Yes I am [was] a DF player. I am still waiting for the new version to be released. It's an awesome game, but oh boy...the development is hellish slow.

Btw, while we are talking about DF...I used to be a regular poster on the official DF forum, but I abandoned it months ago, because it's getting totally FUBAR imo. I blame it on the new posters actually. The old DF community was decent, but in the last 2 years, the overall quality of the official forum is on downhill. Anyone else have noticed this?

[PS. I think that most of the posters @ Something Awful would agree...]

*off*

http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=28477.0

the graphics put me off from playing it, a bit hard to tell whats what.

Just redefine the keybindings, there's an option for that somewhere in the menus. If you can't find that one, edit data\init\interface.txt ( looking for SECONDSCROLL_UP and _DOWN entries ).

stardock might not since they don't want to buyout everyone.

Haha, yeah...but Toady is a quite special person you know. Either way, Dwarf Fortress v1.0 would be the best strategy/RPG game ever, that is for sure.

I found a possible solution for you. There's a "Complete and Utter Newby Tutorial" which had a link to a packaged version of dwarf fortress (a couple of updates old, but it works) that also includes a graphics set (so you aren't just staring at punctuation marks the whole time) and a dwarf task manager. I ended up not using the numpad at all with that version, since alt+up/down arrow controls the sub-menus instead of the +/-. I just remapped the z axis movement keys from the default settings. I don't know if I wasn't using the numpad because of a different key configuration or because the tutorial didn't mention it, though, so maybe you don't need the other version.

Relevant quote, I think:

Also, on the embarkation screen, alt+down arrow makes a skill/inventory item go up, for some reason (I think). That might be your real problem. Hope that helped! Let me know if you have more trouble.

Yeh, tilesets are good to have. Hopefully Toady will work on the Presentation Arc soon enough -> gfx/text separation + interface improvements.

I play DF, check the dev updates daily, and post somewhat regularly on the forums. It ate my entire summer break because it is simply that awesome. Currently though I haven't played it in a few months since I don't want to get too burned out right before the next amazingly epic release. Over a year and a half of Tarn Adams dev time in the update.

As for graphics, I personally think they would detract from the overall feel of the game. The game thrives on imagination and emergent storytelling, neither of which have as much leeway when the graphics are crysis-like. IMO anyone who is put off by the graphics needs to re-look their gaming philosophy: do you want the latest shinies which you will toss in a month or incredibly deep gameplay which will last for years? Also, read the Hall of Legends stories. My personal favorite: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=15572.0 as well as the more infamous Boatmurdered: http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/Boatmurdered/

The learning curve is more of a learning cliff face, but after a week without closing the wiki, you will get the hang of it to the point where eventually you will have the hotkeys memorized for most tasks. In general the UI sucks and really doesn't do the rest of the game justice. But once you get over that fact and learn to live with it, you will have an awesome time making cat biscuits, building magma cannons, tossing goblins off a 10 story tower into a 20 story pit, and depressed homicidal dwarves who send your fortress spiraling into oblivion. And remember, the game's motto is "Losing is Fun."

On a side note, the Creative Projects sub-forum is crawling with programmers and/or people who love insanely detailed games, and as such is always full of win. Including of course my own little thread detailing my exploits while teaching myself DirectX 9 http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=47915.0 

Edit from a day after initial post: YAY!!! Early test version of DF2010 to be released next week! And although as buggy as the first iteration of a Stardock Beta, it shall be quite fun to play.

I currently can't play dwarf fortress because of how I anticipate how awesome the version after it will be.

Any useful link about it?

By the way, give me a "visual" version of this game, with a proper mouse support, GUI, and so on, and I will be an happy gamer for YEARS.