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A Look Back at Spacebase DF-9

For this video, Game Design Analyst Josh Bycer looked back at Spacebase DF-9 and the lessons learned about how to handle early access development and scope.

Josh Bycer, Blogger

March 6, 2018

1 Min Read

Each month, I like to focus on a game that earned a negative reputation to see if the hate was warranted. For this video, I wanted to talk about Spacebase DF-9. The Dwarf Fortress game from Double Fine that almost cost the company its reputation among gamers thanks to them completely missing the point of early access development.

  • 0:00 -- Intro

  • 1:19 -- Basic Structure

  • 2:37 -- Basic Gameplay and Playthrough

  • 28:38 -- How Doublefine failed Spacebase DF-9

  • 43:44 -- Final Thoughts

For more videos and interviews with game designers, check out the Game-Wisdom YouTube channel.

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About the Author(s)

Josh Bycer

Blogger

For more than seven years, I have been researching and contributing to the field of game design. These contributions range from QA for professional game productions to writing articles for sites like Gamasutra and Quarter To Three. 

With my site Game-Wisdom our goal is to create a centralized source of critical thinking about the game industry for everyone from enthusiasts, game makers and casual fans; to examine the art and science of games. I also do video plays and analysis on my Youtube channel. I have interviewed over 500 members of the game industry around the world, and I'm a two-time author on game design with "20 Essential Games to Study" and "Game Design Deep Dive Platformers."

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