Dwarf Fortress

[Docpepper]

I'm starting to think the world generation hates me. Have generated 3 worlds and each one is filled with aquifers Finally thought I found a small portion without one and I embarked next to a small hill dug into it and set up my stockpiles a small room for carpenter workshop and a room with 5 beds. Once that was done I started digging down further only to sorely disappointed, the second layer was sand with portions of underground water. Couldn't put a farm on sand so I had my miners dig a thin line from the underground water source to where my farm was but no luck.

Decided to start a farm above ground but by then my dwarfs were starving so i trained a few and had them go after some animals. Those bled to death after getting bit by an alligator. the rest of dwarfs panic and started killing one another. maybe my next time will be better.

What do you guys usually embark with ? I like to a take 2 miners a woodsman a farmer and then the rest have random skills.

[SRN]

Okay! So I recently picked this game up again, I would really rather want people to get into it because after you get over the initial scare of the size of the world, it is thoroughly enjoyable and, if you are good enough, you will be able to keep a fortress going for the longest of times. So a new version is out with bug fixes, vampires and beekeeping (fucking beekeeping! You can keep bees and make sure they don't get away!). So now I present to you...

SRN's Guide To Enslaving Urist McDwarf

Right. Dwarf Fortress is an immense game with self-generating worlds, lots of monsters and lots of exciting ways to lose. When you first make a world to play, the game itself writes and creates and entire world from scratch, with important historical figures, events, religions, castles, towns, cities and so on and so on. What this means that if you either play long enough or dig far enough down, you could potentially meet a creature that the game has cartered for for hundreds or thousands of years. So know you might say, "That sounds like something my computer can't handle ever!". And yes, that would probably be the answer if not for the fact that graphics have been put on an all-time low priority; that is right, the whole things runs on ASCII graphics which makes it so much less hard on low-level computers. If you are the graphics person, however, there are numerous tilesets to improve the look plus the program known as Stonesense that takes the top-down view of the actual game and makes it isometric with graphics and stuff.

However, despite me saying it is immense, once you get a hold of how things actually work, it is really a simple method of playing. It is just that the sheer of amount of things in the world and th things you can do and create are quite astounding. For the most part, when you to make something (be it a bed, a sword, a golden statue of a mule or whater), you make sure you have the appropriate skill for your dwarf, build the appropriate workshop, designate what you want, make sure you have the appropriate material (stone, wood, iron, whatever) and bang. (appropriate dwarf > appropriate material > appropriate workshop > designate job > profit). This works for 90% of the things you want to do. There is just a lot of different stuff to keep hold of.

Still interested? Well, you should be beause I have collected a quite little group of links for you to appreciate.

- Captain Duck is know for thorough video tutorials for Dwarf Fortress. He starts with the most basic of the basic and guide you through everything you need to know; literally everything. From world generation to magma forges and military tactics. Duck has also uploaded the save he is playing in these videos so you can play along for maximum learning effect.

Lazy Newb Pack (0.34.11)

- The newest version of the Lazy Newb Pack which has the newest version of Dwarf Fortress and very useful fan-made add-on programs like DFHack, Dwarf Therapist, Stonesense and others. It is in a .rar file but has an .exe file you can run and then easily install new tilesets and customize the game the way you want through an interface instead of wading through tons of code. I would strongly advise that you go through Captain Duck's video tutorials before trying your hand with a game on your own.

Magma Wiki

- This is probably the most important and necesary tool for Dwarf Fortress. It is a wikipedia set-up that has everything you need to know about Dwarf Fortress; how classes work, how jobs work, what kind of material Gneiss is and how it works in the game, how you make a fortress out of glass, everything. When you play Dwarf Fortress, this page should always be open.

Bravemule

- And finally, to wet your appetite, I present the Bravemule Let's Play. It is a really well-written and well-though out Dwarf Fortress 'diary', to put it into terms EWB'ers can understand. It shows what kind of things you can do with Dwarf Fortress and what you can build and achieve because everything that he dramatizes in the LP/diary itself has happened in the game.

Dwarf Fortress Forum

- And of course, the DF forums for various questions and also tons of fun stories.

So there, I hope this has interested enough people to play because this game is seriously awesome. Losing is fun and strike the earth!

[apsham]

I tried really hard to get into it but I couldn't figure out tilesets - which is what I would NEED at bare minimum to figure out what the fuck is going on.

[=BK=]

This game looks like Sim City and Minecraft had a kid.

[Robsturgh]

I watched a video of this on Giantbomb and it looks like the most terrifying game ever made.

[KevinStorm]

It is pretty terrifying when you first play it.

[JasonM]

I tried really hard to get into it but I couldn't figure out tilesets - which is what I would NEED at bare minimum to figure out what the fuck is going on.

My suggestion is that you first try to watch a Youtube LP or Tutorial for the game.

There are plenty of guys who are doing or have done LP's. But watching other's play is pretty easy to learn most mechanics.

That's an example of a guy who is very good and not confusing either.

[SRN]

I tried really hard to get into it but I couldn't figure out tilesets - which is what I would NEED at bare minimum to figure out what the fuck is going on.

If you get the Lazy Newb Pack there is an easy built-in switch to turn on more pleasing tilesets than the default ASCII one.

[Azazel]

I've figured out a good chuck on this game in the past but haven't played for a while. The military went from easy to use but kind of useless to confusing as hell but useful. Unfortunately I could never properly figure it out.

I always got overwhelmed with a ton of migrants and would lose my way, I liked it better when they would come a few at a time not like 20 off the bat, no time to prepare for all them. Is there a new version though? Maybe I'll try it again...

[SRN]

Well, they don't always come in batches of 20. It all depends on how well your fortress is doing and how much it is worth. I mean, in my current fortress I've had two migrant waves, with only four dwarves in each.