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[AutomataKittay]

Im totaly overextended. 20 new migrants, wtf?! And wenn i want to assign beds, there are two dwarfs assigned to the bed.

I started to sort my dwarfs with dwarf therapist.

If there're two, that means they're married. And yeah, migrants comes in too big waves, it's pretty easy to be overwhelmed. You don't need to assign beds invidually, unless it's important bedrooms for nobles or specific dwarves. Setting it to a room and let sleepy dwarf find the nearest free one on their own assigns it to them.

[wierd]

Kobold thieves sneak in through the front doors, and are invisible until they bump into a dwarf, or tame animal. The same is true of the much more unfriendly goblin snatchers, and ambushers.

A useful solution to this problem is to install a foyer in the entrance of the fortress, that has an upstairs room, with floor grates for the floor. In that room, pen a single turkey/chicken/kittycat/pully, etc.  A tame animal that does not require food.

The animal will have line of sight with the entry hall at all times, and will serve as a useful sensor against these sneak invaders.

Since you are a novice just trying to get your legs under from all the mess of menus and hotkeys, and building requirements and such, I would suggest disabling invaders for now.

In the d_init configuration file, change INVADERS:YES to INVADERS:NO, then save and reload the game. (Completely close DF).  As long as invaders are off you won't get ambushed, sieged, or have kobolds visiting to steal your underwear. (Seriously, why do they always steal underwear?)

This will help you get more comfortable with the basics of gameplay, until you are ready to start "having fun."

[edgefigaro]

You are never too new for fun.

[Grim Portent]

I remember when I first experienced Fun.

Was trying to make a nice little hill in a mountain biome with a river biome next to it. Dug out a little hole, a few rooms, stockpiles, farms, all the little things you stumble around with at the start. Then I tried to mine across the frozen river to get some metal ores that I didn't know how to use. Later on when the river unfroze my whole fort of dwarfs got drowned, was a good learning experience. My next fort died to goblin that were more numerous than my crude attempts at traps, then the next three or so drowned when I flooded them. I even flooded one twice.   

My advice is to stick with invaders and the like turned on. The learning curve helps you see where you go wrong. Eventually food and drink become a simple thing to maintain, good fort layouts become easy enough to make and you can settle down and start to try and do the more complex stuff.

My simple tips for an early fort:

1) No bedrooms, a dormitory dug into a side passage will do just fine for a long time, about 30 beds should handle the first 2-3 years.

2) 3x3 farm plots with one plot for each crop can feed a good sized fortress just fine.

3) For early defence you can't beat the cage trap. It's simple, easy to make and it gives you live target practice for an army when you make one.

4) Hunters are useful. They keep the fort fed and keep the number of animals low making surface jobs easier.

5) A Bookkeeper is the most useful dwarf you can get, always get one set up with an office as soon as you can. Without them you're blind to the immediate needs of the fortress.

6) Don't stress out over making every migrant have a useful job, most won't have anything useful to do except haul until you need an army or a better dwarf dies.

7) Always remember 'Losing is Fun.' Embrace the Fun.

[sandi Mexicola]

i think u get two dwarfs in the same bed when they are married to each other! 

edit: woah, way-late on this answer 

[enolate]

Im totaly overextended. 20 new migrants, wtf?! And wenn i want to assign beds, there are two dwarfs assigned to the bed.

That just means those two dwarves are married.

[itg]

Did you know? Married dwarves share a bed.

[Haifizch]

I learned a few things last night, this game is so much fun. But everytime my game goes not like the tutorial im fucked up . Why the hell does i not have an iron anvil? FU embark crew. Where do i get one?

Second: maybe to dwarfs in a bed means... they married!

Third: i want to blitzkrieg goblins with a legion of cruel chaos dwarfs!

[Laurin]

It happens every now and then, that there is no anvil to buy at the embark screen. It happens, if your civilization doesn't have access to specific materials or technologies.

