Dwarf Fortress has a new soundtrack, including Dwarven lyrics

From Slave to Armok, Chapter II by God of BloodMore commonly, it is known as Dwarf FortressIt has been inherently ugly its whole life. Some find the ASCII art charming, but for my money the game’s best feature is its soundtrack — a pair of Flamenco-inspired guitar riffs performed by co-creator Tarn Adams. But that music won’t be included in the new version, being produced in partnership with Kitfox. It will replace it with a 15-song, fully produced soundtrack. The music will also include the first-ever hearing of the dwarves sing in their native language.

YouTube made the announcement Wednesday, and Zach Adams and Tarn Adams were looking into the camera happily. The effort was led by Omar “Dabu” Dabbous, a musician, sound designer, and audio director at Ko_Op Mode. He’s joined by South African musician Simon Swerwer, whose first Dwarf FortressThe album was inspired by the Holocaust and released in 2012.

Music fans have added other songs to their playlists Dwarf Fortress in the past, including Swerwer’s work, which is part of the popular Soundsense mod. However, the recordings sound richer and are more complete. You can expect the soundtrack to become an album soon.

Of course, if you’ve got a hankering for that old-school vibe, know that the original songs will continue to be available in the ASCII version of the game at the Bay 12 Games website. They are also available on Polygon.