40d:Starting location

2007-11-01T15:36:36Z

Ardhanari: fixed typos, added civ notes, added terrain section

Starting out in the right location is crucial to not [[losing]] (but remember, even that's still fun!). Beginning players have several things to keep in mind when selecting a site.

==Surroundings==
It's probably a good idea to avoid [[Haunted]], [[Sinister]], and [[Terrifying]] biomes, as well as extremes of cold and heat. Fortunately that still leaves you with a lot of options most of the time. Make sure you've got at least some [[trees]] and vegetation.

Make sure you at least have [[contact]] with [[Dwarves]]; [[Humans]] are also good [[trading]] partners. If you get those two, you'll probably be around [[Elves]] and [[Goblins]] too. Elves will trade some things, but are picky about what they'll accept; Goblins will just lay siege to your fortress every so often once they get angry enough about your presence.

==Terrain==
Since you can dig down, you don't have to worry about finding a suitable cliff face (although players of the previous versions might find it reassuringly familiar). Still, mountainous areas are worth looking into for the [[stone]] and greater probability of finding magma.

==Water==
[[Farming]] won't get you much in the middle of a desert. Try to find an area with a [[brook]] -- larger water sources can hinder [[mining]]. If the game warns you that you've selected an area with an [[aquifer]], pay attention: it's likely going to be very difficult to get through it to the stone below.

Currently a permanent source of water isn't required because farms don't dry out, this is expected to change. If your map starts with even the smallest pond you can dig under it, drain it into the room (and down again if there's that much water), and build a farm on the residual mud--water levels of 1/7 can be ignored when placing the farm plot.

==Lumber==
Not as important in the new version, since caravans now bring [[wood]]; but [[treeless]] maps should be avoided by new players.

Trees grow on the lower surface z-levels, so make sure you have a nice large swath to chop down. Just because the biome says "heavily forested" doesn't mean you will actually have trees, and just because the biome says "none" doesn't mean you won't have trees. (last sentence added by [[User:Savok|Savok]] and from memory; possibly wrong)

==Vegetation==
The local flora can be a good source of seeds.

==Magma==
Unlike in previous versions, you aren't guaranteed to find a source of [[magma]], unless you have a [[volcano]] at your starting location. Sure, you could burn [[charcoal]] to fuel your smithies, but the convenience of magma makes it invaluable. The site selection screen can give you a good idea of whether or not you'll be able to get any: look for darker igneous rocks like [[basalt]], [[obsidian]], [[gabbro]], and so on.

[[Category:Guides]]

40d:Starting location

2007-11-01T00:30:11Z

Ardhanari: currently just a very brief guide to picking the right starting location

40d:Your first fortress

2007-11-01T00:14:37Z

Ardhanari: linking 'location' to an article

This is a guide to help new players get started on their first fortress, and teach them the basics of keeping their dwarves alive.

==Setting up==
Try to pick a [[location]] that has trees and a river, brook or stream running through it. Avoid areas with extreme temperatures, and areas with the [[sinister]]/[[haunted]]/[[terrifying]] descriptions.

A good suggestion for your starting dwarves' skills:
*Two proficient [[miner]]s.
*A competent [[mason]]/novice [[building designer]].
*A [[woodcutter]]/[[carpenter]].
*A proficient [[grower]].
*A [[mechanic]]/[[stone crafter]].
*A [[fisherdwarf]]/[[fish cleaner]].

Suggested items you should take along:
*Two [[pickaxes]].
*A [[battleaxe]], for woodcutting and defense.
*Two cats and two dogs.
*Lots of [[meat]]. Like 100 or more.
*Lots of [[alcohol]]. Like 100 or more.
*20-30 [[plump helmet spawn]].
*10 [[pig tail seeds]].
*10 [[cave wheat seeds]].
*Whatever else you feel like using any leftover points. The anvil is optional, as you won't need it right away and you can ask the dwarven caravan to bring new ones.

