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[Jar of Jam]

I personally recommend this one: http://afteractionreporter.com/2009/02/09/the-complete-and-utter-newby-tutorial-for-dwarf-fortress-part-1-wtf/

Only downside is that it uses the mayday set, but it's a good tutorial. Really good, actually.

What's wrong with Mayday ?

[Alex Steiner]

I personally recommend this one: http://afteractionreporter.com/2009/02/09/the-complete-and-utter-newby-tutorial-for-dwarf-fortress-part-1-wtf/

Only downside is that it uses the mayday set, but it's a good tutorial. Really good, actually.

That's the one I used, but I couldn't get the supplied game to work, and had to use the mayday one, and find a site of my own (having no idea what the were), and then embark now. I somehow ended up in a good enough place, and then found the wiki.

[zwei]

I am in the process of getting some friends playing (before reading this thread), but I am limited in that I can't be there when they start playing (other than an MSN convo or something), and I was wondering how best to present it.

I have considered giving them a clean copy of DF, one with the Mayday set (my personal favourite), one with a pregenned world, one with a preset beginner party, saved and ready to continue (made by me beforehand).

Which would you recommend?

I would give ready-to-load-save a try.

[azazel]

I personally recommend this one: http://afteractionreporter.com/2009/02/09/the-complete-and-utter-newby-tutorial-for-dwarf-fortress-part-1-wtf/

Only downside is that it uses the mayday set, but it's a good tutorial. Really good, actually.

What's wrong with Mayday ?

Personal preferences, mainly. Getting introduced to the game with a tileset makes it a lot more available, but it also makes it a lot harder to move away from them.

[Deon]

I'd suggest to go this way:
1) Find people who played rogue or adom or other roguelikes.
2) Ask do they like simulations.
3) Show them Boatmurdered and Nist Akath (in that order).
4) If they still have attention to you, show them some good fortress of yours (with magmafalls, nobles and stuff).
5) Give them a link to the wiki and to forums.

This should be enough, at least it worked for most of my gamer-friends. Two of them almost cannot understand english though so I had to guide them through all the menus and stuff. One of them still plays DF .

P.S. Also I would recommend NOT to show them the game with graphic sets first. It will do no good to them.
If a person starts with a basic ASCII it gives them three good opportunities:
1) Follow Youtube tutorials without problems.
2) Understand other people's stories and fortresses without problems.
3) Find a graphic set which suits their needs. Most people start with one set and then they cannot break off from it because they are too used to it, although they COULD find a better one for their taste in theory.

[Mapleleaf]

It's simple really; pick your most intelligent friend (as long as he's/she's an active gamer) -> proceed to start telling them about 'this fortress-sim game you played' -> check whether he/she is interested -> end conversation or continue and explain in depth (start with something along the lines of boatmurdered to get the excitement up then work your way to the more ridiculous/buggy parts, as they'll start to understand how this game approaches things)

In concise; don't market the game for everyone, choose a select couple of people that you think would like the game. Chances are the rest won't like it/be scared off by it's complexity.

P.S. Also I would recommend NOT to show them the game with graphic sets first. It will do no good to them.
If a person starts with a basic ASCII it gives them three good opportunities:
1) Follow Youtube tutorials without problems.
2) Understand other people's stories and fortresses without problems.
3) Find a graphic set which suits their needs. Most people start with one set and then they cannot break off from it because they are too used to it, although they COULD find a better one for their taste in theory.

I started playing with a graphics set, yet I have no problem with understanding screenshots and videos; it's a matter of understanding the way the game works etc. It's not hard to figure out what's what once you know the game.

[JamPet]

This game, although it is a triumphant master work of gaming form (but not function), is really not for everyone.  Tell people about it and, if they want to play, they will, and if they don't, they won't.  Its a hard thing to do to make people see a thing, a game or any thing, through your eyes and only possible if the person you are talking with actively wants to see those things through your eyes.  If you try to describe the awesomeness and they aren't interested in seeing (Or hearing as the case may be) then odds are you'll likely fail and leave a dude somewhere scratching his head saying, "Man, that guy really likes dwarves, I guess".

If you can get your buds in want to get your friends in on the game then hey, more power to you.  I find its often no more hard than, "Dude try out this game I love and see if you like it!  We can compare who has the more awesomer deathtrap!"  I further find that a good way to demonstrate how the game is full of bugs is to describe how dwarves do not understand the concept of being lit on fire.  It is a serious bug and shows the level that the game is at currently, but it is also highly humorous.

Also, wouldn't it be better to get them in AFTER the new version, so they wouldn't have to deal with the changeover?

