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[BlueAnchorite]

Not entirely sure if this has been seen yet, but just had to post in case it hasn't.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/06/26/dwarf-fortress-gets-238-page-illustrated-getting-started-guide/

A 238 page illustrated DF beginners guide

[orfax]

The author wrote about it here:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=110480.0

I would have to agree with the first comment:

I mean no offense.



But shouldnt this be.... not existing until the game is done? In a few months this book will be so out of date it wont be funny. Or is this just how to run a fort, and not covering the features, aside from the basics? Either way, this is impressive. Someone did this without going insane.

[BlueAnchorite]

Oh wow, guess being tired at 12 30 at night means you lose the ability to use the search bar   
And I thought I regularly checked these forums, never noticed that thread 
But either way, hopefully others will bump the other thread by seeing this one, or something like that 

[Babylon]

The author wrote about it here:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=110480.0

I would have to agree with the first comment:

I mean no offense.



But shouldnt this be.... not existing until the game is done? In a few months this book will be so out of date it wont be funny. Or is this just how to run a fort, and not covering the features, aside from the basics? Either way, this is impressive. Someone did this without going insane.

I dunno, they have users guides like this for Unreal Development kit, and that updates on a roughly monthly basis.

[runlvlzero]

For example in the case of unreal SDK things like technique never change, while they might add a new feature or shortcut... lighting techniques are still lighting techniques pretty much no matter which version your using.

I'm pretty sure for a beginner who doesn't even know what "to do" the new DF book will be great, it will give them an idea. I learned allot by watching let's plays. Even if they eventually become out of date... things like having hallways wide enough, farms near kitchens, stockpiles for seeds... will always be relavent. Theres plenty material for at least 100 pages of a guide on how to do things "right". Probably the other hundred or so is art and !FUN! stuff. Theres probably a little room in there for how to plan out wierd things like voxel spheres/circles, and other unique architecture etc...

[Kepplerr]

The author wrote about it here:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=110480.0

I would have to agree with the first comment:

I mean no offense.



But shouldnt this be.... not existing until the game is done? In a few months this book will be so out of date it wont be funny. Or is this just how to run a fort, and not covering the features, aside from the basics? Either way, this is impressive. Someone did this without going insane.

It's made to be updated, that's why there's e-versions. When updated, you get the new pdf.

Come on man, that was the second comment...

[TinyPirate]

I would have to agree with the first comment:

Hiya, I will be updating the book regularly and O'Reilly.com ebook customers (or those who register their books bought elsewhere for $5) will get FREE ebook updates as the game (and then the book) changes. I'm planning on an update in the next month or two just to make some tweaks and add a couple of tables, and I'm sure more will come next time Toady makes a big release.

It's a feature called "Real Time" publishing that O'Reilly are experimenting with - but haven't really explained well on their website yet =)

Needless to say, I do intend to keep this book up-to-date. It's actually easier to update my book than it is to update the old tutorials I wrote, funnily enough!

[irontide]

TinyPirate is struggling against some degree of public misgivings because he's doing something nobody has done before, or for which there has been a call for: there simply aren't other games on 30 year development cycles, which have been playable for 6 but are still in alpha. Despite the wiki (long may it reign), the continuing popularity of tutorials, including TinyPirate's own ones, shows that there is a call for a way to put all of the information in context. A publisher specialising in technical textbooks is as good a venue as any for something which seems to be desperately needed, the same way most people appreciate a guide to a programming language even if the APIs are publically available, and even when the background information keeps changing. I wish him all the best (and wish my copy would have reached me by now--I could have driven down to Wellington and got it off him in person by now!). I especially appreciate how it isn't just a bare presentation of information, not in the slightest. It is decorated with figures of dwarves being struck down and players making supplicating gestures, and menaces with spikes of sardonic commentary.

[TinyPirate]

That's very kind, thanks!