Dwarf Fortress on Steam gets classic graphics mode

You can now switch back to the old ASCII-style graphics in Dwarf Fortress on Steam. A simple toggle in the options menu allows you to switch between classic and modern graphics with a click. 

On top of the new option, the development team has announced that it's growing, adding a new programmer from the Dwarf Fortress community, as well as a new hire for the community team. 

"Putnam is a very prominent, long-time member of the Dwarf Fortress community and will be helping Toady with programming," the developer said in a Steam forums post.  

"This is a historic moment, as never before have non-Adams eyes seen the Dwarf Fortress code. Welcome, Putnam! We wish you luck and courage.

"You may also be familiar with SalfordSal, a content creator who joined us for an episode of Let's Learn Dwarf Fortress. She will be joining the community team to help with Discord and will be hosting streams on the Kitfox Twitch channel!"

There are also a bunch of other changes coming with the ability to tweak the graphics, listed below. 

Graphics

• Can now swap back and forth from Classic tile mode (in video settings).
• Graphics for some picked outdoor plants.
• Updated engraved walls.
• Added some custom symbols.
• Enabled Steam trading cards.

Audio

• Added a music frequency option in the audio settings (default 3-5 minutes, can be set from 10 minutes to 10 seconds).
• Made outdoor ambiances alternate between being more active and a few neutral wind ambiance.
• Made the wild ambiance use some randomly spaced howls and giant footsteps.
• Updated trade depot ambiance.

Bug fixes

• Ability to add/remove all civilians/soldiers from a burrow.
• Can advance the game one frame (default key = period).
• Made assigning multiple squad positions continue to position 10 instead of stopping at 9.

For more, check out the times Dwarf Fortress players went too far. We also have some Dwarf Fortress tips for you if you're struggling to get started.