Fortress is where it's at. Adventure mode is for people who want to... well, I'm not sure what they're doing, since the name of the game includes the best mode.
Yes, but in adventure mode you can have a troll smash you with his backpack...which sends you flying into a wall and your organs fly everywhere. All described in wonderful gory detail.
The guy who makes is it insane about it(in a good way), read the recent development log on the cite.
The completed army arc is gonna be the coolest thing ever, and by the way he does intend to tighten up the graphics. After a while your brain starts to naturally interpret the ASCII, personally I am gonna have mixed feeling when the game goes to an official graphic set.
Yea traps are very important, however my tactic is to seal off my fortress except for a water channel that is intended to bring drinking water in, note this typically just floods my fortress.