- Dwarf Fortress has released a preview for its “baby update”.
- All living entities in the game will receive new sprites for their younger versions, for easier identification.
- The devs call this the “cutest update… ever”.
It can feel like a lot of games news falls into certain defined categories that are relatively samey but we can say that a preview for a Dwarf Fortress update is unique as it’s for babies.
The upcoming “Baby Update” for Dwarf Fortress now has a preview, revealed on Steam announcements.
Dwarf Fortress had a long and storied history before it was released on Steam with one big change that this version brought being standout pixel graphics to make the game easier to interact with, compared to the more stripped down, barebones look it had previously.
It’s this focus on visual clarity that the Baby Update seeks to improve.
“This might be the cutest update we ever have for Dwarf Fortress. Every living thing will be getting a baby form (and in some cases, child forms). This will make it much easier to identify units and what stage of life they are currently in. We know this is especially important for child dwarves who are currently depicted as adult dwarves with red shirts,” the update announcement reads.
The announcement provides some small images as an example which you can see below, which unfortunately doesn’t show any actual baby dwarves.
We’ll have to wait patiently and see if Dwarf Fortress dwarves are born with beards or they develop them some time later in life.
For those excited by the revelation of baby dwarves, you will need to wait an indefinite amount of time as there’s no release date for the Baby Update right now. More will be revealed “in the coming weeks” so we should see more sooner rather than later.
At least we can see that the Gremlins remain relatively horrifying throughout their lifecycle. It would have been a fun little addition here if the younger Gremlins looked like the cuter, pre-midnight feeding mogwai, which then slowly turned meaner and uglier as they got older.
The sneak peek at the Baby Update also comes with a reminder that those who happen to be attending PAX East in Boston next week can catch a panel and after-party hosted by Tarn and Zach Adams, the brothers who created Dwarf Fortress. Spots for this need to be booked on Eventbrite with a limited amount available.
