Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

v0.34:Stocks

2013-05-11T11:47:32Z

Jez9999: /* Bracketing */

{{quality|Exceptional|00:30, 14 October 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}
The '''Stocks''' screen, accessible via the '''[[Status]]''' screen, is a careful record of your fort's entire inventory. It is managed by the [[bookkeeper]], who periodically must update the [[stockpile]] records, depending on how quickly your fort's [[wealth]] is growing or being depleted.

==Layout==
The Stocks screen displays a list of product categories on the left side. Next to those categories is the total number of objects you have that fit within that category, split into first column (grey): number available or in use normally, and second column (red): number of restricted items (read more below), both adding up to the total number on the map.

[[Image:Jt_stocks_screen.png|800px]]

==Contents==
*[[Meat]] - [[meat]] and [[prepared organs]]
*[[Fish]] - cleaned [[fish]], [[oyster]]s, [[cave lobster]]s, [[pond turtle]]s
*[[Raw fish]] - uncleaned fish or other food items produced by fishing
*[[Egg]]
*[[Plant]]s - unprocessed plants
*[[Prepared meal]]s
*[[Cheese]]
*[[Powder]] - [[dye]], [[dwarven sugar]], [[sand]], [[flour]], [[plaster]]
*[[Drink]]s
*[[Leaves]] - [[quarry bush]] leaves
*[[Liquid]] - [[water]] in [[bucket]]s
*[[Glob]] - [[fat]] and [[tallow]]
*[[Seed]]s
*[[Weapon]]s
*[[Ammunition]]
*[[Armor]] - mail shirts, breastplates, and "covers" like cloaks
*[[Clothing|Legwear]]
*[[Clothing|Headwear]]
*[[Clothing|Handwear]]
*[[Clothing|Footwear]]
*[[Armor#Shield user|Shields/bucklers]]
*[[Backpack]]s
*[[Quiver]]s
*[[Anvil]]s
*[[Armor stand]]s
*[[Weapon rack]]s
*[[Cabinet]]s
*[[Door]]s
*[[Floodgate]]s
*[[Bed]]s
*[[Throne]]s
*[[Table]]s
*[[Coffin]]s
*[[Statue]]s
*[[Slab]]s
*[[Tanned hide]]s
*[[Cloth]]
*[[Thread]]
*[[Wood|Logs]]
*[[Stone]]s
*[[Gem|Rough gems]]
*[[Bar]]s
*[[Cut gem]]s
*[[Gem industry#Large gems|Large gems]]
*[[Coin]]s
*[[Block]]s
*[[Vermin|Small]] [[Animal training|tame]] [[vermin|animals]]
*Small live animals
*[[Pipe section]]s
*[[Hatch|Hatch covers]]
*[[Grate]]s
*[[Quern]]s
*[[Millstone]]s
*[[Window]]s
*[[Animal trap]]s
*[[Chain]]s
*[[Cage]]s
*[[Coffer|Boxes]] and [[bag]]s
*[[Bin]]s
*[[Barrel]]s
*[[Bucket]]s
*[[Mechanism]]s
*[[Trap component]]s
*[[Flask]]s
*[[Goblet]]s
*[[Toy]]s
*[[Tool]]s
*[[Instrument|Musical instrument]]s
*[[Useless crap|Figurines]]
*[[Useless crap|Amulets]]
*[[Useless crap|Crowns]]
*[[Useless crap|Scepters]]
*[[Useless crap|Rings]]
*[[Useless crap|Earrings]]
*[[Useless crap|Bracelets]]
*[[Catapult]] parts
*[[Ballista]] parts
*[[Ballista arrow|Siege ammo]]
*Ballista arrowheads - ballista arrowheads without their arrows yet
*[[Totem]]s
*[[Corpse]]s
*[[Body parts]]
*[[Remains]]
*Small rock
*[[Splint]]s
*[[Crutch]]es
*[[Traction bench]]es
*[[Cast|Limb/body casts]]
*[[Slab]]s

==Bookkeeping & precision==

Precision determines how well your dwarves are keeping count of all your items. Items are grouped into general categories - for instance, all hand weapons, crossbows and picks are "weapons". The biggest is typically "stones" - all stones you have mined out are included in one category, and viewable by specific type only if your level of accuracy is adequate for that number; anything less, and you will only have a rough total, no ability to view or manipulate the individual items.

The precision of the Stocks screen depends on the settings of the [[bookkeeper]] [[noble]]. (Use {{k|n}} {{k|s}} to access that screen.) Precision affects three factors - the time spent at that labor (more precision takes more time), the number of significant figures (see immediately below), and whether the Inventory is active or unavailable for a given item type (see Inventory, bottom).

There are five possible settings:

; Lowest Precision
: This is the default setting, precise only to one significant figure. It's only fine for your initial embark until you feel you need the Inventory feature, below, and have time to designate a [[chair]] ''(perhaps in your first [[dining room]], at least to start)'' as an [[office]]/study.
:*Any number from 0 to 9 will be exact. Inventory is available only for categories with 9 items or less.
:*A number from 10 to 99 will be rounded to the nearest 10.
:*A number from 100 to 999 will be rounded to the nearest 100.
:*A number from 1,000 to 9,999 will be rounded to the nearest 1,000.
:*A number equal to 10,000 or more will be rounded to the nearest 10,000.

; Low Precision
: This setting is precise to two significant figures. This is fine for a starting fortress, since few will have over 99 of most items, stone being the usual first exception.
:*Any number from 0 to 99 will be exact. Inventory is available only for categories with 99 items or less.
:*A number from 100 to 999 will be rounded to the nearest 10.
:*A number from 1,000 to 9,999 will be rounded to the nearest 100.
:*A number equal to 10,000 or more will be rounded to the nearest 1,000.

; Medium Precision
: This setting is precise to three significant figures. This is a good and practical level to maintain stockpile records at for an early fort, since typically stones are the only item that will number over 999 in the first years. (Note that although you have many types of stone, it is the total that matters for any one such category.)
:*Any number from 0 to 999 will be exact.
:*A number from 1,000 to 9,999 will be rounded to the nearest 10. Inventory is available only for categories with 999 items or less.
:*A number equal to 10,000 or more will be rounded to the nearest 100.

; High Precision
: This setting is precise to four significant figures, ample for most needs. This setting is most useful for managing stone (like forbidding one type entirely). Eventually other items, like food or drink, could grow to be in this range as well, depending on play style.
:*Any number from 0 to 9,999 will be exact. Inventory is available only for categories with 9,999 items or less.
:*A number equal to 10,000 or more will be rounded to the nearest 10.

; Highest Precision
: This setting is perfectly and completely precise for any number of items in any category. All stockpile records will be exact. Inventory available for all items and all categories, regardless of number.
:Maintaining stockpile records at this level starts out as a full-time job but becomes easier to maintain once that level is achieved.

If a number has been rounded, it will appear with a trailing question mark and will be displayed in brown instead of light grey (for instance, "20?" instead of "17"). Above the lowest precision, your [[bookkeeper]] requires a meager office, and for every level of precision, he or she will spend more time there updating the stock record.

==Inventory==

If you have a sufficient level of precision to count each item in the given category, you will see an inventory display on the right side of the screen. If you do not have enough precision, the right side of the screen will be blank, and you will not be able to see (or manipulate) each individual item in that category.

So, if you are Lowest level precision, and you have 9 weapons, you can see an itemized list of each one, and be able to forbid it, find it, melt it, etc etc from that screen. If you have 10 (or more), you will see only that you have 10? items of that general category, and not which ones.

When active, this inventory display has two modes:
* '''Compacted View''': The default mode, lists objects by type and total number, it doesn't show Unclaimed Items (see below). It is handy to get a general idea of the number of goods you have available.

* '''Detailed View''': hit "Tab" key to toggle, lists each individual object* in your fort, even the Unclaimed Items (see below). This display is useful for selecting individual items to [[forbid]], [[melt]] or [[dump]]. To toggle between either of the two modes, press {{key|Tab}}.

'':(* or individual [[stack]] of objects, in the case of ammo or food)''

In the detailed mode, the items text is colour coded.
====Color Code====

{| width="100%" style="margin-left: .5cm"
|-
| bgcolor="#000000" width="10%"| '''BROWN'''
| bgcolor="#ffffff" width="90%"| 
These items were '''produced by the fortress''' (or obtained and then [[decorate]]d there)
|-
| bgcolor="#000000" width="10%"| '''LGRAY'''
| bgcolor="#ffffff" width="90%"| 
These items are owned but were '''''not'' produced at fort''' (Obtained via trading or enemies; see [[Created wealth]])
|-
| bgcolor="#000000" width="10%"| '''CYAN'''
| bgcolor="#ffffff" width="90%"| 
'''Built [[furniture]]''', currently part of a '''[[building]]''' or a '''[[trap]]''', currently '''marked for [[Trading|Trade]]''' in a [[Trade depot]], or buried skeleton/corpse
|-
| bgcolor="#000000" width="10%"| '''MAGENTA'''
| bgcolor="#ffffff" width="90%"| 
Currently '''forbidden''' or designated for '''dump/melt''', or part of a '''[[construction]]'''
|-
| bgcolor="#000000" width="10%"| '''RED'''
| bgcolor="#ffffff" width="90%"| 
'''Not owned''' by fort ''(uncollected webs, and trade goods and equipment currently owned by [[trader]]s or [[invader]]s)''
|-
| bgcolor="#000000" width="10%"| '''DGRAY'''
| bgcolor="#ffffff" width="90%"| 
'''Destroyed''' or '''lost''' ([[artifact]]s only)
|-
|}

:''The colors shown reflect the default [[color scheme]].''

====Bracketing====
In addition to items being bracketed to indicate their [[Item_quality|quality]], there are certain symbols that will bracket an item to indicate that it's different from normal.

* Bracketing with '''<code>(round brackets)</code>''' indicates that the item was not produced by your dwarves. This includes all items you start the game with, all items [[immigration|immigrants]] bring with them, and all items belonging to [[caravan|traders]] and [[siege|invaders]]. You can make an item count as being produced by your dwarves either by transforming it into something else (like turning a [[log]] into a [[bed]]) or by [[decoration|decorating]] it.
* Bracketing with '''<code>{curly brackets}</code>''' indicates that the item is forbidden.
* Bracketing with '''<code>xcrossesx</code>''' or '''<code>Xcapital crossesX</code>''' or '''<code>XXdouble capital crossesXX</code>''' indicates that the item is partially [[wear|worn out]]. This applies mainly to [[clothing]] that's wearing out, [[food]] that's going rotten, and [[building]]s that are being attacked by [[building destroyer]]s.
* Bracketing with '''<code>‼double exclamation marks‼</code>''' indicates that the item is on [[fire]].

==Item Categories==
The Items seem to fall into two main categories for the numbers in the Stocks, and its modes:

* '''Available Items''' (Gray Number): includes items ready to be used.
** do items need to be in stockpile?{{verify}}
** In-transit items count to stock levels, but are not usable to build with. (i.e. a bed in transit shows as available in the stock menu, but is not usable when trying to place a bed)
* '''Restricted Items''' (Red Number): includes items not ready to be used like:
** Dump / Melt{{verify}} items
** Forbidden items:
*** These are marked with a yellow F
*** In the '''Compacted View''' a brown F indicates only some items in the stack are forbidden.
*** Items in caverns start forbidden:
**** Preserved meat
**** Prepared meat
**** Fish
**** Leather
** Built Items: ''almost'' everything marked as "B" if seen using {{k|t}}, or everything that was used to create a building:
*** Built Furniture: doors, beds, thrones, chairs, tables, floodgates, cages, etc.
*** Traps
*** Building materials: stones, blocks, anvils, etc.
** Construction Materials: used in walls, floors, etc.
** Untrapped{{verify}} Untamed{{verify}} Small Live Animals: live honey bees, etc.
** '''Unclaimed Items''': these are not shown in the '''Compacted View''' and are marked as "B" if seen using {{k|t}}, although they weren't used to create the building:
*** Unharvested Crops: plants grown in the farm plot, are marked as "B" until collected.
*** Planted Seeds: these are put into the farm plot, are marked as "B" and then become full grown plants.
** '''Not Owned by fort''':
*** Uncollected webs in caverns

The modes:
* '''Compacted View''': shows:
** Available Items
** Restricted Items with the exception of:
*** Unclaimed Items
* '''Detailed View''': shows everything

==Forbidding Stone through Inventory==

Note that if you forbid a type of stone (or [[block]]) using the Inventory menu, you will also forbid ''every workshop and building'' made from that particular type of stone (or block). This is a common cause of dwarves suddenly refusing to perform assigned tasks in workshops. Use {{k|t}} or <d,b,c> to check for forbidden workshops (or other items) and to reclaim them - use Enter to affect a rectangular area, or click with your mouse on specific items or buildings.

Some players make a point to use only [[block]]s for their workshops, so forbidding all of a particular type of stone won't stop work in every workshop built from that stone. (And then they don't use this menu to forbid blocks.)

''Warning:'' With a mature fort with extensive amounts of rock laying around, simply viewing the Stone category can cause the game to completely lock up as the CPU processes the list, sometimes for several minutes depending on the abilities of your computer. If you experience this, use of the "page up" and "page down" keys can allow safely skipping this section.

{{Category|Fortress mode}}
{{Category|Interface}}

v0.34 Talk:Health care

2013-05-07T18:19:10Z

Jez9999: /* Chief Medical Dwarf enabling the Health status screen? */ new section

== Possible bug ==

My dwarves seem extremely hesitent to store materials. Particularly pig tail fiber threaf even though it is the only thread available and it is available in large quantities. They also ignore storing crutches and splints. They are also placing items on top of the coffers instead of in them.

A lot of my injured dwarves don't seem to properly enter the "rest" state/job once moved to a hospital bed; instead they will just lie there, getting progressively more hungry/thirsty/weary/unhappy until death eventually claims them. [[Special:Contributions/111.69.12.2|111.69.12.2]] 05:35, 21 April 2012 (UTC)

== Clarity ==
It looks like there is a major contradiction on two sections of the page. In 'Setting up' it says you don't need to place a stockpile, just put containers in the zone. Farther down in 'Tips' it says don't ever place containers in the zone because they're bugged. I don't know what to believe. [[User:Hesuchia|Hesuchia]] 19:04, 18 June 2012 (UTC)
:This is actually due to a fairly recent (v0.34.08) change in how much can be stored in containers, which causes them to hold a lot more than before. Because of this, and the bug where hospitals may store way more than they are set to, it means you can now easily end up with a ton of supplies stored in your hospital. Containers are easy to set up, and if you have plenty of supplies this isn't a problem, but if you want better control over hospital stocks you have to use stockpiles instead, though this requires more micromanagement. In short, there isn't really a "best" way to do this now, just two different ways depending on whether you prefer "easy but imprecise" or "precise but requires more work". I'd clarify this myself, but I don't quite know how to describe a proper stockpile setup, since I just use the container method. For a beginner, I'd say use the container method, but periodically check the hospital stocks to make sure they aren't too far off. -- [[User:HiEv|Hi]][[User talk:HiEv|Ev]] 21:03, 18 June 2012 (UTC)

== Dwarf ignored by doctor and dwarves in Hospital ==

2 marksdwarves got injured during a siege, they where both brought down to my fully stocked and geared hospital. My lone doctor fixed up one of the dwarves, but then ignored the other.

I was able to fix this by removing the bed the patient was on (optional?) and then removing the hospital zone. Immediatly, dwarves came in to feed the guy and my doctor did his magic on him. -- [[Special:Contributions/173.176.54.9|173.176.54.9]] 18:33, 22 July 2012 (UTC)

== Reliable means of generating hospital work in 34.11 ==

Using a pool meeting area as described in [[Swimmer]], with the lower level as such

++++ - pool contines, ramp(s) at or near end
╚╦BB╦╝ - bars/grates
║/\║ -\
║\/║ - bridge (raises ↑)
║++║
╠═+║
║▲╔╝ - ramp is needed for dwarves who pass through the bars after colliding with them
╚═╝

results in some dwarves (approx 1/250 trips off the ledge) receiving compound fractures of fingers and toes. This gets you diagnosis, surgery, bone setting, suturing and dressing jobs for each dwarf, and none suffer impaired grasping/walking (the possibility of infection is of course present). Use a lever to control the bridge and a water source from the far end of the pool to enable/disable a supply of injured dwarves. [[Special:Contributions/69.151.56.105|69.151.56.105]] 21:06, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

== Dwarfs treated outside the hospital zone/without beds/tables (Bug?) ==

After a fight with goblins, one of my dwarfs lay on the other side of the river. I had a functional hospital, doctors and enough "nurses" to recover him. But because there was no bridge they couldn't carry him(apparently they can't swim an carry a patient). But instead of letting him die, they brought water and food and my doctors ran across the whole map to treat him. After the last dressing he got up, swam through the river and got back to training in my barracks.

In a different fortress an injured dwarf reached the hospital before it had beds. So he lay on the floor and was treated there even after the beds were placed.

Did someone experience something similar? Is it a bug? I may try to recreate this but i must think of a way to injure my dwarfs first :-)

== 8 bags?? ==
I am curious what's the reasoning here. My hospital has ''one'' bag and material still gets overstored - and my hospital (as far as that statement makes sense) works fine. --[[User:Old Ancient|Old Ancient]] 01:16, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

== Chief Medical Dwarf enabling the Health status screen? ==

This article states, "The Chief Medical Dwarf only enables the Health status screen, so long as the CMD's Diagnosis skill is Novice or greater." However I'm sure that the second I put my dwarf with zero diagnosis ability as the CMD, I got the health status screen. Right now, my CMD is 'dabbling' in diagnosis and I have that screen. So the wiki seems wrong here.

v0.34:Pasture

2013-05-07T16:17:45Z

Jez9999:

{{Quality|Exceptional|15:35, 21 April 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

Pastures are [[activity zone]]s that the player creates to hold tame animals, especially grazing animals. Herbivorous animals require [[grass]], [[cave moss]], or [[floor fungus]] to graze upon, and larger herbivores need a greater amount of these to feed themselves. [[Panda]]s and their relatives require bamboo rather than other types of grass. Using pastures allows herbivorous animals to be restricted to areas where they will have plenty to eat.