[Lawec]

I've made two friends and my father play Dwarf Fortress 

[Tizer]

(The Descovery Channel's I Love the Whole World lyrics)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"It never gets old, huh?"
"nope"
"It kinda makes you wanna... break into song?"
"Yupp"
I love the mountains
I love the clear blue sky
I love big bridges
I love when great whites fly
I love the whole world
And all it's sights and sounds
Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada
I love the ocean
I love real dirty things
I love to go fast
I love Egyptian kings
I love the whole world
And all it's craziness
Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada
I love tornadoes
I love arachnids
I love hot magma
I love the giant squids
I love the whole world
It's such a brilliant place
Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada
Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada
Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada

I post that because, for one, reading it in a Dwarf fortress mindset gives

"I love when great whites fly"

a whole new meaning. , but also all but two things in that song are in Dwarf Fortress, showing how close it is to a real world. As it was the world, not the game that hooked me.
When I first played DF I generated a new world and sat in awe as my crappy computer chugged away at carving mountains planting the seeds of forests and fortresses, this was on a crappy computer and back when the world gen look longer, so it did take a while but I just sat there and watched it as it *slowly* built my playground from scratch. But as I,(and I think all new players), was comforted with the embark screen I was confused. But after looking around for a while I finally hit 'e' I started my fort, then I was stuck on what to do, mucked about some, then went to try one of the other modes. Adventure: Start game, wander around, get pwnd by wolves. But the level of detail described as my legs were being bitten off simply blew me off my feet (Pun very much intended). Then tried Legends. Start Legends, wait for it to load, look around, follow a life of a shopkeeper that lost his family and store to a goblin raid on the village where he just migrated to but managed to flee and become a monk where he spent the rest of his life, realize just how deep this world was, fall in love with DF. And then discovering the wiki, the forums and their humor just compounded to my love of DF, and I'd really like to share the love of DF. But as some of us do, I suck at describing games, books and other things that I love and want other people to experience. (Whenever I've tried to entice someone into playing it I made it sound as if it was some game that has two or three good points and that is was crazy complex with no way of really winning and not any Fun at all)

So maybe some sort of, official, well-written (Maybe by Toady specifically describing the next version) D for Dwarf promotional text should be carved out of a 20 z-level cliff and pointed to whenever we meet someone who might like the game but doesn't want to hype it up too much or worse. Heck, maybe make it short enough to fit a piece of paper that you can fold up and put into your wallet, I mean you never know when you might meet someone who might be interested in it. http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/features.html Here is the official features of DF, doesn't that sound intriguing? Yes it does, now imagine that but it also telling about the community, updates that bring more and more interesting, new ideas and concepts into the game, constantly updating wiki that will tell you everything you need to know and more!

Also to make the game a bit more newbie friendly have a DF pack that has the latest version with several tile sets (both graphical and ASCII, and a text about how to install them (And maybe pro&cons of graphical & ASCII)) the tools that make the game more playable and enjoyable, like Dwarf Therapist and a visualizer (Not StoneSense, I think it would make them think "Why can't the game look like that instead") and if they really want it a copy of Reveal.exe. Now I think packs like this exist, but most of them are confusing and often harder to get to a point where you like it compared to a vanilla copy. And to avoid having many sub-par packs, possibly have a large poll deciding the best of several packs and the winner is the one that is favored by X out of Y dorfs.

Sorry for rambling, that is all... I think...
If anyone has any constructive criticism or questions on any of the ideas in this, please go ahead.

[Chicken Launcher]

I think whether a person likes DF or not is also determined by the type of person they are. Some people, no matter how much you think they'd love the game and no matter how well you introduce it to them, simply don't enjoy it. But on the other hand, all it took for me was hearing Dwarf Fortress mentioned as a good RPG more than once to look it up, find the tutorials, and start playing. So you shouldn't have to try hard to get someone to play the game. Mention some of the fun (or Fun^tm) in conversations and if they're interested they'll look it up. Even if the steep learning curve discourages them, everyone here has gone through it alive.

[nenjin]

I started playing with a graphics set, yet I have no problem with understanding screenshots and videos; it's a matter of understanding the way the game works etc. It's not hard to figure out what's what once you know the game.

Same here. All it took was a tileset I could approach the game with, and the wikis (and this board) taught me everything else I needed to really sink my teeth into the game.

It's sad but true that graphics are a requirement of a lot of gamers. The level of graphics varies, but the days of pure visualization are going...going....

Whether you show people some ASCII, or a mature fortress with a tileset, it's going to be a visual mess one way or another. Tiles are tiny, they flash, and with tilesets they're a mix of ASCII and pictures. My reasoning is that at least you can recognize a dwarf, recognize a goblin, and you can put the rest together from there with tilesets. Having the game not display on a black backdrop also helps people instantly recognize walls, floors, and rock just by color differences.

I'm all for "teaching people how to drive stick shift first," but the ASCII is such a barrier to gamers who might otherwise enjoy the game....I say show them your tilesets. (And get beads.)

[alfie275]

You could burn a cd, but you may want to include a save, a tileset, and attach a manual/tutorial in the cd case.

[Iban]

At first I was like: This game is gay.
Then I was like: WTF does "g" mean?
And then I was all:

Your settlement has crumbled to dust.

[moocowmoo]

I think they have to WANT to play before they'll put in all the effort to learn. Like for me it was reading Boatmurdered that finally made me say okay I'm going to learn all these cryptic and arcane controls. Valcon's Let's Play of Adventure mode might be a fun and entertaining way to get people interested. It's posted here: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=47024.0

If the first thing they're shown is a tutorial I think most people would go "why bother?"

[Muz]

Show them Boatmurdered. Seriously.

I got DF from a friend who said it was the coolest game ever. That's all you need. Tell them that you can mine and build stuff.

ASCII is ugly. Tilesets are ugly. Even Stonesense is ugly.. as ugly as a typical MMORPG in beta. Face it. The only reason people play this game is because Gameplay >> Graphics + Learning Curve. It's just awesome enough that you're willing to sit down for a week to understand what it all means.

So, show them Boatmurdered. Show the tales that can be told, not "Hey, this game isn't so ugly!"