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[britto]

Hi.  I'm 100% noob.  This game seems really fascinating, and I've tried to get into it several times now, but I just can't make head or tail of it.  I've read through the help manual and tried all of the commands, but it's just too confusing for my little brain.  There are so many details, and I just can't figure out what I'm supposed to begin with, or how to do it.

I'm sure this game is terrific.  But the noob needs some method of getting into it. Experimentation doesn't seem to work.  And the manual isn't enough to compensate. 

I suggest making a walkthrough tutorial, that tells you exactly what to do every step of the way, for the beginning phase of the outpost.  After that, you can just restart if you want, and you'll have a general idea about what's what.  The important thing is to get that first foothold, and experiment from there.

As it is, I feel like a monkey with a jar full of peanuts.  Except dumber.. According to every nature documentary I've ever seen, the monkey will eventually figure out how to open the jar.  I won't.

[Draco18s]

It's in the dev notes as something needed, but Toady hasn't gotten around to it yet.

[umiman]

Ten bucks says that you'll eventually figure out how to open the jar.

Nihilism is a bad thing:
http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Your_first_fortress

http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Indecisive%27s_illustrated_fortress_mode_tutorial

http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Important_advice

[Dame de la Licorne]

Well, the dwarf fortress wiki is an excellent resource, but tutorials have been discussed multiple times, with the consensus that it's a very good idea.  A few people suggested that Toady create a quickie little world with help to perform basic commands (such as the various designations and explanations of different screens), that could be packaged separately.  In short, a great idea, but in the meantime, go to the wiki (http://www.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Main_Page) and check out the articles in the red section (midpage, includes "tutorials and guides" and "your first fortress", it's a great big help.  Also, feel free to post any questions you have in the "gameplay questions" subforum, we have a wonderfully helpful community and a lot of knowedgeable players

Welcome to DF! 

[Align]

It's a bit overwhelming at first.
All I can say is: Focus on one thing at a time, like what the controls are, or how you place stockpiles/zones/designations/buildings, or what's needed for farming... preferably with an IRC channel to basically hold your hand. That's what got me into the game.

[Gauphastus]

Never give up either. You'll eventually get it, and you'll love it too.

I did the first fortress tutorial there on the wiki people have posted already. I followed it to the letter, despite my disappointment that I was simply doing what someone else wanted me to do with no explanation.
But there's no need to worry about that, as it will all eventually come to you why you need these things.

Experimentation in throwaway forts helped me a lot too. After flooding one, I figured out how to make an underground lake properly.
Also tried out a few different schemes to protect myself with above-ground forts.

Hope you succeed!
Tell your friends too when you're confident enough. I gave my buddies a demo about half a year ago and hooked them too. 

[Lord Byte]

Yup i've been playing this for about half a year now and I still haven't done everything as I try to do a new thing every fortress (like last fort was about working with pumps and improving my military! This one will have a viaduct and improved pumping system, with a seperate "maintenance layer".

[Keiseth]

Yeah, when I first tried DF it slapped me silly. I had played Angband, NetHack, ADOM-- most any roguelike you can imagine, so I thought I was safe. I was not. I came tumbling down the learning curve straight into the failure zone (designated with the "i" key, I believe.)

It took a little while, but I managed to catch on. Be determined, don't be afraid of failure, or losing several fortresses. As Align said, there's the IRC channel, too. I think most of us would be happy to help out.

With Dwarf Fortress, you don't get the jar open so much as you smash it with a big rock, then try not to eat the glass. Eventually, you will get really good at picking out peanuts from glass. You may get a few cuts along the way, but it will be worth it.

Until a rhesus macaque comes by and steals your next +Glass Jar+*, I guess.

*Adorned with hanging rings and menacing with spikes of green glass. On this jar is an image of a monkey and a jar of peanuts in glass. The monkey is trying to open the jar. The jar is making a plaintive gesture.

[Granite26]

Actually, this seems like something the community could do.  Find a good spot and build a 'working' fortress.

Now that notes are coming (shortly), set up rooms with all the production chains labeled, maybe a series of rooms showing the steps for irrigation, that sort of thing.  Maybe mod the raws so that goblins don't show up?

Then a second 'combat' tutorial saved in the middle of a siege?

[penguinofhonor]

Yeah, we could use the new Notes feature that's coming out in the new version and tell them how to do that, then give them the fort.

[Reasonableman]

Yeah, we could use the new Notes feature that's coming out in the new version and tell them how to do that, then give them the fort.

GENIUS! 'Course, first of all we'd have to guide them through the menus... and then the basic controls... and then tell them how to look at those notes. Silly noobs! Just do what I did, and read EVERY SINGLE THING ON THE WIKI. Well, maybe not the modding tutorials and such. But just go through it as much as you can, then hit the 'random page' button a few dozen times. READ EVERYTHING. READ.

[penguinofhonor]

But just go through it as much as you can, then hit the 'random page' button a few dozen times. READ EVERYTHING. READ.

Hey, that's what I did too. And I'm pretty good at DF, so I guess that means it works.