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[TicklemeHellmo]

After having seen Tim Denee's excellent Dwarf Fortress illustrations and reading several postive reviews I have decided to try the game for myself. However I am still having trouble sorting through what is and isn't relevent and useful infromation. I have bookmarked several pages of the wiki and various tutorials but the sheer quantity of info required to play the game is still overwhelming me a little  . could anyone provide for me a list of good tutorials and general game info?*


* also reccomendations for graphic packs and programs etc

[Passive Fist]

The stickes at the top of this forum are really good. Some of the info is outdated but the concepts explored are still relevant.

If you're looking for more general advice, the first thing to do is learn how to irrigate so you can produce food and booze. Once you aren't in danger of starvation go have a great time.

[kaijyuu]

I recommend 0 graphics packs or utilities. Except maybe dwarf therapist, though I haven't used it, since it apparently makes the interface much better.


Anyway, just try to make a fort, fail, learn from mistakes, try again. Some extremely basic tips:

- Mine. First thing you should do is go underground.
- Farm. Second thing you should do is set up a farm and start planting plump helmets. Check the wiki for this, especially the part about irrigation. (you want an underground farm)
- Make booze. Once you've got farming going, make a still and start making booze. If you run out of barrels, you can make more out of wood at a carpenter's shop.
- Make bedrooms. Carve out a small niche and place a bed in it. Can make beds at carpenter's shops.
- Experiment.
- Die and try again.

[TicklemeHellmo]

In regards to dwarf therapist can anyone tell me if it's particularily beginner friendly? from the screenshots i've seen it seems like it might be a better idea learning the games standard interface first.

[TicklemeHellmo]

Despite not hating the ASCII like some people do I would prefer to download a graphics pack for the game. The one most people seem to recommend is Mayday.

[TicklemeHellmo]

I'm looking through the video tutorial stickied at the top of the page and i'm going to download "The complete and utter newby tutorial" as well. Both look fairly helpful. Is there any particular tutorials or wiki pages you'd advise me to read/bookmark as well or do you think I should be fine with the ones you've already suggested?

[Trekkin]

Everything on the wiki is relevant, it just depends on what you want to do. Smug homily peddling aside, as long as you understand how the z-levels and various digging designations work, how dwarves select jobs and do things (and what they need), and perhaps how items are treated, everything else becomes "how do I do X?" and becomes much easier to process.

As for graphics, the game is easy enough to see sans graphics packs, which keeps you from having to use a version other than the latest, but it's worthwhile to find a tileset from the repository that agrees with you. If you like graphics, though, Mayday's is probably the easiest to grasp.

[jester]

asking on the forums will pretty much always get a useful response as well

[bongotastic]

In regards to dwarf therapist can anyone tell me if it's particularily beginner friendly? from the screenshots i've seen it seems like it might be a better idea learning the games standard interface first.

Therapist is a real improvement in managing dwarves. Since it doesn't work on Linux, I learned to shlop things instead of fine tuning like DT helps you to do. Oh, I wish DT worked on Linux...

It probably will help, byt clarifying some information, rather than confuse you.

[charl]

In regards to dwarf therapist can anyone tell me if it's particularily beginner friendly? from the screenshots i've seen it seems like it might be a better idea learning the games standard interface first.

Therapist is a real improvement in managing dwarves. Since it doesn't work on Linux, I learned to shlop things instead of fine tuning like DT helps you to do. Oh, I wish DT worked on Linux...

It does work in Linux, or at least in Ubuntu. You have to compile the latest version of DT from source, and manually create a .ini file for the current version of DF. Some of the features don't work, but the job assignment part does which is what you want anyway.

[bongotastic]

It does work in Linux, or at least in Ubuntu. You have to compile the latest version of DT from source, and manually create a .ini file for the current version of DF. Some of the features don't work, but the job assignment part does which is what you want anyway.

Really?! I know what I'm doing tonight then... thanks!

[Tsarwash]

Dwarf Therapist is essential in my mind.

Pick one dwarf who is going to be your Brewer, one Grower, one Cook, one Mason one Miner and one Carpenter. At the beginning, they shall multi task, but later on when your population is over a hundred, they will solely do those tasks.

All items have a quality. higher quality items make dwarves happier than ordinary things. This WILL matter later in the game. try to make your dwarves the highest quality things that you can.

Secure your fortress. Build a fairly large perimeter, and a drawbridge, so that no nasties can get inside. If your dwarves have to out of this safe zone, give them a military escort.

Essential workshops are (imo this order) Carpenter, Mason, Mechanic, Still, Craftdwarves, Smelter, Metalsmiths Forge. Much seem to unnecessary. I'm not sure if you need a loom or Clothiers shop in the current version. I have a HUGE pile of quality new silk clothes, but still all of my dwarves are running around in very worn elk leather. 

Plan a hospital early. you will need it. Hospitals require a well.

Ignore the elves.

[Rkui]

Yep Passive fist said it right, watch the video tutorials, some use a bit outdated game versions, but it really is the easiest way to get started, and it will give you a good understanding on how the game work. If few things are outdated there is a very good wiki, i always have a window open with it when playing.

http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Main_Page

[TicklemeHellmo]

Can anyone tell me if there are any tutorials which explain how to use dwarf therapist?

[TicklemeHellmo]

Also can anyone explain to me how to install mayday? i've downloaded the lazy newb pack but I prefer the way mayday looks compaired to the graphics pack it came with.