Dwarf Fortress’ new pixel artist is crushing it

Dwarf FortressBay 12 Games’ complex colony simulation, ”, has been given a major facelift. Today, developers released new sprites that tease more about the game’s animal characters. Neoriceisgood is the pixel artist who appears to have done a great job.

Having been developing Dwarf FortressTarn Adams, Zack Adams have been joining Kitfox since 2003 for medical benefits. The announcement was accompanied by a refreshed tile set that began the hard work of replacing the game’s multicolor ASCII art with delicate, pixelated sprites. While the art department has seen some turnover over the years, back-end systems like mouse support and revised menus are being hammered into shape. But, things seem to be starting to click.

Image by Bay 12 Games/Kitfox Games

“The mysterious animal people have come to your fortress to seek you out, some for amusement, others… for revenge!” wrote Zach Adams in a newsletter on Wednesday. “They come from the world’s wild places in all shapes and sizes. If you decide to allow outsiders into your pubs, they will find you. These people could come for entertainment, or they may be looking to work. Some might be adventurers seeking danger, others may be poets or scribes.”

Animal people can also take part in the game’s Adventure Mode, allowing you to create a JRPG-style party and journey through the game’s massive, procedurally generated worlds — a bit like if The Oregon TrailThey were to be placed somewhere in Middle-earth.

Zach Adams noted that each of the images shows new animal people-sprites by Neoriceisgood. There are nearly 200 new sprites within the hopper. The May image is the one at the top.

How soon will you be able to see the graphic version? Dwarf FortressBe available for public consumption “Time is subjective” says the Steam page — something we’ve all come to realize over the last few years, I assure you. Bay 12 seems to have been ahead of everyone else in 2019, when it came to that philosophical morsel.

Dwarf FortressIt is free to download from the Bay 12 Games site. There is also a Patreon page for the studio. Although no release date has been set for Steam, you can still add the item to your wishlist.