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[npc214]

Hey Everyone,

I'm new to Dwarf Fortress and love it!  I have been using Lazy Newb Pack, which is nice and convenient for me and I like Dwarf Therapist.  Buut I want to maintain a lot of the authenticity of the game and I feel like LNP is preventing some of that?? I only use the default settings when I start it up, but some of the controllable settings are: Population Cap: 150, Invaders: YES, Child Cap: 10:20, Cave-ins: NO, Temperature: NO, Liquid Depth: YES, Weather: NO, Varied Ground: NO.  So, I do like using a tile set.. just so I don't have to worry about memorizing every symbol.  Even though the tile set sometimes glitches or messes up, it mixing up on one item is less of a headache then worrying about everything.  But any suggestions to keep a tile set, but not mess with the game itself would be great! Thanks.

[Andal]

Welcome to the glory and madness that is Dwarf Fortress, and may your beard grow long and your booze stay flowing!

Turning on Cave-ins, Temperature, and Weather will increase the similarity to standard, unmodified DF, and while doing so might cost some bearded lives, you also won't have silliness such as dwarves swimming in magma. The standard pop cap is 200, iirc, but 150 is large enough to trigger all of the in-game events that require certain population levels.

I think you'd be surprised at how quickly one learns to read the standard ASCII, but any of the included tilesets will likely suit you fine. Personally, I started with Phoebus before shifting over to square ASCII, but I think Ironhand is another often-used tileset. Haven't used either for a few years, so I don't know if that still holds true.

The only things I may suggest for a beginner to turn off are Aquifers, as it allows you much greater freedom to embark where you want, without worrying about having to get through layers of water-filled soil before you can hit stone. Some folks enjoy the challenge, but breaking through them gets a little old after the first few times. If you want to leave them on, I'd suggest checking the wiki (http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Aquifer) for tips on getting through them quickly and effectively!

Hope this helps (and hopefully someone will correct me if I'm horribly wrong on anything) and feel free to ask any more questions on the forums. Everyone's usually quite friendly!

[Mipe]

Yes, we are all friends. In sadism... or was that in masochism? Perhaps both.

For the most authenic experience, embark in a savage biome with no tools and food/drinks. Only then you do truly LEARN the game. It is akin to tossing one into water to teach swimming. In middle of ocean, with no help within reach.

Remember, losing is fun!

[Philii]

Yes, we are all friends. In sadism... or was that in masochism? Perhaps both.
For the most authenic experience, embark in a savage biome with no tools and food/drinks. Only then you do truly LEARN the game. It is akin to tossing one into water to teach swimming. In middle of ocean, with no help within reach.
Remember, losing is fun!

Losing is fun.
I lost more than 10 fortress in a month.And pretty cool feeling when losing.

[Mipe]

Did I mention sharks? No, I did not. Well, there we go.

If you want to be real dwarfy, though, replace sharks with carps.

[Putnam]

The tileset kinda mixes up everything that isn't creatures,  though >_>

[npc214]

The tileset kinda mixes up everything that isn't creatures,  though >_>

Ya as long as it doesn't ALTER the game, I'm ok with a tile set for now.. I have been getting a little annoyed with finding a decent tile set I like so I might just go to the ASCII soon...

I haven't lost a fortress yet... I'm kind of disappointed by that... I am having what I believe is a vampire problem though haha.  And he must be one of military guys because only my military dwarfs are dying.

[BigD145]

Almost every tileset has an easy drag and drop setup. If they change some color setting then you have to edit a couple text files. Find one you like and go with it.

[Matoro]

Default settings are horrible.

Temperature, weather and cave-ins turned off by default? In Armok's name, why? That's just taking away features from the game. I couldn't think playing with those turned off. I understand when people turn temperature or weather off because of FPS reasons, but initially they should be turned on. I prefer to add a bit more children to the cap, too.

[Skuggen]

Temperature, weather and cave-ins should definitely be turned on. I always leave aquifers off, since I find them more annoying than interesting.

[Hans Lemurson]

Temperature, weather and cave-ins should definitely be turned on. I always leave aquifers off, since I find them more annoying than interesting.

I have come to agree.  Unless you are looking for a challenge of figuring out new ways to pierce an Aquifer, then they make things too simplistic since you have an infinite source of "water on demand" for whatever project you want.  Back in the day, we had to WORK for our water!

[MDFification]

Temperature, weather and cave-ins should definitely be turned on. I always leave aquifers off, since I find them more annoying than interesting.

I have come to agree.  Unless you are looking for a challenge of figuring out new ways to pierce an Aquifer, then they make things too simplistic since you have an infinite source of "water on demand" for whatever project you want.  Back in the day, we had to WORK for our water!

The thing is if you embark by a stream or even a brook you'll have more than enough water unless you're trying to drown the entire map or something equally ridiculous. The real limiting factor is how long it takes to pump that stuff.

[BigD145]

Embarking across different biomes and finding the cracks in the aquifer is part of thinking about your fortress build. Or you can engineer your way through.