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[Pvt. Pirate]

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I still have dwarves that never figure out how to put parts of the uniform on in the right order. They end up running around without gauntlets and boots until I change their uniforms to exclude clothing, take the bad thought for being naked, and then allow the uniforms to have clothing again.

Do armor stands and weapon racks work for storage yet? I define barracks from items other than those two things because they were never used for storing stuff in older versions, and a barracks defined from a bed works the same way as one defined by a weapon rack. It's actually okay that they never worked: military dwarves can and should just carry their equipment all the time because trying to change it out is buggy and inefficient anyway. The whole "store the swords in the armory and have dwarves grab them for training or emergencies" system makes intuitive sense and feels good from a "roleplaying" perspective, so some new players are certain to try it. If they keep playing, they will eventually realize it's a pain to get to work right and isn't practical in emergencies since there's no penalty for a dwarf who just carries his weapons everywhere.

Then there're training weapons, which are actually harmful to use now that dwarves can get attached to items and sparring is pretty much totally safe.   

Ammo is still buggy and inefficient. Bolts are available in the thousands and the one squad has 500 bolts reserved, with none reserved for hunters. I still have marksdwarves that don't shoot bolts reliably because they're on the ground in the stockpile rather than in their quivers.

The military is actually pretty reliable in these versions. But the UI is still clunky, dwarves still don't always equip properly, and new players aren't going to understand why things don't just work right. Sure, there are workarounds and other ways to do the things that need to be done to have a functional military. But it doesn't help the game's image to have obtuse or broken things running around in a system of such critical importance to a fort. Things like this are why people dismiss the game as buggy or unstable.

I guess my thing is that I don't care so much about all the old timers who are used to the DF way of doing things. I want DF to have a future, and so I want new players to be able to understand the way the game works, too.

exactly my thoughts on that. from playing the adventuremode two times, i understood how complicated it is to equip dorfs, but why should that also apply to the dorfs running around in Fort mode?
As i never got a real good mil running with barracks, I tend to just prepare for total lockdown for the case of any invaders showing up.
for gobbos, elves and humans, i got traps and an array of mean defences that don't even require any of my dorfs to go into melee.

[sketchesofpayne]

As far as military issues I've had some success in that area recently.  Once big thing is making comprehensive uniforms and telling them to replace clothes and to wear their uniform when inactive.  This way they don't spend time changing clothes wandering around and getting confused and forgetting where they put their weapon.

Detailed Uniform:

• metal mail
• metal breastplate
• metal greaves
• metal gauntlets
• metal helm
• metal high boot
• cloth tunic
• cloth trousers
• cloth cloak
• cloth hood
• cloth socks
• leather gloves
• metal shield
• metal (weapon)

Now, a known bug is the military dwarves not replacing worn out parts of the uniform.  So when I notice they're missing something or wearing worn out clothes I go in and switch their uniform to this one:

• cloth robe
• cloth shoe
• leather leggings

So three things not part of their regular uniform.  So once they change clothes, I set them back to their regular uniform and they'll find fresh replacements for everything, and pick better quality armor if it's available.  I also run a "drill" every so often where I activate the squad and station them somewhere.  They'll spend some time gathering weapons and ammo if they don't already have them.  That way when you actually need them they should be ready to go right away.

[nezclaw]

Military is kinda a pain

It's fiddly, but once you do it one time, you will learn how to do it.

i can make squads, have them find weapons(+ammo) and armor and send them around.
but i never got a working barracks, archery range or a schedule working, even when following the wiki guide by the word.

The wiki is slightly more detailed than it needs to be due to the need for workarounds for bugs in the past. Barracks, archery, etc, Just Works these days.

i've never been able to figure out how to send them on patrols. i also get annoyed sometimes when there's something that requires a lot of input/monitoring from you but you also need to be checking up on the rest of the fortress. although i kinda made that mess myself... kids don't put the magma floodgate lever next to said floodgate. and def don't make it out of a non-magma proof material.

[Dozebôm Lolumzalěs]

Patrols require setting up a route with Notes first.

