When comparing Battle for Wesnoth vs Dwarf Fortress, the Slant community recommends Battle for Wesnoth for most people. In the question“What are the best games on Linux?” Battle for Wesnoth is ranked 21st while Dwarf Fortress is ranked 40th. The most important reason people chose Battle for Wesnoth is:
Easily one of the most beautiful FOSS TBS games around.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Great graphics
Easily one of the most beautiful FOSS TBS games around.
Pro Endless replayability
A large assortment of maps, classes, units and campaigns. Community addons available ingame for download, as well as a random map generator.
Pro The strategy for individual campaigns really forces you to think through available strengths and weaknesses, especially given the hex-based terrain
Pro Well established
BfW has been around since 2003 and is a firm favourite within the FOSS community.
Pro Active development
BfW gets updated frequently.
Pro Multilingual
Dozens of languages available to choose from.
Pro Single-player and multi-player
Battle it out against the game's advanced bots or go the online/hotseat route.
Pro Unique play style
The unique combination of LoC, hex-based map, terrain defence and movement, and map type, with damage types and resistances varying between units, gives a refreshingly unique play style.
Pro Immersing storyline
BfW comes with an entire lore which adds depth and variety to the playing experience.
Pro Even portable
Has a portable version
Pro Hotseat mode
Great to play with friends
Pro Consistent storyline
Pro Lots of ways to die, no ways to win
Starvation, riots, goblins raiders stealing your babies, goblin war parties stealing your lives, elephants, vampires, werewolves, werebears, werebadgers, carp, digging into an aquifer, digging into lava, digging into the nesting area of a Forgotten Beast, selling wood to hippies, insanity, drowning in knee-deep water, and being attacked by your own dismembered finger.
There are a lot of ways for dwarves to die. Age really isn't one ever heard of. After playing this game long enough, you'll realize why dwarves don't like going outside. Everything from harpies to dangerous man-eating carp is everywhere. Some of them are humorous, but most are a lesson.
The entire game acts as a massive learning experience. Don't tell your dwarves to fish; they don't know how to swim. Wall off your fortress or a necromancer will make your lunch attack you. Don't dig too far down, or something scary will follow you back up.
There is no victory, only glorious deaths. What goals you set in the game are up to you. Make small, simple goals that you know you can complete. "Surviving for 100 years" is like "curing cancer". Not technically 'impossible', but it might just be easier to settle on building a bridge for now.
Pro Massive randomly-generated worlds persist across multiple games
Estimating one meter per tile, the smallest possible Dwarf Fortress world is roughly 13 kilometers on each side, and about 400 layers deep. The largest world is about 197 kilometers (123 miles) on each side. Each world has its own randomly-generated history with thousands of notable figures, warring factions, and numerous settlements of various races. Any number of fortresses and/or adventurers can be played in a particular world, though only one at a time.
Pro Renowned for depth of simulation and emergent gameplay
The ultimate goal of Dwarf Fortress is no less than a total fantasy world simulator. Its simulated systems include geology, metallurgy, fluid pressure, temperature, combustion and phase transitions (melting, evaporation, etc.), shear and tensile strength, ballistics and gravity, anatomy and tissue damage, growth and maturation of animals and plants, emotional states, life goals, and alcohol dependence.
Pro Base game is free (supported by donations)
From the Bay 12 Games donations page:
Bay 12 is dedicated to providing original games free of charge, but that doesn't mean it is free for us to make them. We've been online since December 2000, and you can help Bay 12 Games continue to thrive. If you've enjoyed any of our games, and you are able to give, we accept financial support.
Pro Continuous active development is planned for decades to come
Dwarf Fortress was started in 2002 and first released in 2006. Tarn and Zach Adams, its creators, have estimated that version 1.0 will be done in "about twenty years" and development will continue beyond that point.
Pro "Starter Pack" offers a streamlined introduction
The DF Starter Pack, formerly Lazy Newb Pack, is a collection of community-created enhancements to the interface and visual presentation of Dwarf Fortress. Find it here.
Pro Sim-like "Fortress" and roguelike "Adventurer" modes
Dwarf Fortress offers two primary ways to play. In Fortress Mode, the player oversees a small group of dwarves who embark to build a new settlement. Individual dwarves cannot be controlled directly; instead, the player supplies objectives and constraints and the A.I. decides exactly what is done by whom. Adventurer Mode presents a more classic roguelike experience, wherein the player controls a single character and can explore the entire world (including previous player-made fortresses).
Two secondary modes are also provided: Legends Mode, which allows you to browse through all of the notable people, places, objects and events in a particular world's history; and the Object Testing Arena, where AI combat scenarios can be played out with any arbitrary combination of creatures and weaponry.
Cons
Con Dated and boring game mechanics
Over simplistic and repetitive.
Con Doesn't explain game mechanics well
Battle mechanics, job changes when leveling up, and traits/skills are not explained outright. However, there is in-game help which you can refer to.
Con No simultaneous multiplayer mode
This limits player counts, map sizes and a really simultaneous mode is the only truly acceptable mode for a modern turn-based multiplayer game. Should have been part of the game years ago. Maybe the engine is not suitable for it.
Con Non well documented Add-ons
I'm currently stuck on 'The Chosen Glade' stage of the Rebirth in Nature add-on, with a lot of essence(s) and souls to convert to points for upgrades; should I find the way out of there for Aucrin of course.
Con Takes too much CPU/RAM resources
Too much does not mean you can't run it with a decen computer, but still, it's way too heavy for the result. Hint: using maps of vectors of strings is a bad idea.
Con Micro management
Con Controls are complex and often counterintuitive
New players are advised to read the Quickstart Guide.
Dwarf Fortress takes a lot of patience to learn. Even something as basic and early as world creation might take a guide to understand the first time around.
It doesn't really matter how experienced of a gamer you are; if you try to play this game without a guide, you're going to have a hard time.
Con No inherent goals or objectives
Simulation, and the resulting emergent stories, are (by design) all there is to the game. Adventurers can die and fortresses can fall, but there is no such thing as winning.