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[Elissa]

Hey, I'm really new to DF and I can't understand any of the help videos on youtube :/ If someone could message me and help me, that'd be really great We can be DF friends <3 ^_^

[Dolwin]

Hello there.  I learned a lot of the basics from CaptnDuck (and his voice his highly entertaining).  His 2012 tutorial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHVZtRdtPdo&list=PL06686270DA5FF439) is pretty detailed as far as key commands and how to survive.  Hopefully it helps you out!

[Elissa]

Thanks! I'll take a look, but maybe you could personally help me? ^_^

[matskuman5]

What exactly are you having trouble with?

[Elissa]

Uhm. Well, my main problem right now, is figuring out how to build an above ground fortress. Every time I want to build something like a room, I have to build a downward staircase and mine a level lower. It's really bothering to have the first floor of my fortress be below ground.

[Sirbug]

You can use b-C submenu to do so, but game isn't really fit for building aboveground fortresses.

[Elissa]

Do you always have to build a downward staircase to start your fortress? Another problem I'm having is mining the minerals I find whilst mining.

[CognitiveDissonance]

Hello and welcome! Ask everything here if you want, you will get a lot of useful info!

As mentioned, (b)-(C) will give you access to construction menu. This includes walls, floors, ramps etc.

This is DIFFERENT from (d)esignation menu, where you interact with existing tiles (trees, rock/soil, plants). The (b)-(C) lets you build constructions using your existing resources. This way, you can surround your area with a wall, or build a room or even the outline for your fort.

Now, you actually do NOT need to have any walls for a room. You could easily have bedrooms, offices and dining halls sitting in the open. Walls provide traffic control, security, and look better.

If you have not, do check out the (i) menu as well, for zone designation. The most notable one there is a meeting zone, which is an easy way to determine where your dwarves go between work. Later, you will be able to create similar zones from items.

[BoredVirulence]

Do you always have to build a downward staircase to start your fortress? Another problem I'm having is mining the minerals I find whilst mining.

I prefer to mine into the side of a mountain or hill. But after a few layers of security, I have a central staircase that goes up and down. Everything branches off of this.

You could also c'h'annel down, which leaves a ramp. But its easy to get yourself trapped if you aren't familiar with ramps.

Really though, the game is so confusing at first that tidbits of information like this are useless without a simple understanding of the game and some of its mechanics, which are best acquired through tutorials. I learned from the tutorial on the wiki. Some of it is wrong, but its a good starting point.
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Quickstart_guide

The good news is that, once you get on the otherside, its not as confusing as it seems. You really do get used to it, after a fairly brutal battle learning it.

[Kumis]

And of course if you build something where you don't really want it then press (d)-(n) and select with enter to have your dwarves tear it down.

Building is a bit tricky, and takes a lot of time I find. Try digging a bit first, play around with different building designs (corridors, open plan, or do what I do and just build stuff when and where you realise you want it).

Oh, and don't give up when things get frustrating, once you get past all that and past all the military difficulties the possibilities in this game are near endless.

[Elissa]

Oh! Thanks for telling me how to delete something <3

[BoredVirulence]

the possibilities in this game are near endless.

Seriously. The first time it occured to me, to try building a magma moat, and I succeeded, was an awesome time.

[CognitiveDissonance]

Building is a bit tricky, and takes a lot of time I find.

One thing of note - as you start digging, you will get loose rock lying around. That is the basic, common resource that you make things out of; it is also given as an option for wall/floor/other construction.

HOWEVER! The rocks are incredibly heavy, and slow down the dwarf carrying them to location significantly. Now at first this is fine, but here is how you can improve it:

- Make a Mason workshop (b)->(w)->(m)
- Create a rock stockpile near the mason
---- To do that, press (p) for stock(p)ile and select stone. You then simply designate an area where you want it

Spoiler: advanced stockpiling (click to show/hide)

To make that work even better, press (p)->(c)ustom stockpile->(t) to pick details. This would let you select the content of the stockpile in more details, and you would want to exclude metal ores and economic stone as it wouldn't get used anyways.

- Create a carpenter workshop (b)->(w)->(c)
--- If you need wood to work there, you can (d)esignate (t)rees to be cut. A default embark always gives you a woodcutter with an axe.
- Create at least one wheelbarrow
- Use (q) to examine the stockpile, and there will be an option to increase max wheelbarrows (I'm sorry, I forget the hotkey). Press that key to assign a wheelbarrow or three to the stockpile. Wheelbarrows are MUCH faster at delivering the heavy rocks, so this cuts down on travel time for both the haulers, and the mason
- Use the mason to build ROCK BLOCKS. To do that, access the workshop with (q), press (a) to add a new item, and either use +/- buttons to find Rock Blocks or just press (b) as the hotkey

The reason for this is that a single rock produces multiple blocks (I want to say 4) which are also significantly lighter. So instead of being able to SLOWLY build 1 object out of a rock, you can now quickly build 4 objects. As a bonus, the walls/floors are designated as "smooth" as opposed to "rough".

Cheers

[Elissa]

Hehe, yea, my friend tried that! It was pretty epic xD

[Elissa]

Oh wow! Thanks for the tip That seems much easier