Holy crap, it's happening: Dwarf Fortress gets its first Myth and Magic update later this year, bringing each player's world its own procedural magic system

Key art for the Dwarf Fortress Myth and Magic update, showing a dwarven wizard casting a spell beneath the looming, ominous figure of Armok.

Even as it achieved fractal complexity by modeling feline alcohol poisoning, procedural bardic traditions, and delayed-action thermonuclear dragonfire, the creators of Dwarf Fortress—brothers Tarn and Zach Adams—have maintained still loftier ambitions for their legendary fantasy sim. In recent years, that effort has been guided by one goal: Creating magic. Procedural, universe-specific magic, interwoven with the unique cosmology and mythology modeled each and every time the player clicks the "create new world" button.

For a game already setting a high watermark for simulational complexity, it's an incredibly ambitious endeavor. It's taken a decade. It's demanded a complete scripting overhaul, aided by the heroic effort of Bay 12 Games' first non-Adams programmer, Putnam. Frankly, it's almost strained believability. And it'll start arriving later this year.