I have to say I was in the same boat as Stryke11, I've tried DF but couldn't get into the fortress mode. After dying 5 or 6 times on adventure mode to harmless sounding creatures, I figured this was just a game for masochists.
Last night, I tried the graphics pack that was mentioned, and it really improves the situation and turns down the learning curve for the fortress mode. (Though I do have a nagging suspicion that if one plays the game long enough in any mode, you no longer see the sprites/ascii... kind of like how if you play a text mud for years, you no longer see lines of text, but blonde, brunette, etc...)
Thanks
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