A pasture is defined using {{K|i}}-{{K|n}} to draw a rectangle, and then animals are selected to graze. Having pressed {{K|i}} to define a zone, highlight the pasture and press {{K|N}} ({{K|Shift}}+{{K|n}}), select the animal(s) you wish to pasture using {{K|+}}/{{K|-}}, and press {{K|Enter}}. Animals currently assigned to this pasture will have a green plus symbol to the left of them. Animals assigned to ''some'' pasture, this one or otherwise, will have a green triple-line symbol to the right of them. If the brackets surrounding this triple-line are white, the animal is currently pastured; if they're grey, the animal has not yet been brought to pasture, or still needs to be moved to a different pasture. If the brackets contain the 'cage' symbol (‼), it means that animal is currently caged. If that animal is selected for this pasture, they will be automatically uncaged and brought to the pasture by a dwarf (this is actually a good way to get animals you bought from a merchant uncaged quickly, without having to actually build the cage somewhere first).

Once all animals are selected, finish by pressing {{K|Esc}} and idle dwarves will lead the animals to pasture. Contrary to a common misconception, this task is '''not''' an animal hauling job and will be performed by any adult civilian regardless of labors enabled.

Any tame animal may be assigned to a pasture. You can also create pastures inside (on rock) and use them to confine animals that do not need to eat (like pigs) in certain areas. If there is fungus or moss on your indoor floors (e.g. on soil after breaching the caverns), the animals will consume that in place of grass.

[[Grass]] on your pastures will replenish at different speeds, depending on [[biome]]; If on embark the biome read "Thick" on "Other Vegetation" it will regrow fast, if it read "Scarce", it may not regenerate at all.

Baby animals born to pastured mothers will automatically be assigned to their mother's pasture.

==Grazing animals and pasture size==
Grazing animals use the [GRAZER:<value>] token to signify how much grass they need to eat. This is an inverse number - the value in grazer signifies how much hunger is reduced when eating a unit of grass. A creature with ten times the grazer value needs one tenth the amount of grass (and hence, pasture land) as a creature with a small grazer value. If you started your fortress in an undead biome, you may need to assign more space for a pasture as much of the grass is dead. Animals will not eat dead grass and will only eat the still living patches.

Animals which graze are typically good livestock candidates, as many of them can be [[milk]]ed and 3 also can be [[shear]]ed for [[wool]]. Creatures with larger sizes consume more grass, but also produce more meat when [[butcher]]ed.

Each [[time]] unit adds one point to hunger. An animal takes an average of one turn per ten time units, and takes one time unit to eat grass. If there were an unlimited amount of grass on a tile, even animals with [GRAZER:1] would be able to feed themselves, however, there are at most 4 bunches of grass. Therefore, a creature of standard speed and agility with [GRAZER:3] would not be able to survive, and creatures with [GRAZER:4] require a constant source of grass (in other words infinite sized pastures) to survive. In practice, anything with [GRAZER:20] or less is completely incapable of feeding itself. Because of this, the larger creatures like [[draltha]]s are virtually impossible to keep fed, and [[elephant]]s are incapable of feeding themselves fast enough to stave off starvation. {{bug|4113}}

If grazing animals consume all the grass on a tile, the tile will be reverted to the base layer material. This may be [[sand]], [[clay]] or [[soil]]. In this way you receive a visual clue as to the size of the pasture required.

==[[Overcrowding]]==
When a pasture is overcrowded, animals may become enraged and start fights. This behavior is similar to a dwarf throwing a [[tantrum]], and can be prevented by enlarging your pasture or keeping fewer animals in it.

Another possibility is to split a large pasture which holds many animals into several smaller pastures, with the pasture size reflecting the amount of grazing the animal needs to survive. Animals will only fight each other if their pasture is sharing the same tiles as the creature they are fighting with.

==Other Applications==
A pasture can serve as a quite limited replacement for a [[rope]] or [[restraint]], as it allows you to "tie" multiple animals to the same spot and even allows you to place [[pet]]s and animals assigned to dwarves. It does however not actually tie animals; see below.

This can be used to (not very safely) get rid of immigrant pets or cat infestations by pasturing them outside the fortress to serve as an early warning system and meatshield or by pasturing them inside a room that then gets accidentally filled with [[magma]]. This procedure will cause unhappy thoughts in owners and spam "assign to pasture" jobs when you want them least: When the animals are running away from invaders or even a meager [[thief]], most of them escaping death:

While a pasture is a quick way of placing animals exactly in one defined area, it does not restrict the movement of an animal--if they are threatened by an enemy, the animal will flee as normal, and will trigger a task to re-pasture the animal once it leaves the border of the pasture. This is important as the announcement of an ambush may trigger a flood of civilians rushing to the pasture and into the face of the enemy. Since the labor has no associated skill, you cannot govern who will take such a job, but you can cancel those jobs by e.g. temporarily deactivating the pasture zone.

==List of grazing animals==

Take the following numbers with a grain of salt; they ignore the differing abilities of various biomes to replenish grass. Usually you can get along with way smaller pastures. Nevertheless, a fairly large herd can cause overgrazing fast, keep an eye out for hungry animals and desolate [[grass]]less areas.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|-
! Animal
! Grazer value
! Creature Size
! [[Milking|Milkable]]
! [[Shearing|Shearable]]
! Minimal Pasture Size per individual
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Elephant]]
| 12 || 5,000,000 || ||
|style="text-align:left"| Cannot Self Feed (Graze Value <= 20)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Rhinoceros]]
| 20 || 3,000,000 || ||
|style="text-align:left"| Cannot Self Feed (Graze Value <= 20)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant moose|Giant bull moose]]
| 23 || 4,257,750 || ||
|style="text-align:left"| 29 x 29
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Draltha]]
| 24
| 2,500,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 29 x 29
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant moose|Giant moose cow]]
| 38
| 2,554,650
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 28 x 28
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Water buffalo]]
| 60
| 1,000,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 18 x 18
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giraffe]]
| 60
| 1,000,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 18 x 18
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Yak]]
| 85
| 700,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 16 x 16
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Gigantic panda]]
| 92
| 1,160,900
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| N/A (only eat bamboo, will starve without it)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Cow]]
| 100
| 600,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 14 x 14
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Unicorn]]
| 100
| 600,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 14 x 14

|-
|style="text-align:left"| [[Moose|Bull moose]]
| 114
| 525,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 14 x 14
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Horse]]
| 120
| 500,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 13 x 13
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Camel]] (both)
| 120
| 500,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 13 x 13
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant capybara]]
| 133
| 523,350
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 13 x 13
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Mule]]
| 150
| 400,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 12 x 12
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Moose|Cow moose]]
| 190
| 315,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 11 x 11
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Donkey]]
| 200
| 300,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 10 x 10
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Elk]]
| 200
| 300,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 10 x 10
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Muskox]]
| 210
| 285,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 10 x 10
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant red panda]]
| 255
| 235,100
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| N/A (only eat bamboo, will starve without it)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Tapir]]
| 300
| 200,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 9 x 9 ?
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Llama]]
| 333
| 180,000
| Yes
| Yes
|style="text-align:left"| 8 x 8
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Deer]]
| 428
| 140,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 7 x 7
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Reindeer]]
| 461
| 130,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 7 x 7
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Panda]]
| 462
| 130,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| N/A (only eat bamboo, will starve without it)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Warthog]]
| 600
| 100,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 6 x 6
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Elk bird]]
| 600
| 100,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 6 x 6
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Kangaroo]]
| 667
| 90,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 6 x 6
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Alpaca]]
| 857
| 70,000
| Yes
| Yes
|style="text-align:left"| 5 x 5
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Goat]]
| 1,200
| 50,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Mountain goat]]
| 1,200
| 50,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Ibex]]
| 1,200
| 50,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Impala]]
| 1,200
| 50,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Sheep]]
| 1,200
| 50,000
| Yes
| Yes
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Capybara]]
| 1,333
| 45,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Wombat]]
| 2,308
| 25,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 3 x 3 ?
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Gazelle]]
| 3,000
| 20,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 3 x 3
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Hoary marmot]]
| 6,000
| 10,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 2 x 2
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Red panda]]
| 12,000
| 5,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| N/A (only eat bamboo, will starve without it)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Hare]]
| 17,143
| 3,500
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 1 x 1 ?
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Groundhog]]
| 20,000
| 3,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 1 x 1
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Cavy]]
| 75,000
| 800
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 1 x 1 (can feed up to 3 cavies)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Rabbit]]
| 120,000
| 500
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 1 x 1 (can feed up to 5 rabbits)
|}

The following giant animals do not modify the grazer token inherited from their parents and are bugged to eat less than their size would indicate.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|-
! Animal
! Grazer value
! Creature Size
! [[Milking|Milkable]]
! [[Shearing|Shearable]]
! Minimal Pasture Size per individual
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant tapir]]
| 300
| 1,700,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 9 x 9 ?
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant kangaroo]]
| 667
| 857,700
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 6 x 6
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant ibex]]
| 1,200
| 560,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant impala]]
| 1,200
| 560,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant wombat]]
| 2,308
| 377,750
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 3 x 3 ?
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant hare]]
| 17,143
| 224,560
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 1 x 1 ?
|-
|}

v0.34:Pasture

2013-05-07T16:16:49Z

Jez9999: Further info on the pen/pasture assignment screen

{{Quality|Exceptional|15:35, 21 April 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

Pastures are [[activity zone]]s that the player creates to hold tame animals, especially grazing animals. Herbivorous animals require [[grass]], [[cave moss]], or [[floor fungus]] to graze upon, and larger herbivores need a greater amount of these to feed themselves. [[Panda]]s and their relatives require bamboo rather than other types of grass. Using pastures allows herbivorous animals to be restricted to areas where they will have plenty to eat.

A pasture is defined using {{K|i}}-{{K|n}} to draw a rectangle, and then animals are selected to graze. Having pressed {{K|i}} to define a zone, highlight the pasture and press {{K|N}} ({{K|Shift}}+{{K|n}}), select the animal(s) you wish to pasture using {{K|+}}/{{K|-}}, and press {{K|Enter}}. Animals currently assigned to this pasture will have a green plus symbol to the left of them. Animals assigned to ''some'' pasture, this one or otherwise, will have a green triple-line symbol to the right of them. If the brackets surrounding this triple-line are white, the animal is currently pastured; if they're grey, the animal has not yet been brought to pasture, or still needs to be moved to a different pasture. If the brackets contain the 'cage' symbol (‼), it means that animal is currently caged. If that animal is selected for this pasture, they will be automatically uncaged and brought to the pasture by a dwarf (this is actually a good way to get animals you bought from a merchant uncaged quickly, without having to actually build the cage somewhere).

Once all animals are selected, finish by pressing {{K|Esc}} and idle dwarves will lead the animals to pasture. Contrary to a common misconception, this task is '''not''' an animal hauling job and will be performed by any adult civilian regardless of labors enabled.

Any tame animal may be assigned to a pasture. You can also create pastures inside (on rock) and use them to confine animals that do not need to eat (like pigs) in certain areas. If there is fungus or moss on your indoor floors (e.g. on soil after breaching the caverns), the animals will consume that in place of grass.

[[Grass]] on your pastures will replenish at different speeds, depending on [[biome]]; If on embark the biome read "Thick" on "Other Vegetation" it will regrow fast, if it read "Scarce", it may not regenerate at all.

Baby animals born to pastured mothers will automatically be assigned to their mother's pasture.

==Grazing animals and pasture size==
Grazing animals use the [GRAZER:<value>] token to signify how much grass they need to eat. This is an inverse number - the value in grazer signifies how much hunger is reduced when eating a unit of grass. A creature with ten times the grazer value needs one tenth the amount of grass (and hence, pasture land) as a creature with a small grazer value. If you started your fortress in an undead biome, you may need to assign more space for a pasture as much of the grass is dead. Animals will not eat dead grass and will only eat the still living patches.

Animals which graze are typically good livestock candidates, as many of them can be [[milk]]ed and 3 also can be [[shear]]ed for [[wool]]. Creatures with larger sizes consume more grass, but also produce more meat when [[butcher]]ed.

Each [[time]] unit adds one point to hunger. An animal takes an average of one turn per ten time units, and takes one time unit to eat grass. If there were an unlimited amount of grass on a tile, even animals with [GRAZER:1] would be able to feed themselves, however, there are at most 4 bunches of grass. Therefore, a creature of standard speed and agility with [GRAZER:3] would not be able to survive, and creatures with [GRAZER:4] require a constant source of grass (in other words infinite sized pastures) to survive. In practice, anything with [GRAZER:20] or less is completely incapable of feeding itself. Because of this, the larger creatures like [[draltha]]s are virtually impossible to keep fed, and [[elephant]]s are incapable of feeding themselves fast enough to stave off starvation. {{bug|4113}}

If grazing animals consume all the grass on a tile, the tile will be reverted to the base layer material. This may be [[sand]], [[clay]] or [[soil]]. In this way you receive a visual clue as to the size of the pasture required.

==[[Overcrowding]]==
When a pasture is overcrowded, animals may become enraged and start fights. This behavior is similar to a dwarf throwing a [[tantrum]], and can be prevented by enlarging your pasture or keeping fewer animals in it.

Another possibility is to split a large pasture which holds many animals into several smaller pastures, with the pasture size reflecting the amount of grazing the animal needs to survive. Animals will only fight each other if their pasture is sharing the same tiles as the creature they are fighting with.

==Other Applications==
A pasture can serve as a quite limited replacement for a [[rope]] or [[restraint]], as it allows you to "tie" multiple animals to the same spot and even allows you to place [[pet]]s and animals assigned to dwarves. It does however not actually tie animals; see below.

This can be used to (not very safely) get rid of immigrant pets or cat infestations by pasturing them outside the fortress to serve as an early warning system and meatshield or by pasturing them inside a room that then gets accidentally filled with [[magma]]. This procedure will cause unhappy thoughts in owners and spam "assign to pasture" jobs when you want them least: When the animals are running away from invaders or even a meager [[thief]], most of them escaping death:

While a pasture is a quick way of placing animals exactly in one defined area, it does not restrict the movement of an animal--if they are threatened by an enemy, the animal will flee as normal, and will trigger a task to re-pasture the animal once it leaves the border of the pasture. This is important as the announcement of an ambush may trigger a flood of civilians rushing to the pasture and into the face of the enemy. Since the labor has no associated skill, you cannot govern who will take such a job, but you can cancel those jobs by e.g. temporarily deactivating the pasture zone.

==List of grazing animals==

Take the following numbers with a grain of salt; they ignore the differing abilities of various biomes to replenish grass. Usually you can get along with way smaller pastures. Nevertheless, a fairly large herd can cause overgrazing fast, keep an eye out for hungry animals and desolate [[grass]]less areas.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|-
! Animal
! Grazer value
! Creature Size
! [[Milking|Milkable]]
! [[Shearing|Shearable]]
! Minimal Pasture Size per individual
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Elephant]]
| 12 || 5,000,000 || ||
|style="text-align:left"| Cannot Self Feed (Graze Value <= 20)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Rhinoceros]]
| 20 || 3,000,000 || ||
|style="text-align:left"| Cannot Self Feed (Graze Value <= 20)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant moose|Giant bull moose]]
| 23 || 4,257,750 || ||
|style="text-align:left"| 29 x 29
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Draltha]]
| 24
| 2,500,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 29 x 29
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant moose|Giant moose cow]]
| 38
| 2,554,650
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 28 x 28
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Water buffalo]]
| 60
| 1,000,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 18 x 18
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giraffe]]
| 60
| 1,000,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 18 x 18
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Yak]]
| 85
| 700,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 16 x 16
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Gigantic panda]]
| 92
| 1,160,900
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| N/A (only eat bamboo, will starve without it)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Cow]]
| 100
| 600,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 14 x 14
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Unicorn]]
| 100
| 600,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 14 x 14

|-
|style="text-align:left"| [[Moose|Bull moose]]
| 114
| 525,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 14 x 14
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Horse]]
| 120
| 500,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 13 x 13
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Camel]] (both)
| 120
| 500,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 13 x 13
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant capybara]]
| 133
| 523,350
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 13 x 13
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Mule]]
| 150
| 400,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 12 x 12
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Moose|Cow moose]]
| 190
| 315,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 11 x 11
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Donkey]]
| 200
| 300,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 10 x 10
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Elk]]
| 200
| 300,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 10 x 10
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Muskox]]
| 210
| 285,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 10 x 10
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant red panda]]
| 255
| 235,100
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| N/A (only eat bamboo, will starve without it)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Tapir]]
| 300
| 200,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 9 x 9 ?
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Llama]]
| 333
| 180,000
| Yes
| Yes
|style="text-align:left"| 8 x 8
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Deer]]
| 428
| 140,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 7 x 7
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Reindeer]]
| 461
| 130,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 7 x 7
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Panda]]
| 462
| 130,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| N/A (only eat bamboo, will starve without it)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Warthog]]
| 600
| 100,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 6 x 6
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Elk bird]]
| 600
| 100,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 6 x 6
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Kangaroo]]
| 667
| 90,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 6 x 6
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Alpaca]]
| 857
| 70,000
| Yes
| Yes
|style="text-align:left"| 5 x 5
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Goat]]
| 1,200
| 50,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Mountain goat]]
| 1,200
| 50,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Ibex]]
| 1,200
| 50,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Impala]]
| 1,200
| 50,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Sheep]]
| 1,200
| 50,000
| Yes
| Yes
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Capybara]]
| 1,333
| 45,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Wombat]]
| 2,308
| 25,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 3 x 3 ?
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Gazelle]]
| 3,000
| 20,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 3 x 3
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Hoary marmot]]
| 6,000
| 10,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 2 x 2
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Red panda]]
| 12,000
| 5,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| N/A (only eat bamboo, will starve without it)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Hare]]
| 17,143
| 3,500
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 1 x 1 ?
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Groundhog]]
| 20,000
| 3,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 1 x 1
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Cavy]]
| 75,000
| 800
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 1 x 1 (can feed up to 3 cavies)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Rabbit]]
| 120,000
| 500
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 1 x 1 (can feed up to 5 rabbits)
|}

The following giant animals do not modify the grazer token inherited from their parents and are bugged to eat less than their size would indicate.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|-
! Animal
! Grazer value
! Creature Size
! [[Milking|Milkable]]
! [[Shearing|Shearable]]
! Minimal Pasture Size per individual
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant tapir]]
| 300
| 1,700,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 9 x 9 ?
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant kangaroo]]
| 667
| 857,700
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 6 x 6
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant ibex]]
| 1,200
| 560,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant impala]]
| 1,200
| 560,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant wombat]]
| 2,308
| 377,750
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 3 x 3 ?
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant hare]]
| 17,143
| 224,560
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 1 x 1 ?
|-
|}

v0.34:Well guide

2013-05-07T12:15:30Z

Jez9999: /* Why You Might Not */

{{quality|Masterwork|22:15, 22 September 2012 (UTC)}}{{av}}
''This guide assumes you've read the main article on '''[[well]]s''' and are familiar with the basic information found in that article, of what a well does and what is required to build one.''

