DF does have very impressive depth and game mechanics. Unfortunately, its interface is one of the worst of any game I've ever played.
It's a pity that DF isn't open source either, as then its interface problems would have long since been fixed. But, as it is, its lead (and only) developer doesn't seem to care enough to fix it himself.
DF is the deepest game (really, toy, like SimCity; there's only one end state within the game and that's getting wiped out, and most of the rest of the game is very open ended) I have ever played which pairs it with a terrible interface and a learning curve like a brick wall (no joke, I only figured out how to get doctors to take medical jobs promptly a few weeks ago after playing the game for months). The DF interface problems aren't just that it's console oriented; there's no straightforward way absent external tools (which I generally can't have, because I play on a Mac) to get a list of e.g. which dwarves have a certain labor enabled, or which dwarves have skill levels in a certain labor. Also the way the game is played today is very stuff intensive which means you tend to have between a quarter and up to half of your fort on full time crap hauling duties.
> By and large, 2D should be the most reliable, while STANDARD has a good combination of speed and reliability. However, all 2D modes are normally fa r slower than even STANDARD, which may be the slowest OpenGL mode.
It is indeed. However:
> Linux/OS X users may also use PRINT_MODE:TEXT for primitive ncurses output.
I think he's said it's on his to-do list, but he wants to add more 'cool' stuff first. Also you can get tools like dwarf therapist which take some of the pain out of managing the UI.
