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[Girlinhat]

I started attempting this last night, talked with my friend about it (who wants to enjoy DF but can't wrap her head around the miles of menu scrolling) and determined I didn't go basic enough.  I'll be restarting with a MORE basic attempt, going as simple as explaining what buttons to press to start digging, how to figure out labors, and making sure the dwarf is working.

Ideally, I want this to range from "My friend told me to download this..." to "I AM THE DWARF KING OF HELL ITSELF!" in one long tutorial, with the reader able to simply stop reading when they're comfortable, try their own fort, and when they feel like getting more advanced, they read some more of the advanced parts and tackle bigger challenges.

Incidentally, this also means it'll be a MASSIVE information overload, primarily front-loaded.  Especially getting into military orders and advanced stockpiling workshops, there's a LOT of information that has to be laid out first before you can even start pressing buttons.

I've also decided that for the beginning, I'll be starting with invaders and artifacts off, for simplicity, and encouraging new players to do the same, starting maybe year 5 I'll turn them on.

[Marble_Nuts]

Can you use either iron hand or phoebus? This will make it easier for newb to understand but... This might turn new player away from ASCII forever since they will never get used to it. I do recommend tilesets anyway

As for my request, sincerely, anything military related. How to properly equip, how many soldier dwarf per 20 civilian, how to make civilian wear leather shoes, armor, cloak and crossbow at all time even when inactive, how to make a good setup for either ranged or hand weapon live target training, how to handle prisoner in a safe way.

Also, alert, uniforms, training so even squads of 10 dwarves will spar in group of 2 and the use of barracks.

[anzelm]

The awesomeness of cheese and potash.

Must taste weird.

Some general advice about allocating dwarf labour would be nice, especially after huge migrant waves:
- assigning migrants to labours as they arrive
- giving useless dwarves 'cadet/recruit/etc...' custom proffesion name (also when they arrive, or when you fin them loitering in the meeting hall), so you can easily assign them to military training later.

It is also useful to be aware of how controlled cave-ins speed up certain digging projects (removing hillocks in hostile areas for example).

[joeclark77]

I'd like to know more about minecarts and what to do with them.

Also, magma pistons.

[Sutremaine]

I wish I'd known earlier that linking seed-producing workshops to a links-only stockpile that doesn't take seeds will stop dwarves from trying to haul the seeds at all. The individual seeds will remain in the workshop, individually available to each farmer. They will also remain stacked on the dining room tables, which is moderately annoying but far less so than seed spam.

The awesomeness of cheese and potash.

Not sure if sarcasm...

Anyway, embark screen -> milk -> embark -> cheese -> kitchen -> trade depot -> profit! (It's even better if you mod purring maggots to appear in the first cavern layer, making high-value dwarven cheese available.) Potash also allows an unskilled farmer to produce crops like a Legendary with an unfertilised field.

[Girlinhat]

I wish I'd known earlier that linking seed-producing workshops to a links-only stockpile that doesn't take seeds will stop dwarves from trying to haul the seeds at all. The individual seeds will remain in the workshop, individually available to each farmer. They will also remain stacked on the dining room tables, which is moderately annoying but far less so than seed spam.

Wait, how does this work?

[blue emu]

You can link workshops and stockpiles together so that one will only take from the other. If you then set the stockpile so that it can't accept that item, then the item doesn't get stockpiled at all.

[Fnear]

Water pressure, and particularly the fact that going through a diagonal gap will neutralize it.

Refuse stockpiles don't need to be above-ground; just make sure they can't be accessed except by diagonal.

Yes, the power of diagonals is strong.  In particular, on the water pressure - please demo that it actually neutralizes it instead of reducing it by 1 z-level per diagonal.  If I'd actually understood that it would've saved me a lot of time (and space).

