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Multiplayer

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Dwarf Fortress is, at its core, a single-player game. The game was designed and built from the ground up to be played by a single person, there is no multiplayer support, and no indication that it is ever going to be planned, even in the (very) far-reaching timeline envisioned by the Adams brothers.

However, it is possible, most often through unofficial and hacky methods, to enjoy a multiplayer-like experience of the game, depending on your definition of 'multiplayer'.

  • Succession: in which players take turns controlling a single fortress or adventurer and pass the save file around. No specific implementation is needed, just a forum for communication to agree on the specifics. Many such threads are hosted on the Bay 12 forums, on the DF Community Games & Stories board.
  • Hotseat: a single instance of the game runs, but the controls are shared among multiple players. This can be done over telnet with Dfterm2 ([1]) or over a web interface with Dfterm3 ([2]) or DF Everywhere.
  • Co-op: a single instance of the game runs, but different screens are rendered to different players. This is implemented through dfplex.
  • Arena mode: a single instance of the game on Arena mode runs, and players 'control' a single unit (in reality, the AI controls it and DFHack transmits the human instructions).