A well can be vital to any fortress, but deciding that you need one and building one are two different things. Draining water from the surface can flood your fortress if you aren't careful, and building a well only to see the water source dry up or freeze is beyond frustrating. This guide will walk you through a number of different situations, and explain solutions that have been found for these problems.
If you are looking for the step by step guide: [[#Step by Step|see below]].

== Why Build a Well? ==

Honestly, not every fortress NEEDS a well. But they all need some form of safe ''water source'' to bring water to patients and prisoners. If they do not have this and you find yourself in a siege with six injured dwarves, you're in for a little bit of [[Fun]]... But a hole full of water can be just as good for that as a well.

=== Why You Might Not ===

1. Wells are currently a little wonky, like everything else, but in a not-so-friendly way. There are plenty of opportunities to flood a fortress through a well, and even if you don't, dwarves and animals might still occasionally fall in.

2. They take a lot of time and effort to construct, especially when compared to alternatives.

3. Because of the way wells are, a single hole in a flat ceiling, it makes it more difficult for creatures to get out, should they find themselves in your water source.

4. Technically, tiles adjacent to a trench full of water can be designated as a water source just as easily as a well, and dwarves will sanely path around such a trench, as well as bathe in it more easily.

5. If you do make a shallow pool as a water source, and have a meeting hall designated therein, unoccupied dwarves will hang out in the water, gaining swimming skill.

=== Why You Might ===

1. While a trench full of water can be used as a water source, a well can draw water from a source that is 30+ levels below. Also, a trench water source can only be one level deep, dwarves will not draw water from any level deeper than that. A well will.

2. Wells can be made to have extraordinarily high value, due to the various skills and materials, each with their own quality levels, which go into its construction. Thus, as the center piece for a meeting room, even if they have no water, wells can be very handy in making dwarves very happy.

3. As far as the well itself goes, they take up very little space in your actual fortress. With a water-filled channel, the reservoir is equivalent to the floor space occupied.

4. This is a glitch, but wells are the easiest method for making salt water drinkable. Wells will ignore salinity and allow dwarves to drink salt water directly from its source without a glitch. So long as it isn't murky.

== Choosing a Location ==

Once you've decided it's time to construct a well, you need to consider where the well needs to be. It helps if you've been planning for this while building the rest of your fortress, and have made room for it.

You want a well central to your dwarves, so they'll all get good thoughts from seeing it, and near any [[hospital]] beds you have, but you want it off the main traffic routes. You can have more than one well, which solves that problem, but raises the one of engineering water to feed them all. If it's indoors (or behind walls), then there's little threat from [[carp]], [[goblin]]s, or [[animal]]s, and it can provide a safe source of drinking water during a [[siege]].

Depending on your start location, you may already have a pre-existing water source, such as a flooded cavern, which you can just build a well over. Or, as is usually the case, you may need to transport water from some other location to where you want your well to be. This is where things get complicated.

== Water sources ==

A well needs a water source of at least 3/7 depth, at least 1 [[z-level]] somewhere directly below its opening, with no obstructions between itself and said water. Pre-existing water is safe because it's the most predictable - what you see is what you've got, no surprises. You can instead use dwarven engineering to bring water from a distant source to beneath your well, with a safety factor based on your experience and the complexity of the project. (See [[flood]].)

The important part about the well is to make sure that you don't create a situation where the water will [[flood]] your fortress, due to [[Water_pressure|pressure]] from a source at a higher level. If the water is stable before you build the well above it, it will be safe (unless your dwarves change things), but if you are introducing a flow, make sure you understand how ''dwarven'' pressure works and will not fall victim to its surprises. (See [[Water_pressure|pressure]].)

=== Pre-existing sources ===

A [[brook]], [[river]], [[murky pool]], or [[cavern]] lakes can provide water under a well. If the water source is only one z-level deep and contains a pile of mud, the water produced will be [[Water#Water_laced_with_mud|muddy]]. 'A dusting of mud', however, is not an issue - your well and its water are <s>fine</s> wonderful.

The surface of a brook tile will have to be channeled out, but it otherwise works just fine.

Murky pools are not optimal: they can dry up in warm seasons, and water directly from murky pools is [[Water#Stagnant_water|stagnant]], which is just as bad as being muddy. Murky pools can refill from [[rain]], but on hot maps, this may never happen.

=== [[Aquifer|Aquifers]] ===

If you have an aquifer, just channel a 1x1 square in any open stretch of floor above it and build the well. It will automatically fill and never flood. You'll have other construction projects to worry about.

Water coming into contact with a floor or slope may create "a dusting of mud". However, both 'A dusting of mud' and a 'Muddy Upward Slope' are not an issue - your well and its water are <s>fine</s> wonderful.

=== [[Ocean|Oceans]] ===

Oceans and aquifers near oceans carry [[Water#Salt_water|salty]] water. This is normally unusable for treating wounds or drinking. However, salty water obtained from a well is used just like normal. This is a bug{{bug|1260}}.

=== [[Reservoir|Reservoirs]] ===

If you need to move water to your well, you need to dig/build a reservoir. A reservoir is basically a big hole intended for the storage of large quantities of water.

When digging a reservoir, you need to consider your needs and the space you have available. Do you really need a 20x20x20 reservoir, holding 56,000 tiles of water, requiring 560,000 uses of the well to fully dry up? Frequently, in well-managed fortresses, wells are really only used for the care of sick or imprisoned dwarves and animals. As a result, it doesn't really need to be anything special, unless it's a meeting hall, in which case dwarves will drink from it at random.

Another consideration is safety. Specifically, dwarves fighting near wells can fall into them, whether as a result of sparring or due to overcrowding of animals. You may wish to place some sort of escape route from the well, should anyone do so. At the least, this just needs to be a staircase going up the side of the well to the surface. The shorter the distance they need to go, the better off they are. Keep in mind, of course, that if any wildlife is able to access your reservoir, and if any of them are able to leave the water, they may wander into your fortress through the escape route. If they're particularly malicious, they may even path their way in to attack your dwarves.

If you are filling the reservoir by aqueduct, consider the fill point. If you are using only gravity to fill the well, but the water needs to flow up to do so, you may experience problems when it comes time to refill your well. Specifically, water floods upwards into empty space very easily, but for some reason doesn't like to flood through still water. Thus, it may be more appropriate to have the reservoir fill from its top, though keep in mind that this is a very fast fill method and can flood a bit if you aren't watching and have a small reservoir. (As a side note on that, it is possible to fill a well by pouring water directly through the well opening itself)

Finally, you may find some circumstance where you'd wish to make changes to the well. For example, building a statue in its reservoir, or recovering a lost loved one who fell in and cracked his skull open. In these instances, you may wish to construct a manual drain. All it requires is a hatch or floodgate at the bottom of the well, connected to a lever, covering a tunnel leading to an appropriate dump site... Like your subterranean farming operation. Or your obsidian factory. Or a room full of captured <s>nobles</s> goblins. If you already have a drain for the aqueduct, you can easily connect the two.

== Filling the Well ==

If you've had to construct a well separate from a pre-existing water source, you need to move that water to the well itself. There's two main ways to go about this.

=== Bucket Filling a Well ===

If you designate your well as a pit/pond and have empty buckets, dwarves will fill the well manually. Keep in mind that this is slow, time-consuming and occupies dwarves who could be doing something else. Of course, for particularly small wells, it may be of no concern. If the walking distance is quite far, (Like STUPIDLY far- your fortress would need to be a truly tangled maze for this to happen) the water may evaporate faster than dwarves can fill the well.

=== Piping water to your reservoir ===

If the water is not where you want to build the well, you can dig a tunnel or channel and/or otherwise create an [[aqueduct]] to bring it to where you want it. You should consider adding a door or floodgate somewhere near the water source so that you can dry out your tunnels for future projects, repair, or recovery of lost items.

Channels are open to the sky, and if not done properly, (taking advantage of some weird quirks in game functionality) they are subject to evaporation and freezing. As a result, they aren't normally an optimal method of moving water. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from digging a moat, then filling your well from that. Keep in mind, however, that open water frequently becomes a random hazard, as dwarves can be quite careless at times. If you do have open water set up somewhere, make sure your dwarves have some way out of it. You never know when a random goblin will kick your elite stonecrafter into your moat.

Digging tunnels, then, is generally a better way of moving water from place to place. You need to be careful about how you dig such aqueducts. Water can move through diagonal openings, so be sure to avoid flooding nearby rooms from accidental corner intersections. Make sure that any unnecessary access points to your aqueduct are properly sealed before letting the water flow.

The generally accepted method for digging an aqueduct has five steps.

1. Dig out the reservoir where you want to store the water.

2. From the reservoir, dig a tunnel up to your water source, but leave one space of earth to prevent water from flooding in and killing your dwarf.

3. Build a door or floodgate in the aqueduct, either at the end of the tunnel or at the entrance to the reservoir. Or both if you're fancy. (Doors are better, because the dwarf can walk through it if he builds it from the wrong side)

4. Connect the door/floodgate to a lever, and make sure any dwarves stuck in the tunnel are safely evicted.

5. Channel out the final tile from above, pull the lever. Let the water fill the reservoir, then pull the lever again, sealing the water source.

Keep in mind, when you command the lever to be pulled to end filling, it may take some time for an available dwarf to actually do it. Even then, there is some lag time between the lever pull and the action it causes. Finally, if your plug is at some point in the aqueduct, but not at the entrance of the reservoir, any water in the aqueduct above the water level in the reservoir will continue to pour in.

If you want to empty the aqueduct, use a similar method to build a drain to some reasonable dumping location, like a cavern. Make sure you can control it with levers, however, or it will constantly drain instead of filling your well.

== Safety ==

A well is not an obstructing object. That is to say, it doesn't stop things from passing through its space. This is why wells can function through other wells, why water will flood out of them, and why a (very) few monsters may be able to climb out through them if you're tremendously unlucky.

=== Flooding ===

More fortresses have fallen at the hands of a flooding well than they have to megabeasts, sieges or demons. If you are going to be shifting water around in any form other than buckets, be prepared for the worst.

There are several solutions to the flooding problem.

1. Overflow Drainage. At the top of a reservoir, dig a tunnel to drain water out the side, and have it dump out into some appropriate sump, like a cavern full of armok-knows-what.

2. Emergency auto-plug. You can make pressure plates sense water. If you set up a pressure plate beside your well, and connect it to a hatch or door blocking your reservoir, it will automatically seal the reservoir off from its flow source, should the thing flood.

3. No Exits. The safest and easiest way to do it, is to dig out the reservoir, ''but not the opening for the well itself''. This way, you can fill the reservoir completely, and because there's nowhere for it to flood out to, it simply WON'T! Then you can seal off the reservoir at your leisure and dig the opening without concern! (Though not without caution. Make sure you turned the taps off first.)

=== Monsters ===

You don't need to worry too much about monsters crawling out of your well to gobble down your hairy friends these days, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. It all depends on what beasts may be lurking around- and how you build your well.

First off, if you're bucket-filling a well, you need to make sure that their initial water source is safe. Make sure it isn't full of crocodiles or carp. (Or other dangerous fishy things)

If you are draining water through an aqueduct, and you know there may be dangerous animals (Or even just unwanted regular animals) living in it, there is a way to stop them from wandering in. You can place [[Grate|wall grates]], [[Bars|upright bars]], or [[fortification]]s in the aqueduct to act as filters. These allow water to pass through, but animals cannot. It has been observed that in very rare occasions, animal may be pushed through. If you're that concerned about it (Or have HORDES of angry crocodiles in your river) putting two filters in a row pretty much eliminates any chance of this happening. If you plan to use filters in conjunction with [[floodgate]]s, remember to connect your floodgate to its trigger ''before'' placing the filters.

Even if monsters do get into your well, they're rarely a genuine threat, and at worst can give your dwarves an unhappy thought by scaring them. However, if your reservoir is filled right to the brim, carp and other fish CAN attack your dwarves, just as they would from a river. Also, any amphibious creatures may be able to use an escape passage to make their way into your fortress and make a mess. (Keep in mind, zombified fish are amphibious) And, of course, anyone who falls into a well full of predators is pretty much doomed.

To prevent amphibians from getting out of your well, should they somehow get there, simply put a lockable hatch over the escape route.

Finally, if you are drawing directly from a cavern lake, and have simply opened a hole in its ceiling for the well, any flying creatures in the cavern may be able to use the well as an access point to your fortress. You could potentially construct a wall surrounding the pathway of the bucket. This would prevent flying creatures from entering, unless they are also capable of swimming. Do not forget the perils of dwarves falling into a well, however, falling into a cavern lake full of cave crocodiles will cause lots of fun.

== Above Ground ==

The previous sections focused mostly on subterranean wells and gravity-filling reservoirs. Now we need to consider the special circumstances of wells built at ground level, above ground level, and simply outdoors.

The main problem is that anything above what was ground level at embark is considered "above ground" and has different behavior, even if enclosed to be indoors. In particular, it will freeze and evaporate according to the temperature. This includes everything on level 0 and -1, unless there is something about them preventing the temperature from removing them, like rivers flowing faster than the water can evaporate out of them.

Enclosing the water, so that it is "indoors" will decrease the rate of evaporation, but there isn't much you can do to prevent water from freezing above ground. (There is a way, but if you're new, you may not enjoy [[#Fighting the Ice|the prospects of actually constructing it]].)

=== Outdoor Wells ===

There are plenty of good reasons to build a well outdoors. First and foremost, to be decorative or thematic. The wells don't necessarily need to be functional if this is your intent. But another use would be as a functional source for an outdoor meeting hall... Or in other words, a vomitorium. Because dwarves will clean themselves in a well, having one in such a vomitorium would just make things more efficient!

Of course, as with any outdoor meeting place, you need to be certain that it is a safe place, where goblins and giant eagles are unlikely to descend upon your sickly party-goers.

=== On The Level ===

Now, about ground level, or specifically, the place where "above ground" and "below ground" meet. Z-levels 0 and -1 on flat maps. If you are on a very cold or very hot map, any water open to the sky on these levels will freeze or evaporate very quickly. As said before, you can minimize this by simply roofing in the water and making it "indoors".

Also keep in mind the floor type. Murky pools, even when roofed over, will behave as though they are open to the sky. This is because murky pools, rivers, oceans, etc. all have a special floor tile which modifies the behavior of any water above it. Simply putting floor tiles on the basin of a murky pool can minimize evaporation, but it will eliminate rain refill.

If you dig a channel down to z-2, the water in it will not evaporate very quickly at all, as it's "under ground".

=== In the Sky ===

And now for the final type of well, and this one is very uncommon, you may wish to build a well high above ground. A well tower may indeed be a cool, though completely non-functional idea. Be aware what the environmental conditions are before you do this, of course, as the only real way of dealing with ice involves pumping magma up the tower as well.

In all honesty, a sky well would be built and function pretty much the same as a subterranean well. The only difference is that it is very difficult to get the water up there. You need to build a pumpstack, lifting the water, level by level, pump by pump, up to your reservoir. And you need to lift the water to the top of your reservoir, as pumps will not pump upward naturally.

== Style and Design ==

This section discusses purely aesthetic and functional decisions people have made in the past with their wells, as well as advanced designs.

=== Fighting the Ice ===

So you have a frozen well, and you want to know how to keep it liquid do ya? You're going to need to build a heated reservoir.

First, have magma on your map. If you don't, dig deeper and be prepared for [[Fun]].

Next, you need some [[magma-safe]] materials. You'll need this to build floodgates and pumps.

Now, you need to pipe and pump the magma with the magma-safe pumping equipment. Be sure to use mechanical power for these, as dwarves are too likely to kill themselves.

The magma needs to be piped under your reservoir. That is to say, there needs to be just one floor tile between the two, just enough to keep them from touching and turning into an accidental obsidian factory.

The magma needs to be piped around under your water, it needs to keep on moving or the water will freeze again. That means it needs an infinite, cyclical flow.

And even if you get all of this built and working, it will only melt one level. Which means the reservoir can only be 1 level deep.

That's a lot of work to have an above-ground well in a frozen environment. Probably easier to melt a pool and drain it.

=== Ultimate Party Machine ===

It is possible to pour water through the mouth of a well from above. This frequently causes water to spray out in a mist, which pleases dwarves. If you power it, you could have a pump stack draw water from beneath the well and pour it back in from above, turning your fancy meeting hall into a FANCIER meeting hall! Throw in some platinum statues while you're at it.

=== Well Stacking ===

Have you ever needed to have more than one well on multiple z-levels and disliked the work of setting up multiple reservoirs? Well fret no more!

Because a well can function through the opening of another well, it's possible to stack well openings through z-levels! So long as they're all in a perfectly straight line above each other, and there's at least 3/7 tiles of water somewhere directly below them, they will all be perfectly functional!

Of course, if you go too far, this may become something of a safety concern, as dwarves would plummet mile after mile, through dozens of well openings before finally hitting the bottom.

