As a long-term fan of Dwarf Fortress, the recent years of development have been quite exciting. Historically, the game saw long gaps between updates due to various personal circumstances around its creators. However, aligns with partnering with Kitfox Games for its Steam launch and expanding the development team, Bay 12 Games has been able to accelerate the game’s progress significantly.

In a recent YouTube video, Tarn Adams, co-creator of Dwarf Fortress, discussed a monumental update released that addressed a staggering 15-year bug: the functionality of archers, or Marksdwarves as they are known in game.

Adams announced, “We changed archer behavior so that they’d better use fortifications that you set up to protect themselves. They will also run off and get ammo, keeping their distance from enemies even when they’re out of bolts instead of leaping over walls and clubbing people with their crossbows. So that’s an improvement.” Translation: “We modified archer behaviors to make them utilize fortifications for protection and fetch ammo on their own, improving combat efficiency.”

This game update not only improves the archers’ functionality but also introduces greater complexity in ranged combat, as visibility and weather conditions now influence accuracy. Dwarf Fortress enthusiasts will welcome this update as a significant enhancement to gameplay dynamics.

Dwarf Fortress is currently available on Steam and the classic ASCII version remains free to download from the Bay 12 Games website.