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[JDRX]

I am bit frustrated.
I have been watching videos, trying to read tutorials and some of post here.
I really like the fort design and crafting aspect of the game, while watching combat is interesting in videos not too much into that.
So I set my settings as much as I was able according to that.
I figure short history, low civilization, low savagery, no cave ins, no invaders would help but I haven't really been able to set up fort yet.
All I can say is I haven't been able to figure out the basic stuff and no matter what happens with those basic tools like dig,etc its not like in the videos of the
game or tutorials.
Its as if certain shortcuts only work for me half of time or not exactly the way I wish and that is only if I am not crashing
Am I the only one who has been crashing and having issues with basic stuff.
I wanted to create newbie dwarf eden no combat, no invasion just basic setting up the base, digging, trying to figure out Quickfort, and Dwarf Therapist.
And I am cranky after a whole of fail attempts.
Anyone else relate or can offer advise?

[Astrid]

Small hint, if you want to learn the game and experience some of the best parts of it then leave cave-ins turned on.
Cave-ins dont happen unless you have messed a desing up yourself, and in that case a cavein is the best way of learning.

Anyway, yes, the start of that game is brutally hard. When i first tried i played a bit, threw it of for a couple weeks or month and then came around trying again later.
You will get your hang of it. Better so with the correct tutorials. Just browse youtube a bit more
for different players.

All i can say. It is worth the insane learning curve.

On a different Note. Dwarfes WILL die. Forts WILL fall. Thats part of the game. dont judge a fallen fort as fail. All forts WILL fall.

[Badger Storm]

I'm pretty new to this as well, only been playing about a month.  I can't really help with crashing, but if you have gameplay questions I will do my best to answer those.  (I have to go to work pretty soon, so answers might not be up for ~8 hours)

[JDRX]

I left all the other stuff out like cave ins because I just want to learn how to dig and set up my base.
I am having really hard time just with that.
I use shortcut keys that I learned about half of time they don't work.
I tried to set jobs for my workers they don't seem to do the task.
Setting up stockpiles its hit and miss if I can do them.
If I cut wood or mine I can't retrieve that wood or stones
I got absolutely no clue why the stuff I am following from the tutorials is simply not working for me.
Anyone able to help walk me through a basic base set up I'd really appreciate it.

[taptap]

I left all the other stuff out like cave ins because I just want to learn how to dig and set up my base.
I am having really hard time just with that.
I use shortcut keys that I learned about half of time they don't work.
I tried to set jobs for my workers they don't seem to do the task.
Setting up stockpiles its hit and miss if I can do them.
If I cut wood or mine I can't retrieve that wood or stones
I got absolutely no clue why the stuff I am following from the tutorials is simply not working for me.
Anyone able to help walk me through a basic base set up I'd really appreciate it.

If you allow free floating stones (no cavein) you won't learn setting up a base.

The main option I would change is population cap nothing else - there won't be invasions as long as only 7 dwarves labour along anyway.

The interface is atrocious and it will take time to get used to it - I played for a while until I rediscovered "v". It is worthwhile to go through ALL the different menu points in the main menu one by one, right now. The general workorders are easily missed. (Where you can turn on/off refuse hauling, wood hauling for everyone - regardless of whether ppl have the relevant labour activated.) I also missed the bulk designation (d b if I remember correctly) for a long time even after I had killed quite a few sieges. (Also, use tab until you have the main menu neatly at the right side of the screen - you don't have to memorize the menu and you talk a bit like this might be your problem.)

Learn to use stockpiles, there is nothing hit and miss with it - but without stockpiles dwarves may miss stone just a few paces away from them. You can change stockpile settings and reduce stockpile size after setting them up - or completely remove and redo the stockpile. In a basic small fortress you may not even need stockpile links, but they will be crucial later.

You get better answers with specific questions.

