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[aaOzymandias]

Hey all!


Finally, after lurking on and off for a few years I decided to teach myself Dwarf Fortress after watching the youtube tutorial by Fogey (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3pg25RPtvM). Seen 13 episodes and started my own game yesterday. And the Lazy Newb Pack (kudos to whoever made it) also helps me a bit with the easy to install graphics and settings. Years of easy UI has made me less sharp in remembering keys


Anyways. I picked my embark spot, and apparently it is all coverd in snow. Would this be a bad start for a noob? Or should I try and find a better spot to embark with lush green vegetation? I saved my starting setup, so a new embark is easy enough, but if snow is no real trouble I am good to try it out .

[SpiralDimentia]

I've been playing a few weeks and have a pretty decent grasp on the game.. and I hate snow zones. I don't know why, I just prefer the green. or the brown/purple of a horrifying place. If it's not a super cold biome, then it should melt in late spring and be fine til winter, which is fine. But really it's up to you. The only difference I could think of would be not being able to see frozen rivers while snow is piled up on it.

[aaOzymandias]

Ah, thanks for the quick reply.

I guess I will try a lush green place then. I do like to see stuff on my first go

[Naryar]

Try warm temperatures if you don't like snow.

http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/DF2010:Climate

Or overdo it and settle on a glacier.

[Double A]

Snow only means you can't see, yeah. It also means water freezes, and if you have a lake in the area, when it thaws you will have horrible frames per second. Never settle near a lake that freezes, unless you turn temp off in the winter.

[aaOzymandias]

Ah, thanks.


Guess I should have expected temperature to affect the water, and thus my little guys .

I have not seen lag yet, but it is still very early (I am running a new i7 processor, so hopefully it will be enough).

[ShinWalks]

I like settling in a temperate zone with freezing winters because it provides handy options for controlling water supplies (e.g. damming frozen rivers) and the fun of building indestructible ice castles out of constructed walls (try it!). I also think the stark white of a snowy landscape looks quite striking.

If you're in a temperate zone (and not a year-round tundra sort of place) then the snow will melt and the lakes thaw as spring advances. Explore the world! Welcome to DF!

[Jurph]

Snow only means you can't see, yeah. It also means water freezes, and if you have a lake in the area, when it thaws you will have horrible frames per second. Never settle near a lake that freezes, unless you turn temp off in the winter.

If you see snow, the first thing to do is look one Z-level below your wagon and ensure that you have not parked your wagon on (e.g.) a frozen river or pond.  If the water thaws while you're clearing the wagon -- esp. if you haven't yet declared a different meeting area -- you can lose most of your supplies and some/all of your dwarves in a few nightmarish Fun moments.

[ral]

I didn't find snow to be much of a problem when I was a noob so you'll probably be OK. If you want to eliminate (almost) all freezing in a world you'll have to delve into advanced world generation which isn't too difficult if you just copy one of the default profiles and change the temperature params.

[Mushroo]

Snow and ice can be very Fun. It is super-cool to camp out in the caverns while a blizzard rages above!

[Hyndis]

I'm a big fan of terrifying glaciers.

[aaOzymandias]

Since I already had started, I just went with the snow anyways. It has melted now, but the lake is still forzen. I hope it unfreezes soon so I can build a farm, so I do not have to kill the wild (now tame) horses I found.

Tho, by the look of my noob fortress building it seems that I am in for a Fun game


And actually, once the initial barrier of getting the hang of the UI is over with, it not so bad really. Starting to regret not getting into it sooner

[Mushroo]

If you are using the current game release, and have soil, clay, or sand on your map, you don't need water to farm.

You only really NEED water if one of your dwarfs gets hurt... otherwise alcohol will do the trick!

[franti]

Temperate areas snow over in early spring/late winter. Trees remain. Taigas are snowed under year-round and have tons of pine. Tundras are snowed under year-round and have no vegetation at all. I don't know where you spawned, but I'd suggest leaving if it's a Tundra: there have been reported cases of Dwarfs dying from Hypothermia in the winter in "freezing" biomes. Check the magamwiki article on biomes.

[Hyndis]

If it is cold or temperate climate there will be a thaw during the spring or summer. Frozen is frozen all year round, but cold/temperate will thaw out sometime during the year, even if only briefly.

You should rig up a water collection system to collect water from the lakes during the thaw, so you will have liquid water all year round for when, not if, but when injuries happen.