Support NeoGAF

[DeathIsTheEnd]

Ah damn it! I forgot making booze so far. Whats the easiest way to get that up and running?

You need crops from a farm plot or some of the plants you gather can also be used.

Then you need a still and a brewer, plus plenty of barrels.

I don't make my brewer a full time one, but do take of the carrying et al. jobs, since you don't need that much alcohol at the beginning.

 

[Toma]

You need crops from a farm plot or some of the plants you gather can also be used.

Then you need a still and a brewer, plus plenty of barrels.

I don't make my brewer a full time one, but do take of the carrying et al. jobs, since you don't need that much alcohol at the beginning.

The only plant I have so far are plump helmets. You cant brew them right? Which ones would work/are easy to farm?

 

[DeathIsTheEnd]

The only plant I have so far are plump helmets. You cant brew them right? Which ones would work/are easy to farm?

Plump helmets can be brewed. They make wine I think.

Plump helmets along with pig tails are the quickest growing, so they're the best really.

 

[Toma]

Plump helmets can be brewed. They make wine I think.

Plump helmets along with pig tails are the quickest growing, so they're the best really.

Ah okay, perfect. I'll work on growing more plump helmets then. Thanks.

 

[Munin]

It's funny, this game could have gone on to be the phenomenon that Minecraft is, but it seems the devs really didn't care about bringing accessibility to a decent standard, and of course the community with its "the interface is the best ever if you don't get it go back to COD idiot!!!" attitude isn't a help either.

 

[Toma]

It's funny, this game could have gone on to be the phenomenon that Minecraft is, but it seems the devs really didn't care about bringing accessibility to a decent standard, and of course the community with its "the interface is the best ever if you don't get it go back to COD idiot!!!" attitude isn't a help either.

Thats why you got subcommunities like the DF community in GAF to help you out

 

[Ponti]

It's funny, this game could have gone on to be the phenomenon that Minecraft is, but it seems the devs really didn't care about bringing accessibility to a decent standard, and of course the community with its "the interface is the best ever if you don't get it go back to COD idiot!!!" attitude isn't a help either.

You can't make a game like Dwarf Fortress accessible. You'd be burned at the stake for saying that word over at Bay 12.

Haven't played DF in a few months. My last fortress managed to get fairly huge before I got lazy with my cavern digging (the shaft lead straight up into the fortress) and broke into a huge cavern with a forgotten beast in it. Since I also completely neglected to trap line the shaft leading up into my fortress it was pretty badly decimated (though I've found traps to be useless against forgotten beasts anyway). The forgotten beast burst into the dining room as one of my Dwarves was having a party, the resulting slaughter was both horrifying and hilarious. The entire dining room was just lined with Dwarf vomit, blood and giblets. Managed to get a few of my Dwarfs to barricade themselves in the storerooms. Ofcourse none of them were diggers, they didn't have any picks and they had sealed up the only way out. They went insane and killed themselves

I usually end up spending more time watching Dwarf Fortress LP's on SA than actually playing it. It's the perfect game for LPing.

 

[Misanthropy]

I tried for like thirty minutes to mine next to my cart but the damn dwarf didn't do it so I gave up. What's weird is that I could designate another dwarf to cut a goddamn tree but I can't make a freaking staircase down into the ground. This seems like a really great game if you give it the time it requires but I'm afraid to say that the UI and the extremely steep learning curve turns me off. I even listened to the video tutorials and read the wiki I still can't get this damn thing to work.

 

[Toma]

I tried for like thirty minutes to mine next to my cart but the damn dwarf didn't do it so I gave up. What's weird is that I could designate another dwarf to cut a goddamn tree but I can't make a freaking staircase down into the ground. This seems like a really great game if you give it the time it requires but I'm afraid to say that the UI and the extremely steep learning curve turns me off. I even listened to the video tutorials and read the wiki I still can't get this damn thing to work.

How did you try to mine? The easiest is probably making an "up/down stairway", then go a layer deeper build another up/down stairway directly below it and mine normally the area around your lower stairway.

If you have any problems, ask instead of giving up straight away. This is one of the games where people shouldnt be afraid to ask questions. Same with EU3.

