How Two People Created Gaming’s Most Complex Simulation System

This Dwarf Fortress documentary details the development of the indie management simulation video game Dwarf Fortress and goes behind the scenes of its creation. Discover more about its two creators Tarn and Zach Adams. From a very young age, Tarn and Zach’s dad taught them the basics of coding and this led to the brothers creating about 400 games in the BASIC programming language. They were inspired by tabletop RPGs such as Dungeons & Dragons and Cyberpunk 2020, as well as many roguelike games from the eighties such as Hack, Rogue, Larn and Ragnarok. When Tarn and Zach were 12 and 14 respectively, they started developing their very first fantasy game that would eventually evolve into Dwarf Fortress.

References:

Script written by Anine Van de Ryck.

Outro song: Thank You R.G.E. - Joe Bagale

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[jonathanlebon]

I had no idea.
I love how they fully take responsibility in continuing the project rather than try to chase the next dragon. It's that type of dedication to a game that the whole gaming industry has mostly lost sight of these days.
I'm new to DF, but glad I discovered it.

[OfficiallySnek]

Bro literally decided to program *everything* into a video game

[TheKyubiisaan]

I’ve never taken a deep dive into this game. But the drunk cat bug just sold a copy. Because that’s brilliant. They created a world so complex, so detailed, that it simulated a real life problem no one saw coming. That is the stroke of a genius.

[psycheisssdelic]

i think its beautiful that 2 brothers basically spent their lives working on a project they created together. truly a game of a lifetime. not just a game but a work of art

[twomur_]

The way you adapt your video editing style to the games you talk about is really cool!

[Lobotomistmankyeh]

dwarf fortress should be remembered by future historians with as much prestige as something like the Illiad or the epic of gilgamesh. not just because the game itself is a unique and truly wonderful expression of human thought, but because of the story of these two brothers who are pouring their entire lives into a true magnum opus. long live the toady one and threetoe!

[salfordsal]

Oh my gosh, I hadn’t considered myself to be part of Dwarf Fortress history! I did a double take when I saw myself there lol

[nttx]

I remember playing this game with someone wayyy back on some random LAN party and I thought to myself "what a weird game, you have basically no idea what is happening, you do basically 3 actions per minute and you have to google constantly". Haven't played it after that much, and definitely didn't knew it had such a huge backstory to it. But also partly because of DF, I now love games like Rimworld, Factorio, Terraria and other similar dig and explore adventures. This game is absolutely legendary, and as a hobby programmer, I love the fact that even the developer itself sometimes doesn't know what features are in the game. Thank you Tarn and Zachm and Glen for reminding me about its existence and beautifully edited video

[Cpruett]

The moment I saw that they had a steam page I saved over $100 to buy it not only for myself but finally get friends that didn't want to lean the keyboard controls and hated the UI to see the game for the awesomeness I saw it as. Two of them are now going crazy that they're real world knowledge works for certain issues but then get to laugh when the game reminds you it's a game with odd not world logic.

[aa-txth]

"every year around christmas their donations would increase"

my heart. lol they thought of game developers theyve never met for christmas.

tarn and zach are leaving the world a far far better and more fun place than in which they came into it.

[Dieselnaut]

Even though I don't know how to play Dwarf Fortress (my base is basically a rotten hole in a hill) I still absolutely love this game and I'm glad you made a video about it!

[erasmus_locke]

That dead cat bug is crazy detailed and hilarious

[SleepyMatt-zzz]

I never played much of Dwarf fortress, that being said, I did buy the steam version just out of respect for the two brothers. This game is a work of art, and people like this deserve our support.

[Jack-lgzk]

Amazing work Glen, you gave this indie story the documentary it deserves. I particularly enjoyed the ASCII graphics incorporated throughout the video. I think this may be my favourite indie story yet!

[devyn]

Tarn probably the biggest chad on earth. Spends his whole life making a single video game. No wife, only dwarf fortress. True man of focus and determination.

[twomur_]

Oh my god I absolutely love this game and the story behind it so the fact that you made a a video about it is amazing!! So much passion from the devs and such an awesome community that surrounds this game!

[andeluvianspeeddemon]

7:02 If anyone wonders, the longest development history of any computer game is Unreal World, a survival roguelike inspired by Iron Age Finland and ancient Finnish mythology. It has been in development since 1992.

[valhaimerdbloodsmith]

It is amazing to think the game development was very literal to even the most micro-functions of the game. The brothers did an epic job. Simply inspiring.

[PotatoGodzilla]

I have been in the roguelike community for 11 years now and I can definitely say that this will be forever my favorite game.

[justamicrowave]

This is like when you start programming by trying to make a whole game you have mapped out in your head with complex systems, but instead of giving up after a single line of code breaks, you actually do it.