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[Parsely]

Okay, I'll bite.

I usually embark with something like:

Equipment:
2 picks - picks are too important to lose one miner to an accident, and having two miners greatly speeds things up
1 or 2 axes - for woodcutting. I consider using wooden axes to cut wood an exploit

Metalworking gear:
1 anvil
10 bituminous coal. This will get you 80 fuel, which is more than enough to jumpstart metalworking. In a pinch, the coal can be made into blocks, e.g. for breaching an aquifer, for which 40 blocks is generally enough.
10 malachite or copper nuggets and 10 cassetirite. This will yield 80 bronze using only 10 fuel which is enough to make some good arms and armour for early military
1 charcoal. This is useful so you can immediately start using the coal without needing a wood furnace first

Cloth stuff:
some thread and cloth, for emergency healthcare. I've never actually used them but they're fairly cheap.
5 or so bags. I like quarry bushes and bags are needed for processing them.

Food:
Whatever is default, it has always lasted me long enough to get my farming set up.

Animals:
1+1 cat, for vermin hunting and sentries/bait
1+5 of some species of fowl. Apparently turkeys are best food wise, but I like peafowl for their blue feathers
Sometimes, 1+2 swine
Rarely, 1+2 sheep or goats

Dwarfs:
2 axedwarfs, 5 axe, 2 teach, 1 each armor, shield, dodge. One of them generally helps mining as well.
1 miner. You really want a full time miner.
1 farmer. As said above, you really want a farmer that is good at its job asap, as that will make the whole food industry more efficient.
1 mason. My mason is often busy around the clock making doors, cabinets, coffers, etc.
1 mixed noble - diagnoser, appraiser, judge of intent, consoler, pacifier
1 carpenter + stone crafter. You need both: carpenters make beds, wheelbarrows, and bins, and stone crafters make rock pots and rock crafts, which are often my first export product. However, you don't really need them full time, and we don't have eight dwarfs.

I generally only give dwarfs one skill max. They pick up other jobs (cooking, distilling, etc) as needed, but as soon as possible these are taken over by a migrant so the dwarf can specialize in one job. If I have points left I can give some points, but I think these are better spent bringing more coal, cassetirite, or lumber.

I leave out all the wooden stuff, that can be made quite easily. If the embark has a lack of trees, it can pay to bring some lumber as well.

I'll do all of this once Tiruin affirms it. He's the only one I completely trust.

[Xantalos]

Okay, I'll bite.

I usually embark with something like:

Equipment:
2 picks - picks are too important to lose one miner to an accident, and having two miners greatly speeds things up
1 or 2 axes - for woodcutting. I consider using wooden axes to cut wood an exploit

Metalworking gear:
1 anvil
10 bituminous coal. This will get you 80 fuel, which is more than enough to jumpstart metalworking. In a pinch, the coal can be made into blocks, e.g. for breaching an aquifer, for which 40 blocks is generally enough.
10 malachite or copper nuggets and 10 cassetirite. This will yield 80 bronze using only 10 fuel which is enough to make some good arms and armour for early military
1 charcoal. This is useful so you can immediately start using the coal without needing a wood furnace first

Cloth stuff:
some thread and cloth, for emergency healthcare. I've never actually used them but they're fairly cheap.
5 or so bags. I like quarry bushes and bags are needed for processing them.

Food:
Whatever is default, it has always lasted me long enough to get my farming set up.

Animals:
1+1 cat, for vermin hunting and sentries/bait
1+5 of some species of fowl. Apparently turkeys are best food wise, but I like peafowl for their blue feathers
Sometimes, 1+2 swine
Rarely, 1+2 sheep or goats

Dwarfs:
2 axedwarfs, 5 axe, 2 teach, 1 each armor, shield, dodge. One of them generally helps mining as well.
1 miner. You really want a full time miner.
1 farmer. As said above, you really want a farmer that is good at its job asap, as that will make the whole food industry more efficient.
1 mason. My mason is often busy around the clock making doors, cabinets, coffers, etc.
1 mixed noble - diagnoser, appraiser, judge of intent, consoler, pacifier
1 carpenter + stone crafter. You need both: carpenters make beds, wheelbarrows, and bins, and stone crafters make rock pots and rock crafts, which are often my first export product. However, you don't really need them full time, and we don't have eight dwarfs.

I generally only give dwarfs one skill max. They pick up other jobs (cooking, distilling, etc) as needed, but as soon as possible these are taken over by a migrant so the dwarf can specialize in one job. If I have points left I can give some points, but I think these are better spent bringing more coal, cassetirite, or lumber.

I leave out all the wooden stuff, that can be made quite easily. If the embark has a lack of trees, it can pay to bring some lumber as well.

I'll do all of this once Tiruin affirms it. She's the only one I completely trust.

FTFY

[Parsely]

FTFY

IT'S THE AVATAR OKAY?!