 

[Misanthropy]

I pressed d to go into the designations menu, I pressed i to select the up/down stairway thing, then I pressed enter where I wanted it to be and then pressed escape. The problem is the freaking miner doesn't even go over there. Also the problem is when I press escape the highlighted thing disappears. And even if the guy mines it how am I supposed to see that floor below? Is it k and - ?

 

[subversus]

I'm interested in trying this.

Have they finished this graphics mod which in the 2nd post on the first page?

 

[Toma]

I'm interested in trying this.

Have they finished this graphics mod which in the 2nd post on the first page?

That wasnt a graphics mod, you cant play with that visualizer. Its only to make snapshots of your fortress.

Just follow this video: should be a good starting point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn1iW1QN7_s

 

[Toma]

I pressed d to go into the designations menu, I pressed i to select the up/down stairway thing, then I pressed enter where I wanted it to be and then pressed escape. The problem is the freaking miner doesn't even go over there. Also the problem is when I press escape the highlighted thing disappears. And even if the guy mines it how am I supposed to see that floor below? Is it k and - ?

You change floors by pressing < or >.

And after going into the designations menu, and choosing the Up/down stairway you need to press ENTER once to designate the first space where you want your stairway area to start.

Then you can go 6 spaces left, press another time ENTER, and only then you gave the order to make the stairways, in this case for all 6 spaces from the place where you first pressed Enter.

Basically you need to press Enter 2 times.

 

[DeathIsTheEnd]

I'm interested in trying this.

Have they finished this graphics mod which in the 2nd post on the first page?

I'm afraid that's just a tool to view the map. You can't actually play the game with that.

 

[Misanthropy]

You change floors by pressing < or >.

And after going into the designations menu, and choosing the Up/down stairway you need to press ENTER once to designate the first space where you want your stairway area to start.

Then you can go 6 spaces left, press another time ENTER, and only then you gave the order to make the stairways, in this case for all 6 spaces from the place where you first pressed Enter.

Basically you need to press Enter 2 times.

When I press enter the second time the first designation disappears and the second one doesn't even show up.

 

[Toma]

When I press enter the second time the first designation disappears and the second one doesn't even show up.

Wait a second, I'll make a few screens for you.

Edit: I just noticed the problem. You need to make a "down stairway" above the earth because there is no material to make an upwards stairway.

 

[Misanthropy]

It worked! I'm so happy now thank you! All I need to do now is....everything else lol.

 

[Toma]

It worked! I'm so happy now thank you! All I need to do now is....everything else lol.

No worries Come back to us instead of giving up

And make some screens of your fortress as you go along!

 

[Toma]

Diary Page 1 - Finding a new World
Diary Page 2 - Setting up the Fortress
Diary page 3 - Food/sleep Management

Dwarf Fortress Squashgears - The Contested Towers diary page 4

Okay, everything was coming along very nicely. We finished the farm and the pasture, prepared a few new living quarters in case there might be an influx of new people and in general just tried to make everything going a bit smoother.

We now have the seeds stockpiled with the farm, the food stockpiled near the dining room and some bones and stones near the workshops.

Its about time to...

no wait. New people! Yay! Time to make a military. The last time I had 4 immigrants, so if I get 5-8 it should be enough for a military.

1,2,3,4,5....7,8,9....14,15...are you kidding me? ..16..17...18...19.

19 new Dwarfs plus animals. To sort that out is going to take a while...

Note to myself 1: Get the chickens to use their nest boxes, we'll need much more food.
Note to myself 2: Set up the military, we need to defend the chickens.

 

[DeathIsTheEnd]

That farm plot should be big enough to feed an entire fortress of 200 dwarves!

I see you start quantum stockpiling quite quickly. It does make everything much tidier.

That's a nice big lump of miasma you have too.

 

[El Sloth]

This game frightens me.


But at the same time I can't help but dare to peek into the abyss...

 

[Toma]

That farm plot should be big enough to feed an entire fortress of 200 dwarves!

I see you start quantum stockpiling quite quickly. It does make everything much tidier.

