So, I picked up Dwarf Fortress a few weeks ago, playing a bit most days. I'm working through the dwarf fortress wiki quickstart guide. Amusing how long it takes to go through the "quick" start guide, but I jest, because it is a well put together intro to the game. I'm at about the "Beyond a Minimal Fortress" part of the guide, but I've done a lot of my own exploring both by just playing around with the UI and seeing what options are there and by reading some more articles on the wiki.
So, as I say, I've beaten the odds. I've been told a silly number of people, something like 9 out of every 10 people who try the game, never get this far. (And maybe ever higher than that.) I've also seen some of my gamer friends who I thought were into complex games, who were shocked that I was giving DF a try.
So... there's probably people curious of some of the things I found amusing while first experiencing parts of the game. Here we go:
Right off the bat, found one of my starting 7 was a lass named Erith. Promptly nicknamed her Aerith, and decided that if a dwarf tantrums and kills her, he's becoming Sephiroth.
Examining all the lungfish the cats were bringing back to their owners, to see if there's some comment about the fact that they are technically a type of eel. Only to later check wikipedia to find out I've been wrong about that all along.
Feeling damn proud of myself because I figured out bucket irrigation.
Finding it a little ominous that I already needed a third-party app to play the game decently, and that app was named "Dwarf Therapist"
Mentally plotting out how I could dig a tunnel to a nearby river to, hopefully, let it pool in a chamber and construct a well above it... Only to realize that with my only basic understanding of the fluid dynamics in this game, this construction project would only end in Fun. I still may try it if I get to a point where I want to shut the front doors and have my fort sealed.
Not realizing you have to interact with the trade depot itself to trade, missing the first caravan to that, but figured it out for the second! Only to find its an elf caravan. Damn elves.
Having my first dwarf go into a strange mood, and having him craft an epic, amazing, truly earthshaking... stonework grate. Well. That dwarf earned the nickname "Greater Grater".
And, of course, the biggest thing is that I even more regret having paid money for Towns, now that I know just HOW pale an imitator it is. And, to be quite honest, DF is so much more playable than that poor attempt at a graphical DF clone. Really. Towns is so damn stingy with immigrants. DF has been throwing a dozen Dwarfies, that I don't know what to do with, at me damn near every season.
Well, it's far and away past time I get a proper military started up, and a metal industry to support it. Back to the fort.
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