Dwarf Fortress Moves to Version Control After a Decade of Refusal

Three quotes from Tarn Adams, spread over ten years, tell a story that is rare in the industry. The creator of one of the most complex simulations in gaming history first openly refused to use version control, then started using it by 2023. Developer and blogger Simon Willison collected the statements into a timeline and noted, with a touch of regret, that the days without version control seem to be over.

Three Quotes, One Evolution

In March 2013, answering questions in a Reddit AMA, Adams explained that he dislikes the feeling of code being "committed into a black box with no immediate benefit." The motive is understandable and very human: the tool demands discipline right away, while its payoff shows up only at the moment of catastrophe.

In March 2016, in an interview with PC Gamer, he went further. According to him, someone who doesn't know what version control is won't yell at him, but someone who does will ask: "What is wrong with you, how do you even work?" Adams admitted that he was "just not made for it," and that over 15 years the reasons had changed but the outcome had stayed the same.

In March 2023, in an interview with Game Developer about preparing Dwarf Fortress for its official Steam release, he said something different: he needs to check Discord channels and "use version control," so the process has become "definitely a little more complicated."

Why This Codebase in Particular

Willison states his main surprise this way: given the internal complexity of Dwarf Fortress, it is hard to imagine a codebase that needs version control more. The game simulates a world, its history and individual characters, and any edit can break a chain of dependencies in an unexpected place. Working on such a project for years with no change history and no ability to roll back can fairly be called an art. Willison, in fact, calls it exactly that.

One important caveat: the quotes don't let us determine when exactly the switch happened, which tool is used, or who introduced it. All we know is that by spring 2023 it was already part of the workflow.

What Changed: Steam and Money

The March 2023 quote comes from the period after the game's Steam launch. According to PC Gamer, that release made its creators millionaires after 20 years of work on the simulation. Willison jokes that he is a little disappointed: the developers "gave in" before reaching that mark, though the run itself is impressive.

A plausible explanation lies on the surface, though it is an interpretation, not a fact from the quotes: the project now has more contributors, more processes and more outside obligations. To a lone developer with one computer, change history feels like bureaucracy. For a team with a release cycle and a commercial product, it is as necessary as air.

Key Milestones

• March 2013, Reddit AMA: refusal to use version control because of a "black box with no immediate benefit."
• March 2016, PC Gamer: "I'm just not made for it," with development having run for about 15 years.
• March 2023, Game Developer: version control mentioned as part of day-to-day work, alongside Discord channels.
• The Steam release, according to PC Gamer, made the creators millionaires.
• Unknown: the exact date of the switch and the tool in use.

A Practical Takeaway for Developers

The Dwarf Fortress story illustrates well that you can survive without version control, but you can't scale without it. For a solo project, it's a matter of habit. For a team, it's a matter of survival.

If you work with AI coding agents, the argument gets even stronger. An agent can rewrite dozens of files in a single session, and without a clean commit before it starts, there is nothing to roll the result back to. A minimal set of practices: commit before every agent session, keep a separate branch for each task, and review the diff before accepting changes. Adams spent ten years proving it can be done without all this. But in the end, even he stopped.