without libsdl[X] the package compiles fine. At runtime there is: erik@carbon ~ $ dwarf-fortress Alert Error: SDL initialization failure: No available video device SDL initialization failure: No available video device ... this happened with and without USE=gui Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. USE=-X emerge -1 media-libs/libsdl 2. emerge dwarf-fortress 3. run dwarf-fortress Actual Results: SDL initialization failure: No available video device Expected Results: UI launches the game
It works fine if you have /any/ video output enabled, e.g. libsdl[-X,libcaca] works. X would just be forcing one in particular and this should be left to user choice. You can also enable the curses-based output that doesn't use libsdl for display but is not default.