What's the best Dwarf Fortress-like game?

[Negocromn]

I've heard about tons of games but I have only played DF, RW and Prison Architect, if I have played another I dont remember it.

PA is pretty good but is almost not the same genre I feel, got bored kinda fast.

So, any game out there you feel it's in the same level or better than RW?

[Shinzy]

Only games I can think of are all more Dungeon Keeper-esque games

with some quick googling I found this list here
http://alternativeto.net/software/dwarf-fortress/

and most of the games on the list there are/seem quite enjoyable

[Listen1]

They say that Gnomoria is the closest thing you will find... but I didn't really enjoyed playing it. Felt too deorganized.

On the same genre, Rimworld is amazing, even without mods.

Other game that I really enjoyed was Clockwork Empire. But the learning curve is kind of rough, and I felt it a little unbalanced.

[NewJack]

Came here to post about Gnomoria...

[KillTyrant]

If the devs werent chicken crap, I would of recommended Towns. It had alot of potential before it was "released" as a finished product when its clearly still alpha.

[Noobshock]

Rimworld is currently the best all around.

[keylocke]

If the devs werent chicken crap, I would of recommended Towns. It had alot of potential before it was "released" as a finished product when its clearly still alpha.

yea, towns would've been great if they continued developing it and maybe get better graphics.

other suggestions would be :
-stone hearth : still in alpha
-timber and stone : still in alpha
-planet base :
-black & white : god game, but not entirely sandbox since it forces you to play on a campaign.

i forgot the others, but i think there's already a similar thread here with more complete lists.

[hoochy]

I'm never going to play Dwarf Fortress while it puts zero effort into its graphics. But it does seem to have the most gameplay OPTIONS of any such game. I hesitated to play Rimworld for many months because it looks like crap and I never understood how anyone could like such primitive graphics. I couldn't even make sense of the graphics and whatever the screenshots purported to be. It wasn't until I saw a youtube video of someone playing it and realizing it had decent gameplay and getting a basic understanding of what was actually being shown graphically that I eventually dived in, I am glad I did. However that will never apply to dwarf fortress because it has zero concept of graphics and real time positioning and near zero care for usability.

That being said the core Rimworld game is 1/5th the game it is with mods. If someone released Rimworld with the right mods I wouldn't even bother playing Rimworld anymore, it wouldn't even be a question. Rimworld with the right mods is like gold to lead comparison.

So if there was a better graphics version of Rimworld, or Dwarf Fortress, I have no doubt it would do extremely well simply because the graphics are a lot of the marketing. At this moment in time though, I think Rimworld with mods is clearly the best option you have for any such game, maybe any game, in general.

[Kluge]

Stone Hearth isn't too far off for "feel," I guess. That said, I didn't enjoy when I last played a few months ago.

It's a very small subgenre, I'd guess largely due to the lack of engines and assets already tailored for it. -And it's all mechanics-based. It's just mechanic after mechanic after mechanic being added, tweaked, sometimes removed... mountains of variables to keep track of. I can't think of any games which even come close to tracking as many variables as DF except maybe Rimworld (but it's still a distant second). Maybe Wall Street Raider comes in at third.

[Snownova]

I can't think of any games which even come close to tracking as many variables as DF

Try Cities Skylines where every citizen is individually tracked and simulated from birth to burial. Up to 1 million of them.

[mumblemumble]

I think the saddest part about blackandwhite,  is they dumped such an epic idea to make more fable games... Sigh.

This is why i dislike fable,  and lionhead, in a choice between a highly generic adventure game, and a god simulator,  they picked a higlyh generic  adventure game.

I also don't think you can get black and white to save on modern pcs... Shame,  doing siege with flaming boulders on towns was hilarious,  and the best way to spread belief .

