Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[CombedBeard]

I'm happy to announce I'm a f***ing n00b!!!(is profanity allowed? I didn't look it up.) Started playing on the weekend. Been playing Adventurer mode til now, lost near 40 characters due to my stupid bravery. I started Fortress mode today, with a graphics mod and another mod to help with bugs and fps. I've looked up things on the wiki. I think I have a basic idea of what the skills do, what basic things you can do for survival. But I have some questions.

The main thing is the game moves faster than I thought. MUCH faster. Playing about 5 minutes had passed about 22 days. I guess playing Adventurer so much first messed with my sense of scale. I set up trees to be cut and plants to be gathered and mining to be done that I thought would take only a day, and it wasn't done in 2 months. So some people please describe the intricacies of time, how to better manage the fast movement, how often dwarves eat and drink and sleep, stuff like that. And what things I should set up first.

I'm also not totally sure about workshops. I read about them some and I think I have to press ''q'' to get to them. Do you need any materials for starting a workshop? Or do you just make it, then make items in it?

Those are the most important things, but definitely, feel Very free to tell me anything you think a newb should know. I've read stuff on the wiki, but explanations for more complex or confusing things would help. Also, if I start another expedition in that same fortress, will all the items i had there be there? Like the wood and drinks and couple picks.

[slothen]

some workshops require special materials.  Most just require any old log or rock.  forges require anvils.  q lets you make orders for the workshop.

To manage the passage of time, one thing you can do is to leave the game paused while you're pondering what to do next.  time passes quickly in the beginning of a game because with few dwarfs the game executes very fast, and perhaps faster than you can decide what to do with your fort.  As you get more dwarfs, you'll find the game runs a bit slower.  For now I'd just say that if 5 of your starting 7 are idle and not doing something, pause the game and think about what you can have them do.

Get in the habit of nicknaming your dwarfs.  And download dwarf therapist.

lastly, profanity is allowed as long as its appropriately and tastefully used, so with that, welcome to fortress mode ya fuckin newb!

[CombedBeard]

I've read about the game and greatly understand some basics. I had the game paused while making decisions. I have Therapist; it's useful. It's just I set them to get wood and plants and mine rooms and carry things, and nothing else, and it was a month in about 3 unpaused game minutes. So I guess I need to set smaller areas to collect things, and tell them to do other things. Need to make workshops and dining room and beds as quick as I can, I guess?? Wondering how I should manage work in the beginning. I don't want to waste time and alcohol. So does the "q" menu tell what you need for workshops? And is that where you make them? And very importantly: how often do dwarves eat and sleep and drink? It seemed like they didn't for over a month.

Also, thanks for the tips. Most weren't what I wanted, but I don't think I was clear about that in my post... I kinda understand this game's stuff, kinda an advanced newb. I have nicknamed them so I can quickly tell what they're good at.

Another edit. That first expedition died. One dwarf fell into a canyon trying to pick up something. The others jumped in eventually trying to get the equipment. Stupid bastards.. At least it was Fun. So I want to know if the items I had in storage will be there with another expedition to the same place. And will the corpses still be in the water? They had some picks and axes and I think helmets.

Forum newb question. How do I get avatar picture to work?

[DTF]

I'll be lazy and link to myself: click

I've read about the game and greatly understand some basics. I had the game paused while making decisions. I have Therapist; it's useful. It's just I set them to get wood and plants and mine rooms and carry things, and nothing else, and it was a month in about 3 unpaused game minutes. So I guess I need to set smaller areas to collect things, and tell them to do other things. Need to make workshops and dining room and beds as quick as I can, I guess?? Wondering how I should manage work in the beginning. I don't want to waste time and alcohol.

I usually let one dwarf cut wood and 2 miners mine the first hallway that is immediately cleared of stone by the other idle 4 dwarves and is then used for storage for everything I've brought.
By the time everything is inside, both the woodcutter and the miners should be done with their early tasks: to provide enough wood for 5+ beds, some barrels and bins and a mined area for farms.
Try to look for soil layers for your farms (i.e. silty clay, sand, etc.) since they dont need irrigation - if you have to farm on stone look up the wiki article on irrigation. Getting farms up and running should be your top priority now as it takes some time until you can harvest plants. Farm sizes of 3x3  or similar  for the different plants should be sufficient, depending on the goods you embarked with you may want to invest more heavily in plump helmets though - or even better: forgo every other plant until you got the basis covered. Dont forget a brewery and a farmer's workshop, as well as maybe a kitchen. With the default supplies from the embark screen you should last long enough until everything is finished (dont worry, if need be dwarves will also drink water and eat vermin to survive).


As soon as the farms are done, the miners should have mined out a dormitory and a dining room. Set up a mason (b-w-m) and a carpenter and produce some tables and thrones, a couple of doors and enough beds. Install the furniture, assign a dormitory from a bed, assign a dining hall and meeting hall from a table.
There, you are all set for the next few months. Keep tabs on your farms, plant and booze reserves and you should be all fine. In regard to latter, assign some dwarf as bookkeeper, assign him a single chair as office, enter the bookkeeper's setting menu and set him to high precision - with so few goods it shouldnt take long and you will get exact numbers on your supplies.

As for the lemming way of jumping down cliffs to retrieve a precious sock worn by the deceased:
The orders menu (o) can restrict dwarves from picking up anything that is outside the fortress.
If you want to something that fell into water your best bet is to wait for it to freeze and then mine out the ice... be careful though, water freezing or unfreezing can be fun.

