Wow, the new update is much more advanced than previous versions but still easy to follow for a relative noob like me.
I'm excited and i'm going to restart my fort and try this out.
I really like the Siege equipment stuff you got going, looks very fun and I am really looking forward to future installments of the guide
I'll try to do everything according to the guide and then I will let you know once I get to the end if I have any problems.
Edit:Okay so I am following your guide now and already it plays MUCH better than previous iterations. Going for Still and Kitchen early is really helpful especially if you are a noob who mucks up and takes longer to do things than you are supposed to.
Im going to add a few observations here, more will come as I progress, ill just edit this post and add it.
a) In section 4 wood industry section one thing has me confused.
You have designated wheelbarrow and stepladder stockpiles twice. Both on the middle level (upper right room off the hallway) and the upper level (One of the left rooms)Is this intentional and if so, what is the reason?
b) In the stone industry section under the various stockpiles, can you explain the reason that you split up the various crafts in multiple piles? (figurines, earrings, rings, ect) Is there a reason to not just make one stockpile?
c) In the Stone industry, upper floor by the catapults. If you channel and remove the ramp to the upper most designated tile, can you still access the upper right most storage room? I seem to remember something about diagonals but I am not sure.
d) Is it on purpose you didnt mention trade depots? Its autumn now and I just realized I have no trade depot built.
e) Is there a reason to bother with seperating the Nest boxes of the peahens by a wall? Cant I just put a door at the entrence?
f) Currently building my first dinning hall as per your instructions. At the part about designating the prepared food stockpile infront of the dinning hall its a bit confusing because you say "Set the smaller stockpile to take from the larger one - it's placed at the entrance to the food quarter quite deliberately." which is a bit confusing because we havent actually set up the food stockpile you are refering to. At first I thought you ment the temporary kitchen stockpile that we created in one of the previous sections. But because I had followed your previous version of the guide I realized that you were probably refering to something upcoming.
g) Whats the point of toys? I built some as per your instructions and the children are playing with them, but after googling I cant seem to figure out what they do? Just another masocistic tendency?
h) Maybe I am stupid, but setting up the solid food stockpiles is confusing for a noob. This could be laid out in a more simple fashion I think. Right now the explanation of what to do and why to do it is kinda mixed together which makes it a bit confusing to get an overview. I had to read it several times to get it.
Furthermore, the fruit part in particular is confusing because you need to refer back to two lists at the same time. "any other growths for the species listed above" Better to have an exact list to refer to. I also dont see any Cacao fruit but that may just be me being blind.
i) Shouldnt the pots stockpile next to the still be set to take from the pots stockpile in the wood industry section?
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Alright I believe thats enough DF for today, I played most of the day and I am tired now. Here is a quick recap:Its early winter, I have played a full year and I just got to the plumbing part. I had two migrant waves and one Caravan. There have been no hostiles so far and no deaths. I messed up a few things along the way and had to redo some things so you could probably have gotten a little bit further if you had done everything correctly, though I think I am fairly representative of the type of person who would use your guide seeing as I am still very new to the game but know the basic controls. Everything was fairly easy to understand except for the few things I mentioned above. I find your guide very fun to follow and I am waiting for the next part eagerly.
Some things to consider:
Might be useful with a few words on what to get from the first Caravan. Could fit this in with explaining when to build trade depot since that seems to be missing from the new version of the guide. Ended up getting a few pieces of metal, some leather, some bags, quivers and waterskins and some gems. I traded some Spiked Wooden Balls as I heard they were good value (You'd probably consider it a cheesy strategy
)
Might also be useful to instruct people to switch off fishing and related labors on new migrants, since we havent built a fishery yet. (You might have told people to do this already and I might have missed it)
Oh and I REALLY wish there was a way to name stockpiles. All those interconnected foodstuff stockpiles are confusing as HELL. If I mucked up somewhere along the way when designating those i'll probably never figure it out on my own.
Gonna try and see if I can do the rest of section 5 tomorrow.