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[MorbidMorvick]

I have just started playing Dwarf Fortress a couple days ago, and after being a strategy game fan for many years since I started playing computer games, I must say I fell in love. I just wanted to post and say hello to the community and plan on helping with the wiki and detailing my personal experience in trying to find figure everything out. I have already started posting some of my findings and road bumps on my wiki user profile page, I hope that this will help newbies like myself to get started.

Since the game has so much detail I also hope to provide detail into my fortress and my dwarves, plans and experiences. I am still not quiet sure about the planning that goes into starting a game and hope also to explore that. One of my first questions would be about the massive amount of stone I have so far, and is there a way to dig a mining shaft so that I can mechanically remove the stone that is taking up all the space in my newly dug workshop area. But that is only one of the many problems I already face. I have had a huge amount of migrants in my first few days of playing, I am still farming outside and am trying to get a handle on all the dwarves I am now able to task.

There is a lack of miners in my fortress and I have already figured out how to solve that but am still researching different strategies and advice you can give on these things would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to getting involved with the community. My last thought is Dwarf Fortress "Where have you been all my life?"

[Demonic Spoon]

One of my first questions would be about the massive amount of stone I have so far, and is there a way to dig a mining shaft so that I can mechanically remove the stone that is taking up all the space in my newly dug workshop area.

You can crush the stone using a atomsmasher(A drawbridge, drawbidges smashes everything under them when they lower from existance.), or dump it all into a single tile using a garbage zone. Or you can use it to make crafts and stones etc.

I have had a huge amount of migrants in my first few days of playing, I am still farming outside and am trying to get a handle on all the dwarves I am now able to task.

You can set a limit to your population in the init options. Also, get dwarftherapist, awesome utility.

[Ieb]

Personally I try to turn all my excess stone into rock toys or instruments if they're not going to the dumpster. While making crafts out of them is one option too, so is the chance that that 1 boulder turns into 4 other items. It's sort of counter-productive while trying to clutter-issues.

The quickest way would be to change the melt-temp of the excess stone you have to, uhh, was it 10000 that's okay to everything within range? Anyway, all the stone will melt instantly. Problems with this is of course that there remains puddles of molten stone, and if you've already made something out of 'em or had an artifact done, say, from gabbro, and you edit that to melt, the furniture will melt too. And probably the artifact.

Is the seasonal clean-up thing still ingame? I used that to my advantage when I used the temp-trick, since every season change all that molten stuff just disappeared. Although I think that DFhack's cleanmap utility would get rid of it just as well. Or was that only for blood and poison and so on?

Maan, I don't know anything.

[Jordrake]

First of all, a hearty welcome to the community. I can still remember when I were but a newb.
As for disposing of excess stone, I can't really help with actually getting rid of it. I tend to just leave it lying around in case I need it. If you want to unload it, one roundabout way is grinding it into trade items and pawning them off on traders.
Else do what I do; build awesome stuff with it.
As for migrants, they're more useful than you think. My system is I watch over incoming groups and leave be all the ones I deem have useful skills. The ones I don't deem so worthy I grab and assign them whatever my fort needs right now. If we're doing fine, I just give them mason and any other skill I think will be useful down the line. I like to have a lot of farming dwarves to keep up with demand.
Really, though, all the stuff it takes to run a working fortress is so extensive and intricate that individual strategies are hard to describe on the fly, and my advice probably isn't the most useful. The best I can probably give is; keep learning and etch out your own style.

[MorbidMorvick]

Thanks for the welcoming replies, @Jordrake: with such an intricate system every piece of advice gives me more of an idea of what is possible. I would be content with leaving the stone where it is but I am too much of an organizer myself, (something I am sure dwarves don't subscribe to). They do seem happy and eager to hall around the stone though. I want to see if I can just relocate it without using up all my dwarves for that purpose, I have begun looking at all the migrants and doing similar as you do with singly them out and assigning the less useful ones atm to various other tasks.

@Demonic Spoon: Lol drawbridge smashing sounds interesting and I did find something on dump pile, though at this stage in the game I am more inclined to try and make heavy use out of the minerals I have accumulated. I have found all kinds of minerals but unfortunately I have no way of using said minerals. For a newbie I guess it seems like a waste to just dump it all.

Some of the things I need are:
A well (haven't figured out all the necessities to actually build one yet, getting there though)
Metalsmith (construction suspended, can't figure out why)
And pretty much every other workshop, I got stalled in construction of the still because of obstructions and I am concerned by the fact that I have no drinks available. (doesn't sound good at all, the still is there just not producing)

@Ieb: Interesting I didn't think I would ever play a game where people created hacks to actually remove items and materials in a game , it's something that I could give a try if things get to the point of extreme annoyance. Right now I just wish to learn how to utilize the materials at my disposal. Not sure about the seasonal clean-up thing might you explain a little more about that, I'd be interested as I am just learning all the facets of the game and community.

[nbonaparte]

Quick question related to this: occasionally, my metalsmith won't make anything. commonly happens early on when I need a chain.

