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[Ganjasaur]

I'll download Dwarf Therapist in a moment. I'm having trouble controlling all the 52 dwarves.

Anyway, i'm having a frustating situation. I managed to get a pickaxe. But when i create a downstairs, my dwarves completely refuse to get down.
Upper level: http://i.imgur.com/vbxldmk.png (4 downstairs stairways)
Lower level: (2 downstairs stairways, i cannot build here for some reason.)

Please help me.

[greycat]

A dwarven BABY just brought a dead dwarf to a coffin. Gosh this game is great. xD

Babies can't actually do that.  I think what you saw was a mother carrying her baby, and also bringing your dead dwarf to the coffin.

[Ganjasaur]

A dwarven BABY just brought a dead dwarf to a coffin. Gosh this game is great. xD

Babies can't actually do that.  I think what you saw was a mother carrying her baby, and also bringing your dead dwarf to the coffin.

Strange, when i hovered over the character it said 'Dwarven Baby'. Anyway, back to topic. Do you maybe have any solution for my problem?

[Urist McRas]

Looks like you have only downstairs on both levels. Up stairs need to be built below down stairs. Up/down stairs function as both up and down stairs at once. For more details see http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Stairs

[xcorps]

The way stairs work is not intuitive.

A downstairs must be paired to an upstair on the level below. An upstair must be paired to a downstair on the level above.  Therefore, if you dig out a downstair to go down one z level, you must on the next z level down dig an upstair.

You can dig a downstair on the surface, then dig out as many up/downstairs as you like to the bottom of the world, but it must start with a downstair.

If you dig an up/down stair into a wall, you can either go up or down or both. If you wish to create a staircase where you have already dug, you must build a staircase following the above rules.

So, either designate stairs for digging or build them from the construction menu. Upstairs must be matched to downstairs. Up/down stairs work either way. Constructed stairs follow the same rules as other constructions in placement. So if you want to build a stairway leading to the top of your wall, on the first z level (the bottom of the wall) build an upstair. Then, directly above that upstair, build a downstair.  Don't try to build the downstair on the z level above you and then build the upstair, you'll get an error (unless there are floors, in which case it might or not work depending on path access to material)

[sal880612m]

Creatures sharing multiple tiles will switch between each other and will hide each others details if you look at he menu you should see a 'v' option near the bottom that will let you switch which creature on that tile you are viewing, though it sometimes does that with other creatures that are just close. So hitting 'v' should let you see the mother's information.

[Sutremaine]

You can do without a miner, especially if you already have a bit of space dug out. What you have in your picture isn't much, but since most of it is either bare floor or scattered stone you have space for stockpiles and workshops (especially since most of what you've dug can fit a 3x3 workshop). If the reddish dirt on your map is clay, then you have infinite building materials to make a defensive wall. You need a kiln to create a clay collection job, even if no dwarf is ever going to work in the kiln itself.

Check out your dwarves' thoughts screens to see what's gotten them all riled up. You seem to have adequate bedrooms, and you indicate that you have enough food and drink to meet the fortress's needs. Making some meals and having a kickass dining room will keep the general mood up. Making meals also has the effect of increasing your food supply in other areas -- if you have 10 plump helmets, 10 meat, and 10 fat, and you need 15 units of food, then you have to dip into your brewing supplies. If you render the fat and turn it into tallow biscuits (yum!), then you can take your 15 units of food and be left with all 10 plump helmets plus 5 units of food.

[greycat]

If you render the fat and turn it into tallow biscuits (yum!), then you can take your 15 units of food and be left with all 10 plump helmets plus 5 units of food.

My dwarves like to grab raw plants out of the plant stockpiles and eat them in the dining hall, in addition to grabbing prepared meals.  It probably has something to do with where the dwarf happens to be standing when she becomes hungry.  In any case, having a bunch of extra booze is wise.

[Sutremaine]

I was going to mention that, but I thought it'd be too wordy. You can have your 10 brewables and 5 edibles left over, but it might not happen except right at the beginning when you have few dwarves and their eating schedules are relatively synchronised.

[Ganjasaur]

My dwarves just refused doing anything which was incredibily frustating. I'm just going to create a new world.

[arbarbonif]

It is probably best to just assume that the first several fortresses you have will collapse and/or suddenly be rendered awful by some abrupt realization that you have been playing wrong.  At some point I'm hoping to get past that stage myself...

[xcorps]

My dwarves just refused doing anything which was incredibily frustating. I'm just going to create a new world.

If your dwarves aren't doing anything it's because they haven't received a job. Remember that your dwarves don't pick jobs, jobs pick Dwarves. It's a subtle but important difference, because if your production chain is broken anywhere, the job either doesn't get created or the dwarf gets the job, discovers it's impossible to complete, and cancels it.

There are a lot of steps in the production chain, and they all have to be correct.  Most problems are created by custom stockpiles with special orders, followed by pathing. Standing orders also create confusion. Throw in hauling mixed with your artisans and you will have issues that seem at face value to be "wrong" when in fact it's simply your assumptions. Dwarf logic =! human logic.

[Garath]

Summary:
If something like this goes wrong it is usually something you did.
Suggestion:
Keep trying to solve it so you know what you did wrong and won't do so the next time
Keep a fort running untill it is really behind hope and hope you learn something

Losing is fun is the unofficial motto for a reason

(although I'm playing nethack at the moment and there losing is fun, and far more frequent too.