Dwarf Fortress: Very Ambitious Roguelike

[Calistas]

I am asking a lot of questions because I need to catch up due to a new project I have been asked to do. Probably shouldn't say more until some form stuff is done, but it should be amusing. As much as possible I need to keep to using the default download, hence some of the above.

[Sir Digby]

Last time I played (last week) I tried multiple embark groups and the most effective for me (for non-evil zones) was:
2 Miners
1 Mason
1 Carpenter/Crafter
2 Farmers/Brewer
1 Hunter
+ 2 dogs and 4 hens and a rooster

Setting up a nestbox for the hens early on provides a nearly endless supply of chicken for your fortress and the hunter is a pretty good addition provided you micro him well enough and don't let him drown or fight some gigantic panda *cough cough*.

Also, setting up multiple cage traps outside the fortress will wield a large quantity of trapped creatures including beastmen which you can (cruelly) use as target practice in a designed arena/pit and sell the captured beast or make a very interesting zoo.

Last note, I love the whole clay industry, my last fortress had clay and kaolinite so I crafted hundreds of porcelain pieces that have a base value of 100 which is basically the same as metal crafts.

[Serial Kicked]

Hmm, when I last ran DF the game was very quick when I had 7 dwarfs. It currently.... isn't? Hmm.

I had the same issue, If you last playthrough was before .31 it's probably because Toady added a very very large amount of Z layers and caves to the game. It's possible to remove those caverns (i usually keep 1) using the world generator. Also if you don't plan on invading the bottom layer (HFS land), you can disable it there.

Also, you can disable the following settings in d_init.txt for better performances:

[TEMPERATURE:NO] -> magma is less dangerous (temp doesn't spread)

Very important, as those function will screw your FPS over time with no ingame method to correct it:

[WALKING_SPREADS_SPATTER_DWF:NO]
[WALKING_SPREADS_SPATTER_ADV:NO]

also using DFHacks -> DFCleanMap every year or so keep the splatters and other junk in check.

[dtolman]

OK... I downloaded this and loaded it up. Now I'm scared. This is way more intimidating than Minecraft (the single player DF, or so I'm told).

Is there a simpler (older) version that might be better to start playing on? Or a tutorial for the intimidated?

Maybe I'll just go back and restart that map on Minecraft instead.

[Mazuo]

I'd get the Lazy Newb Pack here:

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=59026.0

Then start in adventurer mode to learn how the interface presents itself somewhat. It's a lot easier to die there and restart again then to lose a fort in fortress mode because you have no idea what any icon on the screen means. Do that a few times, then brave the fortress mode with the magmawiki by your side.

If you derive fun from incrementally learning how systems work, you'll like DF. If it's more stressful to be baffled how anything gets done, I'd go back to Minecraft or something else.

[dtolman]

I'd get the Lazy Newb Pack here:

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=59026.0

If you derive fun from incrementally learning how systems work, you'll like DF. If it's more stressful to be baffled how anything gets done, I'd go back to Minecraft or something else.

Interesting. But going back to the idea "holy shit is this complicated"... is there an older version that would be good to start with? Like a version 0.1 that just had the basic cool features that hooked people?

I like learning organically... but the amount of features he has bolted on seems kinda insane. I'm figuring maybe if I hit whatever the stablest legacy versions are, before more mechanics got glopped on, it might be easier.

[Mazuo]

0.28 is available on the main download page, but I just don't think it'd help you much. I could be wrong. The basic features are mostly the same but with a lot of improvements and changes since.

YMMV, so worst case go ahead and download it and see if it's easier or more enjoyable.

[nixon66]

http://afteractionreporter.com/dwarf...ess-tutorials/

Start with that. Made by our very own Calistas. Get's you the last stable/easy (kinda) to play with version of DF, and with some nice help getting your basics going.

[Pogo]

Yeah that's the farthest I ever got with DF was playing Calistas tutorial and download package.

[chequers]

Yep. Calistas' AAR tutorial is how I started, and you'll get up and running very quickly. The newer versions don't add that much and a lot of stuff has actually stopped working since then. I think 40d (the version he used for the tutorial) is a pretty good version all round.

BTW I would stay away from adventure mode. It's a totally different game. Even the interface is quite different.

[Disconnected]

Yeah that's the farthest I ever got with DF was playing Calistas tutorial and download package.

