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[guessingo]

There are alot of lets plays for dwarf fortress. I have watched them for many games. Most are not very good. Which ones are the best ones to teach you the mechanics? Prefer one that uses lazy newb pack since I use that. I have tried out a few, but I am hoping for opinions. Some people are just better at discussing and presenting things than others. No offense to those of you who took time to do this.

[Agent of Avarice]

I used Captnduck's videos on YouTube when I started playing, they're rather dated now but the basics are still the same. Kallification (also on YouTube) is more up to date, but I haven't watched any of his stuff. Also consider just reading the forums/wiki as you play.

[Melzer]

I was raised on 51ppycup's let's play. Very good I must say

[Bandreus]

I was lucky enough to stumble upon Captunduck's DFVIDTUTS back in the days (check the full playlist for DF2012 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHVZtRdtPdo&list=PL06686270DA5FF439

It's extremely instructive. I like the fact most episodes are very much focused on one single aspect of the game a time, starting from the very basics (including setting up LNP, the embark screen and the like). Effort was being put into exposing things thoroughly and clearly (ie pointing out key commands as needed, showing live examples etc).

The amount of useful info being packed in each episode is amazing and on top of that it's an entertaining watch too.

 If you watch the series/play along and use the wiki you can very easily grasp the basics of fortress mode in relatively little time.

Recommended.

I can't really speak for other tutorials/play along series since, as I said, I was lucky enough to watch this series right from the get go and never needed to resort to similar resources ever again. I'm pretty sure other well made tuts are out there somewhere.

[pushy]

There are alot of lets plays for dwarf fortress. I have watched them for many games. Most are not very good. Which ones are the best ones to teach you the mechanics? Prefer one that uses lazy newb pack since I use that. I have tried out a few, but I am hoping for opinions. Some people are just better at discussing and presenting things than others. No offense to those of you who took time to do this.

LPs aren't typically created with the intention of teaching people how to play a game effectively, they're most often there as a form of entertainment (and even then I'd agree with you that most aren't very good ). In fact, if you try to learn a game like Dwarf Fortress by watching LPs then you'll very likely end up developing far more bad habits, because you're probably going to just blindly copy the sort of thing that is being done in the videos without truly understanding why the person making the videos is doing it, and possibly without being aware of possible dangers (e.g. perhaps you might dig some mineral you've found that the LPer said was important to pick up, only to find that your mining results in a cave-in or flooding the fortress)

Pop over to the Gameplay Questions forum and you'll find sticky threads by TinyPirate and the aforementioned captain_duck who have taken time to sort out tutorials to help out newer players. However, your easiest bet is simply to learn by doing, just play the game. Make use of the wiki and these forums if you get stuck and need a helping hand, and don't be afraid to try things out or fail (because your mistakes and how you overcome them (or how you discover that they can't be overcome) will teach you valuable lessons to learn from in your future ventures)

[GrimDark_Majyyks]

Hi hello! This thing probably helped me the most with regard to getting started. One of the most effective means of learning Dwarf Fortress was, for me, perusing the wiki. I suppose it would depend on your inclination towards reading things, but I would suggest taking a few wiki walks. Also, there is stuff to be learned even from some of the more comical material present in the Dwarf Fortress community. I find that, once you obtain a certain quantity of game knowledge, playability suddenly increases dramatically.

[Oddible]

Glad to see this thread, I too have recently watched a bunch of Let's Play videos and have followed along several only to find that I have an absurd configuration because the person doing the video didn't really have a clue - or didn't explain why things were done so I'm left without any logic behind my mimicry.  I'll definitely check out those mentioned. 

The one I've found the most helpful and instructive so far is DJFogey's vids.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0E29C02E9143FCA2

[Snaake]

I'll just put up another vote for captainduck, really the only tutorial ones I watched. He goes fairly deep into stuff on the later videos (didn't watch them that much though). Eg. dug out a large area underground after opening the caverns, then flooded it first with magma (to get rid of all the boulders there - this was before the current nerfed boulder drop rates) then with water, for a massive underground tree farm. Not difficult, just something a new player might not think of (using magma to clean the area + it demonstrated large-scale fluid engineering including drainage off the map via map-edge fortifications).

[Aidando]

Just dropping in to rep Zemalf's Youtube tutorials.  They're slow paced, but they teach a lot of the little things that you'll miss just by reading a quickstart guide.
Also, remember the wiki is your only friend.

[Urist McDwarfFortress]

Boatmurdered.

Hey! He asked for the best!

[CrzyMonkeyNinja]

Boatmurdered.

Hey! He asked for the best!

I love the thought of a beginner trying to use Boatmurdered as a learning device.

[WanderingKid]

I'd also like to vote for Captain Duck's videos.  Much of DF was impenetrable to me before I watched those videos.  Unfortunately I also felt that the Cap babbled.  A lot.  Much of those videos are dead space, but were handy in that it helped you get an idea of the time required to do certain things.

I've toyed with the idea of trying to create a concentrated tutorial set, but unfortunately I both don't have the time and I truly don't think I have the necessary understanding of all the intricacies to fully explain things well.  In general though, I'd recommend the following, if you have dual screen:

Load up cap's videos over on a screen, and start at the beginning.  Watch until you feel like you're 'waiting' for things.  Fire up DF on your other screen.  Start working out your embark location and the embark stats.  Pause up and watch the videos for interesting bits and pieces, then keep trucking.

Pause the videos when you're knee deep in something like your starting dig or a battle, otherwise just pause the game when you want to watch the videos.  Some of that stuff really only makes sense if you're DOING it at the time, and can follow along in your own game.

It worked well for me.  I still stumble a bit here and there (like ramps, floors, and under-floors drowning a miner) but it got me past that amazing hurdle of pain known as the DF UI.

[CaptainLambcake]

captnduck is the best.  he got me into DF.

[Gavakis]

Try Kalalifications MountainSevere. It got me introduced to DF.

[pbnjoe]

Add another vote for captnduck. He taught me everything I needed to get started and more without his videos, I'd probably still only play adventurer mode.

Off topic: it's really time I get off of my hiatus from this game. Gosh the menu music sounds pretty when you hear it for the first time in a while.