That's a nice big lump of miasma you have too.

Well I need to get enough food and booze out of those plump helmets, I thought more is better than not enough.
And the miasma room is the stockpile for dead stuff in case my bone cutter needs something.

And I hoped the chickens would be getting more as well, so that I would need the big pasture thing. But they dont even use their nest boxes yet. Meh.

But can I decide whether I want those eggs to be cooked or made into new chickens?

Edit:
And another thing: Is there a way to make grass tiles out of clay or muddy stone ones? Or how do I make Floor fungus?

 

[DeathIsTheEnd]

Well I need to get enough food and booze out of those plump helmets, I thought more is better than not enough.
And the miasma room is the stockpile for dead stuff in case my bone cutter needs something.

And I hoped the chickens would be getting more as well, so that I would need the big pasture thing. But they dont even use their nest boxes yet. Meh.

But can I decide whether I want those eggs to be cooked or made into new chickens?

When your grower gets to a really high level a 5x5 plot is enough for food and alcohol, but having a larger one early on makes sense. It also means you have plenty of stuff to trade later on, if you like trading and not just stealing everything.

Unfortunately I haven't played the newer versions yet, so don't really know about the new animals. But, do you have a male chicken?

If you don't want the eggs eaten you should be able to just forbid them, then they won't be picked up.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

I was thinking about getting into it again as well. My last try is well over a year ago, I will need to relearn a lot of stuff.

Whatever, I'll download and start a fortress now and share some experiences. Join me!

Edit: I am probably going to start by watching that video. He mentions new stuff as well. Rock pots instead of wooden barrels? Awesome.

Hey you're the guy who convinced me to buy SpaceChem too. You're like some kind of brain exercise pusher.

Subscribed, will be back in the next few days with a report.

 

[Toma]

When your grower gets to a really high level a 5x5 plot is enough for food and alcohol, but having a larger one early on makes sense. It also means you have plenty of stuff to trade later on, if you like trading and not just stealing everything.

Unfortunately I haven't played the newer versions yet, so don't really know about the new animals. But, do you have a male chicken?

If you don't want the eggs eaten you should be able to just forbid them, then they won't be picked up.

My "grower"? Erm.. I have like 4 of them. Guess that is more than I need as well then...
And it seems I got 4 Hens and a Rooster. So the Hens should be getting some workout. I'll have an eye one them.

Hey you're the guy who convinced me to buy SpaceChem too. You're like some kind of brain exercise pusher.

Subscribed, will be back in the next few days with a report.

Good luck! We'll help you out with any starting problems Just ask.

And btw the next "brain workout" game I'd recommend to everyone is Frozen Synapse in case you dont have that yet.

 

[DeathIsTheEnd]

My "grower"? Erm.. I have like 4 of them. Guess that is more than I need as well then...
And it seems I got 4 Hens and a Rooster. So the Hens should be getting some workout. I'll have an eye one them.

It all depends on how you like doing things. I prefer to have one which is dedicated to growing and normally one other task, but having several means that if one dies you won't really suffer.

It might just take a while. Are the boxes in a pasture?

 

[Toma]

It all depends on how you like doing things. I prefer to have one which is dedicated to growing and normally one other task, but having several means that if one dies you won't really suffer.

It might just take a while. Are the boxes in a pasture?

Yeah.. they are. I tried repositioning them, or assigning all to a new pasture. Doesnt matter, maybe the rooster is sterile or something. Wouldnt surprise me in DF

And in the 2:33h video, his ducks/hens were using the nest boxes immediately. Hmmm.

Edit: Worked now! Dont know whether thats the reason but now I left 1 space in between the nest boxes.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Good luck! We'll help you out with any starting problems Just ask.

And btw the next "brain workout" game I'd recommend to everyone is Frozen Synapse in case you dont have that yet.

Hah, that was going to be my next brain-game purchase, good to hear it comes highly recommended

 

[Toma]

Regarding hatching eggs:

Hatching eggs requires that a male of the species be present (though this does not appear to guarantee fertilization) and that the dwarves are prevented from cooking the egg before it hatches. Also, if the egg is taken out of the nest box but not cooked, it will not hatch.

