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[Joker]

The start-up screens in the new Fortress mode are beyond deciphering, and I've been playing the former version for a couple months.

I have no idea what's going on with the three-part world/region/local screen. The tab key no longer seems to take you to selecting skills, though it's still labelled the same. The new options screen has no explanation of the new features/options that I can find.

I don't know if I'm missing the documentation in the help/manual, but I don't see anything explaining how to navigate the changed screens at all.

At least world creation works!

Edit: Altered title

[ October 30, 2007: Message edited by: Joker ]

[Wiles]

You get to chose your skills and equipment after you're done choosing your location. (after you (e)mbark)

[ October 29, 2007: Message edited by: Wiles ]

[ October 29, 2007: Message edited by: Wiles ]

[Joker]

Ah, thanks... progressing to new area of cluelessness!

[GrimmSweeper]

Alright, the three map screens display, from left to right,

local region, where you would be located on the...
region map, a normal view that you should have seen if you have exported the world map
World map, a huge jumble of symbols that show the most prominent feature present in that "square" (" being grasslands, Triangles mountains and hills, etc).

You move around the region map using the arrow keys, shift + arrow keys to move faster about. Once you spot a local region that looks interesting enough to settle, you switch to the uhkm keys to move the square area that will be your designated Fortress site.

The default TAB mode is the normal view.
Second TAB gets you the civilizations that can reach this place.
Third TAB allows you to select the dwarven civilization that your little outpost is part of. It defaults to the closest one.
Fourth TAB switches the local region to relative elevation, with a red square showing your current chosen site. It will probably be in your best interests to keep things roughly on an even keel for now.
Fifth TAB shows you the local region's absolute elevation in numbers, your current chosen site showing up as a brighter colour.

Once you are satisfied with your location, hit e to embark, as Wiles said!

[Joker]

Thanks for replies. I somehow embarked into an area with no mountains around (I think) so I abandoned.

I think I'm going to wait until there's more documentation, because I really have no idea of how to get started.

[Kjoery]

Just experiment. Try out all the keyboard commands that are listed there, create dummy fortresses. That's what I did.

[pasiniem]

When there are no mountains, just start digging downwards  

[flight]

Are you a dwarf or a hobbit?

[FlamingKittenMittin]

Im in a non-mountainous zone ,how do I dig down?

[Uruth Kranon]

Digging down took me a while to figure out. Go into designations "D" and select dig stairs down. You only need a one tile stairway to start. Once thats done go to the next level down "shift <" and go back into designations and select upwards stairway. build it on the single tile spot that is visible. Then have fun and dig on the level to your hearts content.  

[Solara]

I can't believe people are giving up so easily - patiently wait nine months just to take a quick look at one screen (a labeled and fairly self-explanatory one at that) and immediately throw your hands up in defeat?

[Anti-Paragon]

It's the dwarven way Solara.
Player cancels play: Confused.

You can also dig down with ramps. Find where you want the ramp to be, then go one level lower in the exact same spot and use 'build upward ramp' Despite it not blinking on the floor above, the miner will make the ramp down.

Edit: Typo

[ October 30, 2007: Message edited by: Anti-Paragon ]

[Mephisto]

Yes, ramps can be ever so slightly confusing when just beginning. I looked for all of ten minutes trying to find a downward ramp.

[Joker]

quote:Originally posted by Solara:
<STRONG>I can't believe people are giving up so easily - patiently wait nine months just to take a quick look at one screen (a labeled and fairly self-explanatory one at that) and immediately throw your hands up in defeat?</STRONG>

I'm not giving up in defeat, just waiting for proper documentation.

And I haven't been waiting for nine months; I'm part of the wave of people who found out about DF in the last couple months. I had the forums and wiki to help me learn, and it was still a chore. I've been gaming since TRS-80's in the late 1970s, too, so I've seen it all.

I think it might be easy for the core group of folks here to forget how indecipherable the game can be for those who haven't been immersed in it - buried in the wiki and spending months following the daily progress of the hundred-page FOTF threads.

I really do dig DF, and I don't want to come across as slamming the idea. I know a two-man dev team is going to have limits, and I'm glad they choose to focus on gameplay. That being said, there comes a time when you can't make excuses about documentation anymore if you want to draw in new players.

With the massive changes this version made, one expects equal documentation of it all. I understand that discovering how things tick is a big part of the fun, but imagine what it's like for people coming to the game now - the wiki won't be fully fleshed out by the veterans for weeks, maybe months. In the meantime, the only documentation resource is the forums. And in combination with unexplained gameplay elements, figuring out where commands are hidden in 4-deep menus and wrestling with the interface in trial-and-error fashion really isn't fun; it's work. Not a lot of people are going to fight their way up the learning cliff if they have to make a forum post about almost every simple gameplay/interface problem they encounter.

So, I am just sayin'... it's time for a real manual.

[ October 30, 2007: Message edited by: Joker ]

[Freddybear]

It's a game, part of the fun is figuring stuff out. This thing is so huge that a "proper" manual will take months.