The numbers, relative to other crowdfunding endeavors, weren’t impressive. For a long time, fans could set up a one-time or recurring PayPal donation (they suggested $10), but it was tucked away on their website, and drumming up interest was never a priority, both out of a desire to avoid exploiting their fans and because, as they admitted themselves, they don’t know a thing about marketing. Here’s a huge part of the problem, so to speak: Dwarf Fortress is free, and support has always been a donation-based endeavour. Compared to where we want to be, we're pretty good, which is why we haven't really gone and tried to sell the game on Steam.” “Compared to people that people compare us to, it's absolutely nothing. “It's one of those things that's hard to talk about, because when you say very little money- compared to some of our peers, it's a ton of money,” said Tarn. Which is not to suggest they’re broke, either, but their relationship with money is complex. It’d feel natural to put Dwarf Fortress, a game so important that it was placed into the Museum of Modern Art alongside games like Tetris, in that category, right? Not true. All that popularity means they’re set, right? They can make cool games, and do what they want. They’ve never hired someone to help with this, or any part of the game, because they felt comfortable with what they knew.Īnd here’s an easy assumption: a popular indie game results in the developers making a lot of money. Until announcing this upcoming release, being handled in partnership with The Shrouded Isle’s Kitfox Games, there’s never been a press release promoting the game. The graphics look comically simple because neither developer can draw. It runs poorly because the code is old and unoptimized. But Dwarf Fortress isn’t a lot of things. (Zach’s wife, Annie, is publishing a series of blogs about Zach’s multiple health conditions, and how the two of them-the three of them, really, including Tarn-have navigated the life of being an independent game developer while grappling with our awful healthcare system.)Īlso, wait, Dwarf Fortress isn’t on Steam? Yes, Dwarf Fortress, which Kotaku’s Gita Jackson recently and accurately described as a “sad alcoholic dwarf simulator,” isn’t on Steam. And cancer is not the only concern Zach has been coping with bipolar disorder, in which someone can experience wild mood swings at the drop of a hat, his whole life. As a result, 40-year-old Tarn and 43-year-old Zach expect cancer to be an ever present part of their life.
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