[Negocromn]

I'm never going to play Dwarf Fortress while it puts zero effort into its graphics. But it does seem to have the most gameplay OPTIONS of any such game. I hesitated to play Rimworld for many months because it looks like crap and I never understood how anyone could like such primitive graphics. I couldn't even make sense of the graphics and whatever the screenshots purported to be. It wasn't until I saw a youtube video of someone playing it and realizing it had decent gameplay and getting a basic understanding of what was actually being shown graphically that I eventually dived in, I am glad I did. However that will never apply to dwarf fortress because it has zero concept of graphics and real time positioning and near zero care for usability.

That being said the core Rimworld game is 1/5th the game it is with mods. If someone released Rimworld with the right mods I wouldn't even bother playing Rimworld anymore, it wouldn't even be a question. Rimworld with the right mods is like gold to lead comparison.

So if there was a better graphics version of Rimworld, or Dwarf Fortress, I have no doubt it would do extremely well simply because the graphics are a lot of the marketing. At this moment in time though, I think Rimworld with mods is clearly the best option you have for any such game, maybe any game, in general.

I don't think all the investiment needed to make a game like dwarf fortress with good graphics would really pay off, maybe I guess. And, well, the chances of it not being a shallow and limited game commercial game would be even smaller.
DF is what it is because it has been in development for 14 years.

I also don't see how modded rimworld is 5 times better than vanilla. Some of the UI mods are really really good and should've been added to the core game long ago, but even without the functionality they provide the game is still very fun to play as it is. Can't think of any other "essential" mods.

[hoochy]

I'm never going to play Dwarf Fortress while it puts zero effort into its graphics. But it does seem to have the most gameplay OPTIONS of any such game. I hesitated to play Rimworld for many months because it looks like crap and I never understood how anyone could like such primitive graphics. I couldn't even make sense of the graphics and whatever the screenshots purported to be. It wasn't until I saw a youtube video of someone playing it and realizing it had decent gameplay and getting a basic understanding of what was actually being shown graphically that I eventually dived in, I am glad I did. However that will never apply to dwarf fortress because it has zero concept of graphics and real time positioning and near zero care for usability.

That being said the core Rimworld game is 1/5th the game it is with mods. If someone released Rimworld with the right mods I wouldn't even bother playing Rimworld anymore, it wouldn't even be a question. Rimworld with the right mods is like gold to lead comparison.

So if there was a better graphics version of Rimworld, or Dwarf Fortress, I have no doubt it would do extremely well simply because the graphics are a lot of the marketing. At this moment in time though, I think Rimworld with mods is clearly the best option you have for any such game, maybe any game, in general.

I don't think all the investiment needed to make a game like dwarf fortress with good graphics would really pay off, maybe I guess. And, well, the chances of it not being a shallow and limited game commercial game would be even smaller.
DF is what it is because it has been in development for 14 years.

I also don't see how modded rimworld is 5 times better than vanilla. Some of the UI mods are really really good and should've been added to the core game long ago, but even without the functionality they provide the game is still very fun to play as it is. Can't think of any other "essential" mods.

Well i think people play Rimworld for different reasons. I think mining is completely unbalanced in Rimworld so mods which add the ability for colonies to be more self sufficient are a necessity for me. The industry mods which completely fill out that part of it are essential for me too. The base game is just too simple in comparison. The power mods which add pathways to more advanced power systems. Proper health and bionic systems. Much better growing options. The mods basically complete the game, make it from an Alpha to finished quality, and beyond, in my opinion.

I just can't play the base game of Rimworld for very long I guess, but Rimworld with mods just keeps me coming back. Not because the mods keep changing, but simply because the mods give you so many more options to experiment with in the game world. You think "What if I try that instead" and then 3 days later you realize you've blown your time.

But I understand that many people love the base game and have different opinions. The only reason I look forward to any new official work is to fix the bugs in the game and give mods more options, because I get the feeling the real content is going to come from mods and not the main game.

[Justas love]

It's not the same genre, but Europa Universalis V is very good

[Simon_The_Space_Engineer]

im going to be very blunt here, its a super fun and sadly not as well known as it deserves to be (current community is already awesome though) colony sim game called rimworld, heres the link.

http://rimworldgame.com/