==Beginning the Fortress==
When you reach the site of your new fortress, the first things you want to do are:
*Dig secure lodgings.
*Set up basic [[workshops]].
*Set up a [[dining room]] and a [[bedroom]].
*Set up a [[farm]].
*Set up [[stockpile]]s.

Sounds simple, right? It doesn't? Well, you're right, it's not:
*Start digging out a room as the start of your fortress. Try to keep a 1 tile wide chokepoint or hallway leading into it which you can block with a door. If are in an area covered with sand, loam, or clay, you should dig downward until you find rock, and mine the room out of that. You'll need the rock for construction.
*Outdoors by the wagon, create a [[refuse stockpile]], a [[wood stockpile]], a [[furniture stockpile]], and a [[food stockpile]] to get your supplies out of the wagon and keep the food from rotting. To make a stockpile, press {{k|p}}, press the letter corresponding to the type of stockpile you want, then press enter and drag the selection box over the area you want, and press enter again to create it.
*Disassemble the wagon for [[wood]] by pressing {{k|q}}, moving the cursor over the wagon and pressing {{k|x}}. Your carpenter should then disassemble it into 3 logs.
*Create a [[Mason's Workshop]], a [[Carpenter's Workshop]], and a [[Mechanic's Workshop]] with the stones your miners should be producing as they dig tunnels through the rock. To build things, press {{k|b}}, then for workshops, press {{k|w}}. Scroll to the type you want with {{k|+}} and {{k|-}} and press enter. You should next see a screen with the list of all the available materials you can use to build the workshop. Select any type of stone and the dwarves will get started. '''NOTE: If the stone available to you has some [[economic stone|economic value]], such as [[limestone]] or [[marble]], you must press {{k|z}} to open the general status screen, go to the Stones submenu, then find the stone type in the list and press {{k|enter}} to allow your dwarves to use it for mundane tasks like constructing buildings and furniture.'''
*Your [[fisherdwarf]] has likely run off to a body of water to start fishing. Raw fish is inedible, and rots if left alone too long, so you need to build a [[fishery]] to process it. You build the fishery in the same way you built the other workshops. After it's built, select it with {{k|q}}, press {{k|a}}, select "Process Raw Fish" and press enter. Then press {{k|r}} to make that order repeat until it runs out of fish to process.
*At the [[Mason's Workshop]], order a [[door]] by selecting the workshop with {{k|q}}, pressing {{k|a}}, then scrolling to "door" on the list with the + and - keys and pressing enter. Stone is more common than wood, so you want to make everything you possibly can out of stone rather than wood. The only important items you can't make out of stone that you can make out of wood are [[bed]]s, [[bucket]]s, [[bin]]s, [[barrel]]s, and [[charcoal]] for fueling your [[forge]]s.
*Once the door is finished, place the door in the entrance of your fort by pressing {{k|b}}uild, then {{k|d}}oor, then selecting the space you want it to go in and pressing {{k|enter}}. If trouble shows up, you can lock the door by pressing {{k|q}}, highlighting it and pressing {{k|l}} once. Pressing it again unlocks it.
*At the [[Carpenter's Workshop]], first order a [[bed]] and a [[bucket]] to be made out of some of your wagon wood.
*Once the bed is complete, {{k|b}}uild it in the same manner you built the door, and place it in your entrance hall. Once it's placed, you should make it into a communal sleeping hall by selecting the bed with {{k|q}}, pressing {{k|r}} and using the {{k|+}} and {{k|-}} keys to cover the area of the hall, pressing enter, then pressing {{k|b}} to make it a [[barracks]]. Making it a barracks means that it is a public sleeping area, and dwarves without their own rooms will sleep there, even if there aren't enough beds.
*You should designate some trees to be cut down for more logs. Press {{k|d}}, then {{k|t}}. Find an area with trees, then press enter and highlight some trees by dragging the selection area over them and pressing enter again.
*To build some [[trap]]s to defend your front door, order some [[mechanism]]s to be built at the [[Mechanic's Workshop]]. After they are made, go to the {{k|b}}uild menu, and select the "Traps/Levers" category using {{k|+}} and {{k|-}}. Select the [[Trap#Stone-fall trap|stone-fall trap]], select the materials to use, then place it in a choke point leading into your fortress, like in front of or behind the front door.
*Mine a new room that will be used as a dining hall, and build four or five stone [[table]]s and stone [[throne]]s for it. Build some more doors to section off new rooms properly, as dwarves dislike rooms that aren't enclosed on all sides by walls or doors. Place the tables and thrones like you did the doors, and put one throne adjacent to each table. Once a table is placed in the room, select it with {{k|q}} and use it to define the area as a dining room, like you did with the bed for the sleeping hall. You only need to use one table to define the room, and the rest of the tables in it are automatically considered part of the dining room.
*Mine a few more rooms to be used as storage areas, remove the furniture and food stockpiles outside, and make new ones in these new storage rooms.
*You can also move your workshops indoors. They should not be built in the vicinity of the sleeping hall, as the noise will bother people. You can remove the workshops aboveground the same way you dismantled the wagon, press {{k|q}}, highlight the workshop, then press {{k|x}}.
*Next you'll set up farming. You first need to dig a farm room underground. Dwarven crops won't grow on the surface. If there are enough layers of [[soil]] covering the rock, you can carve out a farm room inside the soil and start farming without having to [[irrigate]] the ground. However, if you want to make a farm room with a rock floor, you will need to get the floor wet first. When water covers a rock cavern floor, it becomes muddy, which allows you to build farm plots on it. For more information about how to do that, read up on [[irrigation]].
*Once you have suitable ground for planting, go to the {{k|b}}uild menu, find "Farm Plot" or press {{k|p}}, then use the {{k|u}} {{k|m}} {{k|h}} {{k|k}} keys to resize it, and press enter to place it. A 5x5 field should be plenty to last you through winter. After it's placed, your growers will come clear the site and prepare it for planting.
*Now that the field is ready, select it with {{k|q}}, and set the crop you want to be grown on it. You have to set this manually for each season. Press {{k|a}} for spring, {{k|b}} for summer, {{k|c}} for fall, and {{k|d}} for winter. Not every crop can be grown in every season, although [[plump helmet]]s can be grown all year. You probably want to grow plump helmets exclusively at first, as they are the easiest crop to grow and use. Dwarves can eat them raw, cooked, or brew them into alcohol.

