Please see the release notes for DFHack 50.09-r3 for extensive information on Linux support.

PSAs

As always, remember that, just like the vanilla DF game, DFHack tools can also have bugs. It is a good idea to save often and keep backups of the forts that you care about.

Many DFHack tools that worked in previous (pre-Steam) versions of DF have not been updated yet and are marked with the "unavailable" tag in their docs. If you try to run them, they will show a warning and exit immediately. You can run the command again to override the warning (though of course the tools may not work). We make no guarantees of reliability for the tools that are marked as "unavailable".

The in-game interface for running DFHack commands (gui/launcher) will not show "unavailable" tools by default. You can still run them if you know their names, or you can turn on dev mode by hitting Ctrl-D while in gui/launcher and they will be added to the autocomplete list. Some tools do not compile yet and are not available at all, even when in dev mode.

If you see a tool complaining about the lack of a cursor, know that it's referring to the keyboard cursor (which used to be the only real option in Dwarf Fortress). You can enable the keyboard cursor by entering mining mode or selecting the dump/forbid tool and hitting Alt-K (the DFHack keybinding for toggle-kbd-cursor. We're working on making DFHack tools more mouse-aware and accessible so this step isn't necessary in the future.

Squad assignment sort improvements

Units now have a rating displayed next to them. The ratings are the values used for the current sort, and are colored based on how "good" the unit is according to the sort option. The "stress face" graphics are used for the "stress" and the new "need for training" sorts to indicate how dire the need is.

There are also a few new filters. You can now choose whether mothers with infants, units with weak mental fortitude (who would then become unduly stressed by military service), and critically injured units are shown as candidates.

Smooth/carve designation indicators for ASCII mode

ASCII mode has been missing any indication of smoothing/engraving/track carving/fortification carving designations. DFHack will now automatically add in visual indicators so you can see what you have designated. They will flash between an icon indicating the designation type and the priority you have set the designation for, similar to how the information was displayed in older versions of DF.

New Features

• dig: new overlay for ASCII mode that visualizes designations for smoothing, engraving, carving tracks, and carving fortifications

Fixes

• buildingplan: make the construction dimensions readout visible again
• gui/mod-manager: don't continue to display overlay after the raws loading progress bar appears
• seedwatch: fix a crash when reading data saved by very very old versions of the plugin

Misc Improvements

• autofish: changed --raw argument format to allow explicit setting to on or off
• caravan: move goods to depot screen can now see/search/trade items inside of barrels and pots
• gui/launcher: show tagged tools in the autocomplete list when a tag name is typed
• sort:
  • add sort option for training need on squad assignment screen
  • filter mothers with infants, units with weak mental fortitude, and critically injured units on the squad assignment screen
  • display a rating relative to the current sort order next to the visible units on the squad assignment screen

API

• overlay: overlay widgets can now declare a version attribute. changing the version of a widget will reset its settings to defaults. this is useful when changing the overlay layout and old saved positions will no longer be valid.

Lua

• argparse.boolean: convert arguments to lua boolean values.

Structures

• Identified a number of previously anonymous virtual methods in itemst

Documentation

• add instructions for downloading development builds to the Installing page