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[SixOfSpades]

. . . it would just be for the novelty of having a book on Dwarf Fortress to say to people "Hey, im a massive nerd :3"

The silkscreening place downtown should have my Urist McDorfy shirt ready tomorrow.

[TinyPirate]

Hi all! To answer some comments I'm going to quote Capntastic, who tested the book for me and provided valuable comments and suggestions. Hope he doesn't mind! Capntastic explained why the book was a good alternative to the wiki, and I think his explanation is as good as any:

Trying to teach someone DF by pointing them to the wiki is like trying to teach someone math by sending them to the wikipedia article for "mathematics". All the information's there, but there's no way to tell what foundational knowledge you need.

Now, if you're already on this forum you are probably pretty well placed to just use the wiki at any time to learn precisely what you need. But for many people the wiki has proved a difficult starting point - and that's not a criticism of the wiki (it is superb), it is just not in the nature of wikis to provide easy-to-follow step-by-step explanations of what to do, when, and why.

One of the reasons I agreed to write the book is that I have met many people who have "bounced" off Dwarf Fortress despite the wiki and other learning resources. They've wanted to play, fired up the game, gone to the wiki, and then given up. As much as anything this book was written for these players - several of my testers went from knowing nothing about the game to getting a functional fortress up and running on their first go. Oh, of course, they often had a lot of !!FUN!! once fortress management got complex, but for most they were able to get far further into the game than they thought they would.

Anyway, if you're already playing, this book might not offer a lot to you, but it might explain a few things to friends who have tried, failed, and complain about Dwarf Fortress. They really have no excuse now! 

[ohgoditburns]

Don't you need to have some sort of license from Toady to do this?

[ObiWorm]

Don't you need to have some sort of license from Toady to do this?

Toady wrote the foreword, so I think that's some sort of license.

[TinyPirate]

Don't you need to have some sort of license from Toady to do this?

Toady wrote the foreword, so I think that's some sort of license.

I was hoping for a badge with "Deputy" on it as well, but it hasn't come

[Johuotar]

Gongratulation for getting the book done and out! Shame international shipping being so expensive though.

[ledgekindred]

Already purchased and downloaded the eBook version.  I haven't gotten too far into it yet but so far I like your writing style and the illustrations are fantastic!

Yes, despite the wiki, I bought the eBook.  Why?  It's a novelty for one.  How many other books about DF have you seen for sale?  As also mentioned, I'm a huge DF nerd.  That should be reason enough.  I also want to see a different perspective on how to start and run a fort.  I don't know if there's anyone on the forums who can honestly say they truly know everything there is to know about running a successful fort.  Then, I've discovered I like the writing.  Half of the fun of playing DF is reading what others do in their games. 

Finally, the illustrations!  They are beautiful!  I was sore tempted to go with the eBook/Print combo, just for the illustrations, but I know I would probably never ever crack the paper version.

Congratulations, Peter and Tim!

Strike the Earth!

[PhantomXD]

Awesome dude have been aware of your book for about 6 months now glad to see it go to print. I will be buying my copy in the next few days.

I see theres some naysayers. I cant think of a better tool to A) Spread the glorious word of Armok B) as  quoted above teach people the basics of the game. Having said that I hear its worth it for the illustrations and humor alone.

Its refreshing to see a community driven by innovation and creativity to the point of insanity and back. so kudos to you sir and I hope it meets your publishers expectations and more.

[TinyPirate]

Thanks for the positive comments folks! Well, I'll stand by my belief that a lot of players find they need a book and their hands held to learn a game like DF. Of course, there are many here who learned the "hard" way and think that everyone else can do the same. I really don't think it's true. I guess the proof will be in the pudding - if enough people try the book and the community grows, I'll be vindicated! As it stands I do know of a couple of people using the book who have bounced off the wiki and other tutorial resources, so we'll see?

Glad you're enjoying the illustrations. I wanted to ensure we had something like that in the book for the fans who didn't really need the book but wanted something as a souvenir. The illustrations definitely add to the fun!

[redwallzyl]

to bad some stupid reviewer gave it a 1 out of five because he didn't realize its an eBook

[yamgrenade]

I would definitely get this- I think I'm pretty good and don't really need it (This would probably get me much better tho) but I just want a DF book Unfortunately I don't have the money for it...

Or maybe. I'll scrounge around.

[Farmerbob]

Don't you need to have some sort of license from Toady to do this?

Toady wrote the foreword, so I think that's some sort of license.

I was hoping for a badge with "Deputy" on it as well, but it hasn't come

Wouldn't that title be "Hammerer" ?

[TinyPirate]

LOL. Of course!

[Ivir_Baggins]

Will the next edition include some Dwarf Fortress stories. Or would that be a separate issue?

[GhostDwemer]

This is great, I mean you wrote one of the definitive free tutorials on the subject before writing a book. Don't let the green faced goblins of jealousy get you down, you wrote a book and they didn't, 'nuff said. Anyone can write a book, but most people don't and that's the difference. Hope you make some money off of this, at least enough to cover the cost of the time it took to write it.