=== Multitasking Wells ===

Because wells aren't actually USED all that often, and are usually more valuable as decorations, there isn't really any reason to keep its reservoir completely full all the time. So, what can you do with a giant bucket of water in the middle of your fortress? Well, luckily, there are a few other reasons you could have for piping water around.

First, you need to "irrigate" stone floors before you can actually farm on them. Instead of making a separate, elaborate irrigation system for just one use, (mud doesn't dry naturally, though it could be smoothed/floored over and disappears when reclaiming a fortress) why not just drain it out of your well?

You could also use your well as a water reservoir for an obsidian factory. Fill a chamber with a single layer of magma, then pour your well's contents over it!

You could use your well to dispose of unwanted life forms, such as siegers, elves, goblins, nobles and other miscellaneous things that wandered into your cage traps. (This only works on non-amphibious creatures)

=== The Dwarven Toilet ===

I built this in an experiment. At the top of the reservoir is a platform with a pressure plate on it. When the pressure plate senses 5/7 water, it triggers, closing the fill pipe, and opening the drain. So, when you pull the lever to fill the thing, it fills up to the top, then drains. Just like a giant toilet. I have not found any functional use for this. In all honesty, it was a simple accident I made, connecting the pressure plate to the drain as well as the plug. But, hey, what the heck, I made a giant toilet. There ya' go. Perhaps you could use this to get rid of the crud that accumulates in a well as dwarves clean themselves in it?

This can be VERY useful when you have a larger reservoir that fills your well. This way every pull of the lever delivers a set amount of water into your well. Thus eliminating1 the risk of flooding due to the well becoming pressurized. 
1Beware dwarves that throw tantrums, they randomly pull levers.

{{Category|Guides}}
{{Category|Design}}

v0.34:Pressure

2013-05-07T11:14:02Z

Jez9999: /* Water in a U-Bend */

{{quality|Exceptional|16:12, 26 December 2011 (UTC)}}{{av}}

Dwarf Fortress features some pretty complex behavior in an attempt to simulate '''fluid mechanics'''. One aspect of this behavior is seen in the form of '''pressure'''. The basic idea here is quite simple - certain forms of '''fluids''' movement exert '''pressure''', causing them to potentially move ''upwards'' into other areas.

==Summary==
Contrary to what many people may believe, pressure is '''not''' a property of a body of liquid. Pressure is simply one of 3 rules by which liquids can be moved - the others are simple ''gravity'' (when the tile beneath contains less than 7/7 of liquid and it simply falls downward) and ''diffusion'' (when the liquid levels of two adjacent tiles are averaged, possibly pushing items around).

The following types of liquid movement follow the rules of pressure:
* Water falling downward into ''more'' water
* [[River]]/brook source tiles (whether the map edge or the "delta" where the river itself begins) generating water
** [[Lake]]s (surface or subterranean), [[ocean]]s, and the [[magma sea]] refilling from the map edge do '''not''' exhibit pressure
* [[Screw pump]]s moving water '''or''' magma

When a liquid is moved (or created) with pressure, it attempts to locate the nearest tile on the same Z-level as its destination tile (for falling water, this is 1 Z-level ''beneath'' its original location) by moving north, south, east, west, down, or up. As it tries to locate an appropriate destination, the liquid will first only try to move sideways and downward - only when this fails will it attempt to move upward. Pressure will not propagate through diagonal gaps.

==A demonstration of pressure using U-Bends==
A U-Bend is a channel that digs down, and curves back up. With '''pressure''' a fluid will be pushed up the other side of the u-bend. By understanding how pressure works in a u-bend you should be able to adapt this knowledge to use fluids in any configuration you desire without any unexpected surprises that could make life in your fortress more '''[[fun]]''' than anticipated. '''[[Water]]''' and '''[[magma]]''' both behave very differently with regards to pressure, so read carefully.

===Water in a U-Bend===
The key to understanding how high a z-level water will reach is to understand which tile(s) pressure is being ''exerted on''. Pressure will cause the water level to go ''as high as'' the tile upon which pressure is being exerted, but ''no higher''.

The following three diagrams demonstrate different ways water might behave in a u-bend. In all three cases, the water source is on the left side of the diagram and water is filling the area to the right. In the first example (Diagram A), we have water taken directly from a (flat) river used to fill a u-bend. In this case, the river is free to flow off the edge of the map, so the only pressure comes from the water tile on the top of the u-bend's left side (highlighted in green) falling downward (into the tile highlighted in red), so the water on the right side stops one level below the river itself, because even though the ''source'' tile is at river level, the ''destination'' tile (in red), whose height the water will reach because of pressure, is one z-level ''below'' the source tile.

In the next example (Diagram B), a '''dam''' has been placed, preventing the river from flowing off the edge of the map. In this case, the pressure exerted by the river source (highlighted in red) allows the water to fill up the remaining level of the u-bend. Use caution when placing a dam on your river. Note that this situation '''also applies on a map where the river is running into the sea'''. Rivers running into the sea are obviously not free to flow off the edge of the map, so the sea itself actually "dams" them.

The final example (Diagram C), demonstrates how a '''[[pump|screw pump]]''' exerts pressure - in this case, the water fills up to the same level as the pump's output tile (highlighted in red).

With these three simple examples, you should be ready to go build your enormous plumbing masterpiece, and be relatively safe from any unanticipated flooding. If you plan to work with [[magma]] as well however, you should read further.

{|
! Diagram A !! Diagram B !! Diagram C
|- align="center"
| Undammed River || Dammed River || Screw Pump
|-
| {{diagram|spaces=yes|\
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| {{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓[#00F][#800]≈[#00F][#800]≈[#00F][#800]≈[#00F][#800]≈[#00F][#800]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
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| {{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓ ÷÷[#00F][#800]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
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▓▓▓▓▓▓▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
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▓▓▓▓▓▓▓}}
|}

===Magma in a U-bend===
'''[[Magma]]''' does not exert pressure when it falls downward. In our first magma example (Diagram A) we show how this works by creating a short u-bend and connecting it up to a magma pipe - it simply fills the lowest point and makes no further attempt to go back up.

In the second diagram (Diagram B) we see how with the addition of a single [[screw pump]], the entire situation changes dramatically - when the screw pump moves magma to the right side, it does so using the rules of pressure and allows the area to fill up to the level of the pump. Accidentally flooding your fortress with [[magma]] is considerably more [[fun]] than a flood of [[water]].

'''Diagram A''' '''Diagram B'''
Magma Pipe Screw Pump
Side View Side View 
▒≈≈≈▒ %%≈▒≈≈≈▒ %% = [[Pump]]
▒≈≈≈▒ ▒ ▒≈≈≈▒▒≈▒≈≈≈▒ ≈ = Magma
▒≈≈≈▒ ▒ ▒≈≈≈▒▒≈▒≈≈≈▒ ▒ = Solid Ground
▒≈≈≈≈≈≈≈▒ ▒≈≈≈▒▒≈≈≈≈≈▒
▒≈≈≈▒▒▒▒▒ ▒≈≈≈▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

==Advanced Pressure==
=== Lazy model ===
Pressure is a lazy model, but will ''always'' behave like above. For example, a system on z0 receives water from a cistern z3 in amounts of ~3/tick. This system consists of a tree of passages, one tile wide, and contains 'underpasses' on z-1. Water will flow into the system to a depth of 7 before coming up on the other side of a the first underpass, as is expected. However, if faced with ''two'' underpasses, it will choose the nearest one and fill all the system on the other side of that underpass to a depth of 7 before filling the system on the other side of the far underpass. Similarly, if faced with multiple exits from the system, the whole flow will flow out of ''one'' exit, the nearest lowest one.{{verify}}

===Waterfalls===
Waterfalls are of special concern. When drawing water from a waterfall it is important to understand that, since the water is falling '''on top of''' the river's surface, the pressure exerted when it falls down into the river will permit it to pass through U-bends that would normally not be filled when using a flat undammed river - if you tap into a river below a waterfall just as you would above it, you could very easily flood your fortress.

==Neutralizing Pressure==
There are two methods for neutralizing fluid pressure: diagonal connections and screw pumps. Knowing how to manipulate pressure as needed allows you to quickly move fluids wherever you wish in your fortress allowing you to build things a dwarf can be proud of.

===Diagonal Flow===
Liquids moving via pressure can only move to [[orthogonal]]ly adjacent tiles. When faced with a diagonal gap, pressure will fail to move the liquid, forcing the liquid to instead spread out. By forcing fluids through a diagonal connection you can prevent pressure from propagating past a certain point.

This does not work on a vertical basis - water only travels straight up and down to different Z-levels, never diagonally.

If you wish to maintain the rate of '''[[flow]]''' after de-pressurizing, it's recommended that you have more diagonals than water tiles - that is, if the source is 3-tiles wide, you may wish 4 or more diagonal passages.

'''Top View'''
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
> > > ▒ > > >
4Z Deep ▒ 1Z Deep
> > > ▒ > > >
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

'''Side View''' 
▒≈≈≈▒
▒≈≈≈▒
▒≈≈≈▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒
▒≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈RRR≈≈≈≈≈≈≈▒ RRR = Regulator design as seen in top view
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

===Pumps===
Since water pressure does not propagate through pumps, it is possible to fill a pool from a "pressurized" source using a screw pump without it overflowing. Of course, there is a downside - you still have to run the pumps and due to the source water's pressure, the pump must be [[power]]ed instead of [[pump operator|run by a dwarf]], as the tile the dwarf needs to stand on is filled by water. Furthermore, the pump will likely need to be powered from above or below (as water would simply flow around a gear or axle placed next to the pump), though creative setups are still possible by using additional screw pumps to transmit power.

Your vertical axles or gear assemblies need to be placed above the solid tile of the pump, and there must not be a channel over the walkable pump tile. (Water can only flow straight upward, not up and to the side at the same time.) Multiple adjacent pumps will also transfer '''power''' between themselves automatically.

Side view

Power Water Key
↓ ↓↓↓↓↓ ▒ = Normal wall
▒▒▒▒▒▒║▒▒▒▒'''≈≈≈≈≈''' ▒ = Wall that pressurised water would flow into if it were to be dug out
▒▒▒▒▒▒║▒▒▒▒▒'''≈≈≈≈''' ≈ = Regular water
_ ___▒║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒'''≈≈''' '''≈''' = Pressurised water
▒≈≈≈≈≈%%'''≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈''' %% = Pump
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒'''≈'''▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ║ = Axle
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ _ = Floor

Do note that the screw pump '''will''' still exert pressure when filling the pool, but said pressure will be independent of the source and can be subsequently blocked by diagonal gaps.

==Hatches==
[[Hatch cover|Hatches]] can be placed over [[channel]]s, [[stair]]s, [[ramp]]s, etc. to prevent [[water]] from moving vertically but will still allow the tile to be used, even as a water source (and possibly still for fishing too).

== See Also==
* [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=32453.0 Hydrodynamics Education] forum thread
* [[flow]]
* [[river]]

{{Category|Physics}}

v0.34:Pressure

2013-05-07T09:56:01Z

Jez9999: /* Water in a U-Bend */ - Indicate that pressure is being applied across the top level of water

{{quality|Exceptional|16:12, 26 December 2011 (UTC)}}{{av}}

Dwarf Fortress features some pretty complex behavior in an attempt to simulate '''fluid mechanics'''. One aspect of this behavior is seen in the form of '''pressure'''. The basic idea here is quite simple - certain forms of '''fluids''' movement exert '''pressure''', causing them to potentially move ''upwards'' into other areas.

==Summary==
Contrary to what many people may believe, pressure is '''not''' a property of a body of liquid. Pressure is simply one of 3 rules by which liquids can be moved - the others are simple ''gravity'' (when the tile beneath contains less than 7/7 of liquid and it simply falls downward) and ''diffusion'' (when the liquid levels of two adjacent tiles are averaged, possibly pushing items around).

The following types of liquid movement follow the rules of pressure:
* Water falling downward into ''more'' water
* [[River]]/brook source tiles (whether the map edge or the "delta" where the river itself begins) generating water
** [[Lake]]s (surface or subterranean), [[ocean]]s, and the [[magma sea]] refilling from the map edge do '''not''' exhibit pressure
* [[Screw pump]]s moving water '''or''' magma

When a liquid is moved (or created) with pressure, it attempts to locate the nearest tile on the same Z-level as its destination tile (for falling water, this is 1 Z-level ''beneath'' its original location) by moving north, south, east, west, down, or up. As it tries to locate an appropriate destination, the liquid will first only try to move sideways and downward - only when this fails will it attempt to move upward. Pressure will not propagate through diagonal gaps.

==A demonstration of pressure using U-Bends==
A U-Bend is a channel that digs down, and curves back up. With '''pressure''' a fluid will be pushed up the other side of the u-bend. By understanding how pressure works in a u-bend you should be able to adapt this knowledge to use fluids in any configuration you desire without any unexpected surprises that could make life in your fortress more '''[[fun]]''' than anticipated. '''[[Water]]''' and '''[[magma]]''' both behave very differently with regards to pressure, so read carefully.

===Water in a U-Bend===
The following three diagrams demonstrate different ways water might behave in a u-bend. In all three cases, the water source is on the left side of the diagram and water is filling the area to the right. In the first example (Diagram A), we have water taken directly from a (flat) river used to fill a u-bend. In this case, the river is free to flow off the edge of the map, so the only pressure comes from the water tile on the top of the u-bend's left side (highlighted in green) falling downward (into the tile highlighted in red), so the water on the right side stops one level below the river itself, because even though the ''source'' tile is at river level, the ''destination'' tile (in red), whose height the water will reach because of pressure, is one z-level ''below'' the source tile.

In the next example (Diagram B), a '''dam''' has been placed, preventing the river from flowing off the edge of the map. In this case, the pressure exerted by the river source (highlighted in red) allows the water to fill up the remaining level of the u-bend. Use caution when placing a dam on your river. Note that this situation '''also applies on a map where the river is running into the sea'''. Rivers running into the sea are obviously not free to flow off the edge of the map, so the sea itself actually "dams" them.

The final example (Diagram C), demonstrates how a '''[[pump|screw pump]]''' exerts pressure - in this case, the water fills up to the same level as the pump's output tile (highlighted in red).

With these three simple examples, you should be ready to go build your enormous plumbing masterpiece, and be relatively safe from any unanticipated flooding. If you plan to work with [[magma]] as well however, you should read further.

{|
! Diagram A !! Diagram B !! Diagram C
|- align="center"
| Undammed River || Dammed River || Screw Pump
|-
| {{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F][#080]≈▓ ▓
▓▓▓▓▓[#00F][#800]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓}}
| {{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓[#00F][#800]≈[#00F][#800]≈[#00F][#800]≈[#00F][#800]≈[#00F][#800]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓}}
| {{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓ ÷÷[#00F][#800]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F][#080]≈▓▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓}}
|}

===Magma in a U-bend===
'''[[Magma]]''' does not exert pressure when it falls downward. In our first magma example (Diagram A) we show how this works by creating a short u-bend and connecting it up to a magma pipe - it simply fills the lowest point and makes no further attempt to go back up.

In the second diagram (Diagram B) we see how with the addition of a single [[screw pump]], the entire situation changes dramatically - when the screw pump moves magma to the right side, it does so using the rules of pressure and allows the area to fill up to the level of the pump. Accidentally flooding your fortress with [[magma]] is considerably more [[fun]] than a flood of [[water]].

'''Diagram A''' '''Diagram B'''
Magma Pipe Screw Pump
Side View Side View 
▒≈≈≈▒ %%≈▒≈≈≈▒ %% = [[Pump]]
▒≈≈≈▒ ▒ ▒≈≈≈▒▒≈▒≈≈≈▒ ≈ = Magma
▒≈≈≈▒ ▒ ▒≈≈≈▒▒≈▒≈≈≈▒ ▒ = Solid Ground
▒≈≈≈≈≈≈≈▒ ▒≈≈≈▒▒≈≈≈≈≈▒
▒≈≈≈▒▒▒▒▒ ▒≈≈≈▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

==Advanced Pressure==
=== Lazy model ===
Pressure is a lazy model, but will ''always'' behave like above. For example, a system on z0 receives water from a cistern z3 in amounts of ~3/tick. This system consists of a tree of passages, one tile wide, and contains 'underpasses' on z-1. Water will flow into the system to a depth of 7 before coming up on the other side of a the first underpass, as is expected. However, if faced with ''two'' underpasses, it will choose the nearest one and fill all the system on the other side of that underpass to a depth of 7 before filling the system on the other side of the far underpass. Similarly, if faced with multiple exits from the system, the whole flow will flow out of ''one'' exit, the nearest lowest one.{{verify}}

===Waterfalls===
Waterfalls are of special concern. When drawing water from a waterfall it is important to understand that, since the water is falling '''on top of''' the river's surface, the pressure exerted when it falls down into the river will permit it to pass through U-bends that would normally not be filled when using a flat undammed river - if you tap into a river below a waterfall just as you would above it, you could very easily flood your fortress.

==Neutralizing Pressure==
There are two methods for neutralizing fluid pressure: diagonal connections and screw pumps. Knowing how to manipulate pressure as needed allows you to quickly move fluids wherever you wish in your fortress allowing you to build things a dwarf can be proud of.

===Diagonal Flow===
Liquids moving via pressure can only move to [[orthogonal]]ly adjacent tiles. When faced with a diagonal gap, pressure will fail to move the liquid, forcing the liquid to instead spread out. By forcing fluids through a diagonal connection you can prevent pressure from propagating past a certain point.

This does not work on a vertical basis - water only travels straight up and down to different Z-levels, never diagonally.

If you wish to maintain the rate of '''[[flow]]''' after de-pressurizing, it's recommended that you have more diagonals than water tiles - that is, if the source is 3-tiles wide, you may wish 4 or more diagonal passages.

'''Top View'''
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
> > > ▒ > > >
4Z Deep ▒ 1Z Deep
> > > ▒ > > >
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

'''Side View''' 
▒≈≈≈▒
▒≈≈≈▒
▒≈≈≈▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒
▒≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈RRR≈≈≈≈≈≈≈▒ RRR = Regulator design as seen in top view
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

===Pumps===
Since water pressure does not propagate through pumps, it is possible to fill a pool from a "pressurized" source using a screw pump without it overflowing. Of course, there is a downside - you still have to run the pumps and due to the source water's pressure, the pump must be [[power]]ed instead of [[pump operator|run by a dwarf]], as the tile the dwarf needs to stand on is filled by water. Furthermore, the pump will likely need to be powered from above or below (as water would simply flow around a gear or axle placed next to the pump), though creative setups are still possible by using additional screw pumps to transmit power.

