL2, but had also needed to upgrade FMOD for sound, upgraded to a new compiler for newer C++ features, and probably more that I am forgetting. Linux DF needed similar upgrades for modernization (and I believe an entirely new SDL_mixer backend for music was added), and those all have taken time. I expect macOS to face similar upgrades and delays.

Getting DF built on ARM will certainly add more work on its own - that has never been done before, and although the source code likely won't have to be changed, the build system almost certainly will need changes, and dependencies might as well. Hardware access is likely another big challenge - if Bay12 wants to test these builds themselves, they would need ARM hardware, and likely also newer x86 hardware to run x86 builds, since my understanding is that their previous Mac hardware is well past its EOL.

I've seen written by Putnam that it 'could be' as simple as pressing a button

I'm skeptical that this is the case, but it is true that once DF is compiling on Linux, getting it to compile on macOS has generally been pretty easy in the past. They have historically used the same compiler (GCC); new macOS builds might transition to Clang, but GCC and Clang typically behave much more similarly than GCC and MSVC (on Windows), so I expect building DF on macOS to be fairly straightforward once it's building on Linux. Getting it to run is another story, which is what I was getting at above.

[Silverwing235]

@Threetoe: What was/is the intended pronunciation of the diacritics in Dwarven, and the other relevant languages, if possible?

[mikekchar]

My understanding is that there was no intended pronunciation originally.  The wiki has suggested pronunciation here: https://www.dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Dwarven_language

[Silverwing235]

My understanding is that there was no intended pronunciation originally.  The wiki has suggested pronunciation here: https://www.dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Dwarven_language

Yes, it does have suggestions in its general scope, hence my original link.

[mikekchar]

Those diacritical meanings come from a reddit discussion, not ThreeToe.  Again, that's my memory of the situation.  It's a question that has come up before.  My memory is far from exemplary, though :-)  It's very possible I'm misremembering.

[Putnam]

At the risk of adding to a chorus, is there any update on MacOS versions. I've seen written by Putnam that it 'could be' as simple as pressing a button. An experienced developer myself I know this to be at the very least highly optimistic. However I would really love to know that it is too difficult to do rather than untried. May I also softly hint that MacOS users comprise about a third of the market (I could find the source but that would be pedantic even for me) and that as MacOS has switched to ARM64/aarch64 it might be prudent to release a version for the mac and linux users on ARM? I know that I at least have not bought a copy yet as it doesn't run on my personal computer. Perhaps this is true for a significant number of people.

It was intended as a perfect-world highly optimistic statement, yes. I expect it to take much longer, far longer. Like, once I get a setup I'm expecting it to take... well, longer than is reasonable. It could be a button press, but probably won't be, I get that, don't you worry.

[Bralbaard]

Maybe this has been discussed before, but I was wondering what the odds are that saves from the current version will be compatible with the future adventure mode release?

I'm currently doing some megaprojects that would be a lot of fun to explore in adventure mode (railroads over multiple embarks), but was wondering if I should build more of those, or if I should focus on other projects.

[Silverwing235]

It was intended as a perfect-world highly optimistic statement, yes. I expect it to take much longer, far longer. Like, once I get a setup I'm expecting it to take... well, longer than is reasonable. It could[/b] be a button press, but probably won't be, I get that, don't you worry.

...pardon me, couldn't help but notice the formatting bellyflop in the second sentence.

[Nihilich]

You mentioned the color-matching of cave floors to their stone types being distracting, and that got me thinking: what's up with rock layer generation?
I know in earlier versions of DF (40d?) that the rock generation - or at least the metal generation - used to be different. From a geological standpoint, the generation today is quite strange, with giant ovals of different rock stacking over each other like the biggest layer cake on earth, from the circus to the surface. With every map tile, you basically know what you'll always get: a base square of layer stone, a giant oval of a different layer stone in the middle, and zero to several ores zigging through it.

Why is it done this way? Is this rock gen a holdover from the 23a days or such? Any plans to model, like, igneous intrusion, plate tectonics, stratified rocks, with the rock-tiles themselves in-game? Do geologists ever send you letters? 

cheers, thanks for the game toady. you "rock" too.

[Eric Blank]

I would send him letters, but they would basically encompass an entire college textbook and would just be annoying. And yeah, the ore/mineral generation has been mostly unchanged for forever now, at least as far back as 2009, and ideas to improve on it have been mentioned during/after either or both myth & magic or the map rewrite.

I don't know of any games that accurately depict the geology, or biology, that you see in the real world. At least DF has ores showing up in the right geological environments, though, instead of something like biome dependencies.

I don't think plate tectonics is really a possibility, at least not for DF. Maybe it could be set up to draw plates, set whether boundaries are converging, diverging, subducting or passing, and generate mountain ranges where continental plates are colliding and rift valleys where they're pulling apart, and put volcanoes there and where one is subducting under the other. But simulating actual geologic history between plates would be, like, a whole program to itself. Like Universe Sandbox but for a single planet.

[Elbow]

But simulating actual geologic history between plates would be, like, a whole program to itself. Like Universe Sandbox but for a single planet.

Aw, how hard could... the mantle's fluid dynamics(?) be to model and simulate? 

[Lozzymandias]

Heya Toady

Hope you guys are doing alright.

Is there any plans to tighten up the needs system and make dwarfs a little better at satisfying their own needs if given the opportunity. There are good workarounds for everything but the 5 f's I believe: faith, family, friends, Food and... romance.

[Bumber]

There are good workarounds for everything but the 5 f's I believe: faith, family, friends, Food and... romance.

Pretty sure food is solved. They'll accept high quality meals in place of preferred ingredients. (Units that don't need to eat are still an issue.)

[Lozzymandias]

There are good workarounds for everything but the 5 f's I believe: faith, family, friends, Food and... romance.

Pretty sure food is solved. They'll accept high quality meals in place of preferred ingredients. (Units that don't need to eat are still an issue.)

Oh marvelous. I look forward to enjoying that fix soon as the linux port is done.