[CombedBeard]

THANKS! Good advice, and that thread you linked gave me more good ideas, like what to embark with. Also, before I even try to play again, I want to know: how often do they eat, drink, and sleep? Sorry I keep asking. The other advice was great. But I want to know this before I start again.

[HiEv]

how often do they eat, drink, and sleep?

I don't think there is a specific answer to that question, other than the possibly snarky "whenever you least want them to". 

In fort mode it will be infrequent, since "time" is sort of representational, rather than literal.  If I had to guess, I'd say they eat and drink twice a month, and sleep once a month, but I don't pay much attention, so that may be a bit off.

[CombedBeard]

Thanks a lot to everyone who commented. I think I'm ready to try again now. I know I'll still fail horribly in some way, being a newb to a game about Fun, but I'm gonna love it. Keep learning.

[Garath]

for workshops, after you build them (b, w, -apropriate workshop), you can use q over them to set orders what to make. Aside from influencing what material to use, wood or stone for example, in some shops, they usually just grab the nearest apropriate material and get to work.

What wasn't mentioned yet, I think, on the plant gathering, is that for unskilled workers this is an extremely slow process.

Dwarfs diving over cliffs is usually a result of waterfalls. If you set a job on the other side, where they usually would just give job cancelations with a normal river, they now notice a shallow water area and path through it, just to be swept over the side. Setting traffic restrictions will not do shit to help this, since it only restricts and doesn't prevent. They see they have a job on the other side, notice that the ONLY way is the restricted way and come to the conclusion that it's their job, so it must be restricted for everyone else.

Last I checked most people assumed dwarves were drinking twice and eating once per season and sleeping whenever they felt like it - some dwarfs tire fast, some slow, vampires never.

[i2amroy]

Dwarfs diving over cliffs is usually a result of waterfalls. If you set a job on the other side, where they usually would just give job cancelations with a normal river, they now notice a shallow water area and path through it, just to be swept over the side. Setting traffic restrictions will not do shit to help this, since it only restricts and doesn't prevent. They see they have a job on the other side, notice that the ONLY way is the restricted way and come to the conclusion that it's their job, so it must be restricted for everyone else.

This can be fixed by building a bridge over the river early on, and then either flooring over or putting a bridge over the last 2 rows or so before the waterfall goes over the cliff.

[Garath]

Dwarfs diving over cliffs is usually a result of waterfalls. If you set a job on the other side, where they usually would just give job cancelations with a normal river, they now notice a shallow water area and path through it, just to be swept over the side. Setting traffic restrictions will not do shit to help this, since it only restricts and doesn't prevent. They see they have a job on the other side, notice that the ONLY way is the restricted way and come to the conclusion that it's their job, so it must be restricted for everyone else.

This can be fixed by building a bridge over the river early on, and then either flooring over or putting a bridge over the last 2 rows or so before the waterfall goes over the cliff.

note that in some cases this may require some forethought, or it will eat masons

[Finn]

I haven't seen you mention the wiki.  Have you found the wiki?  If not, you're going to love this.

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Main_Page


Edit: oops, you did mention the wiki

I'm pretty sure dwarves eat once every 6 weeks and drink once every 3 weeks.  That's what mine seem to do anyway.

[CombedBeard]

I'm getting used to more. I messed up making stairs but I think I found the solution. Need to make stairs on the other floor too? How do you make walls?

Also something that's a problem at the moment. Are they supposed to take breaks A LOT? I'm using Dwarf Therapist and have my dwarf named Builder set up to do everything related to stone or wood or anything that sounds like it has to do with buildings, and she's the one who has built my other workshops, but she prefers standing around instead of BUILDING THE DAMN FARM I TOLD HER TO A COUPLE MONTHS AGO... So yeah please tell me why that's happening. If they're supposed to be lazy half the time, I guess that's just more annoying Fun. But if I'm doing something wrong, I want to know.

[FuzzyZergling]

I'm getting used to more. I messed up making stairs but I think I found the solution. Need to make stairs on the other floor too? How do you make walls?

Also something that's a problem at the moment. Are they supposed to take breaks A LOT? I'm using Dwarf Therapist and have my dwarf named Builder set up to do everything related to stone or wood or anything that sounds like it has to do with buildings, and she's the one who has built my other workshops, but she prefers standing around instead of BUILDING THE DAMN FARM I TOLD HER TO A COUPLE MONTHS AGO... So yeah please tell me why that's happening. If they're supposed to be lazy half the time, I guess that's just more annoying Fun. But if I'm doing something wrong, I want to know.

Stairs are multi-level constructions. Up stairs need to be connected to a down stair on the level above, up/down stairs go in both directions. Walls (as well as stairs, floors, and other constructions) can be built through the [b]->[C] screen.

How often dwarves take breaks is based on their individual personality. Also, farm plots are built by dwarves with the Grower labor active.

[CombedBeard]

Thanks. I was wanting to know if breaks were a normal thing. Just, when I wanted workshops built, Builder would stand around doing nothing. But when i switched her to be able to haul, she happily hauled tons of things and ignored building.

[DTF]

Thanks. I was wanting to know if breaks were a normal thing. Just, when I wanted workshops built, Builder would stand around doing nothing. But when i switched her to be able to haul, she happily hauled tons of things and ignored building.

Some workshops require different skills to be set up: a mason needs masonry, a tanner needs tanning, etc. The dwarf setting the shop up doesnt actually need XP in any of these skills, but he must have it enabled in the labor menu.
And yes, they take breaks a lot although it also depends on their personality. Just wait until you march your army out in front of your gates to destroy a siege when half of them decide to either go get a drink, swap out that <<battle-axe>> for a *<<battle-axe>>*, fall asleep or bear a child right on the spot.