Other useful things I put in my forts now that I know more:
- Mist generator!  (Whenever possible, I build my fort between two aquifers and drain one into the other through the middle of a high-traffic intersection)
- Growing indoor plants underground by exposing tiles to outside then covering
- Breeding egg layers by having a lockable door to allow some eggs to hatch
- A plush jail area with food/water stockpile squares fed from the primary stockpiles for the inevitable failure-to-satisfy-noble-demand or sold-something-forbidden scenarios
- Safe cavern exploration by digging a network of tunnels with smooth, fortification, then block-with-a-wall (well, safe after the initial breech)
- Archery training through execution with wooden bolts (line of fortifications in a hall that makes it possible to force a squad to station there (and not in a nearby hall), pit the non-thieves, build cages and lever for thieves, probably two different areas - diagonal access because of inevitable rotting corpses)
- Paved waterways!  Removing that tree that's clogged your mist generator is really annoying.  Paving is the answer.

[Sutremaine]

Paving is the answer.

Up stairs work better for areas you have to dig, so long as you don't mind the flashing.

[wierd]

If the goal is to take "has never even read the wiki!" And turn them into "Losing is FUN!", then you will need to start with the simple, and work up. Ideally, you will cover the most basic functions first, and reiterate those things regularly.

Things like loo(k), (v)iew, conten(t)s, (c)reatures, (d)esignations, and all that.

Something kinda like this as an outline.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Code: [Select]


"Welcome to Dwarf Fortress!"
    Movement keys
    Pause key
    Loo(k) menu
        Look screen information and details
            Inside vs Outside / Light vs Dark
            Stone floor vs soil
            Water depth
             Look window for creatures
    (V)iew menu
        View menu information and details
            View a dwarf
                General page
                    Thoughts and prefs page
                Inventory
                Wounds
                Labor and service page
                    Overview of labors
                        Assign labor to 1 of the starting 7.
                        Segue into the (c) menu
    (C) menu
        Dwarves
            Viewing preferences/thoughts
            Assigning labors
            Cancelling certain jobs
            Intro to the manager window
        Livestock
        Deceased
        Others

    (Z) menu
        General information
            Broker & appraisal (Segue to the nobles screen)
            Kitchen
            Livestock
            Stocks
            Crime
            Stone

    (N)obles screen
         Assign book keeper and broker
             (Requirements screen, overview of nobles, demands, and mandates)

    Con(t)ents menu
        Look inside the wagon

    (Q) menu
        Deconstruct the wagon

    Saving and loading

"My first fortress!" Part 1!
    Fundementals of fortress life
        Shelter
           (D)esignate menu
               (T)rees (for beds)
               (P)lants (surface crop seeds, bolster supplies for booze)
               Downward staircase
               Upward staircase
               Mining basics (dig a simple phase 1 fortress)
               Channeling (get fresh water from stream/brook for well later)
                   Advisory about minding where and how you channel
                   Advisory about water pressure

        Infotainment about stone, soil, metal core, gem clusters, etc.

        Stock(P)ile menu
           Food stockpile
           Stone stockpile
           Wood stockpil
           Bar/block stockpile
           Gem stockpile
           Cloth stockpile
           Furniture stockpile
           Finished goods stockpile
           Refuse stockpile
               Certain items in refuse stockpile rot!
           Custom stockpile
               (Q) menu on stockpiles after placement

        Necessities of life: booze, food, masonry, security, trade
            (B)uild menu (just the basics for now)
                 Build an underground farm plot
                     *Notes on seasonal restrictions on underground crops
                         Plump helmets
                         Pig tails
                         Cave wheat
                         Sweet pods
                         Quary bush
                         Dimple cups
                     *Plant plump helmets to secure reliable food supply

                 Build an aboveground farm plot
                    *note lack of seasonal restrictions
                    *note primary source of surface crop seeds is the (p)lants option in (d)esginate menu
                    (Plant wild strawberry/prickle berry for alternate reliable food/booze source)
                    (Seed stockpiles for efficient planting activity, and customized food stockpiles for seed management)
                 Mason's workshop (use raw stone, or wood logs)
                     Make stone blocks
                     Make stone tables
                     Make stone chairs
                 Carpenter's workshop (use stone blocks)
                     Make wooden beds
                     Make wooden barrels
                     (Optional) make wooden bins
                 Still
                      Brew drinks
                          (Observe seeds going to seed stockpiles, booze going to food, etc.)
                 Beds
                       Create communal dormatory.
                            Brief blurb about military dorms, and dedicated civilian housing, vs communal dorms-- pros and cons