But I have no idea how I can stop my dwarfs from taking the eggs out of the nest boxes.

Edit:

D'oh. You just need to disallow chicken hens in the food stockpile.

 

[Misanthropy]

Lol after playing for about an hour the river next to my fortress froze and I had forgotten to make a brewery so all my dwarves died due to thirst. First time losing too. Feels bad man.

 

[Toma]

Lol after playing for about an hour the river next to my fortress froze and I had forgotten to make a brewery so all my dwarves died due to thirst. First time losing too. Feels bad man.

Yeah, these things happen in this game a lot. Since you are just learning it, you'll actually learn a few of the most important lessons by dying instead of reading about them.

But it isnt a game to "play through" anyway Your are in for the ride, to write the history of your Dwarf Fortress. You should make all DF in one world btw, when you want to go adventuring you could even visit your old fortresses then.

Edit: since I am playing in a warm climate right now, nothing is freezing. One death trap less I need to worry about, even though that was accidentally, I didnt knew that a warm climate would do this,

 

[KuroNeeko]

Oh maaan, you guys are starting this up again...and on a Monday?!

Guess I'll jump in on this and just try to prepare for the inevitable sleep deprivation.

 

[Wanace]

I really liked adventure mode in Dwarf Fortress better than the fortress game, but I got burnt out on it. I really wish there was a way to have your adventurer build a base himself, craft weapons, etc.

 

[Toma]

Diary Page 1 - Finding a new World
Diary Page 2 - Setting up the Fortress
Diary page 3 - Food/sleep Management
Diary page 4 - Too many dwarfs

Dwarf Fortress Squashgears - The Contested Towers diary page 5

After we welcomed about 20 new dwarfs and animals, the new dwarfs had nothing better to do, than making parties without end. Even after we lost a baby, but later more on that.

One thing that struck me as particular strange is the dwarf, who decided to withdraw himself from society... into the DINING ROOM where everyone else is having a PARTY. Geez, these guys. I still might want to have an eye on him.
Also why the hell is everyone partying when we are losing babies?

Due to their disobedience, I decided to take their animals (which were destroying my pasture anyway) and put them into their own pasture, without grass. *Insert diabolical laughter* I even needed to make the initial pasture bigger because of all the grass they were chewing and destroying. They were not needed and I went along with waiting for my hens to make new chickens from eggs.

Note to myself 1: Dont forget to tell your dwarfs to start eating eggs after you got enough chickens. Danger of CHICKSPLOSION.

I was thinking about simply slaughtering them, but I couldnt since their owners didnt want me to. They are fine with letting them starve, though. Well, have it their way.

We also started up a very simple military with some bare bones barracks. However, up to now I've never seen more than 2 dwarfs training at once.

And I just noticed something. Where did our hunter go? He seems to be constantly in bed. Lazy Bum.

Oh.
I wonder what happened there.

...
Giant... Badgers... Okay, that needs to stop immediately. We'll start training up a military and as soon as they got some decent leather armor, we'll get rid of all of them. We'll show them tears of blood, making them fearing to hear our footsteps.

Someone else, who came visiting us were a few Goblin thieves.

We managed to trap them into cages, and will put them into the zoo area soon enough for our dwarves to have a new entertainment measure. They also need to be reminded that the first baby, born in Fortress Squashgears, was taken by one of their fellow Goblin thieves. We will get our revenge. Be patient, fellow dwarfs.

*everyone is still partying*

...nevermind.

Well they might not care about the loss of a child, but they do care about our new kitchen facilities right below the food stockpile.

...which is empty right now because everyone is still partying. But of course they love using the wine brewed from the newly build still and the other conveniences cooked meal brings with it. Life at Squashgears definitely made a big step forward. Now we need to hurry up a bit with our military before the next wave of Goblins come visiting.

 

[Toma]

Oh maaan, you guys are starting this up again...and on a Monday?!

Guess I'll jump in on this and just try to prepare for the inevitable sleep deprivation.

