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40d:What should I build first
Dwarves have basic needs similar to humans - food, drink, and somewhere to live & work. If you don't fulfill these requirements your dwarves will become unhappy and eventually go insane.
See starting build for a discussion on what you should take with you, before you "strike the earth!"
Food and Drink
You should have started out with a plentiful supply of food and drink at your wagon. But depending on where you build your fort, this could be quite a walk back and forth for your dwarves when they get hungry and thirsty - you'll probably want to create a food stockpile near the entrance of your fort, preferably an underground a store room inside the fort to protect both your food and dwarves from threats and the weather.
For replenishing your food you have several options:
- Grow food from seeds at a farm;
- Gather plants from the surroundings;
- Fish from rivers, and prepare the raw fish at the fishery;
- Hunt wild animals.
Dwarves like to eat their food in a dining room, so you will need to create tables and chairs, and build them inside. Once you've built at least one table you can select it and define a dining room from it.
Tables and chairs can be made from any material, but stone is (generally) readily available. So you'll need a mason's workshop and a dwarf with the Masonry labour enabled.
The food you brought, creatures that have been butchered, and many plants can be eaten raw, but to brew more alcohol you will need a still, the appropriate raw plants, and a dwarf with the Brewing labour enabled.
If your alcohol ever runs out, your dwarves will drink water from any pool/stream in the surrondings - you may want to designate a drinking zone at the nearest pond, but they'll be will be happier less upset if they have a well to get their water from. )If you chose site with a hot environment and no river, you may want to dig a cistern immediately, before the heat evaporates all the water on the map!)
Dwarves who are injured (they only drink water) must drink water - build at least one bucket, and early on.
Bedrooms
You need to construct beds for your dwarves and build them inside. Beds can only be made out of wood, and hence you will need a carpenter's workshop, logs, and a dwarf with the Carpentry labour enabled. Because dwarves' sleep-cycles will not be the same, a starting fortress can usually get away with 3-5 beds for the starting 7 dwarves.
A bed is first constructed by the carpenter, then built/placed by a furniture hauler. Although at first they can all just sleep in a barracks, it is worth planning the placement of bedrooms as dwarves are greatly bothered by noise, and poor placement of bedrooms will result in a very inefficient fortress.
Expanding
While there are no fixed goals, general goals either develop with the location or are regarded as managing a growing, prosperous dwarven settlement. Achieving this will require industry beyond subsistence living.
- Defense: Most forts need at least a small military to fend of various nuisances.
- A mechanic's workshop allows quick and easy creation of simple traps and machines, taking some early pressure from your military.
- Dwarves will be happier if they have recreational space, starting with a meeting hall (defined from a table), or an activity zone(anywhere) for your idle dwarves.
- Build a craftdwarf's workshop so you can start making goods to trade with the caravans - first one comes early Fall.
- Build wood burner/smelter/forge workshops for making metal items, like armor and weapons for your military.
The article on your first fortress has some great suggestions on how to get your feet under you before you try to run, but really it's up to you how you build your fort.