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[obliza]

I have a problem,

The thing about dwarf fortress is losing is supposed to be fun, the game is all about imperfections, what resources you don't start with, how you are effected by your environment.

But I hate it.

I've tried to start a fort many times but I never get passed around two years. I want every resource to be accessible from my fort, I hate not having everything. Around a dozen forts I tried to start I would get a while in only to realize that one of the civilizations was already extinct, be it dwarves or goblins mainly or I would realize I had no lignite and bituminous coal on the map, meaning the experience I felt I would get from the game was already reduced so instead of continuing I would just make a new fort.

I did this so many times that I got so sick of the slow starts so I started using Speed=0

I think it has had a large impact on ruining the game for me, I have a habit of altering games as I play them instead of simply just playing them as they were intended which interests me for a while but I eventually regret the decision, (Examples are speed,gold hacking games live Civilization, Debugging or altering games like Oblivion and Fallout or preventing death, save scumming in various other games) I end up enjoying playing console games much more because the option is not there (well it is..just requires much more effort)

So my most recent forts have been maps I downloaded off the internet claiming to be perfect embarks. With the speed altering I have completely mined out, without me even really learning how to play the game or dealing with my first encounters I already have legendary miners and engravers with legendary dining rooms builds and magma forges fully operational. I actually made a what I believed to be completely perfect fort, with a expansive entrance system sure to stop any siege.

Well I suppose it became to be a funny story. I was training dwarves into archers for quite some time, around a year I suppose they never really seemed to improve only went up about 2 skill levels

- It is my understanding the a group of dwarves constantly training as archers would level quicker? I think I really just don't understand the military system yet -

Well anyway the speed=0 was still in place I positioned my dwarves in one of my completely golden outdoor towers to shoot at the goblins as they came into my fortress, and they managed to kill a goblin.

He died.

This lead to all my dwarves running outside to pick up his stuff.
You can imagine around fifty dwarves running up to a siege of goblins trying to grab the dead goblins gear. At the time I had no idea about burrows, and as the fortress I had just spent a good 12 hours game time building I was nearly in tears as a good forty dwarves dies to the goblins simply by running up to them with a sign on their foreheads saying "Just picking up your dead goblin friends stuff, please shoot me in the face'

But this is supposed to be the enjoyable part right? Dying=Fun?
I hated it, I hated absolutely everything about it, that I didn't know about burrows, that the dwarves would do that in the first place I thought was ridiculous.
I had no fun I am a perfectionist.

I made this thread because like the AA meeting reference in the title, I really just want help, I think I could really enjoy this game I keep coming back and reading some of the threads which can be very funny and interesting and make me 'want' to want to play the game. But I always end up not having fun when I play the game itself.

Can you help me to enjoy it? Or is the game just not for me?

[Flying Carcass]

You can avoid the unwanted mid-battle corpse rummaging by setting an order not to loot dead bodies.

o -> F and then set the looting options to your preference.

[Acperience]

Define this "perfect" embark of yours. I find that often the pregenned worlds claiming to be "perfect" embarks are always in good aligned areas with dense woodland and low savagery.

Me? I hate that. I want a treeless barren wasteland, in the most godforsaken, evil choked hellhole I can find. Though I do spoil myself by wanting a volcano most of the time.

For future reference you can go to (o)rders > (F)orbid and change the settings so your dwarves automatically forbid gear left by dead enemies. Ninja'd

Also, you can use this to...enhance the carnage.
Defense Mod
All manner of vicious beasts will come to your fort seeking an opportunity to slaughter your dwarves. The mod isn't very forgiving about giving you time to prepare though, sieges can arrive as quickly has the first winter.

[slothen]

hahahahahahahaha.

[Acperience]

ahahahahhhahahahahhahhahahahaahahawhatarewelaughingabouthahahahahaaahaha

[slothen]

actually I'm a perfectionist too and its caused me problems with games like oblivion.  I've had similar though less extreme experiences in DF, and after a few months I sort of got over it.

So get over it.   

[AngleWyrm]

In this game, knowledge is king: The more you know, the less stupid things happen. It's a learning experience.

The only Fun I get out of bad things happening is a ding to the pride, a sense of ok, I didn't know that -- but now I do, and my next fort will be better off for it.

[obliza]

Define this "perfect" embark of yours. I find that often the pregenned worlds claiming to be "perfect" embarks are always in good aligned areas with dense woodland and low savagery.

Me? I hate that. I want a treeless barren wasteland, in the most godforsaken, evil choked hellhole I can find. Though I do spoil myself by wanting a volcano most of the time.