Well, technically, we started yesterday

At least I did. And if you start again, take a bit of time to post your progress! With screens if possible

I really liked adventure mode in Dwarf Fortress better than the fortress game, but I got burnt out on it. I really wish there was a way to have your adventurer build a base himself, craft weapons, etc.

That was the reason why I couldnt enjoy adventure mode. Just too much stuff I was used to from fortress mode, that wasnt possible anymore.

 

[DeathIsTheEnd]

Outpost Cogthiz, Week 1

A bunch of useless dwarves, fed up of their home, stole a bunch of supplies and ran away to live how they wanted.



For whatever reason we decided to call ourselves Bootfastened and have begun setting up Outpost Cogthiz.

Deciding to base ourselves near the river for food and protection, we begin digging.


There's a lone Cougar wandering around and hopefully it doesn't decide one of us is a tasty snack.

The expedition leader, Mossus Uvarreg (the bossiest dwarf), has decreed the fortress shall be in a tiered system with the farms, storage, workshops, then everything else.

He probably hopes this will impart some sort of social order.

Of course he's wrong.

Our single miner has made a rather large error in miscalculating the amount of water and flooded our budding home.

Since no more work can be done till the water levels lower, he shall be getting his daily beer allowance docked.

 

[Ahoi-Brause]

I only play adventure mode!
Any updates for that?

 

[Toma]

I only play adventure mode!
Any updates for that?

If I am not mistaken the most recent updates were all made for adventure mode. But I cant back that up, I mostly ignore it.

 

[Toma]

Our single miner has made a rather large error in miscalculating the amount of water and flooded our budding home.

Since no more work can be done till the water levels lower, he shall be getting his daily beer allowance docked.

Haha, I love when planned things go wrong. These make this game so unpredictable Its fun to adjust.
I am actually quite surprised that, besides the missing foot and one kidnapped baby, my fortress saw some smooth digging so far.

Edit: Ups, sorry for unplanned DP.

 

[Sianos]

I love Dwarf Fortress, nice to see we have a thread for it. I'll start up a new fortress to chronicle here to help keep it alive.

I only play adventure mode!
Any updates for that?

In the next update:

- Hordes of zombies reanimated by necromancers
- Werewolf curses
- Vampire hunting
- Dungeons, catacombs, and sewers to explore
- New cities and markets
- Upgraded syndromes (Things that kill you horribly)

There's been a lot of other stuff in the recent past, such as night creatures and aimable attacks.

Can't wait for the next upgrade, looks to be so good. <3

 

[Toma]

Sorry for not updating my fortress right now, I am kinda busy with setting up the FrozenSynapse share thread. I'll post more updates from fortress squashgears tomorrow

 

[IndieJones]

Dwarf Fortress has been my white whale for over three years now.

When I look at DF I see the single most ambitious, epic, inventive, terrifying game anyone has ever made. I know that I'm not smart enough to play it; I'll never be able to set aside enough hours to learn it. I barely have enough time to play games that require way less concentration. To say that strategy games are not my forte would be putting it much too kindly.

Still I obsess over this game. I'm insanely jealous of anyone with any sort of mastery over it, because I know for a fact they're having gaming experiences absolutely light years ahead of anything else out there.

 

[Toma]

Dwarf Fortress has been my white whale for over three years now.

When I look at DF I see the single most ambitious, epic, inventive, terrifying game anyone has ever made. I know that I'm not smart enough to play it; I'll never be able to set aside enough hours to learn it. I barely have enough time to play games that require way less concentration. To say that strategy games are not my forte would be putting it much too kindly.

Still I obsess over this game. I'm insanely jealous of anyone with any sort of mastery over it, because I know for a fact they're having gaming experiences absolutely light years ahead of anything else out there.

Thats a really interesting way of putting it, but yeah. This is also the reason why I'd love to show more Gaffers what they are missing out on.

The problem is the absofuckingterrible interface and how unexplaining the game itself is. But with the most basic 20 commands you'd do fine. Its really just a matter of starting out and having the right guide to teach you that fits your style.

