Game Developer (Gamasutra), Harris interviews Tarn Adams, 2008

Cite as: Game Developer (Gamasutra), Harris interviews Tarn Adams, 2008
Original: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/interview-the-making-of-dwarf-fortress
sha256: b7703f000105df69841a832e7a8c277aee104d462c85dc9e3dc2fbb19eccb9bb
Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20260916170241/https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/interview-the-making-of-dwarf-fortress
Accessed: 2026-10-26
Licence: © Informa PLC (Game Developer); Wayback capture
Credit: John Harris's long interview with Tarn Adams, edited from a private IRC conversation, on the games leading up to Dwarf Fortress, its 2002 start and the switch from Slaves to Armok. The article as read is Game Developer's reprint of the 27 February 2008 Gamasutra piece.
Notes: Pinned from Game Developer's reprint, which is what was read. The original Gamasutra URL is http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131954/interview_the_making_of_dwarf_.php?print=1 (Wayback 20210806043207). The byline reads "John Harris, Contributor, February 27, 2008".

Cited on

Claims (7)

The earliest build on Bay 12 Games' version list is Dwarf Fortress 0.21.93.19a, dated 8 August 2006, both on the download page as captured a week later and in the archive as it stands in 2026. Tarn Adams said in 2008 that he "finally got it out in August 2006".	`answer before "It was our only fantasy project"`	Publisher
The 2006 release page gives the full title as "Slaves to Armok: God of Blood, Chapter II: Dwarf Fortress". Adams said in 2008 that all development of Armok, his earlier fantasy game, had moved to the dwarf game, so it was Armok 2 as well, "hence the long-winded name".	`answer beginning "It took longer than I thought"`	Publisher
Tarn Adams describes the line of fantasy games that led to Dwarf Fortress as his and his brother Zach Adams's.	`section "Games Leading Up To Dwarf Fortress", first answer`	Interview
Tarn Adams said in 2008 that he started the dwarf game in October 2002, expecting it to take two months.	`answer ending "I started in October 2002"`	Interview
Adams described Mutant Miner as one of the short projects he wrote in time off from Armok and grad school: a turn-based game, after Miner VGA, in which you dig tunnels for minerals and deal with threats. When he wanted more miners, turns began to drag "like a battle in an SSI Gold Box game", so he made the miners dwarves and the game real-time: you would dig out minerals in a mountain, fight threats inside, and make little workshops.	`Mutant Miner passageMutant Miner passageMutant Miner passage`	Interview
Adams said that by around 2004 Armok was "floundering under its own weight", and he announced on the forums that he was switching to the dwarves, keeping adventure mode secret.	`section "Strike the earth!"`	Interview
Gamasutra's 2008 interview introduced it as an ASCII freeware simulation of a dwarf colony and one of the biggest indie success stories.	`standfirststandfirst`	Interview