                 Craftsdwarf's workshop
                        Intro to trade goods
                 Farmer's workshop
                        (Quick blurb about grazers, the act(I)vities menu, animal requirements from the wiki, and wool production. Suggestions about how to keep grazers, which grazers simply can't be kept because they can't eat enough to stay alive, etc.)
                        (P)rocess plants
                               Pigtail fibers/ropereed fibers, and seeds being produced- thread goes to cloth pile
                        Shear an animal (if available)
                               (Wool goes to refuse pile, and will rot if ignored!)
                        Spin yarn (if available)
                                Yarn goes to cloth pile
                Loom
                        Weave cloth (plant fiber)
                        Weave cloth (yarn)
                        Weave cloth (silk) -- brief blurb about silk and silk farming, more details later
                Clothier
                         Seeds and bags, a brief education
                         The dangers of nakedness, and why clothing needs to be made
                         Essential clothing: shirt, pants, shoes, socks
                Trade depot
                          Brief blurb on trade
                           Architect labor

     *wait for end of first year
                Merchants and diplomacy
                Migrants

"My First Fortress!" Part 2: Security
    Overview of threats to a fortress
        Dealing with said threats
             Traps
                  Cage trap
                  Weapon traps
                  Pressure plates and levers
                              Mechanic's workshop
                                            Stone mechanisms
                  Bridges
                      Caveats about size, and bridge function
                  Mechanics labor
             Walls, (and the other constructions)
             Military
                   Drafting military dwarves in the (M) menu
                   Setting up training schedules
                   Assigning weapons and armor
                       (Weapons, armor, and material choice considerations)
                   Creating training areas
                         Make armor stands, weapon racks, practice dummies
                         Place using the build menu
                         Use for military with (q) menu
                   Blacksmith shop
                         (Needs fuel, and metal bars!)
                   Wood furnace and furnace operator labor
                         Make charcoal blocks
                   Make refined coke (if coal is available)
                   Smelter
                         Producing metal bars from ore
                   Blacksmith (and smithy labors) part 2:
                          Making weapons and armor
                   Hospitals
                           Wells
                           Beds
                           Traction bench
                           The importance of soap!
                           Hospital zone stockpiles
                           Healthcare labors
                  Bowyer's workshop
                          Wood crossbows (comparison with metal bows)
                  Hunting labor on migrants, and managing bolts
                           Make metal or wood bolts
                  Animal training, domestication, and war animals


"My First Fortress!" Part 3:  Home improvement
     Bedrooms, and room quality
     Wheelbarrows, minecarts, and pathing considerations
     Construct phase 2 fortress layout
     Dwarven happiness, tantrums, and the dangers of friendship
           Burrows
           Dining halls, zoos, statue gardens, quality furnishings, and room improvements
           Friendships, pros and cons
              Mitigating activities (brief overview)
           The tantrum spiral, an overview
           Warning about the loyalty cascade; don't murder dwarven merchants!
           Dealing with, and planning for nobles, now and later
                  Peasant selection for advancement to count, thoughts, and rationale
                  Room placement and layouts, caveats about trap avaoiding in regard to diplomats and other considerations

"My First Fortress!" Part 4: Dwarven Science!
    Magma is !!FUN!!
         Magma related FUN activities
              Basic magma tube breaching and magma workshop safety (magma crabs ahoy!)
        Magma safety!
             Magma safe materials
            Floodgates
            Pumpstack
        Magma piston!
        Magma cannon!

    Minecarts are FUN!
         Impulse ramps
         Minecart shotgun
              Normal payload
              Water payload
              Magma payload
         Ballistic minecart cannon
         Remote activated minecart hallway sentry system

    Water is FUN!
        Hyper pressurised water, for fun, FUN, and profit
        Water cannon
                Freezing variant in freezing conditions
        Screwpumps cleanse nasty water!
                (How to deal with nasty water effectively)

    Science is awesome!
       Obsidian machine! Who says stone is scarce these days!?
             (Obsidian casting enemy elimination systems!)
       Dwarven purpetual motion machines!
       Pseudo random activators, traps, and fortress automation!
       Vampirism, werecreature curses, and fun with contaminants
       Falling objects, thrown objects, and other kinetic funtime activities
       The atom smasher!
        (Other funtime science, like the coinstar, dwarven eugenics,  silk farms, etc.)