It still requires quite a lot of time to get into it, yeah. But its definitely not impossible. And I wouldnt even say it can be compared to "strategy" titles in general because no matter what I would have done in the first year in my game right now, my Dwarfs probably wouldnt have died. Compared to traditional strategy games that "reward" playing differently with penalties. So the fact that I managed to keep them happy and fed is a nice plus. But you'll learn step by step since "death" is actually sort of rewarding here ->

Start-> Dig Dig Dig Dig -> Dwarfs starve of hunger because you forgot to make food

next try:

Start -> Dig Dig -> make a farm to have basic food -> Dig Dig Dig -> Dwarfs die because winter came and you didnt make booze.

etcetc.
You get stories, experiences out of these and learn in between.

The most crucial element is just time. If you want to learn it, you can. Maybe you wont master it, but you'll learn enough to get some fun out of it.

 

[IndieJones]

Good explanation. I think you've just convinced me to give it another shot. It will be my third or fourth shot over the last couple of years, but damn it, I'm going to do it! Well, do something. In terms of the game, I imagine not succeed will be what I'm doing for the next foreseeable future.

That said, I'm going to have to re-read this thread from front to back and try to find the best starting guides/tutorials. Or, hell, maybe just download and try it.

I'm sorry if it's been covered to death, but what would you say is the best graphical set to ease myself into it? I have no problem with ASCII whatsoever in the traditional roguelike sense, but if the interface is as daunting as everyone says, I should probably at least make something easy on the eyes.

 

[Toma]

Good explanation. I think you've just convinced me to give it another shot. It will be my third or fourth shot over the last couple of years, but damn it, I'm going to do it! Well, do something. In terms of the game, I imagine not succeed will be what I'm doing for the next foreseeable future.

That said, I'm going to have to re-read this thread from front to back and try to find the best starting guides/tutorials. Or, hell, maybe just download and try it.

I'm sorry if it's been covered to death, but what would you say is the best graphical set to ease myself into it? I have no problem with ASCII whatsoever in the traditional roguelike sense, but if the interface is as daunting as everyone says, I should probably at least make something easy on the eyes.

Reading the thread is a good idea because you'll get some gameplay hints.
For starting out I'd recommend starting to play while you are watching this video (take a deep breath and sit down before you are looking at the time counter, but its totally worth it as its the easiest entry to the game I know.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn1iW1QN7_s

In that video he gives you the link to this:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=59026.0
which is the "Lazy Newb Pack". You wont miss out on anything, It'll just make some bothersome stuff easier. For example it includes 3 different grahic tilesets. I prefer Mayday, but you could switch around to try what suits you.

He is very careful in explaining every step you need to do something and why you should do it. Also he gives explanations on the setup of the newb pack, so that you know what you might change if you are so inclined.

And most of all, dont give up. Come back here to ask us. We'll help you, even with screens
Would be glad to hear how its going for you.

Edit: A tiny hint from me, I made a fortress for the first time in a "warm" climate. If possible, try that for your first one (on top of the other ones in the video) . It makes surviving way easier, as your river doesnt freeze and you still have no disadvantages from it.

 

[IndieJones]

Thanks a lot for the in-depth replay and recommendations! It's going to be a few days before I have time to do this right, but I've subscribed to this thread and will watch that whole tutorial video over a couple work lunch hours. Can't wait!

 

[KuroNeeko]

Running through the YouTube tutorial now. Once I've finished I'll start up a new world and post the results.

Toma, how did you get that shot of the big map a few posts back?

edit: Nevermind! I found it!

 

[Toma]

Running through the YouTube tutorial now. Once I've finished I'll start up a new world and post the results.

Toma, how did you get that shot of the big map a few posts back?

edit: Nevermind! I found it!

Good luck to both of you! I am looking forward to your results

 

[Rad-]

Watched few youtube tutorials. Digging a base, gathering resources, farming, making booze and basic military. Anything else that would be important to learn before jumping in the first time?

 

[Toma]

Watched few youtube tutorials. Digging a base, gathering resources, farming, making booze and basic military. Anything else that would be important to learn before jumping in the first time?

Pretty much everything you need to know for your first go. If you die for whatever reason, then you know what knowledge was still missing

Just give it a go.