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How to Get Addicted to Dwarf Fortress
A guide by leurz -- made during version 0.34.11
Neopets not giving you that feeling of blissful euphoria? I've got something for ya.
In case you haven't heard of it, Dwarf Fortress is a maniacally difficult, organically generated, ultra-detailed fantasy game -- Made by one mathematician/programmer who basically made it his life's mission. If that doesn't sell you, It's pretty much a cross between D&D, an RTS game, and The Sims.
I think it would be fun to be able to geek out about DF, and I think it has a lot to offer the Codex community in terms of figuring out ways to cheat at this (not an MMO, just for flexing coding muscles really) It would also be cool to play succession games, like Boatmurdered
So without further ado, here's a step-by-step guide for losing all grasp of the real world through DF ---
Step 1. Turn on Abrosia
Make sure you have time intervals set so you don't get iced. Preferably for the whole week. No, you won't be remembering to turn it off and on.
Goodbye wholesome pets, hello murderous were-beasts
They're all set up? Awesome. Now time to download some sketchy shit--I mean, legitimate software.
2. DOWNLOAD THE GAME
Click the link next to SDL that approximates your operating system.
Might as well get all our downloads out of the way at once, yes? Here's Dwarf Therapist. Basically, the original game only lets you navigate the UI by sensually rubbing your privates on the keyboard. So dwarf therapist is for when that starts to chafe.
Last, but not least, you're going to need a tileset. What's that? You want to play the game as it was intended to be played? Oh wait, nobody is saying that -- we're on Neocodex!
Ironhand is the best one, so here you go: http://dffd.wimbli.c...ile.php?id=6320
If you are a nonconformist, go pick out a tileset you like: http://dwarffortress..._set_repository
Some of them are attached to older versions of the game. If so, just copy the folders you need out of them.
Okay, all downloaded and virus scanned? Great, 'cause I do not accept responsibility for you bricking your tool or what have you. (Nor is this guide endorsed by Neocodex)
- Extract your Dwarf Fortress to wherever you want it. No need to install.
- Dwarf Therapist will install to your program files folder. Just ignore it for now.
- You're going to extract your tileset and put the data folders in your DF data folder, and your raw folders in the DF raw folder. Delete any graphics already in the graphics folder. It's not too hard to figure out if you click around the directories.
Step 3: Make the world
Wooo Hoo! You installed it!! So you're going to open up DF using the .exe and start by hitting "Create New World!"
It's important to note that DF doesn't follow the regular conventions for applications overall.Clicking out of the window does NOT work. Alt+tab does, and you must exit the program by using ESC until you hit main menu and actually select "Quit". Or use task manager. (you filthy mac users can figure those key combos out for yourselves, right?)
So next you will watch your world being iteratively created, tile by tile, river by river, dwarf by dwarf, gnoll by gnoll. Feeling special yet?
Let as much history go by as you can tolerate -- the game is more interesting with a longer history. At least a couple hundo years.
Once you deem the world fit for the malevolent and all-powerful deity that you are, follow the key commands on screen to accept your new world.
Step 4: Choosing your new location
Back at the title screen, you can go ahead and Start Playing. Choose Dwarf Fortress mode.
Now you can scroll around your world using the arrow keys and UMHK to explore subregions. The F1F2... keys are helpful too. Dwarf fortress will give some information on the locations --
The best locations for a first fortress
- Have TREES
- Have Metals
- Have some soil or clay (not a lot)
- At least a couple tiles of river
- NO AQUIFER <---most important
Embark!
Prepare Carefully If you must...(Spend all your points on items and skills for your dwarfies. Don't delete any items for points except the anvil. Bring a cat.)
Step 5: Here you are!
Okay, you can see your seven dwarves and their little caravan. Without your intervention, your dwarves will carouse and tell cock jokes until their supplies run out. You must guide them to wealth and fortune. Indirectly. You're a god, and gods don't just tell people what to do. They make implications and passive-aggressively mope about it if it doesn't go well.
BACK ON TOPIC
Spacebar pauses you, so get a look around with your arrow keys. Anything black is in a mountain. You can go up and down z-levels by pressing shift > or shift <
You can check out what's on the ground by pressing k and scrolling your cursor around.
Your dwarves belong underground, my friend, so let's dig them their new mountainhome.
(if commands don't work, press escape until you are out of any child menus)
DIGGING
Find a tile you'd like to start your tunnel on, press "d" twice, then "enter" then scroll a little ways into the mountain, and press enter again. (You ARE digging into a mountain, right?)