[JDRX]

I am still trying to formulate questions, apologies in advance to all.
I know what the tutorials I have been reading and all the basic youtube videos share.
I try to follow a long with beginners guides but something always goes awry.
Ugh maybe I can figure out how to formulate the questions better later on today.
Seriously all I am just trying to do right now is very basic stuff  like set my workers, workshops, how to unpack, dig, locations for stock pile, and simply moving stuff off the wagon to put in secure location.
I can't even get the dig down or up working enough to worry about cave ins at the moment.
I don't know what floating stone is, heck I don't even know how to pick up stones:(

[Tacomagic]

Few things that may or may not help:

First, if you haven't read it, I highly recommend the quickstart guide on the wiki, it's how I learned.
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Quickstart_guide

Second, it sounds like you need to slow down a bit.  By your posts, it seems you're throwing yourself rabidly headlong at the game.  You can't learn it like that.  It takes a very cool, patient, and slow approach to learn DF well enough that you can actualy do anything worthwhile.  Maybe give the game a break for 15-30 minutes, calm down, let the frustration wear off, and then try again.

Third, by the sounds of things you might also be battling an unstable version or corrupt files.  What version are you using?  Any mods?  The newbie pack?  You might save yourself some trouble by first getting your hands on a stable version that isn't crashing all the time; which is something we can help with if we know what you're using (and what OS you're using it with).

[Xinael]

It's quite likely that the game version you have is different to the ones used in the videos and tutorials you're using. A lot of things change between versions, including keyboard commands for some things. Some tutorials offer downloads to go with them - use those and follow along. If you do that, please mention the version if you have questions, and expect people to have forgotten the answers, though.

It would help if you could name a specific thing in a particular situation that you're not able to do, or that doesn't work how you expect. Tell us precisely what you're doing, what is happening, and what you think should happen. Take some screenshots to help your explanation (press alt+print screen, open Paint, paste, upload to imgur, use the [img] forum tag to attach it to your post). Explain what led you to think something would work a certain way, too - was it a tutorial? Which one? A video? Which part? A wiki page? Etc etc.

[taptap]

Type tab until you see the menu. Pause the game and go through the menu points, each of them (especially d/b/p to do stuff and q/k/v to look at stuff). Tutorials are little help, when you are stuck w/ simple things like enabling a labor, changing settings on a stockpile.

Your digging problem is solved by carving staircases into rock (under d menu) - if you just designate a level lower to dig, nothing will happen, because there is still a floor. (Requires mining labor enabled and a pick.)

[JDRX]

I have been reading the guides mentioned.
I have wondered about if its "version" issue too so that's why in last few weeks I downloaded 3 different versions of the game.
Big part of was I figured go for Lazy Player mod because the up to date newer Dwarf fortress I  was crashing constantly but I got into the game a few times.
What usually happens when I play?
I start up Dwarf Fortress application its folder.
Set my settings,
Click play Dwarf Fortress
Go through whole "create new world" and setting up embarkment with my 7 seven dwarves usually about here I begin to have the problems.
Maybe its setting thing not sure.
Low civilization settings are set but often entire landmass is filled up with cities.
So when I find a nice place with little bit of river, mountain and trees and all the basics like sand, soil, metals, flux stone
there I embark.
Most recently last few times I end up in some area with no mountain just gray ground snow no river,
That wasn't what I saw on the map.
I can't zoom or move out any way to see if the lake has been hidden.
Then I try to set up trying to move stuff off the cart with shortcut keys, which is often right in front of me.
I can't control plot size, I end up with weird shape ones
and when I try to set permissions for specific object or pasture areas for animals about here something just doesn't happen that I got no clue why this happen.
I try to dig a room last time I just kept hitting rock or worse yet I clear out entire space but all the rocks, clay are missing or I can't pick them up and put them in pile somewhere
Chop a bunch of trees maybe they will be cut, maybe not but either way I can't pick up the logs or get the dwarves to do it.
Set up a workshop with whatever I brought with me, takes my goods but doesn't seem to build or if I get farm or fishing plot open something else goes wrong.
Fishing workshop poofs like its not there even when I set the area as fishing area and water source.
And there is more, like my picks are enabled in one version of the game and the other version of game it doesn't seem like it is.
And if I select or unselect job task in Dwarf Therapist I run into problems too there.
Its like setting the task or something only partially happens that I don't entirely know how to explain,
Thanks I will keep trying to figure it out.