"My First Fortress!" Part 5: Hidden Fun Stuff!

<redacted> You KNOW what goes in here! </redacted>

"My First Fortress!" Part 6: addendum for anything else we missed!
     



Bear in mind that the above was a stream of conciousness produced screed, and is not by any means comprehensive- just a general idea for an itinerary.

Just add, remove, and shuffle around to make it more complete, and more orderly as needed, then make a script for yourself, and follow through.

Make use of the fact that snatchers, thieves, and siegers/ambushers won't come until after the fist year, and use the first year to cover all the basics of the interface, and deal with basic needs and security methods.


         


                       

[Larix]

I wish I'd known earlier that linking seed-producing workshops to a links-only stockpile that doesn't take seeds will stop dwarves from trying to haul the seeds at all. The individual seeds will remain in the workshop, individually available to each farmer. They will also remain stacked on the dining room tables, which is moderately annoying but far less so than seed spam.

If the seeds don't get hauled from the dining room, that just means you have no functional stockpile that accepts seeds, no?

You can very simply set your production up so seeds don't get hauled from the seed-producing shops, but _will_ be collected from the dining room:
have a stockpile that doesn't accept seeds. It doesn't matter at all what kind of stockpile it is, it can be a food stockpile set to only accept milled plants, it can be an unmodified coin stockpile, as long as it doesn't accept seeds, everything's fine. You order this stockpile to 'take' from your seed-producing workshop. The tricky thing with stockpile links to workshops is that it restricts the _workshop_ in its behaviour, not the stockpile. Thus, the workshop will now only deliver its products to the stockpile, and since the target stockpile doesn't accept seeds, all seeds produced will remain in the workshop. Of course, if you have no stockpile links that accept whatever the workshop _also_ produces (booze, milled plant, processed plant), all other products may also remain in the workshop. In the case of mills and farmer's workshops, you might prefer to link them up to stockpiles which accept the non-seed products. In the case of the still, that's not necessary, because thirsty dwarfs pick up and thus remove the barrel from the building when drinking, making it free to move to any appropriate stockpile.

To collect seeds from the dining room, just designate a seed-accepting stockpile that doesn't take from your seed-producing workshops.

I usually don't do those kinds of things, though - i always have a bunch of saved fortresses around and with the less-than-informative stockpile interface it's way too easy to mess up a production chain because you forgot which stockpile was linked to which workshop.

[wierd]

I've heard you can use this to abuse the production of certain items from workshops as well, (eg, make only stone miniforges, and NOT toy boats, etc) by restricting output via the stockpile, but I haven't tested that.

Anyone have backup on that?

[Tacomagic]

I've heard you can use this to abuse the production of certain items from workshops as well, (eg, make only stone miniforges, and NOT toy boats, etc) by restricting output via the stockpile, but I haven't tested that.

Anyone have backup on that?

Interesting.  I'll give that a try presently and let you know.  If so, I can see me failing a lot fewer mandates.

And killing a lot fewer nobles that mandate crazy stuff.  Not counting the duke I had with an anvil fetish.  It still heartens me to know that he was buried under a pile of his very favorite things.

[Tacomagic]

Nope, doesn't work.  Just piles up all the other stuff at the craft station and only moves the activated item.

Granted, for quantum storage purposes doing it with crafting would allow a lot of storage before clutter became an issue.

[Fnear]

I wish I'd known earlier that linking seed-producing workshops to a links-only stockpile that doesn't take seeds will stop dwarves from trying to haul the seeds at all. The individual seeds will remain in the workshop, individually available to each farmer. They will also remain stacked on the dining room tables, which is moderately annoying but far less so than seed spam.

Thus, the workshop will now only deliver its products to the stockpile, and since the target stockpile doesn't accept seeds, all seeds produced will remain in the workshop.

Let's weaponize!  Or at least use this for military purposes...

We know that dropping a large quantity of small items onto a dwarf from above trains dodge very quickly.  Seeds would be ideal for that since I always have ludicrous amounts of them... but they are always bagged.  Solution seems to be right here.  Let them pile up in the workshop (still), then deconstruct the workshop and channel the tile where the seeds are to drop them into a prepared holding cell with a hatch floor.