Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Lectorog]

My friend showed me a picture from Boatmurdered (I didn't actually read any of it) - something involving lots of steam and dead dwarves - and I decided to play.


Downloaded, set it up, started it up. I had no clue what to do.
After 5-10 minutes, I realized that you used the num-pad to navigate. I started a fortress.

I had no clue what to do. I button-mashed my way around for an hour or so. I realized I needed some help.
I tried some sort of tutorial thing. I downgraded to 40d to do so, which was helpful in itself. I was still hopelessly lost, understanding and thus learning little from the tutorial.

I proceeded to (metaphorically) fling my entire body against the Cliff, hoping I would eventually make my way up.
It took me about 10 hours to learn how to control basic functions (like building workshops and assigning some labors).
24 hours to be able to make a fortress survive until the caravan arrived (which I still didn't know how to trade with); farming is mostly what was learned during this time.
At about the 40 or 50 hour mark, I started using the wiki.

Probably 500 hours of DF later, here I am. From this mostly self-learning, I am a fully capable player.

[Megaman_zx]

i still don't entirely know how to play fortress mode and have only dove in with nothing but conversations with my friend and adventure mode experience.

[Enguhl]

Force of will.  I remember talking with a friend I had recently gotten into it (at the time) about my first successful fort, he asked me how often I had to check the wiki.
"Wiki?"

Wish I had learned of it earlier than I did...

[The Scout]

Took about a year, beating my head into the keyboard, smashing my hands into the keyboard till they were gone, regrowing them and doing it again.
Trial and fucking error, worst way to learn the game.

[Anathema]

After some largely unsuccessful trial and error, I read through the Complete Newby Play-along Tutorials - and the light shone down, the angels sang, and I got it.

Later on Captain Duck's videos, the wiki, and the forums were immensely helpful to fill in the gaps (not to mention much, much more trial and error) - but I have to give most of the credit to TinyPirate's excellent noob tutorial, I probably wouldn't be playing Dwarf Fortress without it.

[EliProphet]

almost completely from captnduck, his videos are SO helpful for beginers. the hardest part is being able to imagine you world and how it looks, once i had that down i took things one step at at time with food, crafting, forging, and military. i just started last friday and i already have the basics and some intermediate stuff down. i can get a consistent food suply and wood/rock supply to craft with. ive also started doing basic forging with copper/iron and getting small military squads to train. ive only traded once so far but i think it was pretty successful. ive yet to encounter any true wars yet with anybody though.

[Max176]

I learned off of the Wiki and a pretty darn good tutorial off of the Wiki. Picked up the game 2 weeks ago, now one of my all time favourites. Only one part I am a bit confused about-making ropes.

[Zanethda]

Someone on a MUSH I used to frequent had +bauxite floodgates+ set up in his character's base. He directed me to the game, gave me a seed/embark location and a link to the wiki, then instructed me a bit from there. Most of my learnings have been from the wiki and trial/error, though.

The bauxite floodgates are worth mentioning due to the fact that this was a Mega Man themed MUSH.

[Moonshadow101]

I decided to look the game when I remembered reading the words "everybody has a Dwarf Fortress phase" on Penny Arcade quite a while ago.

Watched a few hours of Captain Duck before ever downloading the game, just to make sure I really wanted to play. Obviously I did. It was also quite instructional.

After that, lots of T&E and Wiki referencing.

[Sting_Auer]

Most of it I figured out myself, since that's the best way I learn.



I had a lot of help form this forums though! You guys are a very nice community when you aren't telling people to go hug the clowns.

[Edosurist]

My camp counselor actually showed this game to our cabin. Then another one of my cabin-members reminded me of what fun we had when he taught us (briefly) how to play. Mainly, myself and other friends learning at the same time, not to mention the DF Bible (the Wiki) I managed to learn the ins and outs of this... though another friend spoiled my experience by showing me...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

HFS 

I never watched it until I actaully knew how to play, but captnduck's tutorials would be good for any newbies.

[Montague]

Oh, neat.

[Patchouli]

I imagine they sleep in cabins at night.

[SirAaronIII]

I stared at the symbols in order to bend them to my will.
Then I pressed ? too many times and it showed me the "easter egg"-ish screen where he says he just can't explain it better.
After rooting about the ?, I remembered that there was a wiki.

[Dareon Clearwater]

I figured most of it out myself, with a little wiki reference for stones I didn't know about.