[Tacomagic]

Low civilization settings are set but often entire landmass is filled up with cities.

Civilization settings are just for the number of possible civilizations there can be, not how many cities they can each have.  Site limit controlls how many cities each civilization can have.  It's an advanced setting.  You can reduce this with standard generation by using smaller maps.  I wouldn't worry about this too much for your first game though.

Most recently last few times I end up in some area with no mountain just gray ground snow no river,
That wasn't what I saw on the map.

Mountains are a bit of a misnomer on the map screen.  Mountains only indicate high, rocky terrain, but not necesarrily peaks.  High plateus will show up exactly the same as mountains.    For actual montainous terrain you have to look at the cliffs indicator.  To do this, on the embark site selection screen press tab 4 times.  The local area will change to a bunch of numbers.  This indicates how tortuous the terrain is.  High numbers means more elevation variation.

Also, it is likely that your river is frozen and buried under the snow.  You can search for it by going down one level (shift + .)

If you can post a picture of your embark site selection screen, I might be able to provide additional insight.

I can't zoom or move out any way to see if the lake has been hidden.

There really isn't any zooming per se in dwarf fortress. Your embark is bounded by your initial selection.  If it's small enough and your screen resolution is large enough, it's possible your entire embark is on the screen.  If I recall, the default embark size used by the newbie pack is 2x2.

Otherwise arrow keys and the side carrot keys should allow you to move around your embark.

Then I try to set up trying to move stuff off the cart with shortcut keys, which is often right in front of me.

Can you be smidge more specific here?  How are you trying to have them moved?

I can't control plot size, I end up with weird shape ones

Are you talking about farm plots here, or stockpiles?

and when I try to set permissions for specific object or pasture areas for animals about here something just doesn't happen that I got no clue why this happen.

I am not sure what you're trying to say here. 

Pastures work like this: Press i, move the cursor to where you want a corner, press enter to select your first corner, move the cursor to where you want the diagonal corner to be, hit enter again, then press 'n' to designate it as a pasture, then press N (shift + n) to bring up the animal selection menu to assign animals to the pasture.  Once the animals are assigned to the pasture, the dwarves will move those animals to the pasture when they have a free moment to do so.

I try to dig a room last time I just kept hitting rock or worse yet I clear out entire space but all the rocks, clay are missing or I can't pick them up and put them in pile somewhere

Not everything leave a rock behind, and clay/dirt is never left behind.  For your first fort, it's probably just better to ignore rock hauling and let your masons pick the rocks up off the ground whenever they are needed.

If you insist on stockpiling rock, you need to first designate a rock stockpile.  Press 'p' to bring up the stockpile menu, 'r' to select rocks, position your cursor where you want the first corner of the stockpile to be, press 'enter', move the cursor to the diagonal corner of where you want the stockpile to be, press enter again.

Chop a bunch of trees maybe they will be cut, maybe not but either way I can't pick up the logs or get the dwarves to do it.

Again, this requires a wood stockpile, but is not necesarry.  Your dwarves will happily pick up logs for any work they need to do with them.  Best skip worrying about stockpiling the logs until later.

Set up a workshop with whatever I brought with me, takes my goods but doesn't seem to build or if I get farm or fishing plot open something else goes wrong.

Some workshops require architect (building designer) labor enabled.   Make sure you have at least one dwarf with this labor enabled.  Further, most workshops require the labor associated with that shop to be built.  Make sure you have fish cleaning enabled on at least one dwarf before trying to build a fishing workshop.

Fishing workshop poofs like its not there even when I set the area as fishing area and water source.

There are two different things needed for fishing, and it sounds like you're confusing the two of them.  The first is a fishing activity zone. This is the area you set up with the menu that opens with the 'i' key.  That's not the shop, though.  You have to build the shop using the build menu under 'b' and then the workshop menu 'w' within that menu.  Fishing workship is then the 'h' key.