Your vertical axles or gear assemblies need to be placed above the solid tile of the pump, and there must not be a channel over the walkable pump tile. (Water can only flow straight upward, not up and to the side at the same time.) Multiple adjacent pumps will also transfer '''power''' between themselves automatically.

Side view

Power Water Key
↓ ↓↓↓↓↓ ▒ = Normal wall
▒▒▒▒▒▒║▒▒▒▒'''≈≈≈≈≈''' ▒ = Wall that pressurised water would flow into if it were to be dug out
▒▒▒▒▒▒║▒▒▒▒▒'''≈≈≈≈''' ≈ = Regular water
_ ___▒║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒'''≈≈''' '''≈''' = Pressurised water
▒≈≈≈≈≈%%'''≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈''' %% = Pump
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒'''≈'''▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ║ = Axle
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ _ = Floor

Do note that the screw pump '''will''' still exert pressure when filling the pool, but said pressure will be independent of the source and can be subsequently blocked by diagonal gaps.

==Hatches==
[[Hatch cover|Hatches]] can be placed over [[channel]]s, [[stair]]s, [[ramp]]s, etc. to prevent [[water]] from moving vertically but will still allow the tile to be used, even as a water source (and possibly still for fishing too).

== See Also==
* [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=32453.0 Hydrodynamics Education] forum thread
* [[flow]]
* [[river]]

{{Category|Physics}}

v0.34:Pressure

2013-05-07T09:51:52Z

Jez9999: /* Water in a U-Bend */

{{quality|Exceptional|16:12, 26 December 2011 (UTC)}}{{av}}

Dwarf Fortress features some pretty complex behavior in an attempt to simulate '''fluid mechanics'''. One aspect of this behavior is seen in the form of '''pressure'''. The basic idea here is quite simple - certain forms of '''fluids''' movement exert '''pressure''', causing them to potentially move ''upwards'' into other areas.

==Summary==
Contrary to what many people may believe, pressure is '''not''' a property of a body of liquid. Pressure is simply one of 3 rules by which liquids can be moved - the others are simple ''gravity'' (when the tile beneath contains less than 7/7 of liquid and it simply falls downward) and ''diffusion'' (when the liquid levels of two adjacent tiles are averaged, possibly pushing items around).

The following types of liquid movement follow the rules of pressure:
* Water falling downward into ''more'' water
* [[River]]/brook source tiles (whether the map edge or the "delta" where the river itself begins) generating water
** [[Lake]]s (surface or subterranean), [[ocean]]s, and the [[magma sea]] refilling from the map edge do '''not''' exhibit pressure
* [[Screw pump]]s moving water '''or''' magma

When a liquid is moved (or created) with pressure, it attempts to locate the nearest tile on the same Z-level as its destination tile (for falling water, this is 1 Z-level ''beneath'' its original location) by moving north, south, east, west, down, or up. As it tries to locate an appropriate destination, the liquid will first only try to move sideways and downward - only when this fails will it attempt to move upward. Pressure will not propagate through diagonal gaps.

==A demonstration of pressure using U-Bends==
A U-Bend is a channel that digs down, and curves back up. With '''pressure''' a fluid will be pushed up the other side of the u-bend. By understanding how pressure works in a u-bend you should be able to adapt this knowledge to use fluids in any configuration you desire without any unexpected surprises that could make life in your fortress more '''[[fun]]''' than anticipated. '''[[Water]]''' and '''[[magma]]''' both behave very differently with regards to pressure, so read carefully.

===Water in a U-Bend===
The following three diagrams demonstrate different ways water might behave in a u-bend. In all three cases, the water source is on the left side of the diagram and water is filling the area to the right. In the first example (Diagram A), we have water taken directly from a (flat) river used to fill a u-bend. In this case, the river is free to flow off the edge of the map, so the only pressure comes from the water tile on the top of the u-bend's left side (highlighted in green) falling downward (into the tile highlighted in red), so the water on the right side stops one level below the river itself, because even though the ''source'' tile is at river level, the ''destination'' tile (in red), whose height the water will reach because of pressure, is one z-level ''below'' the source tile.

In the next example (Diagram B), a '''dam''' has been placed, preventing the river from flowing off the edge of the map. In this case, the pressure exerted by the river source (highlighted in red) allows the water to fill up the remaining level of the u-bend. Use caution when placing a dam on your river. Note that this situation '''also applies on a map where the river is running into the sea'''. Rivers running into the sea are obviously not free to flow off the edge of the map, so the sea itself actually "dams" them.

The final example (Diagram C), demonstrates how a '''[[pump|screw pump]]''' exerts pressure - in this case, the water fills up to the same level as the pump's output tile (highlighted in red).

With these three simple examples, you should be ready to go build your enormous plumbing masterpiece, and be relatively safe from any unanticipated flooding. If you plan to work with [[magma]] as well however, you should read further.

{|
! Diagram A !! Diagram B !! Diagram C
|- align="center"
| Undammed River || Dammed River || Screw Pump
|-
| {{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F][#080]≈▓ ▓
▓▓▓▓▓[#00F][#800]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓}}
| {{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓[#00F][#800]≈[#00F][#800]≈[#00F][#800]≈[#00F][#800]≈[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓}}
| {{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓ ÷÷[#00F][#800]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F][#080]≈▓▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓}}
|}

===Magma in a U-bend===
'''[[Magma]]''' does not exert pressure when it falls downward. In our first magma example (Diagram A) we show how this works by creating a short u-bend and connecting it up to a magma pipe - it simply fills the lowest point and makes no further attempt to go back up.

In the second diagram (Diagram B) we see how with the addition of a single [[screw pump]], the entire situation changes dramatically - when the screw pump moves magma to the right side, it does so using the rules of pressure and allows the area to fill up to the level of the pump. Accidentally flooding your fortress with [[magma]] is considerably more [[fun]] than a flood of [[water]].

'''Diagram A''' '''Diagram B'''
Magma Pipe Screw Pump
Side View Side View 
▒≈≈≈▒ %%≈▒≈≈≈▒ %% = [[Pump]]
▒≈≈≈▒ ▒ ▒≈≈≈▒▒≈▒≈≈≈▒ ≈ = Magma
▒≈≈≈▒ ▒ ▒≈≈≈▒▒≈▒≈≈≈▒ ▒ = Solid Ground
▒≈≈≈≈≈≈≈▒ ▒≈≈≈▒▒≈≈≈≈≈▒
▒≈≈≈▒▒▒▒▒ ▒≈≈≈▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

==Advanced Pressure==
=== Lazy model ===
Pressure is a lazy model, but will ''always'' behave like above. For example, a system on z0 receives water from a cistern z3 in amounts of ~3/tick. This system consists of a tree of passages, one tile wide, and contains 'underpasses' on z-1. Water will flow into the system to a depth of 7 before coming up on the other side of a the first underpass, as is expected. However, if faced with ''two'' underpasses, it will choose the nearest one and fill all the system on the other side of that underpass to a depth of 7 before filling the system on the other side of the far underpass. Similarly, if faced with multiple exits from the system, the whole flow will flow out of ''one'' exit, the nearest lowest one.{{verify}}

===Waterfalls===
Waterfalls are of special concern. When drawing water from a waterfall it is important to understand that, since the water is falling '''on top of''' the river's surface, the pressure exerted when it falls down into the river will permit it to pass through U-bends that would normally not be filled when using a flat undammed river - if you tap into a river below a waterfall just as you would above it, you could very easily flood your fortress.

==Neutralizing Pressure==
There are two methods for neutralizing fluid pressure: diagonal connections and screw pumps. Knowing how to manipulate pressure as needed allows you to quickly move fluids wherever you wish in your fortress allowing you to build things a dwarf can be proud of.

===Diagonal Flow===
Liquids moving via pressure can only move to [[orthogonal]]ly adjacent tiles. When faced with a diagonal gap, pressure will fail to move the liquid, forcing the liquid to instead spread out. By forcing fluids through a diagonal connection you can prevent pressure from propagating past a certain point.

This does not work on a vertical basis - water only travels straight up and down to different Z-levels, never diagonally.

If you wish to maintain the rate of '''[[flow]]''' after de-pressurizing, it's recommended that you have more diagonals than water tiles - that is, if the source is 3-tiles wide, you may wish 4 or more diagonal passages.

'''Top View'''
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
> > > ▒ > > >
4Z Deep ▒ 1Z Deep
> > > ▒ > > >
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

'''Side View''' 
▒≈≈≈▒
▒≈≈≈▒
▒≈≈≈▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒
▒≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈RRR≈≈≈≈≈≈≈▒ RRR = Regulator design as seen in top view
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

===Pumps===
Since water pressure does not propagate through pumps, it is possible to fill a pool from a "pressurized" source using a screw pump without it overflowing. Of course, there is a downside - you still have to run the pumps and due to the source water's pressure, the pump must be [[power]]ed instead of [[pump operator|run by a dwarf]], as the tile the dwarf needs to stand on is filled by water. Furthermore, the pump will likely need to be powered from above or below (as water would simply flow around a gear or axle placed next to the pump), though creative setups are still possible by using additional screw pumps to transmit power.

Your vertical axles or gear assemblies need to be placed above the solid tile of the pump, and there must not be a channel over the walkable pump tile. (Water can only flow straight upward, not up and to the side at the same time.) Multiple adjacent pumps will also transfer '''power''' between themselves automatically.

Side view

Power Water Key
↓ ↓↓↓↓↓ ▒ = Normal wall
▒▒▒▒▒▒║▒▒▒▒'''≈≈≈≈≈''' ▒ = Wall that pressurised water would flow into if it were to be dug out
▒▒▒▒▒▒║▒▒▒▒▒'''≈≈≈≈''' ≈ = Regular water
_ ___▒║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒'''≈≈''' '''≈''' = Pressurised water
▒≈≈≈≈≈%%'''≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈''' %% = Pump
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒'''≈'''▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ║ = Axle
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ _ = Floor

Do note that the screw pump '''will''' still exert pressure when filling the pool, but said pressure will be independent of the source and can be subsequently blocked by diagonal gaps.

==Hatches==
[[Hatch cover|Hatches]] can be placed over [[channel]]s, [[stair]]s, [[ramp]]s, etc. to prevent [[water]] from moving vertically but will still allow the tile to be used, even as a water source (and possibly still for fishing too).

== See Also==
* [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=32453.0 Hydrodynamics Education] forum thread
* [[flow]]
* [[river]]

{{Category|Physics}}

v0.34:Pressure

2013-05-05T15:12:10Z

Jez9999: /* Water in a U-Bend */

{{quality|Exceptional|16:12, 26 December 2011 (UTC)}}{{av}}

Dwarf Fortress features some pretty complex behavior in an attempt to simulate '''fluid mechanics'''. One aspect of this behavior is seen in the form of '''pressure'''. The basic idea here is quite simple - certain forms of '''fluids''' movement exert '''pressure''', causing them to potentially move ''upwards'' into other areas.

==Summary==
Contrary to what many people may believe, pressure is '''not''' a property of a body of liquid. Pressure is simply one of 3 rules by which liquids can be moved - the others are simple ''gravity'' (when the tile beneath contains less than 7/7 of liquid and it simply falls downward) and ''diffusion'' (when the liquid levels of two adjacent tiles are averaged, possibly pushing items around).

The following types of liquid movement follow the rules of pressure:
* Water falling downward into ''more'' water
* [[River]]/brook source tiles (whether the map edge or the "delta" where the river itself begins) generating water
** [[Lake]]s (surface or subterranean), [[ocean]]s, and the [[magma sea]] refilling from the map edge do '''not''' exhibit pressure
* [[Screw pump]]s moving water '''or''' magma

When a liquid is moved (or created) with pressure, it attempts to locate the nearest tile on the same Z-level as its destination tile (for falling water, this is 1 Z-level ''beneath'' its original location) by moving north, south, east, west, down, or up. As it tries to locate an appropriate destination, the liquid will first only try to move sideways and downward - only when this fails will it attempt to move upward. Pressure will not propagate through diagonal gaps.

==A demonstration of pressure using U-Bends==
A U-Bend is a channel that digs down, and curves back up. With '''pressure''' a fluid will be pushed up the other side of the u-bend. By understanding how pressure works in a u-bend you should be able to adapt this knowledge to use fluids in any configuration you desire without any unexpected surprises that could make life in your fortress more '''[[fun]]''' than anticipated. '''[[Water]]''' and '''[[magma]]''' both behave very differently with regards to pressure, so read carefully.

===Water in a U-Bend===
The following three diagrams demonstrate different ways water might behave in a u-bend. In all three cases, the water source is on the left side of the diagram and water is filling the area to the right. In the first example (Diagram A), we have water taken directly from a (flat) river used to fill a u-bend. In this case, the river is free to flow off the edge of the map, so the only pressure comes from the water tile on the top of the u-bend's left side (highlighted in green) falling downward (into the tile highlighted in red), so the water on the right side stops one level below the river itself, because even though the ''source'' tile is at river level, the ''destination'' tile (in red), whose height the water will reach because of pressure, is one z-level ''below'' the source tile.

In the next example (Diagram B), a '''dam''' has been placed, preventing the river from flowing off the edge of the map. In this case, the pressure exerted by the river source (highlighted in red) allows the water to fill up the remaining level of the u-bend. Use caution when placing a dam on your river.

The final example (Diagram C), demonstrates how a '''[[pump|screw pump]]''' exerts pressure - in this case, the water fills up to the same level as the pump's output tile (highlighted in red).

With these three simple examples, you should be ready to go build your enormous plumbing masterpiece, and be relatively safe from any unanticipated flooding. If you plan to work with [[magma]] as well however, you should read further.

{|
! Diagram A !! Diagram B !! Diagram C
|- align="center"
| Undammed River || Dammed River || Screw Pump
|-
| {{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F][#080]≈▓ ▓
▓▓▓▓▓[#00F][#800]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓}}
| {{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓[#00F][#800]≈[#00F][#800]≈[#00F][#800]≈[#00F][#800]≈[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓}}
| {{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓ ÷÷[#00F][#800]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F][#080]≈▓▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓[#00F]≈▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓}}
|}

===Magma in a U-bend===
'''[[Magma]]''' does not exert pressure when it falls downward. In our first magma example (Diagram A) we show how this works by creating a short u-bend and connecting it up to a magma pipe - it simply fills the lowest point and makes no further attempt to go back up.

In the second diagram (Diagram B) we see how with the addition of a single [[screw pump]], the entire situation changes dramatically - when the screw pump moves magma to the right side, it does so using the rules of pressure and allows the area to fill up to the level of the pump. Accidentally flooding your fortress with [[magma]] is considerably more [[fun]] than a flood of [[water]].

'''Diagram A''' '''Diagram B'''
Magma Pipe Screw Pump
Side View Side View 
▒≈≈≈▒ %%≈▒≈≈≈▒ %% = [[Pump]]
▒≈≈≈▒ ▒ ▒≈≈≈▒▒≈▒≈≈≈▒ ≈ = Magma
▒≈≈≈▒ ▒ ▒≈≈≈▒▒≈▒≈≈≈▒ ▒ = Solid Ground
▒≈≈≈≈≈≈≈▒ ▒≈≈≈▒▒≈≈≈≈≈▒
▒≈≈≈▒▒▒▒▒ ▒≈≈≈▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

==Advanced Pressure==
=== Lazy model ===
Pressure is a lazy model, but will ''always'' behave like above. For example, a system on z0 receives water from a cistern z3 in amounts of ~3/tick. This system consists of a tree of passages, one tile wide, and contains 'underpasses' on z-1. Water will flow into the system to a depth of 7 before coming up on the other side of a the first underpass, as is expected. However, if faced with ''two'' underpasses, it will choose the nearest one and fill all the system on the other side of that underpass to a depth of 7 before filling the system on the other side of the far underpass. Similarly, if faced with multiple exits from the system, the whole flow will flow out of ''one'' exit, the nearest lowest one.{{verify}}

===Waterfalls===
Waterfalls are of special concern. When drawing water from a waterfall it is important to understand that, since the water is falling '''on top of''' the river's surface, the pressure exerted when it falls down into the river will permit it to pass through U-bends that would normally not be filled when using a flat undammed river - if you tap into a river below a waterfall just as you would above it, you could very easily flood your fortress.

==Neutralizing Pressure==
There are two methods for neutralizing fluid pressure: diagonal connections and screw pumps. Knowing how to manipulate pressure as needed allows you to quickly move fluids wherever you wish in your fortress allowing you to build things a dwarf can be proud of.

===Diagonal Flow===
Liquids moving via pressure can only move to [[orthogonal]]ly adjacent tiles. When faced with a diagonal gap, pressure will fail to move the liquid, forcing the liquid to instead spread out. By forcing fluids through a diagonal connection you can prevent pressure from propagating past a certain point.

This does not work on a vertical basis - water only travels straight up and down to different Z-levels, never diagonally.

If you wish to maintain the rate of '''[[flow]]''' after de-pressurizing, it's recommended that you have more diagonals than water tiles - that is, if the source is 3-tiles wide, you may wish 4 or more diagonal passages.

'''Top View'''
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
> > > ▒ > > >
4Z Deep ▒ 1Z Deep
> > > ▒ > > >
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

'''Side View''' 
▒≈≈≈▒
▒≈≈≈▒
▒≈≈≈▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒
▒≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈RRR≈≈≈≈≈≈≈▒ RRR = Regulator design as seen in top view
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

===Pumps===
Since water pressure does not propagate through pumps, it is possible to fill a pool from a "pressurized" source using a screw pump without it overflowing. Of course, there is a downside - you still have to run the pumps and due to the source water's pressure, the pump must be [[power]]ed instead of [[pump operator|run by a dwarf]], as the tile the dwarf needs to stand on is filled by water. Furthermore, the pump will likely need to be powered from above or below (as water would simply flow around a gear or axle placed next to the pump), though creative setups are still possible by using additional screw pumps to transmit power.