[jonanlsh]

Cats breed like the world's gonna end the day after tomorrow. This is good because it is basically a limitless source of food, so long as you keep the cats FAR away from any dwarves that walk by by pasturing them into a small area. Ideally only the butcher should ever see the cats on a regular basis.
The problem is that cats CHOOSE their owners. A cat that has an owner(enslaved dwarf,really) cannot be butchered. Not through conventional means, anyway. Combined with the breeding rates and you have a population explosion waiting to happen.
I recommend 1 male cat and as many female cats as you so desire, so long as they are pastured quickly at the start of the game.

The barrels exploit is basically a way to maximize the value of each and every embark point. The more you can bring with you to start, the better.

Always get 1 anvil. You could buy an anvil from the caravan (which will probably be mentioned sometime in the future) but it is always better to start with one of your own. The anvil is necessary for building a metalworking forge, and the name should be self-explanatory.

The pig tail fiber and cloth that you start off with in the embark menu is more expensive than other silken cloths or fibers. To maximize the value, I recommend cheaper cloths and fibers, like those made of silk.

Alcohol is ESSENTIAL. Dwarves are terminally dependent on booze. The more booze you can get, the better. Recommend a mix of the 4 dwarven boozes to cater to the preferences of the dwarves, and to prevent them from getting unhappy thoughts from drinking the same type of booze.

Swap all the different type of spawn,seeds and nuts for plump helmet spawn. All the other types can be purchased from caravans, and plump helmet is a food crop that grows in all seasons. A reliable, dependable source of dwarven nutrition. Plump helmets can also be turned into alcohol, which will be relevant later.

Get rid of your buckets, splits, crutches and wheelbarrows. Those can be made later from wood found on-site.

Get a single copper battle axe instead of 2 battle axes. The additional points can be turned into food or livestock(ideally female cats)

The skills for the dwarves are good to have, but not essential. Either invest on your dwarves having skills that help with making trading profit, or reinvest those points into more goods for the embark.

[callisto8413]

I ALWAYS take

Two Cats (Male and Female)
Two Dogs (Male and Female)
Three Chickens (Rooster and Two Hens)
Tree Pigs (Boar and Two Sows)

The Cats hunt down vermin and bred so fast that they can be turned into food (make sure to butcher older animals first.  Animals do age in this game and can die from old age).

The Dogs can be trained to hunt, become dogs of war, or tied up in certain areas to act as alarm systems (if a dog detects somebody trying to sneak in you will be alerted to that fact even if there is no Dwarfs around).

Chicken lay eggs and can be turned into meat.   You will need nest boxes for them to lay eggs in.  You can also tell the kitchen to stop cooking eggs and some of the eggs will survive to hatch, giving you cute chicks!   They can be put in a pen underground for easy access and protection.

Pigs can be milked and can be turned into meat.  They can be put in a pen underground for easy access and protection.

You will also get two animals FREE to pull your wagon. 

[callisto8413]

FIRST THING YOU DO WHEN YOU EMBARK IN A STRANGE PLACE.

GO To KITCHEN SCREEN.

MAKE SURE THE COOK IS NOT COOKING PUMP HELMETS!

Cooking them destroys their spawn (seed).  They must be eaten raw!

[Pinstar]

FIRST THING YOU DO WHEN YOU EMBARK IN A STRANGE PLACE.

GO To KITCHEN SCREEN.

MAKE SURE THE COOK IS NOT COOKING PUMP HELMETS!

Cooking them destroys their spawn (seed).  They must be eaten raw!

THIS!

Also disable cooking with alcohol. You don't want your precious drinks being made into meals (where they no longer count as 'drinks').

If you are gathering cookable surface plants, be sure to turn off cooking on them too so you can get their seeds. You might not have the option to tell your cook not to cook them until you've gathered the first sample of that plant, so let your herbalist work for a bit before you set up your kitchen.

[Sutremaine]

Cookable items always start out permitted for cooking. Would like an init option for this...

More than once I've accidentally cooked off whichever booze types only arrived with the first elven and human caravans.

[snelg]

To be honset, you don't really need the animals and you might be better of not having to care about them for your first game. If you want them later you can always get a few from the caravan.

[Tiruin]

I'll do all of this once Tiruin affirms it. She's the only one I completely trust.

O_o

Err..wow, um. Thanks   

However I'm rather busy at the moment and would do my best to give my suggestion later on in ~6 hours or so.
Since this is a tutorial-ish thread, the point hangs on teaching rather than a 'FUN' playstyle-what are the basics of survival and what would help speed that way in.

-snip-

For example, I'd be going with what he says-though keeping only one kind of animal, if you plan on making 2 of your starting dwarves into warrior-types.
> 1 female cat, and 1 male cat.