And there is more, like my picks are enabled in one version of the game and the other version of game it doesn't seem like it is.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here.  Do you mean sometimes your embark doesn't have any picks or that sometimes mining isn't enabled on your dwarves by default?

And if I select or unselect job task in Dwarf Therapist I run into problems too there.
Its like setting the task or something only partially happens that I don't entirely know how to explain,

Make sure to commit your changes when using dwarf therapist.  It does not track your changes in real time.  Even us old salts still forget to commit stuff and wonder why nothing is getting done.

[ragincajun]

This is a huge learning curve game.  I played off and on for over a year and felt the same way you do now.  Basically just get in and start slow.  Do a few things, screw up and start again.  Remember the mantra of this game is "Losing is FUN". As for the tutorials, most of them that I've seen are based on older versions of the game and no longer apply as the game has changed and evolved since those tutorials were done.

A few notes:
1. You don't "gather" anything unless you set up a stockpile for that item (ie a place for your dwarfs to put the gathered material).  Otherwise the builder for that item will gather the material one at a time when he needs it.  Example, You set up a bed to be built, the carpenter will run outside, get a log, bring it back inside to the shop and build the bed.  Also, stockpiles for items to be put after it's built (for a bed, a furniture stockpile).
2. The Wiki is your best friend.  Search EVERYTHING you come across. 
3. You Tube: Some good videos out there on some of the basics.
4. Browse your controls and see what they do.  This is a time involved process to get better at.

To start, hit d and view the various DIG commands.  One is to chop down trees with the t command.  Sounds like you found that one.  try the d command to dig.  Then you use your up, down, left and right buttons to manuever your target.  Enter to start, move again to set your area, enter to finish, and your dwarfs will start to dig (assuming they have the mining task turned on or you set them with a mining skill during setup).

It can be frustrating as hell.  It will take a while.  Just bear with it and just try stuff.  Eventually you will learn the basics and then expand from there.  Every start I have I learn something new.

[Tacomagic]

Now that I'm thinking about it, one of the biggest learning curve bumps for me was figuring out how to properly move between layers (also called Z-levels).

The easiest way, and the way you should start with, is to just designate a small channel (press 'd' followed by 'h').  This digs down into the level below and leaves ramps behind that you dwarves can use to get down to that level.  Stairs are far more complicated creatures, so save those for when you have a better handle on the game.

[JDRX]

Before I spiral to a "bad mood" about this all  and drop out of society in frustration I just wanted to thank you all  for the comments you've left.

[greycat]

Low civilization settings are set but often entire landmass is filled up with cities.

Try a shorter history.  Don't give the civilizations so much time to expand everywhere.  I like to use about 100 years, maybe a bit more.

The easiest way, and the way you should start with, is to just designate a small channel (press 'd' followed by 'h').  This digs down into the level below and leaves ramps behind that you dwarves can use to get down to that level.  Stairs are far more complicated creatures, so save those for when you have a better handle on the game.

Unfortunately, ramps have their own, completely different set of issues and are much more confusing in the long run.  I'd stick with staircases at first.

First make sure you understand how to move up and down Z-levels (altitude).  Press > to move DOWN, and < to move UP.  (If you have ever played nethack or other roguelike games, these are the same keybindings and symbols used for stairs in those games.)  If you get lost, F1 should take you back to the wagon, or where the wagon was if you've already deconstructed it.

Once you understand how to move up and down between Z-levels, stairs aren't hard.  Designate (for digging) a downward staircase somewhere on the surface by pressing d j and moving the cursor where you want the staircase, and then Enter Enter.  You are still in the digging menu at this point, which is good.  Press i to switch the designator from downstairs to up/down stairs.  Press > to move down one Z-level.  Now your cursor is directly under the downstairs you just designated.  Press Enter Enter to designate an up/down staircase on this spot.  Now press Esc to get back to the main interface.

When you unpause, a miner should dig the two staircase tiles.