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[jojojoey70]

Hello, hello.

   I am currently trying to teach several friends of mine how to play this great, but often misunderstood game. Sadly, though, I am not a talented teacher, and my friends just don't quite seem to be getting it. All they know of the game is that "It's just DOTS" (I recently changed to actual icons), and they don't seem to be learning anything other than that. So I ask you
How can you teach Dwarf Fortress? Tips would greatly be appreciated.

Thank You

[3]

You will not be able to get someone who is not interested in a game to learn how to play it. Naturally, then, I suggest you find some means of making sure interest has been piqued before you start trying to teach people how to play the game.

The best way of doing this is to run over its features. Remember that DF is essentially a procedural world generator/simulator (which puts it above the vast majority of games out there in terms of scope). Also, stories. DF is fun in its incomplete state due in no small part to its bugginess and rough edges.

[Strife26]

The video tutorials.

[jojojoey70]

Yes, they are interested in the game. (Thanks, i must have left that out) And they DO want to learn how to play it.

"Hey, Joe, whatcha doing?"
"Killing masses of goblins and humans with but a single drawbridge... I named her Charline..."
"WOAH, you need to teach me how to play that!"
"Aight, we chill dawg"*
*Changed severely from actual events

And, personally, I hate the video tutorials. Sorry.

[3]

"It's just DOTS"

...threw me rather a bit.

Err. Now what?

I presume you've tried just running through step-by-step? With graphics?

[Strife26]

Fire up a new map, then teach them the basics of designating digging. Explain Z levels.

Go on to building workshops and designating build orders (cover the major workshops, Carp, Mas, Mech, and Craft)

Teach farming (probably just plump helmets and brewing for the beginning)

Explain traders (including the importance of appraise, and the concept of a roadway)


Once they've got that much done, they can experiment with more advanced stuff, like metal working, nobles, and traps by themselves, or you can explain them as they come up.

Trying to keep it down to one thing at a time is probably a good bet. Embark parties are a bit of a pain, consider saving a good all around profile for them to embark with (any one on the wiki would work fine)

[jojojoey70]

Yes, i have been teaching them to build workshops, dig, ang building walls/floors. And honestly, i still haven't figured out how to farm...But the z-level bit is a good idea...

Oh, and by-the-by, has there been a topic on this subject before?

[Rysith]

I'd argue for a different track. We all love DF not because of what it is (it really is just dots), but because of what it represents (a huge, detailed sandbox) and what can be built in it (monuments, stories, etc.). Wander through the Hall of Legends. Choose something that fits your friend's interests. If they like heroic failures, go with Boatmurdered. Or Headshoots. Or any of the Sparkgears. If they like epic victories, go with Nist Akath, Migrursut, or The Rise of the Fahstrom Clan. If they like building things, go with Flarechannel. If they like stories, go with Blockedlance, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Zombie Troll, or The Legend of Tholtig Cryptbrain.

Show them what is possible, inspire their imagination, and only then sit them down in front of the dots and start showing them how they too can accomplish that.

[Heron TSG]

Warn them to not emulate my performances in the SparkGears.

[eerr]

Warn them to not emulate my performances in the SparkGears.

That... wasn't deliberate?

[Idiom]

Play a game with them watching and explain everything you do, as you do it and why.

Show them what is possible, inspire their imagination

Just DON'T fill their head full of hype. Very quick way to lose players.

"It's just DOTS"

My response to something similar was
"And Wii tennis is just a couple sticks and a ball, but I've seen you enjoy hitting a dot back and forth for hours. Boils down to fancy pong."

[Grakelin]

True, but intense Dwarf Fortress playing only occasionally makes you break a sweat.

[Heron TSG]

Warn them to not emulate my performances in the SparkGears.

That... wasn't deliberate?

All of those were accidents except for the underground bunker.

[kcwong]

The video tutorials.

But not before making them read Boatmurdered!

[Ottofar]

Tinypirates "THE UTTER NEWBY PLAY-ALONG TUTORIAL" is great, in my opinion. If your friends want to learn recommend it to them. It has an easy map to play with, and teaches you the basics.