There are a ton of tilesets available for Dwarf Fortress if you'd like that. Since it's the newest version, though, I'm guessing a lot of them are not yet new-DF-version-compatible.

This. I have no problem with a game which uses ASCII characters instead of graphics, but I immediately get angry whenever a game designer neglects to tell you how to play their own game (controls or rules/system.) Even Minecraft ticked me off in that regard—if I hadn't watched a "How to survive your first night" video before buying and downloading Minecraft, I'd have been infuriated at the lack of explanation. I have the same beef with Nethack, and they at least make an effort to tell you where to read up on the controls and rules of the game.

Totally valid criticism. It seriously took me about five hours to really start feeling comfortable with the game. And that's just the more basic, commonly used aspects of DF. There's a bunch of stuff in DF I still don't know how to do. (I have yet to: pierce an aquifer, use hydroelectric power, create either simple or complex circuits, or bring magma to the surface using the wonders of dwarven engineering.)

DF is as powerful as it is user-unfriendly.

Dwarf Fortress wiki! http://df.magmawiki.com/

User-created DF tilesets: http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Tileset_repository

DF forums: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/

There are also "Let's play" style video tutorials for Dwarf Fortress on places like Youtube.

Note to self: When 60 or 70 Giant Mosquitoes decide to wander onto the map, it doesn't do good things to your FPS.

I've seen DF people call this a feature. I call it bad game design, personally.

It is like one dude, and the game isn't finished. I agree that the UI is impenetrable and sucks, don't get me wrong. It's just that the features that get added with each update are so much better than a little convenience.

But yeah, I am looking forward to a UI overhaul at some point.

Sadly, I doubt that will happen. Best bet is to find good tilesets/add-ons for DF.

Since the game has been in development for over 10 years I don't see it straying much from it's current impenetrableness. Some people love that about it. For the rest of us, it's a non-starter.

I wouldn't say that I love that. I tolerate it.