Your vertical axles or gear assemblies need to be placed above the solid tile of the pump, and there must not be a channel over the walkable pump tile. (Water can only flow straight upward, not up and to the side at the same time.) Multiple adjacent pumps will also transfer '''power''' between themselves automatically.

Side view

Power Water Key
↓ ↓↓↓↓↓ ▒ = Normal wall
▒▒▒▒▒▒║▒▒▒▒'''≈≈≈≈≈''' ▒ = Wall that pressurised water would flow into if it were to be dug out
▒▒▒▒▒▒║▒▒▒▒▒'''≈≈≈≈''' ≈ = Regular water
_ ___▒║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒'''≈≈''' '''≈''' = Pressurised water
▒≈≈≈≈≈%%'''≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈''' %% = Pump
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒'''≈'''▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ║ = Axle
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ _ = Floor

Do note that the screw pump '''will''' still exert pressure when filling the pool, but said pressure will be independent of the source and can be subsequently blocked by diagonal gaps.

==Hatches==
[[Hatch cover|Hatches]] can be placed over [[channel]]s, [[stair]]s, [[ramp]]s, etc. to prevent [[water]] from moving vertically but will still allow the tile to be used, even as a water source (and possibly still for fishing too).

== See Also==
* [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=32453.0 Hydrodynamics Education] forum thread
* [[flow]]
* [[river]]

{{Category|Physics}}

v0.34:Water depth

2013-05-05T12:01:36Z

Jez9999:

{{Quality|Superior|15:24, 4 May 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
Water (or magma) can be one of eight different depths. You can find out how deep water is by examining it with the loo{{k|k}} command, or by editing your [[d_init.txt]] file to display water as coloured numbers by changing the SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS value to YES.

Water depth ranges from 0-7, where 0 is no water and 7 is maximum depth. Note that water depth is ''per z-index''; that is, if a tile is at depth 7/7, it means that the water ''on that level'' is at maximum depth, not that the water extends down to 7 z-index levels. Three tiles adjacent to one another on the z-index that were full of water could therefore be seen as having 21 levels of depth.

The following is a qualitative description of how deep the water is relative to a dwarf:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Depth
! Description
|-
| 0
| Not a true value (that is, you will never see it displayed) - there is no water on this tile.
|-
| 1
| A puddle. This is the maximum depth dwarves will build on. Water may evaporate.
|-
| 2
| Knee deep.
|-
| 3
| Waist deep.
|-
| 4
| Dangerous terrain. Movement trains [[swimming]].
|-
| 5
| Head height. Dwarves are now swimming (or drowning, as the case may be).
|-
| 6
| Over a dwarf's head.
|-
| 7
| Risk of drowning. Can have water on floorless tile above.
|}

v0.34:Flow

2013-05-05T11:52:41Z

Jez9999: /* Fluid Depth */

{{av}}
{{quality|Masterwork|02:44, 08 November 2010 (UTC)}}
:''The term '''flow''' can be used to refer to several completely different things in Dwarf Fortress: things like [[miasma]] and [[smoke]], and the mechanism by which [[water]] and [[magma]] move. This article describes the latter.''

'''Flow''' is a game mechanic used to simulate the motion of '''fluids'''. The two fluids that exist in dwarf fortress currently are '''[[water]]''' and '''[[magma]]'''. You can identify fluids that are flowing by looking for a tile that is blinking between {{Tile|≈|1:0:1}} and {{Tile|~|1:0:1}} tiles. If you have turned on [[Technical_tricks#Tiles|SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS]] you will see the fluid '''depth''' indicator of {{Tile|1|1:0:1}} through {{Tile|7|1:0:1}} instead and will not be able to easily tell if the game considers a tile to be flowing or not. Flow is typically present any time a fluid is in motion, but there are some exceptions which confuse things a bit.
*Note: In the current release flow does not seem to appear in magma. Magma follows the same rules of fluid motion and flow, it simply doesn't have flow in the sense that would allow it to power a water wheel.

==Basic Fluid Motion==
'''[[Water]]''' and '''[[magma]]''' both move in much the same way following a fairly simple set of rules. The only difference between the motion of [[magma]] and water is that magma behaves differently with regards to [[pressure]].

Fluids move mostly as one might expect: they will fall straight down if they can, or else they will spread out to the sides. Fluids can flow diagonally on the same z-level, but will never move sideways and down at the same time. Under basic fluid motion, fluid never moves back up, but it can appear to do so if pressure is involved.

Here is a quick example of how fluids can move to adjacent tiles. Also as water moves to an adjacent tile flow is generated in both tiles. This flow will remain for a short time before reverting back to being non-flowing water. Falling water does ''not'' generate flow, so only the 3rd example will result in flow (in both tiles).

'''Before (side view)'''
▒7▒ ▒7▒ ▒
▒ ▒ ▒2▒ ▒7
▒▒▒ ▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒

'''After (side view)'''
▒ ▒ ▒2▒ ▒
▒7▒ ▒7▒ ▒43
▒▒▒ ▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒

*1. Fluids move down
*2. Fluids spread out to the sides

These rules are incomplete, however, without consideration of [[pressure]].

==Fluids under pressure, aka Teleportation==

Magma, which has no natural pressure, flows according to the rules of basic fluid motion. Water, however, can move by pressure when it falls down on top of full 7/7 water. In addition, pumps create pressure in both water and magma, and water entering the map at from a stream or river follows pressure as well.

Fluids moving under '''[[pressure]]''' do not just move to adjacent tiles, they also trace a path through other full tiles of fluid trying to move to more distant tiles. Fluids moving under [[pressure]] can effectively teleport through other tiles that are already filled with fluid. When teleporting, fluids do not generate '''any''' flow, neither will they push objects around.

▒7▒ ▒
'''Before''' ▒7▒ ▒
▒777▒
▒▒▒▒▒

▒ ▒ ▒
'''After''' ▒7▒7▒
▒777▒
▒▒▒▒▒

When a fluid tries to move by pressure, it tries to trace a path through full 7/7 fluids going down, and horizontally, but ''not'' diagonally. In this way it is like basic flow, except that pressure works faster; fluid from the source is teleported to the open space at the end, rather than having to wait for open space to open up at the source via normal flow. This is why, for example, diagonal squeezes in channels make water flow slower (they block pressure, forcing it to only spread out sideways), and why rivers and streams on the map are usually full of 7/7 water until close to the edge of the map where the rules of basic fluid motion are draining the water off the map while pressure teleports new water from the source all the way down to the end.

What's more, unlike basic flow, the path pressure traces can even go back up--but never higher than the z-level of the first 7/7 tile on the path it was tracing. So it may appear that pressure 'pushes fluids up', but in fact it's only teleporting fluid to a level even or lower.

Thus the result is that pressure movement of fluids (especially water) is common and doesn't create very much flow. However rivers and streams still seem to have some kind of flow that powers water wheels, called natural flow.

==Fluid Displacement by Cave-in, aka Pistons==
:''(see also '''[[magma piston]])'''''

There's one way to push a fluid higher than its starting level, but it might be considered a bug on the flow mechanics and probably will be changed in following versions since allows for what could be considered exploits.

A ''natural'' wall of any material '''[[cave-in|falling]]''' onto both water ''or'' '''[[magma]]''' will teleport each tile of displaced fluid to open space directly above it, leaving 1 additional tile of open space directly above the wall itself:
Start Step 1 Step 2
▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒
▒ I ▒ Collapse ▒ ▒ Fluid ▒ ▒
▒ ▒ ▒ -----------> ▒ 7 ▒ -----------> ▒ ▒
▒ ▒ Support ▒ ▒ Spreads ▒232▒
▒▒7▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒
When done in an u-bend example the pushing above original fluid level can be easily appreciated, although it breaks the laws of regular fluid physics:
Start Step 1 Step 2
▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒
▒ I ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒
▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒
▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ 7 ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒
▒ ▒ ▒ Collapse ▒ 7 ▒ ▒ Fluid ▒ ▒ ▒
▒ ▒ ▒ -----------> ▒ ▒ ▒ -----------> ▒545▒ ▒
▒▒7▒▒7▒ Support ▒▒▒▒▒7▒ Spreads ▒▒▒▒▒7▒
▒▒7777▒ ▒▒▒777▒ ▒▒▒777▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
This is the basic principle that the '''[[magma piston]]''' exploit, if you want to prevent a future fix or simply want to simulate regular physics fluid behaviour, you can do something like this:
z-level Start Step 1 Step 2
z+0 ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒
z-1 ▒ | ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒
z-2 ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ 7 7 ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒
z-3 ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ Collapse ▒ 7 7 ▒ ▒ Fluid ▒ ▒ ▒
z-4 ▒ ▒?▒ -----------> ▒ ▒?▒ -----------> ▒55455▒?▒
z-5 ▒▒777▒▒7▒ Support ▒▒▒7▒▒▒7▒ Spreads ▒▒▒7▒▒▒7▒
z-6 ▒▒777777▒ ▒▒▒7▒777▒ ▒▒▒7▒777▒
z-7 ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

z-3 Top View z-5 Top View z-3 Top View (Step 1) z-4 Top View (Step 2)
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒ ▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒ ▒ ▒44544▒
Axis ▒ ▒▒▒ ▒▒▒ ▒▒777▒▒▒▒ ▒ 777 ▒▒▒ ▒45554▒▒▒ Axis
--------▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒--------------▒▒777▒▒7▒--------------▒ 7 7 ▒?▒---------------▒55455▒?▒--------
Cut ▒ ▒▒▒ ▒▒▒ ▒▒777▒▒▒▒ ▒ 777 ▒▒▒ ▒45554▒▒▒ Cut
▒ ▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒ ▒ ▒44544▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
This example involves dropping a giant ''(minimum size 3x3x1)'' donut/cylinder/tube of natural walls onto the fluid pool, given that it will teleport a donut/cylinder/tube of fluid in the same way ''(step 1)'' but after it spreads ''(step 2)'' it'll seem that the fluid actually went through the opening in the middle of the donut/cylinder/tube like a real fluid should behave, of course one exception it won't be pushed through the right tube like it should, you'll probably want to close the tile marked with a question mark "?" so it can give the impression of real fluid mechanics.

==Natural Flow==
Many water sources such as [[river]]s and [[brook]]s are constantly flowing with '''natural flow'''. This is different from other flow effects in that it is always considered to be flowing water. This remains true even when the water flows into a complete dead end channel or even when blocked off with a floodgate. Any channels that link up to a naturally flowing source will soon become naturally flowing water as long as they remain on the same z-level. Diagonal steps have no effect on natural flow although they can be used to change [[pressure]].

Trying to move natural flow up or down to a different z-level may have unpredictable results but in most cases this will break the natural flow effect resulting in still water that can only be made to flow by artificial means.

Naturally flowing water, depending on its environment, flows in a specific direction - when SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS is disabled, water which flows directly into a wall will flash white while other water remains blue. This flow direction is important to note, since it affects the operation of [[water wheel]]s: water which flows directly north or south will not power an east/west-aligned water wheel, and the opposite is also true. Diagonally flowing water, however, works for everything.

==Fluid Depth==
{{Main|Water depth}}
Fluids can have a depth anywhere from 1 to 7. To see the depth of a tile of fluid you can look at it with {{k|k}} which will reveal the depth in the text at the right. Alternatively you can enable SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS which will replace the {{Tile|≈|1:0:1}} and {{Tile|~|1:0:1}} tiles with a numerical representation of the depth at all times. Turning on SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS does come with the drawback that you will no longer be able to see if a tile is flowing or not.

==Obstructions==
Water can be stopped by most solid tiles. These include [[wall]]s and [[building]]s as well as closed [[floodgate]]s, [[door]]s, and [[hatch]]es. Exceptions are vertical [[grate]]s, vertical [[bars]], and [[fortification]]s, which will allow fluids to pass freely.

==Evaporation==
Fluids that remain at a depth of 1/7 for long enough will evaporate. Evaporated fluids are simply removed from the game. In '''hot''' or '''scorching''' environments, [[murky pool]]s can evaporate at greater depths.

==Bugs==
*Items pushed by flowing water may disappear {{Bug|895}}
*Flowing water seems to cause contaminants to multiply {{Bug|296}}

{{Category|Physics}}

v0.34:Water depth

2013-05-05T09:30:22Z

Jez9999:

{{Quality|Superior|15:24, 4 May 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
Water (or magma) can be one of eight different depths. You can find out how deep water is by examining it with the loo{{k|k}} command, or by editing your [[d_init.txt]] file to display water as coloured numbers by changing the SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS value to YES.

Water depth ranges from 0-7, where 0 is no water and 7 is maximum depth. Note that water depth is 'per z-index'; that is, if a tile is at depth 7/7, it means that the water 'on that level' is at maximum depth, not that the water extends down to 7 z-index levels. Three tiles adjacent to one another on the z-index that were full of water could therefore be seen as having 21 levels of depth.

The following is a qualitative description of how deep the water is relative to a dwarf:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Depth
! Description
|-
| 0
| Not a true value (that is, you will never see it displayed) - there is no water on this tile.
|-
| 1
| A puddle. This is the maximum depth dwarves will build on. Water may evaporate.
|-
| 2
| Knee deep.
|-
| 3
| Waist deep.
|-
| 4
| Dangerous terrain. Movement trains [[swimming]].
|-
| 5
| Head height. Dwarves are now swimming (or drowning, as the case may be).
|-
| 6
| Over a dwarf's head.
|-
| 7
| Risk of drowning. Can have water on floorless tile above.
|}

v0.34:Water depth

2013-05-05T09:29:28Z

Jez9999:

{{Quality|Superior|15:24, 4 May 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
Water (or magma) can be one of eight different depths. You can find out how deep water is by examining it with the loo{{k|k}} command, or by editing your [[d_init.txt]] file to display water as coloured numbers by changing the SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS value to YES.

Water depth ranges from 0-7, where 0 is no water and 7 is maximum depth. Note that water depth is 'per z-index'; that is, if a tile is at depth 7/7, it means that the water 'on that level' is at maximum depth. Three tiles adjacent to one another on the z-index that were full of water could therefore be seen as having 21 levels of depth.

The following is a qualitative description of how deep the water is relative to a dwarf:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Depth
! Description
|-
| 0
| Not a true value (that is, you will never see it displayed) - there is no water on this tile.
|-
| 1
| A puddle. This is the maximum depth dwarves will build on. Water may evaporate.
|-
| 2
| Knee deep.
|-
| 3
| Waist deep.
|-
| 4
| Dangerous terrain. Movement trains [[swimming]].
|-
| 5
| Head height. Dwarves are now swimming (or drowning, as the case may be).
|-
| 6
| Over a dwarf's head.
|-
| 7
| Risk of drowning. Can have water on floorless tile above.
|}

v0.34:Water depth

2013-05-04T14:36:15Z

Jez9999:

{{av}}
{{Quality|Fine}}

Water (or magma) can be one of eight different depths. You can find out how deep water is by examining it with the loo{{k|k}} command, or by editing your [[d_init.txt]] file to display water as coloured numbers by changing the SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS value to YES.

Water depth ranges from 0-7, where 0 is no water. The following is a qualitative description of how deep the water is relative to a dwarf:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Depth
! Description
|-
| 0
| Not a true value (that is, you will never see it displayed) - there is no water on this tile.
|-
| 1
| A puddle. This is the maximum depth dwarves will build on. Water may evaporate.
|-
| 2
| Knee deep.
|-
| 3
| Waist deep.
|-
| 4
| Dangerous terrain. Movement trains [[swimming]].
|-
| 5
| Head height. Dwarves are now swimming (or drowning, as the case may be).
|-
| 6
| Over a dwarf's head.
|-
| 7
| Risk of drowning. Can have water on floorless tile above.
|}

v0.34:Water

2013-05-04T14:32:54Z

Jez9999: /* Depth */

{{av}}
{{Quality|Exceptional|19:08, 6 July 2010 (UTC)}}

'''Water''' is a fluid found all over the world. It [[flow|flows]] from mountain springs, forming the world's [[ocean]]s, [[lake]]s, [[river]]s, and [[brook]]s. Water falls as [[rain]] and [[snow]], and freezes into [[ice]]. Water is home to a variety of [[creature|aquatic creatures]]. Many creatures can [[Swimmer|swim]] in deep water. Air-breathing creatures that are submerged in water can [[Swimmer#Drowning|drown]] in it. Water comes in two varieties: '''freshwater''', which makes up almost all inland water, and '''saltwater''', which fills the seas. In this version, some brooks and murky pools can be saltwater even if the fortress site is partially mountainous. It is not known if this is a bug. To tell the difference, attempt to set up a drinking zone including some of the water in question. If there are zero tiles of water source available, the water is saltwater.

Mud is a [[contaminant]] which is created any time water covers an area. Any tiles that contain mud may be used for [[Agriculture|farming]].

Water can be displayed in two ways, depending on the [[Technical tricks#The look of the game|settings]] in d_init.txt. By default it is displayed with the symbols {{Tile|≈|1:7:1}} and {{Tile|~|1:7:1}}, sometimes colored different blues, and white, showing ripples, and flow. Setting <nowiki>[SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS:YES]</nowiki> in d_init.txt will cause water to display using a depth indicator of {{Tile|1|1:0:1}} through {{Tile|7|1:0:1}} instead. Water can also take on other colors indicating [[contaminant|contaminants]] such as '''blood''', '''ichor''', or '''goo'''.

Dark-colored water symbols indicate the water is one [[Z-level]] below the camera level. Water has 7 depth levels per tile, with 1 being a shallow puddle, and 7 filling the tile completely. [[Dwarf|Dwarves]] can safely walk through water up to a depth of 3 - at depth 4 or higher, a dwarf will cancel jobs due to "Dangerous terrain" and begin to gain [[swimming]] experience. At depth 7, any dwarf that does not have sufficient Swimming skill will drown.

