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[Mawnster]

I'm a new player to Dwarf Fortress. Barely done anything on it.

The question is basically should I play vanilla, or use mods right away? I downloaded the Masterwork launcher, and I don't know if I should play with that (and the mods that come with it) or if I should get default Dwarf Fortress, or a launcher without mods but some tileset(s) and a bit of basic stuff like no aquifers during worldgen.

Thanks in advance.

[martinuzz]

I'd say if you are new to DF, stick with vanilla.

[Witty]

I do not recommend at all that you play Masterwork before playing vanilla. It adds a whole lot to the game, and is generally harder and more complex. You'll be completely swamped if you haven't even mastered the vanilla basics.

[Samarkand]

Don't go to mods right away, but utilities like Dwarf Therapist are great for newbies.

[Mawnster]

Okay then, thanks everyone!

[Button]

What Samarkand said. I'd also like to suggest that a tileset should be thought of more as a utility than a mod, since it doesn't change the game's behavior, only its appearance.

[i2amroy]

I suggest trying out the Lazy Newbie Pack (Mac Version). It's got most utilities you would want included, as well as a nifty launcher to swap out tilesets and some world settings rather easily.

[Irenices]

I do not recommend at all that you play Masterwork before playing vanilla. It adds a whole lot to the game, and is generally harder and more complex. You'll be completely swamped if you haven't even mastered the vanilla basics.

Iv been playing for 5 or 6 years and masterwork STILL swamps me.

[Gnorm]

Don't use mods. Although the user-interface of vanilla is not perfect by any means, the game itself is quite playable and complicated. I hardly ever even use pipes in my games; adding extra stuff such as mithril is just unnecessary.

[Agent_Irons]

Wait, can you put pipes(pipe sections/tubes) down by themselves, like not part of pumps?

How?

[blackravenx]

Hey welcome to DF

I am also a newbie But asked the same questions as you. I cannot play in ASCII and I tried for a whole week so was forced to a tile set. What I do suggest is do not use the current build but the Stable version 34.11 newbie pack and the reason why I said this is because I spent more time loading in new updates on 40x then actually playing. I will have a great tile set Phoebus (spelled wrong but im heading out of work)  and DO use dwarf therapist because the built in game was very hard to understand for me. Also suggest to take it slow and learn each part of the basic game and how each aspect works. Been playing around 3 weeks and really never went past Autumn because of issues with angry or starving but you can read up some good suggestions on the other section : http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=141438.0

I also joined the IRC DF chat and been asking a lot of questions to them which was giving great help. I'll have to add to this reply once I get home to tell you what server I used. Welcome and please ask as many questions as you need. 

ADD: the IRC server is freenode and #dwarffortress

[Mawnster]

Alright, thanks for all the additional information everyone.

Though, I already knew about tilesets and starter packs, so I already use the Lazy Newbie Pack, Dwarf Therapist program, and Phoebus tileset (and soundsense too but that's not really useful, just a nice addition  )

I also use the Quickstart guide on the wiki for now, I already went to autumn and did my first trade, but I was unhappy with how my fortress layout was, and I made a very poor trade so I just started a new fortress, and I'll try doing stuff more how I want to, and less just doing exactly what the guide tells me. For now I don't feel like I need any help but I sure will ask either on forums or IRC if I really can't find what I'm looking for or if there's something I don't understand.

Thanks again!

[blackravenx]

LOL you'll be back with a lot more questions but glad to help

[Tawa]

I use the occasional homebrew addition, but I'd say no to full-on mods.

[nukularpower]

I'd strongly recommend using SoundSense if nothing else - being able to hear when your dwarves are fighting is a godsend, if for no other reason.