Also, there are ways to prevent fluid disasters. First, avoid scenarios that require you to pull the right lever at the right time or else your fortress floods. Automatic shutoffs can be created using pressure plates to detect when the fluid has reached the desired level. Locked hatches and doors can be used to seal off areas that might flood, so prudent placement of these can save a fortress. It can be useful to create a single lever room that is sealed from danger, including fluids. One way of protecting a lever room from fluids is to install a “U-trap”. If the only path into a room requires going up, then forcing the path through a diagonal gap at a point below the opening into the room will prevent the fluid from entering. This is because pressure cannot flow through diagonals. A simple and compact way of achieving this is to dig three tiles below a hallway, with one of them being only diagonally connected.

Code: (level below a hallway) [Select]

OOO
<_O
OO<
Then wall off the upper hallway at a point between the two downstairs.

[Atomisk]

Ui's a bit muddled? some stuff should be grouped in the same place... meh, it's pretty much all a mess in that area though and we all know it. I'm sure like everything else a bunch of research will be done on what looks good in UI at some point and then things will be fixed, but untill then, I am very happy with the state of the game in the current version except...

Maybe it's uncanny valley for me in terms of how much my dwarves feel. The other day a dwarf walked up to my queen sitting on her throne, flashing red down arrow, and apparently, yelled and cried on her shoulder. Both events left my queen Empathetic and the other dwarf Relieved and I nearly let my coffee get cold thinking about trying to get the poor dwarf something to relax.

[Bumber]

It can be useful to create a single lever room that is sealed from danger, including fluids. One way of protecting a lever room from fluids is to install a “U-trap”. If the only path into a room requires going up, then forcing the path through a diagonal gap at a point below the opening into the room will prevent the fluid from entering.

It would be a moot point if nobody's there to pull the levers. I put my levers in the booze hall.

[nezclaw]

Patrols require setting up a route with Notes first.

Also, there are ways to prevent fluid disasters. First, avoid scenarios that require you to pull the right lever at the right time or else your fortress floods. Automatic shutoffs can be created using pressure plates to detect when the fluid has reached the desired level. Locked hatches and doors can be used to seal off areas that might flood, so prudent placement of these can save a fortress. It can be useful to create a single lever room that is sealed from danger, including fluids. One way of protecting a lever room from fluids is to install a “U-trap”. If the only path into a room requires going up, then forcing the path through a diagonal gap at a point below the opening into the room will prevent the fluid from entering. This is because pressure cannot flow through diagonals. A simple and compact way of achieving this is to dig three tiles below a hallway, with one of them being only diagonally connected.

Code: (level below a hallway) [Select]

OOO
<_O
OO<
Then wall off the upper hallway at a point between the two downstairs.

Ah, i did not know about the pressure plates. i did have a fluid disaster early on in my adventures and had to roll back my fortress after i did something really stupid with the river. ended up abandoning it anyway because goblins. fortunately my current fluid-based problem isn't going to spread to the whole fortress, the area that got flooded was the lowest part of that section of caves and i already had some water set up to do some obsidian casting nearby.
[edit] it may end up being a moot point anyway, as there was a fire-breathing forgotten beast that completely torched the place, and my dwarves, and my stockpiles, and the floodgate that was supposed to hold back the water

[JesterHell696]

There is a tutorial. It's called Dwarf Fortress Wiki.

Most people I know think that needing to use an external guide is insufficient to be called a tutorial and I tend to agree.

It's fiddly, but once you do it one time, you will learn how to do it.

I've learnt how to use the military but its still a pain/annoyance, its about QoL and the current system is usable but undesirable.

[KittyTac]

There is a tutorial. It's called Dwarf Fortress Wiki.

Most people I know think that needing to use an external guide is insufficient to be called a tutorial and I tend to agree.

Looks like Toady doesn't, judging by his actions and the fact that the game points you to the wiki upon starting worldgen.

[Draco18s]

Something something Minecraft doesn't have a tutorial either (there's kind of one now with the achievements/advancements, but its not really the same thing).

[Senator Jim Death]

Something something Minecraft doesn't have a tutorial either (there's kind of one now with the achievements/advancements, but its not really the same thing).

