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[Dalma]

Hi, I just started playing DF, but I have a few questions.

I have the Starter Pack if that matters.

For awhile I was having trouble with mining. The game would only let me designate mining for a certain distance, and then it just wouldn't let me go any further. There was no error message or announcements about it, it just wouldn't let me designate.

I think I figured this out though: it appears that I only have this problem when I use the MOUSE to designate mining. If I use the keyboard directional buttons and Enter key, then I don't have the problem. Is this a bug that needs to be reported?

Question 2: Are there any play-along tutorials that will help with the current 40.05 version? I notice there are a lot of tutorials, but they all seem to be for earlier versions. Does that matter, and could someone suggest one for me?

Question 3: I've only been able to find underground water sources. Is it better/easier to embark in a location that has above-ground water, or is underground water just as good? Also, I have aquifers turned off, so idk why I have underground water anyway.

Question 4: Is there any particular reason why, when I go into the Designations menu, my river/brook blinks rapidly? Just wondering. It can get kinda distracting if I'm trying to build something and the water on the screen is flashing.

Thanks!

[celem]

Q1.  That bug is as old as time, Mouse designation doesnt work out to the edges of the screen.  Not much to do but work around, no  idea why it is so, but has always been (as long as i've been here)

Q2. Playalong vids may be short in supply for this version, its very new and this game has been in dev a loong time, many of the players fade in and out.  Shouldnt matter much if you are watching older videos.  look for .34 ideally, much of the work since then has been bug fixing and stabilising (apart from the latest active world stuff)

Q3 underground water in the caves is fine if it reaches a map edge, otherwise its not infinite.  You wont need that much just for wells and such though.  Embarking with surface water can help, its all a bit moot if you dont run out of booze/injure a dwarf, so however works for you.  Aquifers off saves you the heartache of breaching them, but if cavern water were removed (which it can be through modding) then your dwarves become unable to grow underground crops (they never surface farm in worldgen) and you get worlds with no dwarves (which cant be played without a lot of modding effort)

Q4.  The flashing when designating is I guess the damp stone/earth tiles.  They are blinking to let you know that water is adjacent to them (if you imagine a 3x3x3 cube with a tile of water or magma in the centre then all the other tiles would flash warm/damp).  If you are mining deep underground this is often the only warning you get before emptying an entire cavern lake into your fort.  A miner will cancel a designation on a tile that he discovers to be damp or warm and it will blink thereafter in the designate menu.  If you redesignate the job then he will carry it out regardless of the consequences, beware.

[greycat]

Embarking with a brook or river makes it much simpler to ensure a water supply.  Getting water from the caverns is more work, and/or more dangerous.

[Dalma]

Q1.  That bug is as old as time, Mouse designation doesnt work out to the edges of the screen.  Not much to do but work around, no  idea why it is so, but has always been (as long as i've been here)

Q2. Playalong vids may be short in supply for this version, its very new and this game has been in dev a loong time, many of the players fade in and out.  Shouldnt matter much if you are watching older videos.  look for .34 ideally, much of the work since then has been bug fixing and stabilising (apart from the latest active world stuff)

Q3 underground water in the caves is fine if it reaches a map edge, otherwise its not infinite.  You wont need that much just for wells and such though.  Embarking with surface water can help, its all a bit moot if you dont run out of booze/injure a dwarf, so however works for you.  Aquifers off saves you the heartache of breaching them, but if cavern water were removed (which it can be through modding) then your dwarves become unable to grow underground crops (they never surface farm in worldgen) and you get worlds with no dwarves (which cant be played without a lot of modding effort)

Q4.  The flashing when designating is I guess the damp stone/earth tiles.  They are blinking to let you know that water is adjacent to them (if you imagine a 3x3x3 cube with a tile of water or magma in the centre then all the other tiles would flash warm/damp).  If you are mining deep underground this is often the only warning you get before emptying an entire cavern lake into your fort.  A miner will cancel a designation on a tile that he discovers to be damp or warm and it will blink thereafter in the designate menu.  If you redesignate the job then he will carry it out regardless of the consequences, beware.

Thanks so much that's really helpful.