Dwarf Fortress Is Getting A New Visual Style Soon, And Here's A Map Example

Dwarf Fortress is getting a makeover ahead of its upcoming Steam release, ditching its ASCII style in favor of a tile system. Now, developer Bay 12 Games has posted a comparison picture to its website, showing the difference between the original ASCII version of a "medium" map and the same map rendered in the new style.

Dwarf Fortress originally released in 2006, and has been updated numerous times since. The two maps below show the most significant change to the game yet, though.

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"This is still in progress, and we have a lot of planned improvements around mountain peaks, river mouths, oceans, and just about everything else," the post reads, "but it's definitely come into its own as an image of the world that will work for fort mode, adventure mode, and legends mode alike."

The map will still be a grid, but the new art is certainly more pleasing to the eye than the old ASCII style.

Dwarf Fortress still does not have a Steam release date, but it seems that work on this version of the game is progressing.