Interestingly, water can slow falls with deep enough water and short enough falls. If the water is deep enough relative to the height of the fall, dwarves can be less injured or even completely uninjured (from a 4 level drop to a 3 level deep pool, for example)

== Processes ==
===Evaporation===
In the normal underground temperature of {{ct|10015}}, evaporation occurs when water or [[magma]] is at a depth of 1/7. Exact rate of evaporation is unknown, but it is affected by temperature and surrounding liquids. A single 1/7 water tile will evaporate faster than a large recently flooded area or a 1/7 water tile by a river, for example.

At high temperatures (usually found in [[Climate#Scorching|Scorching climates]]) water can evaporate at greater depths, even 7/7. This is generally accompanied by the [[grass]] drying out and turning yellow.

{| style="border-spacing:0; float:left; margin-right:10px;"
|-
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|{{000}}
|-
|{{CCC}}
|{{RT0|1|#00F}}
|{{RT0|1|#00F}}
|{{RT0|1|#00F}}
|{{CCC}}
|-
|{{CCC}}
|{{RT0|7|#00F}}
|{{RT0|7|#00F}}
|{{RT0|7|#00F}}
|{{CCC}}
|-
|{{CCC}}
|{{CCC}}
|{{CCC}}
|{{CCC}}
|{{CCC}}
|}
Water or magma at 1/7 depth will evaporate even if it is on top of 7/7 depth liquid, as shown in this side-view example.
 

=== Freezing and thawing ===
Many environments get cold enough for water to freeze in winter. When this happens, any water that is exposed above ground will [[ice|freeze into ice]]. However, water a single tile away that is in an underground tunnel will not freeze. When ice walls thaw, they always leave a 7/7 water tile regardless of how much water may have been present when the ice formed.

When outdoor water freezes or thaws it does so instantly. Any dwarf [[swimming]] in water when it freezes will die, and any dwarf standing on a frozen pond will fall into it when it thaws, most likely leading to [[swimmer#Drowning|drowning]] if the dwarf is not an experienced [[swimmer]].

Mining ice can produce chunks of ice. Taking these chunks into a stone layer will cause it to eventually melt, turning it into a "water" item (much like those hauled in [[bucket]]s) which can't be used for anything. {{Bug|360}}

[[Glacier#Cave-in_some ice_|Caving in an ice wall]] into a stone layer will cause it to instantly melt into water (provided it does not become exposed to the outdoors), which can be used to get water near the surface in a [[glacier]] biome without having to use a [[pump]] stack to pump water up from a [[cavern]] pool.

If you constructed a [[well]] or a [[Grate|floor grate]] right over top of water and it freezes, the item will be deconstructed to its original parts, but some may fall into the water.

==== Freezing point ====
The freezing point of water, {{ct|10000}}, is an important, if not the most important, [[temperature]] in Dwarf Fortress. Below this point, water freezes into ice, and above this point ice will melt into water. A [[biome]] that never dips below this temperature will make obtaining ice next to impossible, and a biome that never rises above this temperature will require underground storage, [[magma]], or an alternative heating method to obtain liquid water.

Although it is most commonly known as the freezing point of water, {{ct|10000}} is also the freezing points of standard [[blood]], ichor, goo, slime, pus, [[milk]], egg white, and egg yolk. [[Nether-cap]]s are naturally constantly at this temperature, but will cause neither water to freeze or ice to melt. The temperature also acts as the condensation point of [[cave floater]] gas, at which it becomes cave floater juice. As a result of these dependencies, many [[creature]]s will die if they cannot keep their internal body temperature above the freezing point of water.

Below this point, many machine components will not work, instead displaying "Frozen here". This includes [[screw pump]]s, [[windmill]]s, and [[minecart]] rollers. In colder environments, these machines must either be kept indoors or heated with nearby [[fire]] or [[magma]].

== Properties ==
===Depth===
Water can have a depth between 0 and 7. For more information, see [[Water depth]].
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Depth
! Description
|-
| 0
| No water present.
|-
| 1
| Water may evaporate.
|-
| 2
|
|-
| 3
|
|-
| 4
| Dangerous terrain. Movement trains [[swimming]].
|-
| 5
|
|-
| 6
|
|-
| 7
| Risk of drowning. Can have water on floorless tile above.
|}

===Sourced water===
Water that comes from [[river]]s, [[brook]]s, [[ocean]]s, [[aquifer]]s or springs is considered to be '''sourced water'''. Any sourced water is an endless supply of water that can never run dry, although it can freeze for part or all of the year in colder biomes. Murky pools, although not 'sourced water' as described here, also slowly generate water during [[rain]] storms. This can make it possible for a murky pool to replenish itself even when it has been completely drained.

When using sourced water you should strongly consider installing [[floodgate]]s and be aware of how [[pressure]] works or you could easily end up [[flood]]ing your fortress and having a lot more [[fun]] than anticipated.

==Flow==
Water and [[magma]] are both fluids which are constantly trying to '''[[flow]]''' into adjacent tiles until they have filled all available space or until they run out of fluid. Fluids technically move in 9 directions: down, and to the sides. Fluids cannot move diagonally up or down. Fluids at a depth of 1/7 no longer attempt to move unless they can move down. Fluids under [[pressure]] can appear to travel upward until the pressure equalizes, though in reality they are moving downward and/or sideways relative to their source.

If the flow is strong enough, it can move objects such as dwarves, pets, stones, weapons or corpses.

Fluids in Dwarf Fortress act like a fairly thick, viscous material. This makes it possible to do highly implausible things like [[pump]] out a dry hole in the middle of a [[river]] or [[ocean]].

== Contamination ==
Water can be contaminated in different ways, both natural and artificial. This contamination can have a negative effect on the water's quality, and can even harm dwarves that ingest it.

===Salt water===
Dwarves cannot use salt water directly; while healthy dwarves will usually prefer to drink [[booze]], wounded dwarves can only be given water to drink, so if you have only salt water on your map it is helpful to desalinate it.

To check to see if water is salty, use the {{k|i}} menu to see if the game shows the pond/pool as a water source. If the "water source (x)" is (0), then the source is salty. If not, then your dwarves will drink it.

A [[screw pump]] can be used to desalinate water.

Dwarves will drink water from a well over salt water, give it to sick dwarves and use it to clean wounds. You cannot designate the well as a water source (not that this is necessary to begin with), but the dwarves will still use it.{{verify}}

=== Stagnant water ===

Water taken from a murky pool or wetlands biome will be stagnant, just as water taken from near the ocean will be salty. Dwarves get an unhappy [[thought]] if they have to drink stagnant water, and a [[doctor]] cleaning a [[wound]] with stagnant water will have an increased risk of [[Health care#Infection|infection]].

Similar to salt water, [[pump]]ing stagnant water will make it clean. Also, if clean water touches stagnant water, it will destroy stagnant water. [[DF2012:Release information/0.34.09|0.34.09]]

The game will describe stagnant water as stagnant if it was in a [[bucket]] or [[flask]]/[[waterskin]], and looking at standing or flowing water with {{K|k}} will indicate whether or not it is stagnant.

=== Water laced with mud ===
If a water source is only one z-level deep and its floor is covered by "a pile of mud" (like most [[cavern|underground pools]]), then any water taken from it will be "water laced with mud". Drinking water laced with mud will give your dwarves an unhappy thought. It might also cause [[Health care#Infection|infection]] if used to clean a [[wound]].

Unlike stagnant water, merely moving the water with flow or gravity will take care of the problem, since it only occurs if the water source tile contains "a pile of mud", and water coming into contact with a clean floor only creates "a dusting of mud".

===Contaminants===
Contaminants that get into water currently can do very strange things. A pool of blood that gets covered by water will be pushed out of the water as the water flows creating more pools of blood at the edge of the water. Overflowing a large reservoir that contains contaminants of blood will generate a large amount of blood very quickly. This behavior is thought to be a bug.

==Getting rid of unwanted water==
Water will flow off the edge of the map, endlessly, which is one way to get rid of large amounts of water (evaporation works better with small amounts). Underground, there are at least two ways to accomplish this. One is to channel your excess water into a dry cavern that is open to the map edge, as the water will flow out (depending on slopes, original water level and such). Be careful if you dump the water into an underground lake, as such lakes have some sort of equilibrium built into them, and your excess water may cause them to flood. The other, probably easier method, is to mine to the map edge (since you cannot mine the map edge itself, just up to it), then smooth the edge and then carve [[fortification]]s into it. Water will flow through the fortifications and off the edge of the map. Make sure your exit flow is equal to or, for safety, greater than your input.

Draining lakes and oceans from underneath can be a finicky task, but there's a bit of dwarven magic for it: build a retractable bridge on the level beneath the sea bottom, with ramps directly underneath it. Link this to a lever to control the flow as you desire. Now evacuate the dwarves and wall off the area above the bridge. Then, with the bridge in place, designate ramps around the bridge leading up - breaking through to the sea bottom. Now how can the dwarves dig these squares out? Yep, from beneath the bridge. In this way they get the water flow started without ever getting their little feet wet. This is a great way to set up channels one square in from the map edge near a water source, so that you can properly wall off the baddies from getting into the fort.

{{gamedata|{{raw|DF2012:hardcoded_materials.txt|MATERIAL|WATER}}}}

{{Category|Physics}}

v0.34:Stocks

2013-05-02T20:39:58Z

Jez9999: /* Inventory */

{{quality|Exceptional|00:30, 14 October 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}
The '''Stocks''' screen, accessible via the '''[[Status]]''' screen, is a careful record of your fort's entire inventory. It is managed by the [[bookkeeper]], who periodically must update the [[stockpile]] records, depending on how quickly your fort's [[wealth]] is growing or being depleted.

==Layout==
The Stocks screen displays a list of product categories on the left side. Next to those categories is the total number of objects you have that fit within that category, split into first column (grey): number available or in use normally, and second column (red): number of restricted items (read more below), both adding up to the total number on the map.

[[Image:Jt_stocks_screen.png|800px]]

==Contents==
*[[Meat]] - [[meat]] and [[prepared organs]]
*[[Fish]] - cleaned [[fish]], [[oyster]]s, [[cave lobster]]s, [[pond turtle]]s
*[[Raw fish]] - uncleaned fish or other food items produced by fishing
*[[Egg]]
*[[Plant]]s - unprocessed plants
*[[Prepared meal]]s
*[[Cheese]]
*[[Powder]] - [[dye]], [[dwarven sugar]], [[sand]], [[flour]], [[plaster]]
*[[Drink]]s
*[[Leaves]] - [[quarry bush]] leaves
*[[Liquid]] - [[water]] in [[bucket]]s
*[[Glob]] - [[fat]] and [[tallow]]
*[[Seed]]s
*[[Weapon]]s
*[[Ammunition]]
*[[Armor]] - mail shirts, breastplates, and "covers" like cloaks
*[[Clothing|Legwear]]
*[[Clothing|Headwear]]
*[[Clothing|Handwear]]
*[[Clothing|Footwear]]
*[[Armor#Shield user|Shields/bucklers]]
*[[Backpack]]s
*[[Quiver]]s
*[[Anvil]]s
*[[Armor stand]]s
*[[Weapon rack]]s
*[[Cabinet]]s
*[[Door]]s
*[[Floodgate]]s
*[[Bed]]s
*[[Throne]]s
*[[Table]]s
*[[Coffin]]s
*[[Statue]]s
*[[Slab]]s
*[[Tanned hide]]s
*[[Cloth]]
*[[Thread]]
*[[Wood|Logs]]
*[[Stone]]s
*[[Gem|Rough gems]]
*[[Bar]]s
*[[Cut gem]]s
*[[Gem industry#Large gems|Large gems]]
*[[Coin]]s
*[[Block]]s
*[[Vermin|Small]] [[Animal training|tame]] [[vermin|animals]]
*Small live animals
*[[Pipe section]]s
*[[Hatch|Hatch covers]]
*[[Grate]]s
*[[Quern]]s
*[[Millstone]]s
*[[Window]]s
*[[Animal trap]]s
*[[Chain]]s
*[[Cage]]s
*[[Coffer|Boxes]] and [[bag]]s
*[[Bin]]s
*[[Barrel]]s
*[[Bucket]]s
*[[Mechanism]]s
*[[Trap component]]s
*[[Flask]]s
*[[Goblet]]s
*[[Toy]]s
*[[Tool]]s
*[[Instrument|Musical instrument]]s
*[[Useless crap|Figurines]]
*[[Useless crap|Amulets]]
*[[Useless crap|Crowns]]
*[[Useless crap|Scepters]]
*[[Useless crap|Rings]]
*[[Useless crap|Earrings]]
*[[Useless crap|Bracelets]]
*[[Catapult]] parts
*[[Ballista]] parts
*[[Ballista arrow|Siege ammo]]
*Ballista arrowheads - ballista arrowheads without their arrows yet
*[[Totem]]s
*[[Corpse]]s
*[[Body parts]]
*[[Remains]]
*Small rock
*[[Splint]]s
*[[Crutch]]es
*[[Traction bench]]es
*[[Cast|Limb/body casts]]
*[[Slab]]s

==Bookkeeping & precision==

Precision determines how well your dwarves are keeping count of all your items. Items are grouped into general categories - for instance, all hand weapons, crossbows and picks are "weapons". The biggest is typically "stones" - all stones you have mined out are included in one category, and viewable by specific type only if your level of accuracy is adequate for that number; anything less, and you will only have a rough total, no ability to view or manipulate the individual items.

The precision of the Stocks screen depends on the settings of the [[bookkeeper]] [[noble]]. (Use {{k|n}} {{k|s}} to access that screen.) Precision affects three factors - the time spent at that labor (more precision takes more time), the number of significant figures (see immediately below), and whether the Inventory is active or unavailable for a given item type (see Inventory, bottom).

There are five possible settings:

; Lowest Precision
: This is the default setting, precise only to one significant figure. It's only fine for your initial embark until you feel you need the Inventory feature, below, and have time to designate a [[chair]] ''(perhaps in your first [[dining room]], at least to start)'' as an [[office]]/study.
:*Any number from 0 to 9 will be exact. Inventory is available only for categories with 9 items or less.
:*A number from 10 to 99 will be rounded to the nearest 10.
:*A number from 100 to 999 will be rounded to the nearest 100.
:*A number from 1,000 to 9,999 will be rounded to the nearest 1,000.
:*A number equal to 10,000 or more will be rounded to the nearest 10,000.

; Low Precision
: This setting is precise to two significant figures. This is fine for a starting fortress, since few will have over 99 of most items, stone being the usual first exception.
:*Any number from 0 to 99 will be exact. Inventory is available only for categories with 99 items or less.
:*A number from 100 to 999 will be rounded to the nearest 10.
:*A number from 1,000 to 9,999 will be rounded to the nearest 100.
:*A number equal to 10,000 or more will be rounded to the nearest 1,000.

; Medium Precision
: This setting is precise to three significant figures. This is a good and practical level to maintain stockpile records at for an early fort, since typically stones are the only item that will number over 999 in the first years. (Note that although you have many types of stone, it is the total that matters for any one such category.)
:*Any number from 0 to 999 will be exact.
:*A number from 1,000 to 9,999 will be rounded to the nearest 10. Inventory is available only for categories with 999 items or less.
:*A number equal to 10,000 or more will be rounded to the nearest 100.

; High Precision
: This setting is precise to four significant figures, ample for most needs. This setting is most useful for managing stone (like forbidding one type entirely). Eventually other items, like food or drink, could grow to be in this range as well, depending on play style.
:*Any number from 0 to 9,999 will be exact. Inventory is available only for categories with 9,999 items or less.
:*A number equal to 10,000 or more will be rounded to the nearest 10.

; Highest Precision
: This setting is perfectly and completely precise for any number of items in any category. All stockpile records will be exact. Inventory available for all items and all categories, regardless of number.
:Maintaining stockpile records at this level starts out as a full-time job but becomes easier to maintain once that level is achieved.

If a number has been rounded, it will appear with a trailing question mark and will be displayed in brown instead of light grey (for instance, "20?" instead of "17"). Above the lowest precision, your [[bookkeeper]] requires a meager office, and for every level of precision, he or she will spend more time there updating the stock record.

==Inventory==

If you have a sufficient level of precision to count each item in the given category, you will see an inventory display on the right side of the screen. If you do not have enough precision, the right side of the screen will be blank, and you will not be able to see (or manipulate) each individual item in that category.

So, if you are Lowest level precision, and you have 9 weapons, you can see an itemized list of each one, and be able to forbid it, find it, melt it, etc etc from that screen. If you have 10 (or more), you will see only that you have 10? items of that general category, and not which ones.

When active, this inventory display has two modes:
* '''Compacted View''': The default mode, lists objects by type and total number, it doesn't show Unclaimed Items (see below). It is handy to get a general idea of the number of goods you have available.

* '''Detailed View''': hit "Tab" key to toggle, lists each individual object* in your fort, even the Unclaimed Items (see below). This display is useful for selecting individual items to [[forbid]], [[melt]] or [[dump]]. To toggle between either of the two modes, press {{key|Tab}}.

'':(* or individual [[stack]] of objects, in the case of ammo or food)''

In the detailed mode, the items text is colour coded.
====Color Code====

{| width="100%" style="margin-left: .5cm"
|-
| bgcolor="#000000" width="10%"| '''BROWN'''
| bgcolor="#ffffff" width="90%"| 
These items were '''produced by the fortress''' (or obtained and then [[decorate]]d there)
|-
| bgcolor="#000000" width="10%"| '''LGRAY'''
| bgcolor="#ffffff" width="90%"| 
These items are owned but were '''''not'' produced at fort''' (Obtained via trading or enemies; see [[Created wealth]])
|-
| bgcolor="#000000" width="10%"| '''CYAN'''
| bgcolor="#ffffff" width="90%"| 
'''Built [[furniture]]''', currently part of a '''[[building]]''' or a '''[[trap]]''', currently '''marked for [[Trading|Trade]]''' in a [[Trade depot]], or buried skeleton/corpse
|-
| bgcolor="#000000" width="10%"| '''MAGENTA'''
| bgcolor="#ffffff" width="90%"| 
Currently '''forbidden''' or designated for '''dump/melt''', or part of a '''[[construction]]'''
|-
| bgcolor="#000000" width="10%"| '''RED'''
| bgcolor="#ffffff" width="90%"| 
'''Not owned''' by fort ''(uncollected webs, and trade goods and equipment currently owned by [[trader]]s or [[invader]]s)''
|-
| bgcolor="#000000" width="10%"| '''DGRAY'''
| bgcolor="#ffffff" width="90%"| 
'''Destroyed''' or '''lost''' ([[artifact]]s only)
|-
|}

:''The colors shown reflect the default [[color scheme]].''

