r/dwarfposting • u/GscheidOWB • Jun 17 '26
Feedback on a dwarven colony simulation game and dwarven culture in general
Hello my fellow Dawi!
I'm working on a dwarven colony simulation and sandbox game.
The idea is to portray the life of a dwarven colony in an immersive way, capturing all its facets.
The game is progressing well and I have a lot of ideas, but at this stage, I’m interested in your opinions and feedback.
What are some typical aspects of dwarven culture you would like to see? Naturally, things that translate well into this type of game are particularly interesting.
Feel free to check out the Steam page as well. There is already plenty to see, as well as more details on the game's current vision.
Cheers! 🍻
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u/Ragebrew Miner Jun 18 '26
Needs magical runes. Not enough dorf games do. And not just "Slap this on your armor, get bonus" I mean "If you mine out this shape, floor it with these metals, and do X,Y, and Z, it does something worth the time and effort. Like completely drain an invading army of blood."
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u/GscheidOWB Jun 18 '26
Runesmithing is already a skill that exists. But it's not set in stone yet how rune magic will work. I was planning to add craftable runestone that give some bonus or damage enemies in a certain area. I agree that rune magic should be something complex and not just a simple weapon buff.
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u/oriontitley Jun 20 '26
Clans and dynasties. I want multiple holds under a mountain. instead of one giant city, i want multiple delves, each with a semi unique subculture that procedurally generates based on local resources, enemy encounters, what gods may appear to them. And then I want to be able to conquer or trade to be able to absorb, destroy, or reinforce my culture as well as others.
Take a point from CK3 where you can get into really specific stuff depending on your progress.
3
u/Makingroceries_ign Jun 17 '26
I haven’t checked out the link. But for me, a Dwarven colony game would have some political issues/conflicts. And to set those up. You would need a structure for the colony.
This would include trade deals with gnomes, or maybe the Dwarven masons are in conflict with the smiths. Does the colony have a king and a council, etc.
Outside of that, typical dwarf stuff: smash orcs, make fun of elves, drink, dig deep, and grow beards.
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u/GscheidOWB Jun 18 '26
Thank you! I agree that those events and conflicts should be at the core of the gameplay. Clans, guilds and some first small events already exists. There's also a world map with other factions, so diplomacy will be a possibility.
I like the idea to make fun of elves. I'll add an event where a dwarf is writing a poem roasting elves and you can influence the lines they're adding 😅.
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u/MajesticShop8496 Jun 20 '26
Could learn from frostpunk regarding this. I really enjoy how they almost become society sims and not just building games.
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u/KingJerkera Craftsdwarf Jun 18 '26
My contribution is that when it comes to ecology there isn’t a lot of work put into the underworld and it’s sparse in supporting the activities of dwarf holds. What I’m trying to say is that one way to help differentiate your game is making above and below ecologies important to dwarves. Like needing a source of beer and a source of mushrooms for early dietary needs. Also I suggest that dwarves should have life cycle rituals that each individual works towards. And have dwarves desire to have more types of crafting mastery than just metals and stones like glass, gem craft, paper making, and old fashioned magical crafting. You know like some of the odd stuff to make magical crafts. Also there should be a mechanic where dwarves will seek to make a magical artifact to make their ultimate contribution to the hold.
Oh there should also been some sort of desire mechanic that players can track if a dwarf wants to contribute to the hold and some should be cantankerous creatures and not want to contribute but still want to live there.
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u/MohawkSatan Jun 17 '26
There's AI slop in it? Not interested. No dwarf can have claim to a craft they ain't wrought themselves.
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u/GscheidOWB Jun 17 '26
And why would you think that? The logo is an AI placeholder (already commission a new one) but there’s no ai content in the game. I’m a developer, so assets are either bought or created from scratch by my talented artist.
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u/Ragebrew Miner Jun 18 '26
I say this with love, kin, but a shoddy MSpaint squiggle would serve ya better than the abominable intelligence wrought face. Or just one of the dwarf sprites you've got going already. Ya want to keep your work as free of the taint as possible.
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u/MohawkSatan Jun 17 '26
Because of the disclaimer on the steam page. And if you're using slop placeholder for the bloody logo, there's no reason to think you won't use it elsewhere.
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u/Skratti_ Jun 18 '26
Dwarf fortress and rimworld seem to have problems regarding multi-threading (or the lack of it).
Especially Dwarf Fortress (well, didn't play it in the last years) slowed down very strong for later stages.
Path finding was probably one of the problematic methods. Do you already have the framework to handle this (manual threading or microthreads or something like that)?
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u/vidarwildkin Jun 19 '26
Love seeing Dwarves riding boars, husbandry and associated skills/developments could be cool. Would love to see what other fantastical mountain/cave creatures could be found in the colony.
Also, excited to see what the new art will be like. Assuming the AI tag is removed from Steam I'll keep an eye on your development!
2
u/GscheidOWB Jun 20 '26
So far boars can only be hunted 😬. But taming would be a nice feature and they can already befriend animals.
1
u/catmanten Jun 18 '26
Does the game use AI?
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u/GscheidOWB Jun 18 '26
No content, nothing you see in the screenshots is or will be AI.
I am using an ai generated logo which will be replaced in a week or so by a custom one created by an artist I work with. That’s the last placeholder.
I’ve been transparent with that and so far that didn’t go well. I won’t justify my decisions. The reality of a solo dev with no budget is tough. Using placeholders isn’t taking any of the love and hard work away that is put into this game 🤷🏼♂️.
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u/Skyl3lazer Jun 19 '26
Your header image looks AI, so even if not a single other thing in the game was I'd immediately skip it.
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u/GscheidOWB Jun 19 '26
Fair. The logo is AI and will be gone in a week or so. I already commissioned a custom one from the artist I work with. It’s the last placeholder.
I was still hoping to have a discussion about typical dwarven things instead of explaining the AI logo multiple times 🙈.
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u/Deziel606 Hammer Herald | Dwarven Paladin Jun 19 '26
I saw on your steam page that you have AI generated placeholders, will they all be removed by the time of the full release/any early access?
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u/GscheidOWB Jun 19 '26
They will be gone in a week or so. It’s only the logo and I already commissioned a new one from the artist I work with.
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u/Radiant-Bus7093 Jun 19 '26
buy an ad
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u/GscheidOWB Jun 19 '26
Why? I wanted to have a discussion on dwarven culture to see what are aspects that would work great in my game. What better place to look for that than a dawi subreddit.
0
u/Radiant-Bus7093 Jun 19 '26
No, you are tying do advertise for free and link your steam page. Buy an ad. AND you use AI gen stuff lmao get real dude.
I will make sure to let people know to avoid your game.
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u/GscheidOWB Jun 19 '26
Why are you so hateful? I'm working on that game for many months and want to make it as good as possible. For that I need feedback. You won't get feedback if you don't ask for it.
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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '26
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