It is well known that cats are verminkillers. It is subtly known that that use is only practical if said cats are 'Z'oned into the places where food stockpiles are--not drink stockpiles, food. And only that. Will be expounding on it later, but the zones are HUGE enough to accomodate a general storehouse for food, and a single cat to keep the vermin away.

A single breeding pair will accommodate ALL your needs. Believe it.

vannatteveldt's strategy is what I'd go with along with proceeding comments on it--the starting combination has both elements of what you're going to get used to: Military and Civilian.

2 axedwarfs, 5 axe, 2 teach, 1 each armor, shield, dodge. One of them generally helps mining as well.
1 miner. You really want a full time miner.
1 farmer. As said above, you really want a farmer that is good at its job asap, as that will make the whole food industry more efficient.
1 mason. My mason is often busy around the clock making doors, cabinets, coffers, etc.
1 mixed noble - diagnoser, appraiser, judge of intent, consoler, pacifier
1 carpenter + stone crafter. You need both: carpenters make beds, wheelbarrows, and bins, and stone crafters make rock pots and rock crafts, which are often my first export product. However, you don't really need them full time, and we don't have eight dwarfs.

Though here, I'd go with a different set:

Miner: Should have at most, Novice Mechanic in addition to whatever level of Mining you'll need. Preferably, spend points into Mining last, because in this thread (you could look at the DF Wiki for more help as if we'd explain everything here, it'll be.. quite a read) it's all about tutorials

Mason: All points into Masonry [I shift some into Building designer - the Architecture skill, as that's also a minor use: When a dwarf is skilled in a certain crafting attribute, it is the quality range of produced items that go up. To state bluntly: Quality of produced items go up as the dwarf gets more skilled]

Farmer: Must have balanced points into the Cook and Grower skill. When you start the game, enable the Brewing skill --this is expounded later--as this only dictates how fast it'll go. The Cook/Grower will increase the quality of food produced [VERY IMPORTANT] and how many plants per seed is harvested.

Carpenter: The set above is well-advised. The two skills he'll mostly be using is the Carpentry skill, and perhaps another sub-skill while in free time. The two most widely used (and, which keep the dwarf busy enough not to do anything else) in the early game are Masonry and Carpentry. The Stonecrafting enables him to help with minor crafts and trinkets from stone which you get as residue from Mining (you'll learn to love rocks.) for tradegoods. Which will be categorized and explained later on too!

Mixed Noble: Normally I make this noble more into the Military as both the Expedition Leader and Militia Commander, but that's me and being multi-choosy. Anyway: I'm fully going with what he picks, if you didn't see the hints as the suggested skills here are all what you'll need to get to know the basics. Diagnosing equals a medical skill-something rarely used in common day to day life, but often used after a battle or accident. This informs you of what may have plagued your dwarves, and what to do to fix them up in a major injury.

The 'Noble' pertains to what Nobles usually do. They're like the organizing detail of your fort--they don't do much menial labor, but are crucial to its survival.

Appraiser and Judge of intent pertain to tradeskills. Literally, 'Trade' skills. These 2 skills are the core of any good haggler and trader-the ability to sense how much an item costs to the general world, and how the other merchant feels in relation to the trade at hand. Consoler and pacifier both equal social skills-something you'll get to know soon enough but are of little use in the beginning.

Anyway, now that that's over (as in, the choice really lies with you--try to check if you've got leftover skill points after buying all items suggested, if you'd want to learn about poultry raising as an alternative food source-go and get a breeding pair of turkeys in addition to a breeding pair of cats. Those will form your only animal picks.

For the skills: Prioritize the Military-types, then the Grower/Cook (more beneficial in the short run). Then Masonry/Carpenters. Then allocate the rest into boosting the standard set mentioned above but make sure all skills of mention are picked.

[FuzzyZergling]

Personally, I would never give my starting grower another profession.
I also wouldn't make my cook and brewer the same dwarf, or give my starting dwarves military skills, but I suppose that just boils down to different play styles.

[Parsely]

Code: [Select]

Processing . . . *dial-up noise*

[gman8181]

I SHALL HELP GUIDE YOU GUNIN!

Edit: Bring pigs! So many uses for pigs. Also "War Pigs" if you get the reference .

[Tiruin]

Oh, right. When you do start the game, start it off paused. Space bar or such, make sure its paused and survey your surroundings.

It's a 2-D map of a 3-D world, so you'll have 'z' levels which dictate the height.

[daishi5]

Personally, I would never give my starting grower another profession.
I also wouldn't make my cook and brewer the same dwarf, or give my starting dwarves military skills, but I suppose that just boils down to different play styles.

If you start off with military dwarves you can have legendary dwarves before the first caravan arrives.  Then, hand each legendary dwarf a single new pupil, and by the end of the second year you have twice as many legendary dwarves.  I start with 6 military dwarves, then by the second year I aim to have 12 legendary warriors. 

However, for a newbie, it isn't necessary since we should be teaching them about traps, drawbridges, and other methods of protection.