More information and/or (preferrably) better organised information is good thing.
The difficulty when applying this to DF is that the game is immense. So even if there are tooltips or other means to identify each mineral's possible uses, this only creates more information to digest.
To a complete newbie the difficult bit is certainly not that "stuff" can be mined and then refined into metal or used for whatever. That much is almost self explanatory.
However, when there are 10 different metals, extracted from 30 different minerals, it's hard to keep them all straight while still struggling with the interface and simple things like digging / building rooms.
To a newbie, all these rocks basically look the same. Just a long list of whatchamacallite and dontcarium.
To the experienced player this is not the same list. A few are important, many can safely be ignored or have long been set to auto-dump.
The veteran deals with 2 or 3 "real" options, the newbie with 20, all of which look equally valid.
A game where the "advanced stuff" does not even exist can be played the same way.
You mine, refine, build. It's merely easier to keep on top of things when you don't have so many possibilities which quite frankly, often don't make one bit of difference beyond the colour of the built walls.
A game mode where you have the bare minimum of stone/metal types would help in learning how to play.
And with the system I proposed, the AI would have the same limitations because the high end materials (or creatures) do not exist in the game.
So the player is less likely to be overwhelmed by superior foes with steel battle axes, that he has trouble defeating with his pointy sticks.
Merely hiding the options would not work well.
This would be a very good foundation for a tutorial - not replace one.
It's common practice for basecraft games to slowly give the player more powerful unit types. It's the same principle.
Don't overwhelm the player with too much stuff from the get go. Let him learn how to play and use the interface, then add all the advanced unit types.
It's not my invention. =P
I don't agree that there is a natural progression in game already. In my recent game I had an anvil and started right next to a volcano. Not too hard to get into metalworking.
Anyway, there is a huge number of inconsequential options at any point in the game. Personally, I totally dig that shit and I spent many hours studying the game before ever installing it. But I also accept that I'm a nerdy engineer and that many see games in a different light. They want to get right into the action, see how this works.
One thing I don't like about the basecraft style of giving me one more unit type per mission: It's often too slow.
I'd like to be able to control what toys I get to play with.
Therefore... complexity levels.
When I'm ready for more stuff, I play with more stuff. My game, my rules.
The funny thing is how this seems to have turned into an argument of complexity settings vs better information.
These are 2 completely separate approaches with the same goal and should be used simultaneously and not in competition to one another.
That's why "better information" should have a dedicated thread to be discussed in detail. It does not belong in here.