I haven't even started dwarf fortress yet, it seems very complex, and daunting. First of all, should I?
Does the idea of playing god with the lives of bearded, stunted alcoholics and their pets sound fun? Does dousing invaders in magma sound fun? Does the concept of drowning elves appeal? Do you need reasons to obsess compulsively? Do you enjoy toying with those whose intelligence is never in doubt?
Did the illustrated report of
Bronzemurder make you snicker?
If so, Dwarf Fortress is almost certainly for you, you poor damned soul. Welcome aboard.
Secondly, if I should, could somebody please point me to a tileset and tell me how to put it in game, im big on gameplay over graphics in most cases, however, I honestly can't easily tell what is going on in a lot of videos i've watched.
I'll do better than that. Go get a copy of the
LAZY NEWB PACK. (Don't let the name fool you. It is studded with awesome, menaces with spikes of convenience, is adorned with hanging rings of simple, and is encrusted with ease of use.)
Also, you will want a copy of Dwarf Therapist, which is included in the pack above along with the three "most common" tilesets I've heard people discussing - Mayday, Phoebus and Ironhand. If you can adjust to the raw ASCII, great, but it gives me headaches. I use Phoebus's set, as I like telling stone functions apart at a glance. (That's coal, that's flux, that's ore, that's iron, etc.)
Last, just a small question, but the person in those videos made all of there military marksdwarves, is there a reason for this? Are they the best? I was thinking of having about 2/3 spears and 1/3 crossbow, is this a better idea?
You've got a long way to go before a military will be a concern. Learn to farm, brew and build, first.