Now unpause your game and see if one of your little guys goes to work on it. Usually they will.
If not, you're going to scroll over to a dwarf, press "v", then "p" then "l"
scroll with +/- and make sure "Mining" is highlighted. Now unpause. He should beaver away at that tunnel now!
You can have the little fella dig anywhere you want with the double-d command. Hooray.
Where we're at it, let's also start some good old-fashioned resource gathering
hit "d" then "t" then "enter" on the world map. Now scroll a LONG ways. Hit enter again. You just marked all the trees for slaughter.
(insert sad ferngully denizens here)
You will need to activate a dwarf for wood cutting if one wasn't activated by default.
If things still aren't working, it could be a pthing issue. Dig somewhere your dwarves xcan reach. If you vaguely remember selling your copper axes and copper picks for points to make Udim Ritastesh an expert intimidator, just pat yourself on the back and call it a day.
STOCKPILING
Now let's get those other lazy bastards to work.
you're going to make a temporary stockpile between the caravan and the entrance to your tunnel.
Hit "p" then "f" then "enter" Scroll a little ways and hit enter again. You just made a food stockpile. Your dwarves will start hauling their food over where you indicated. You can make stockpiles for anything. Go ahead and make a stone stockpile and a wood stockpile and a refuse stockpile outside.
ZONES
Now for your animals (and zones in general)
hit "i" and follow the same procedure as for stockpiles. Make this one pretty big.
notice a bunch of greyed out options on your new zone. Hit "n" to turn it into a pasture. Then hit "N" to select your animals. Anything that eats grass should go here.
You can also do other stuff with zones. Like meeting areas, where the dwarves will all get together and wank.
BUILDINGS
Your dwarves should now be eagerly bustling around while you are designing your new fortress with the dig command. the "d"esignate menu also has some other important stuff, like up and down staircases.
To build stuff, you'll generally need to activate a dwarf for Masonry and/or Architecture, and/or the skills that are related to the building. It might be best for now to pick a dwarf and activate everything.
Your first buildings are going to be workshops. hit "b" then "w"then "c" to build a carpenters workshop. You need a 3x3 square somewhere in your fort. Hit enter a couple of times when you like the spot.
Once your dwarf finishes the workshop, you can manufacture some beds and chairs. If anything makes dwarves happy, its a nice looking chair.
Make Stuff in Buildings
To make a bed, hit "q" over the carpenters workshop and then "a"and then check out the list of goods you can make using =/- "b." will get you a bed.
There you have it! You can hit "R" in the workshop menu to get your dwarfie to repeat that order indefinitely. Once a bed is built, you can place one from the "b"uild menu
The other workshops work like that too. Hooray! So put them where you want them. and place stockpiles accordingly. an important building to have in an accessible place, either outside or in an antechamber, is a Trade Depot. Get yours up ASAP!
FOOD AND WATER?
If you followed my advice, there is a river on your map, so if/when the dwarves run out of booze to drink, they won't die of thirst. You can get really fancy and build deep underground wells too. Or accidentally flood your fort! Oh the wonders that await!
The most reliable way to get food is by farming. You can "b"uild a "p"lot for farming anywhere there is clay, silt, mud, or soil. You chose a map with soil right?
Once you build the plot, you MUST use "q" to designate a crop for each season, or it won't do anything. You must also activate farming for a dwarf, and you must actually posess the seeds you need! Go with plump helmets for now and lots of them.
You can also build a butcher shop and butcher those silly water buffalo.
Use the "z" menus to designate which animals to butcher and what materials to cook in your kitchen and brew in your brewery once you build them. This is important because if you accidentally cook all your brewing supplies, your dwarves wil get quite cranky.
DWARF THERAPIST
Pretty soon, you will be getting some migrants moving into your fortress. While the extra labor is awesome, remembering who to designate to what jobs can be a major chore, which is what Dwarf Therapist is for -- assigning labors. It's easy to use, so just use it when you want it.
Okay, well that's enough to keep you all from beating your heads on the keyboard when you start out with dwarf fortress. I highly recommend the DF Wiki for further reading!
This game is WAAAAAAY bigger than what I've written above. This is the barest of essentials. There are tons of addons, and so much going on in game. But you're on your own from here. How you defend yourself from the armies on the overworld and creatures of the deep is up to you, and so are the secrets of ultimate wealth and eternal glory in the annals of dwarven history.
Best of luck -- and remember, losing is fun!
