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[perelandra67]

hello, I am a brand new player trying to make sense of it all. I've never loved a game I hated as much as DF.

anyway, i hope this isn't a stupid thread as it is my first post here in this forum, BUT... is there a map legend to the Pheobus graphics mod? I have no idea what i'm looking at when I try to start a fortress. I'm not asking for help in starting a game because I know there's lots of help out there for that. I just want to to know what I'm looking at and make sense of it all.

thanks

[Pvt. Pirate]

i've had that problem too at the beginning, but if you use the LazyNoobPack and use Phoebus with TWBT, it should very much explain itself by the time you and your dorfs have ‼FUN‼ while you learn how to tell them where to dig/mine

[Jokaste]

There isn't really a legend available but you can press 'k' in fortress mode to look at stuff under your cursor. It will tell you what's there and allow you to inspect it more carefully when you press enter, which will display some extra information, more info if you have DFhack. (DFhack will tell you what it is and additionally what that item is used for in Dwarf Fortress, if relevant.)

[Shvoedaddy]

I use Phoebus, the important map elements are  purple scrolls and dresser looking icons for dark pits and dark fortresses respectively. Green and blue chest and pound sign looking symbols are human Hamlet's and towns. Golden statues and goblets for elven retreats. And dark grey crowns and dwarf statues for forts and deep halls and usually lighter dwarf statues and or omega symbols for hillocks. Just gen a world and look it over before saving it and you can read what everything is. Or use legends viewer. It's a great tool to get a feel for the world before you dive in.

[Toxicshadow]

Don't forget pressing tab will show you different screens of information, such as which neighbors you have, or the elevation of an area. The neighbors thing can be especially important if you're new, because if it doesn't list goblins, they won't show up, which can be good or bad depending on how you want to play. If there are no elves you wont get elven caravans, to my understanding. Usually a lack of neighbors occurs in either mountains or islands. Elevation can also be a blessing or a curse, it really depends. Some people like having flat plains, others like to dig straight into the side of the mountain. Just think about your goals for a fort before you embark.

Another feature you might want to know about is a red ^, which means volcano. You have to find the tile that has said volcano in the 'local' screen where you move your 3x3 embark area. I believe said tile is two stacked ~'s in red. Those give you early access to another source of !!FUN!!, especially when you don't want to dig too deep as a new player.