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[Affinity]

Title says it all... how the hell do i play this game

I just wanna have fun 

[ayoriceball]

Please use the search feature, or take a look at the Dwarf Fortress wiki.

http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Main_Page

[Affinity]

Thx

[CheatingChicken]

I just wanna have fun 

Chances are you're already having lots of it

http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Fun

[GalileoMateo]

I highly recommend looking up video tutorials, if you're a visual learner like myself, it well speed up the process of learning this game at least ten fold.  Ive watched two different tutorial series, my first was a fellow by the name of captain duck, the other was a newer series to teach DF2010, im pretty sure they're both stickied somewhere/youd be able to find them fine through google

glhf

[rephikul]

If you just want to quickly jump in and play with minimum spoiler:
First still, make sure you read and memorize this: Default keybinds. Then play and whenever you hit problems search the wiki.

[dakenho]

hmnn well, that's not a question any one can answer, every one plays a little differently with a different set of goals in mind which change depending how good or bad your embark is

you can learn to play the way I did
keep http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Main_Page open and tab over it to search for anything you need to learn how to do, for instance uh how do i get wood (alt tab) woodcutting. uhh ow do i dig (alt tab) dig, uh my draves are thirsty (alt tab) drinks, thirst

I actually to this day have to consult the wiki from time to time despite having many successful fortresses.  There is just that much to do.

over all the goal of the game is thus

survive as long as possible with all your dwarfs dieing a horrible, horrible, horrible inevitable death.  DF has no real obtainable end game, just survival.  and that's not as easy as it looks

it may help to get acquainted with the game and its workings, i suggest you read boatmurderd, syrup-leaf and headshoots  (though boutmurded is so old it may confuse you) feel free to message me on the forms with any questions or give me your skype and i will help you the best i can.

[Babylon]

hmnn well, that's not a question any one can answer, every one plays a little differently with a different set of goals in mind which change depending how good or bad your embark is

you can learn to play the way I did
keep http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Main_Page open and tab over it to search for anything you need to learn how to do, for instance uh how do i get wood (alt tab) woodcutting. uhh ow do i dig (alt tab) dig, uh my draves are thirsty (alt tab) drinks, thirst

I actually to this day have to consult the wiki from time to time despite having many successful fortresses.  There is just that much to do.

over all the goal of the game is thus

survive as long as possible with all your dwarfs dieing a horrible, horrible, horrible inevitable death.  DF has no real obtainable end game, just survival.  and that's not as easy as it looks

it may help to get acquainted with the game and its workings, i suggest you read boatmurderd, syrup-leaf and headshoots  (though boutmurded is so old it may confuse you) feel free to message me on the forms with any questions or give me your skype and i will help you the best i can.

Boatmurdered is old and Syrupleaf and Headshoots are fairly heavily modded.  They are all entertaining stories, but I don't think they offer much as far as how to play the game.  Popping into the community games section of the forum and reading one of the relatively recent vanilla fort threads would be more help IMO.

[jhoson]

I recomend first getting "Lazy Newbie Pack". This come with Therapist that will help a lot in managing yours Dwarfs and some Graphics to let the game more pretty or even easier to spot Dwarfs, workshops and such.

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=59026.msg1319616

Second:
The Complete and Utter Newby Tutorial for Dwarf Fortress  (Very good and simple to understand tutorial)
http://afteractionreporter.com/2009/02/09/the-complete-and-utter-newby-tutorial-for-dwarf-fortress-part-1-wtf/

Third:

http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/DF2010:Quickstart_guide

[Molay]

I learned how to play with watching this series on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klXolslGsk4

It's by a fellow called 51ppycup, and I believe he didn't make much other than this tutorial. I found it great to get started. It's very linear, so he helps you set up the basis before going further, but he doesn't cover lots of details, if he covers any. I could play quite easily after that, even though I had to keep the wiki open for different topics.

If you want even more tutorials, look for 'captnduck' on youtube. He did a ton of tutotials and let's plays, and he explains a lot. Personally I found 51ppycup clearer for the first time, since captnduck tends to go 'Van hot naar haar' like he once said, meaning he is all over the place and tends to explain multiple stuff at the same time, or in weird orders. But he goes more in depth, and also you get a better feel on how you'll likely be playing yourself.

But of course, if you're more of a 'do it yourself' guy, the wiki has all you need. The links to the important wiki articles have already been linked above.

have Fun!

[Lancezh]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoUTi1aTW2Y

[krenshala]

Personally, I think Boatmurdered is still relevant, even if it was for 40d (or older; not sure).  The basics of gameplay haven't really changed, just the details of how exactly the end results are achieved.  This means the trials and tribulations experienced in our flaming elephant infested flagship fort still lead to good info on what (not) to do in DF.

[Loud Whispers]

And someone can only show you how the controls work. You have to develop your own brand of madness

[Babylon]

Personally, I think Boatmurdered is still relevant, even if it was for 40d (or older; not sure).  The basics of gameplay haven't really changed, just the details of how exactly the end results are achieved.  This means the trials and tribulations experienced in our flaming elephant infested flagship fort still lead to good info on what (not) to do in DF.

Boatmurdered was from before the game went 3d.  There's also some basic stuff that wasn't incorporated yet that can bite a new player in the foot, in particular grazing animals and ghosts.