Come on now. Minecraft isn't nearly as involved as DF.

DF's not really the kind of game that tutorials work well for, anyhow, beyond maybe something on how to pick an embark area and profile that won't screw a new player over. It's sorta intended that a new player will lose forts and learn from their mistakes. Mistakes because of things like fighting the UI are different from gameplay mistakes like not making enough booze or embarking in an evil region without really understanding what that means. That design decision is probably repellent to a lot of potential players, but with the wiki it can sorta be worked around in a lot of cases.

Things that don't work correctly or whose behaviors are not well explained (or studied and explained, I guess) are separate problems that both new and old players can run up against.

[Bumber]

Something something Minecraft doesn't have a tutorial either (there's kind of one now with the achievements/advancements, but its not really the same thing).

Come on now. Minecraft isn't nearly as involved as DF.

Those crafting recipes, though. The first time I played MC, it was in Alpha, and all I ended up doing was punching my way to bedrock. Didn't try playing again until it was in Beta and I had checked the wiki.

[Pvt. Pirate]

DF's not really the kind of game that tutorials work well for, anyhow, beyond maybe something on how to pick an embark area and profile that won't screw a new player over. It's sorta intended that a new player will lose forts and learn from their mistakes. Mistakes because of things like fighting the UI are different from gameplay mistakes like not making enough booze or embarking in an evil region without really understanding what that means. That design decision is probably repellent to a lot of potential players, but with the wiki it can sorta be worked around in a lot of cases.

Things that don't work correctly or whose behaviors are not well explained (or studied and explained, I guess) are separate problems that both new and old players can run up against.

THIS.
when starting, i read a lot in the wiki and even watched some LPs and without those LPs i wouldn't even have had the slightest idea what my mistakes would have been, because there's nothing wrong with assuming that things work similiar to eachother, but in DF they just simply don't.
if it weren't for the LPs, i would've had no idea that i even could put up a manager, trader, bookkeeper and that i would need them.
i would've been totally confused about why in half of all menues the cursor doesnt move, because i didn't know they suddenly need +- or wsad or uhmk or PgUp/PgDown without an apparant reason fo this strange behaviour.
or the strange Bin behaviours putting a fort to a halt.
failing because of such things is NOT creating a learning effect, but it creates a lot of frustration and it keeps people from enjoying even a defeat.

Losing is fun only if the rules of the game were clear and the player(s) had a (preferably fair) chance.
otherwise it is like not knowing that putting the 8 into the pocket ends a round of billiard with you losing, if done at the wrong moment and everyone claiming you just lost and taking your bet money, but noone explains the rules to you.

[JesterHell696]

Looks like Toady doesn't, judging by his actions and the fact that the game points you to the wiki upon starting worldgen.

My understanding is that Toady pointing to the wiki is a temp thing, as in its good enough for now and not a its good enough full stop kind of thing, after all the OP by ThreeToe says.

More specifically, what problems did you have before learning the ropes of the game?  We figure we are losing 90% of the players because of the UI and other barriers, and that doesn’t even count the ones scared away by the ASCII graphics.  Now, this doesn’t mean we are about abandon the rest of the game to start the presentation arc.  It is just as important to have endless monster attacks from the underground, and challenging sieges. 

What do you think is scaring people away?  The building placement?  Designations?  The embark screen?  Or maybe its finding the right tile sets and setting them up.  We are hoping at some point to build easier commands and tutorials to help bring in more players.  We have to identify the main culprits first.  So what is frustrating you the most about Dwarf Fortress?

So saying "just use the wiki" in a thread that specifically asks people what problem do they think are turning people away from playing is counter productive, the point of this thread is to present problems that hinder new players from playing and the lack of a proper tutorial is one such problem and the wiki existing does not stop it from being a problem.

[KittyTac]

Looks like Toady doesn't, judging by his actions and the fact that the game points you to the wiki upon starting worldgen.

My understanding is that Toady pointing to the wiki is a temp thing, as in its good enough for now and not a its good enough full stop kind of thing, after all the OP by ThreeToe says.

Ask him on FOTF if it actually is.