Usually you can buy one from the human caravan.

[Haifizch]

My fortress is still alive. Strange things are going on. One of my dwarfs is dead. "Completely drained of blood". Nearly every dwarf has a job and medic, manager and Expedition leader have big rooms. Then: i can only smooth stone. My living area is on mud. So i make a new one.

I still havent found metall, but some rough claro opals. I have some new workshops but dont really know what to prodzce there. With the next caravan i will trade stineshit (me) vs big Armageddon hammer (they). And with my new hammer, im going to hammer dragons on their head.

[wierd]

Sounds like you have lots of dirt.

Plant pigtails (if indoors) or ropereed (if outdoors). Use it to make cloth, then make cloth crafts. You can mass produce that stuff, and get metal bars and anvils from the caravans.

[Dwarf Kitty]

Strange things are going on. One of my dwarfs is dead. "Completely drained of blood".

Congratulations, you have a vampire!      If a dwarf, he/she came in one of your migrant waves.  They can be useful, but first, you gotta find 'em first.
 
The Hard Way:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 
Look through the descriptions of your dwarves.  Vampires, if long-lived, will have an ungodly number of associations with civs.  They might also have a lot of relationships.  Often they have one of the longest lists of skills.

Medium-Hard:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 
DF Hack:  Cursecheck.  Hardish because vampires usually use aliases by the time they get to your fort.  Cursecheck reveals their true name.

Easy:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 
Dwarf Therapist has an option to flag the cursed.  This will be under their game alias.

Now, what to do with a vampire?
 
They make great and tough fighters for your military, if you do not mind the occasional death due to exsanguination.
 
Sometimes, if you poke 'em repeatedly in a danger room with grates above your water source, you can contaminate the water and make all your dwarfs powerful vampires.
 
But, mostly, people make them office nobles like bookkeeper or manager, and lock them in the room.  Since vampires do not need regular food or drink, they can last a long time.  Make it a luxurious office, throw in a pet if they got one, and your fort can be nearly immortal.
 
 
As for living areas, only nobles need really fancy places with engraved stone and valuable items.  Later nobles will have requirements of a certain number of various items and total room value before they are satisfied.  High-quality items of valuable materials, and, especially, artifacts, will boost room values.
 
On the other hand, mud is a very lousy floor material if/when you breach the caverns.  Path-blocking fungal trees might spawn there.

[Broseph Stalin]

Bare bones advice: Build a farm plot, grow plump helmets. Build a brewery. Build a carpenters workshop. Cut trees. Make Barrels. Make booze. When you have something to eat and something to drink your fortress is not in immediate danger. Keep those numbers sustainable.

 Build an entrance with a raising drawbridge, when it's closed nothing can enter your fortress. Station some dogs outside the entrance, they can spot thieves, child snatchers, and ambushes before it's too late.


After you have a sustainable source of food and drink, and your fortress is defensible that's when you worry about everything else.

Develop a metal industry, build a military, and begin accruing wealth.

[Haifizch]

A big update, my fortress is still alive.

-142 dwarfs
- 2 stills, 2 Carpenters,  2 masons, 4 craftdwarf
- bowery, cloth Workshop
- found gold (~200 nuggets till now) and tetrahedryte (?) (Im a engineering student, i only know martensit)
- found cavern
- 2 drawbridge
- little army

But i still dont have an anvil...

What can i do with goblins in cages? What to do best with the gold?

[Broseph Stalin]

Tetrahedrite is an ore of copper and silver. Copper is a low level warfare metal silver can be used for crafts or weapons, and gold can be used for crafts. Until you have an anvil you can't do much. You should have been able to trade for one with the caravans by now.

Goblins in cages can be used for training or executed in a spectacular fashion. Use d>b>d to dump everything the cage k>d to undump the cage itself and d>b>c to claim everything in the cage. The result is your dwarves disarming the goblins to make them easier to kill. You can pasture them somewhere your militia is waiting for them .