==What Next?==
At this point your little fort should be mostly self-sufficient, barring animal attacks, mining accidents, psychotic outbreaks, or invasion. You can now invest some time in luxuries, such as making private rooms for each dwarf, crafting valuable trade goods, crazy engineering projects, and brewing more beer.

Here's some ideas for what to do next:
*Build a [[craftdwarf's workshop]] and start making some trade goods.
*Build a [[trade depot]] so that merchants can come and trade with you.
*Figure out a way to store some water underground by your fortress so that you'll have drinking water even if the surface pools freeze in the winter.
*Set up a [[still]] to brew more drinks for your thirsty dwarves. They'll drink water if they have to, but they are much happier and work faster if they are full of beer.
*Make individual rooms for each dwarf, with a bed and maybe a rock coffer and rock cabinet in each one.
*Use [[zone]]s to set up a meeting hall, and designate which water sources you want your dwarves to use for fishing and drinking.
*Expand your farm, dining room, and living quarters in anticipation of the massive wave of 10-30 immigrants that will likely show up sometime in the next year.
*Start making [[bin]]s and [[barrel]]s to consolidate items and food taking up space in your stockpiles so things are more organized, and so you have more barrels to brew drinks with.
*Set up an indoor [[refuse stockpile]] so your dwarves don't have to carry their trash as far, and you can start building up a useful supply of bones.

[[Category:Guides]]

Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

40d:Starting location

40d:Starting location

40d:Your first fortress