Next up for Dwarf Fortress: graphics

The impossibly detailed ASCII simulator is finally about to get a new graphical overhaul, once the next round of bugs have been squashed that is.

Dwarf Fortress has been in development for what feels like forever, with the developers at Bay 12 Games iterating on the deep fantasy sandbox simulation for years, adding detail whenever and wherever they can. The latest update for the game, which goes by the name 'Villains', is more significant than usual, and not in terms of the things it adds to the game - it's the last major update before its creators start the process of moving away from the ASCII visuals of the original and start using pixelart graphics instead.

We got a look at what the game might look like, back when it was first announced that Dwarf Fortress is heading to Steam. Now all that is left to do is iron out the kinks in the latest update, although as anyone who knows the game well enough will tell you, that is no simple feat (the complicated simulation kicks up all sorts of quirky outcomes, head this way to see some of the amusing-sounding bug fixes they've had to make). Once that is done, however, the proposed visual upgrade should begin in earnest.

When that effort might be finished is still very much up for debate, though. As the listing on Steam says when it comes to a release date: "time is subjective."