Every single type of stone on the one map, a volcano, underwater river, plenty of trees, all races alive and eventually interacting with me a hugeass river not some crappy brook, must also be by the sea, plenty of interesting sea creatures all possible enemies able to attack me. Whats the point of enemies existing if they can't get to me? Unicorns, A waterfall

My computer can handle just about anything. I've only been slowed down by running multiple highest detail games simultaneously. So embark size is not really an issue.

Everything that can and possibly will happen, be able to happen on the one map.

I know how impossible the above would be.

I just need to be able to accept that I could enjoy a non 'perfect' embark.

You can avoid the unwanted mid-battle corpse rummaging by setting an order not to loot dead bodies.

o -> F and then set the looting options to your preference.

I wish I new that :|

[AngleWyrm]

You get dealt a hand of cards, not the whole deck.
The game takes place on a subset of all the possibilities.

[rephikul]

If you have everything easily within your reach then you might as well not play the game. Games have always about spending effort to get what you initially do not have. Be it total map control, the princess, some cheap fan fare, or general !!FUN!!. So as someone have said, get over it and try to import or learn to live without them. Lignite isnt the only think to make coal, in example.

EDIT: Making everything to perfection is perfectionism. Wanting everything on the table beforehand is called lazy 

[Acperience]

I'd just like to point out that having every single type of stone is pretty redundant and you can create your own waterfalls and huge-ass rivers.

[Psychobones]

Define this "perfect" embark of yours. I find that often the pregenned worlds claiming to be "perfect" embarks are always in good aligned areas with dense woodland and low savagery.

Me? I hate that. I want a treeless barren wasteland, in the most godforsaken, evil choked hellhole I can find. Though I do spoil myself by wanting a volcano most of the time.

Every single type of stone on the one map, a volcano, underwater river, plenty of trees, all races alive and eventually interacting with me a hugeass river not some crappy brook, must also be by the sea, plenty of interesting sea creatures all possible enemies able to attack me. Whats the point of enemies existing if they can't get to me? Unicorns, A waterfall

My computer can handle just about anything. I've only been slowed down by running multiple highest detail games simultaneously. So embark size is not really an issue.

Everything that can and possibly will happen, be able to happen on the one map.

I know how impossible the above would be.

I just need to be able to accept that I could enjoy a non 'perfect' embark.

You can avoid the unwanted mid-battle corpse rummaging by setting an order not to loot dead bodies.

o -> F and then set the looting options to your preference.

I wish I new that :|

Magma exists on every map, dig down deep enough, you'll eventually find it, so no volcano needed. Rocks like Orthocase and Olivine are unremarkable, so there's no point in it other than magma safe and color. If you want every single ore, then you'll need to find a mountain and plains intersecting with sand available, and just pray you get everything. I suppose it's possible to find a major river dumping into the sea and a mountain right next door, but you'll never get all of the biomes at once. Dwarf Fortress is a game experienced over multiple journeys. Now that you've learned, go out and try another fort, this time, don't lose 40 dwarves to them all trying to collect a single sock.

[obliza]

If you have everything easily within your reach then you might as well not play the game. Games have always about spending effort to get what you initially do not have. Be it total map control, the princess, some cheap fan fare, or general !!FUN!!. So as someone have said, get over it and try to import or learn to live without them. Lignite isnt the only think to make coal, in example.

EDIT: Making everything to perfection is perfectionism. Wanting everything on the table beforehand is called lazy 

You know, you are right sort of.

I think its more that I want to be able to eventually access everything, I don't care how hard I would have to work, the fact that I create the world, choose a location annoys me I think, I could pick one location which has what I want, or a different one which does not.

The location finder use to help you (as I've noticed in videos) but now its a waste of time so now you simply choose your location randomly.

Random chance,
I hate chance I hate dice, dice games are stupid. Luck dice, get away from me I have no desire to play games of chance,

But thats all there is in DF if you embark somewhere you simply hope for good, there is no unlocking or working towards, you just work with what you get in the location.

Which meant I made an amazing fortress, only to find no lignite or bituminous coal, and I had hardly any trees.

But I think you are right, I need to have more patience and simply accept what I cannot control.
Thankyou Rephikul.

[SurfinShroom]

You ever built a danger room, fyi, for the first time ever. Only to have 2 dogs, a kitten impaled and a puppy suffocate.
Que, tantrum spiral death of teh fortress. it was pretty fun/funny though

[Diarrhea Ferret]

I experienced the exact same thing you have done when i first started playing.