[Jake]

Personally I try to turn all my excess stone into rock toys or instruments if they're not going to the dumpster. While making crafts out of them is one option too, so is the chance that that 1 boulder turns into 4 other items. It's sort of counter-productive while trying to clutter-issues.

On the other hand they're four items you can trade for food, booze, caged Giant Desert Scorpions or whatever else you need.

[GaxkangtheUnbound]

Quick question related to this: occasionally, my metalsmith won't make anything. commonly happens early on when I need a chain.

To make a chain, your metal smith must have Metalcrafting enabled.
It may go under the furniture section, but it's actually a metalcrafting labor item.

[Thoth]

Some of the things I need are:
A well (haven't figured out all the necessities to actually build one yet, getting there though)
Metalsmith (construction suspended, can't figure out why)
And pretty much every other workshop, I got stalled in construction of the still because of obstructions and I am concerned by the fact that I have no drinks available. (doesn't sound good at all, the still is there just not producing)

Wells need some blocks, chain / rope, a bucket and mechanisms iirc. Buildings often stall if the stone that's laying about they're built on is already locked by some other construction elsewhere, ie walls floors bridges, even other buildings, so either create a quantum garbage pile using zones, then dump all the rooms stone into that, then what i usually do is surround that with masons, crafting workshops or mechanics workshops after reclaiming the stone. You preferably always want booze available for the dwarves, since it helps mitigate potential tantrum spirals.
 

Quick question related to this: occasionally, my metalsmith won't make anything. commonly happens early on when I need a chain.

As ever make sure you have enough resources, charcoal / coke and enough bars for whatever you want to make, and remember that chains is metal crafting so check on DT its enabled on someone.

[nbonaparte]

Quick question related to this: occasionally, my metalsmith won't make anything. commonly happens early on when I need a chain.

To make a chain, your metal smith must have Metalcrafting enabled.
It may go under the furniture section, but it's actually a metalcrafting labor item.

*facepalm* thanks.

[MorbidMorvick]

Well I am getting there, thanks all for the helpful responses. There is a lot of stuff to take in and I am sure there are many ways to get all the stuff I need to done. Which is one things I am coming to really like about DF. If I am stuck I can find creative ways to get myself out of trouble.

I have started to get drinks so I guessing my ability to designate dwarves to farming only and plant gathering might have paid off. Now just managing the shear breadth of it all is going to be challenging lets hope the dwarven gods are good to me and bless me a peaceful seclusion for the time being, I don't need intruders at this point. I am still trying to make mud in my fortress to do indoor farming this is not working so well as I don't exactly know if digging out a channel and making it a pond so that it gets filled with water is going to work. The dwarf in charge of filling it keeps canceling.

[Ieb]

@Ieb: Interesting I didn't think I would ever play a game where people created hacks to actually remove items and materials in a game , it's something that I could give a try if things get to the point of extreme annoyance. Right now I just wish to learn how to utilize the materials at my disposal. Not sure about the seasonal clean-up thing might you explain a little more about that, I'd be interested as I am just learning all the facets of the game and community.

Well, back in 40d, whenever season changed from Spring to Summer etc. all the bloodpuddles and so on would be cleaned off the map by MAGIC. That doesn't seem to be the case for blood at the current version however, but I don't know about the molten stone part. Should check.

I am still trying to make mud in my fortress to do indoor farming this is not working so well as I don't exactly know if digging out a channel and making it a pond so that it gets filled with water is going to work. The dwarf in charge of filling it keeps canceling.

Unfortunately you can't make a pond yourself that would fill with rainwater, only pre-existing ponds will ever have rainwater pile up on 'em. Hurr durr there is a thing called "make ponds by filling it with water from buckets go me expert of DF herp derp. Anyway.

Easiest way to make a farm(that I know of/use) would be to make a big enough room, have a cornerspot next to a pond, then mine and connect that pond to your farm-room. The water will flow from the corner outwards and create a spot that's ripe for farming. The bigger the pond you will use, the better it is to enlarge the room though, in case you're like me and don't want your stone layers of the fort with muddy floors.

Oh and when making farms, I recall that making one where even ONE spot of it isn't on mud is unadvised. Bugs out the whole plot and you can't plant anything there. Not that I'd know about it, I always have made my farms in the muddied up spots and not a single tile away from 'em.

After you've drained the pond to make your farmland, you can just build a wall to seal the pond again(check that your builder doesn't trap themself) and prevent further water from coming in during rain, although I doubt it'd be an issue since it'd trickle in slowly.

[MorbidMorvick]

Thanks Ieb, that is a good suggestion for my current fortress, I am experimenting with the flood gates and controlling water flow. Some interesting things to think about as DF has realistic fluid dynamics which makes me a bit cautious while working with water but there are some good resources out there about it.

[AtomicPaperclip]

Thanks Ieb, that is a good suggestion for my current fortress, I am experimenting with the flood gates and controlling water flow. Some interesting things to think about as DF has realistic fluid dynamics which makes me a bit cautious while working with water but there are some good resources out there about it.

Dig out the minerals

You know you want to

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It will be Fun.

[darkflagrance]

To clear excess stone using raw file changes, you want to evaporate them, not melt them. If you evaporate them, they'll be gone instantly.