I decided to watch a YouTube LP to see what all the fuss was about. It sucked me right in & taught me almost everything I needed to overcome the wall-like learning curve & abysmal interface.

I've probably build around 30 fortresses now. The interface really is the crappiest pile of... I've ever come across. But there's a hugely addictive game buried under it. It also has a lot of the LP qualities of X-Com, so I've been considering doing one on here for a while. I'm just afraid it would be an insane amount of work to do it right.

[Sepiche]

I can't remember if I've posted it before, but Bad Shepard over at OO has been posting a pretty epic AAR of his fort Nude Jugglers. It's a massive read now, but it well written and even illustrated by one of our forum members. Great read if you have some time to spare.

Here's the First Seven:


And here's my namesake:

[Disconnected]

Wow, that thing is epic :)

[AWS260]

I'll add my endorsement of the Nudejugglers AAR that Sepiche linked to. It's very well-written and engaging, and this being DF, lots of crazy stuff happens.

My namesake is also in the picture above. While Sepiche is a bad-ass warrior in spiked armor, I appear to be a developmentally disabled version of Julia Roberts. On a horse.

[lokiju]

I really want to give this a whirl, but at this point it's very overwhelming. I'd like to play the game with the best graphics possible, and the most user-friendly interface. Can anyone offer some suggestions for the best mods/graphic packs/utilities? Am I better off playing vanilla first, or does it really matter?

[Calistas]

go play my tutorials
http://afteractionreporter.com/dwarf...ess-tutorials/

[lokiju]

Heh, I'm actually in the middle of reading them right now!

[John Many Jars]

Just remember: Dwarf Fortress is not on trial. YOU are.

[lokiju]

Just remember: Dwarf Fortress is not on trial. YOU are.

The learning curve is so high that I *do* feel like my gaming potential is on trial here...

Anyways, I am going with the Lazy Newb Pack as it seems highly rated, and might actually make starting out easier. I like easier.

[Hrnac]

I'll add my endorsement of the Nudejugglers AAR that Sepiche linked to. It's very well-written and engaging, and this being DF, lots of crazy stuff happens.

My namesake is also in the picture above. While Sepiche is a bad-ass warrior in spiked armor, I appear to be a developmentally disabled version of Julia Roberts. On a horse.

I'm the guy in the middle of the picture. I suffered an unfortunate death. :(

-Hrnac

[sharaleo]

I'm the guy in the middle of the picture. I suffered an unfortunate death. :(

Dude! You know we have spoiler tags now, right?

:)

[Calistas]

It's DF, everydwarf dies unfortunately sooner or later.

[zengonzo]

Clearly Calistas is not aware, either.

[salwon]

Spoiler: Almost Every Dwarf Fortress Game

Some kind of monster is going to get in your fort and kill all your dwarfs.

Spoiler: The Dwarf Fortress Games Where That Doesn't Happen

You're going to accidentally flood your fortress with magma, killing all your dwarfs.

[zengonzo]

Spoiler: And The Rest

You're going to intentionally flood your fortress with magma, killing all your dwarfs.

[Gus_Smedstad]

I've never flooded a fortress with magma. Water, yes, but not magma.

[RepoMan]

Well get on it, then! Drowning in mere water is unworthy of a true dwarf.

[Gus_Smedstad]

This is one area where I'm just not sufficiently in touch with the DF playerbase.

It's hard for me to understand how anyone accidentally floods a fortress with magma. There are mistakes to be made, but generally by the time you start playing with magma, you've made most of them with water, and you've gotten paranoid enough to put fail-safe systems into your fluid-movement systems.

Where I'm really out of touch is intentionally doing it. I know people do this. I just don't get the point. DF is all about making stuff for me, not arranging for the horrible deaths of my dwarfs. Heck, I won't even drown Nobles in magma, I'd rather either just meet their demands, or deal with consequences of failing to do so.

[salwon]

Usually intentional flooding comes in play to kill the monster after it's already killed everyone.

Shit, I forgot the spoiler tags.

[Gus_Smedstad]

That's another one. Why do people let monsters into their fortress? The surface ones can be trapped in cages, and there's no good reason to expose yourself to the caverns. 90% of the time, when I breach the caverns, I wall them back up again. There's nothing in there I really need. Minerals aren't more plentiful in them, and you can grow the stuff from the caverns in any large open space. Maybe I might want water, but I can always shunt that into my own private subterranean reservoir, with a grate or something to keep out unwanted guests.