====Bracketing====
In addition to items being bracketed to indicate their [[Item_quality|quality]], they will be surrounded by '''<code>(round brackets)</code>''' if the item was not produced at fort, and '''<code>{curly brackets}</code>''' if the item is forbidden.

==Item Categories==
The Items seem to fall into two main categories for the numbers in the Stocks, and its modes:

* '''Available Items''' (Gray Number): includes items ready to be used.
** do items need to be in stockpile?{{verify}}
** In-transit items count to stock levels, but are not usable to build with. (i.e. a bed in transit shows as available in the stock menu, but is not usable when trying to place a bed)
* '''Restricted Items''' (Red Number): includes items not ready to be used like:
** Dump / Melt{{verify}} items
** Forbidden items:
*** These are marked with a yellow F
*** In the '''Compacted View''' a brown F indicates only some items in the stack are forbidden.
*** Items in caverns start forbidden:
**** Preserved meat
**** Prepared meat
**** Fish
**** Leather
** Built Items: ''almost'' everything marked as "B" if seen using {{k|t}}, or everything that was used to create a building:
*** Built Furniture: doors, beds, thrones, chairs, tables, floodgates, cages, etc.
*** Traps
*** Building materials: stones, blocks, anvils, etc.
** Construction Materials: used in walls, floors, etc.
** Untrapped{{verify}} Untamed{{verify}} Small Live Animals: live honey bees, etc.
** '''Unclaimed Items''': these are not shown in the '''Compacted View''' and are marked as "B" if seen using {{k|t}}, although they weren't used to create the building:
*** Unharvested Crops: plants grown in the farm plot, are marked as "B" until collected.
*** Planted Seeds: these are put into the farm plot, are marked as "B" and then become full grown plants.
** '''Not Owned by fort''':
*** Uncollected webs in caverns

The modes:
* '''Compacted View''': shows:
** Available Items
** Restricted Items with the exception of:
*** Unclaimed Items
* '''Detailed View''': shows everything

==Forbidding Stone through Inventory==

Note that if you forbid a type of stone (or [[block]]) using the Inventory menu, you will also forbid ''every workshop and building'' made from that particular type of stone (or block). This is a common cause of dwarves suddenly refusing to perform assigned tasks in workshops. Use {{k|t}} or <d,b,c> to check for forbidden workshops (or other items) and to reclaim them - use Enter to affect a rectangular area, or click with your mouse on specific items or buildings.

Some players make a point to use only [[block]]s for their workshops, so forbidding all of a particular type of stone won't stop work in every workshop built from that stone. (And then they don't use this menu to forbid blocks.)

''Warning:'' With a mature fort with extensive amounts of rock laying around, simply viewing the Stone category can cause the game to completely lock up as the CPU processes the list, sometimes for several minutes depending on the abilities of your computer. If you experience this, use of the "page up" and "page down" keys can allow safely skipping this section.

{{Category|Fortress mode}}
{{Category|Interface}}

v0.34:Dog

2013-05-02T19:20:25Z

Jez9999:

{{Quality|Exceptional|08:28, 1 July 2010 (UTC)}}
{{Creaturelookup/0
|bone=4-11
|meat=6-13
|fat=6-13
|lung=2
|heart=0-1
|intestine=1
|liver=0-1
|tripe=0-1
|sweetbread=0-1
|spleen=0-1
|kidney=0-2
|brain=1
|skull=1
|skin=hide
|contrib=no
|wiki=yes
}}
{{av}}
{{creaturedesc}}

'''Dogs''' are common [[domestic animal]]s that can be [[animal trainer|trained]] to assist your dwarves in [[combat]] or [[hunting]] as either war dogs or hunting dogs. Like all tame animals they can serve as an [[butcher|emergency food supply]] and provide you with [[bones]], [[leather]], and [[skull]]s. Dogs do not require any food.

== Using dogs ==

Dogs left to their own devices will wander around, spending most of their time in [[Meeting hall|meeting areas]], and attacking any [[invader|hostiles]] they see.

As with any friendly creature, dogs can spot [[ambusher]]s and thieves. You can assign dogs to [[restraint]]s to act as guard dogs. Guard dogs work particularly well when placed behind a hall of [[trap]]s or other siege-breaking devices. The traps will prevent aggressive invaders from harming the dogs, while the dogs prevent thieves from sneaking past the traps into the base. (Ideally, the dogs should be out of view of the trap corridor to prevent injury from ranged weapons.) Hunting dogs may be particularly well-suited to guard duty because of their improved [[observer]] skills.

You can assign a war dog or hunting dog to a dwarf via his preferences menu ({{K|v}}, select dwarf, {{K|p}}, {{K|e}}) to help him in combat. It will follow the dwarf like a [[pet]].

'''Note:''' ''Once a dog is assigned to a dwarf it can not be unassigned nor placed in a [[cage]]. A work-around for this is, when you train the dog, to use the dwarf you want the dog to be assigned to. Unassigned war dogs and hunting dogs follow the dwarf who trained them, but can still be caged. Assigned dogs '''can''' be [[pasture]]d; this is another option for keeping them away from danger if you have some advance warning. It's also a good idea if you decide to train the owner in a [[danger room]].''

'''Note:''' ''Using a [[civilian alert]] to keep civilians away from fighting affects war dogs as well, stopping them from following your soldiers into combat.''{{bug|1058}}

'''Note:''' ''War dogs can also be slaughtered for food.''

== Hunting dogs ==

''"A hunting animal will target the creature its owner is targeting if the owner is hunting, and it will be sneaking without a movement penalty if it is reasonably close to its hunting owner. A hunting animal notices creatures from farther away, although this isn't exactly effective if it decides to target what its owner is targeting. It all needs a bit of work, but that is true of hunting in general."'' -[[Main:Toady One|Toady One]], long ago 

== War dogs ==
Because of their training, war dogs do more damage in combat than untrained dogs.

Against heavily [[armor]]ed and armed opponents, dogs (war or hunting) can die quite easily, but that doesn't mean they are ''useless''. Also, although a war dog is not nearly as dangerous against an armored opponent as an axe lord, they occasionally get lucky, and a pack of war dogs can be very dangerous indeed. They can also be used as walking meatshields, taking hits that would have otherwise injured your dwarves.

For this reason, some players attach them to any permanent close-combat military, and/or to any dwarf that regularly steps outside. However, the down side to assigning them to military dwarves is that they are very likely to die, since dogs move much faster than fully-armored dwarves and thus frequently charge in unassisted. A dead pet causes a serious unhappiness spike, and [[tantrum]]s with legendary weapon skills mixed in can really maximize the [[fun]].

{{gamedata}}
{{Creatures}}
{{Category|Animals}}

v0.34:Cat

2013-05-02T19:20:12Z

Jez9999:

{{quality|Exceptional|08:06, 30 June 2010 (UTC)}}
{{Creaturelookup/0
|bone=0-4
|meat=0-7
|fat=0-6
|intestine=0-1
|skin=hide
|skull=1
|contrib=no
|wiki=yes
}}
{{av}}
{{creaturedesc}}

'''Cats''' will kill [[vermin]] in and around your fortress. They are fairly weak animals in combat (but combat can be quite random, and they have been known to surprise players on the rare occasion). They also seem to want to wander every room, hall and mineshaft at least once, perhaps due to some modeling of curiosity. Cats do not require any food.

Cats cannot be assigned as [[pet|pets]]; instead, cats choose [[dwarves]] as owners. Cats randomly choose from all the dwarves on the map, but have a ''much'' higher probability of choosing a [[dwarf]] who has the [[preferences|preference]] "''admires cats for their aloofness''". If a cat is caged, it will not adopt; however, it may adopt the moment it is taken from the cage (perhaps to be immediately [[butcher|butchered]]), regardless of who removes it from the cage.

Cats are useful around the fort to prevent the unhappy thoughts produced by vermin and also for producing large numbers of kittens. If you can resist their cuteness and charm, and you get to them before they adopt a dwarf, [[:Image:Cat_Meat_Roast.JPG|cats can be butchered]] to provide a small, never-ending trickle of [[skin]], [[bone|bones]] and [[meat]] for your fort. As a breeding pair of cats only costs 22 embark points, this is well worth considering - just cage and/or butcher the kittens as they are born, lest the kittens grow to adopt a dwarf before their last voyage. (See [[Meat industry#Breeding|Breeding]].)

Cats are also infamous for the phenomenon known as [[catsplosion]]. If you are not careful, your cat population may explode causing your [[Frames per second|FPS]] to plummet. This can be hard to resolve due to the fact that [[Trap#Upright_Spear.2FSpike|killing]] [[pet|pets]] causes a strong unhappy [[thought]] to their owners.

Kittens can not be butchered for bones: only skulls will be created. Immature adult cats (less than 2 years old) may return about 2 meat, fat & bone, 1 skin, and 1 skull, or may only return a skull, while full adults (> 2 yrs) consistently return about 6-7 meat & fat. Unfortunately there is no in-game way to tell for sure whether a particular animal is an immature or full adult. (Note that other animals also have smaller immature sizes and butchering returns, but most other immature domestics return a more reasonable percentage of adult returns; for example, immature dogs consistently return about 50% of adult returns and include byproducts (e.g. bones & skin), compared to cats' 0-30% and sometimes no byproducts but the skull.)

If there's a desperate need to maximize cat-butchering returns, one can partly work around the lack of age info by slaughtering one-by-one the first-listed (therefore, usually, oldest) cats in the unit or animal screen until the returns drop to immature-sized returns, then waiting some months or a year for the remaining kitties to <s>stew</s> mature for a while.

Cats, by nature, will attempt to haul vermin to their owners. The owner will then dismiss the cat, at which point the cat will drop the remains for a dwarf with [[labor|refuse hauling]] enabled to clean up.

{{mod|section}}
For those who want to "spay and neuter" their current cat population you can open the raw data file "creature_domestic.txt" in your save directory, find the "Cat" entry, and remove [CHILD:1]. Adding it back will re-enable breeding if your population gets too low. If you modify the default raw file instead, your fortress won't begin with an initial cat population boom, so your dwarves will either have to [[trade]] for more cats or do without.

{{gamedata}}
{{Creatures}}
{{Category|Animals}}

v0.34:Unit list

2013-04-28T19:55:17Z

Jez9999:

{{quality|Masterwork|04:36, 18 May 2012 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

The '''unit list''' is [[menu]] screen which lists [[creature]]s on the map. It is accessible with {{k|u}}, and is subdivided into four separate screens, whose individual counts are visible at the top of the screen. All have four options: {{k|v}}iewing the creature, zooming to the {{k|c}}reature location, opening the {{k|m}}[[manager|anager]], and {{k|r}}emoving a job order (although this is currently only usable for actual citzens).

The first and primary screen is the Citizens screen, which lists your dwarves according to their [[profession]]. Dwarves are ordered by category: [[mining]], [[carpentry]], [[stoneworker|stoneworking]], [[ranger]]s, [[metalsmith]]s, [[jeweler]]s, [[craftsdwarf|craftsdwarves]], [[fishery worker]]s, [[farmer]]s, [[peasant]]s, active-duty [[soldier]]s, [[children]], and finally [[children#Babies|babies]]. It shows the current [[job]] of each dwarf, highlighted in light blue; repeating tasks are additionally reported with a "/R" at the end, and joblessness is reported with a yellow "No Job." Any [[administrator]]s will appear in purple where they would appear normally according to their profession. Position in the sublists is determined by the order at which the dwarves arrived. If the unit's name is flashing in this list, it means that they have attained "legendary" skill level.

The second screen lists livestock. This is useful for quickly zooming to particular animals; most animal management actually happens in the animal [[status]] screen.

The third lists "Other". Any creatures that are neither dwarves nor dwarven livestock are listed under Other; this means that the list is populated by ''visible'' local [[biome|wildlife]] (there may be unseen creatures underground), [[caravan]] traders and guards (as well as their pack animals and for-sale animals), exposed [[thief|thieves]] and [[ambush]]es, the contents of [[siege]]s, and anything [[megabeast|really]] [[titan|scary]]. This list is most useful for zooming on their location, and lists a few statuses: wild animal ([[creature|wildlife]]), domesticated ([[pet]]s), domesticated (caged) (pets in [[cage]]s), hostile ([[thief|thieves]]), invader ([[ambush]]es), uninvited guest ([[werebeast]]s, [[megabeast]]s, and [[forgotten beast]]s), and friendly ([[trader]]s, the [[outpost liaison]], and caravan guards). This menu is important for keeping track of the local wildlife; regular looks may very well save you from a deadly [[giant lion]] attack.

The final list is the Dead/Missing list, which keeps tabs on everything that entered the map and didn't leave. This is the best record of your [[hunting]] returns, siege rebuffs, [[unfortunate accident|accident]] victims, and battle casualties. As a dead or missing list, it reports either Deceased or Missing; the missing status will be tacked on the moment a dwarf goes missing, not a week later as with the [[announcement]], making it extremely useful for checking for [[vampire]]s. For fortresses with long histories, this list may very well be hundreds or even thousands of units long.

{{Category|Interface}}

v0.34:Quickstart guide

2013-04-28T13:47:33Z

Jez9999: /* Nobles */

{{quality|Exceptional|18:27, 29 April 2012 (UTC)}}{{av}}

<div style="font-size:120%">
:''This is a quickstart guide for [[Dwarf fortress mode]] for those who have never played before who quickly want to jump in head-first.''
:''If you are looking to learn adventure mode instead, see the [[Adventure mode quick start]] guide.''
</div>
<div style="font-size:120%">
:'''''Also see [[Tutorials]] for more detailed tutorials that people have submitted.'''''
</div>
{{TipBox2|float=right|Before you get started...|Always remember that '''losing is [[fun]]!''' Be prepared to lose a few fortresses before you get all the way through this guide – it can be easy to accidentally kill the entire fortress while learning. But remember: losing means that next time, ''you'll remember how you lost.'' In a big way, Dwarf Fortress uses the principle of learning from one's mistakes.}}

So, you want to play '''Dwarf Fortress''', but you have no idea what to do. That's understandable; in Dwarf Fortress you can really do anything you like. It is a huge, complex, and totally open-ended game. But in order to do anything, first you need a sustainable fortress. It turns out that this is not as hard as you might think.

As this article doesn't always contain the exact key sequences needed to do everything described, you will likely need to refer to the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] and the rest of the wiki while reading this.

[[File:FlowchartDF.png|thumb|500px|right|[[Main:From Caravan to Happy Dwarves|From Caravan to Happy Dwarves]] - This is a flowchart showing approximately what sequence of actions players usually take when starting up a new fort. Feel free to ignore it if you want. It's not necessary to refer to this to understand the rest of the guide, but by the time you finish the guide it will probably all make sense.]]

__TOC__

= Common UI Concepts =

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Keeping Up|While the guide contains many links, you may still need to look something up. Refer to the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] or use the wiki [[Special:Search|search]] function. Also, don't hesitate to [[Main:Troubleshooting|ask for help]] if you can't find answers on the wiki.}}
{{KeyConventions}}

=World Generation=

The first thing you will need to do is [[World generation|generate a new world]]. Unlike many games, the world that your game takes place in will always be procedurally randomly generated by you or someone else. There is no "default" or "standard" world.

Luckily the basic version of this process is rather simple, and doesn't usually take too long unless your computer is a bit outdated or the world's history is set to Long.

{{TipBox2|titlebg=#00a|Starting World|
For your first game, [[World generation|generate a new world]] using the {{DFtext|Create New World!}} option in the main menu with the following options:

* {{DFtext|World Size}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|History}} is {{DFtext|Short|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Civilizations}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Sites}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Beasts}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Natural Savagery}} is {{DFtext|Very Low|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Mineral Occurrence}} is {{DFtext|Frequent|3:1}}

This should help to avoid difficulties.
}}

= Pre-Embark =

:''Also see: [[Embark]]''

'''Embarking''' is the process of choosing a site, outfitting your initial dwarves, and sending them on their way.

Select {{DFtext|Start Playing}} from the main menu, then select {{DFtext|Dwarf Fortress}}.

The map you see on the right is the '''World Map''' which will show you the whole world. The one in the middle is the '''Region Map''' which will show you a zoomed-in view of the part of the world indicated by the cursor in the world map. The '''Local Map''' on the left will show a zoomed-in view of the part of the region indicated by the cursor in the region map. In the local map area there will be a highlighted embark region that you can move around with {{K|u}} {{K|m}} {{K|k}} {{K|h}}. This highlighted square is what will become your play area after you embark. Use {{k|↑}} {{k|↓}} {{k|←}} {{k|→}} to move the region and world cursors around. Hold down {{K|Shift}} while doing this to move more rapidly.

== Choosing a Good Site ==

Choosing a good embark site is crucial for beginners. Advanced players can create a functional fortress on a glacier, but for now, lets stick to dwarf (and newbie) friendly environments. You will want to look for certain features in your initial embark site that will make your first fort much easier to manage.

{{TipBox2|titlebg=#00a|Starting Site|
[[File:Quickstart-good-location.png|thumb|300px|right|An example of a good starting site.]]
For your first game, find a site with the following properties:
*'''NO [[Aquifer]]''' (This is '''''very''''' important!)
*'''Trees:''' Forested or Heavily Forested
*'''Temperature:''' Warm
*'''Surroundings:''' Calm or at least '''not''' Sinister, Haunted, or Terrifying
*'''Clay or Soil''' is important to make farming easier when starting out
*'''Shallow Metals''' (That's Metals, plural, not Metal. You want more than one.)
*A '''River''' if possible
*'''Deep Metal(s)''' if possible
*'''Flux Stone''' if possible

You may want to use the {{K|f}}ind tool to help you find a site. You may find it easier to put only some of the criteria into the tool (at the very least, No Aquifer). Once the find tool has finished running, the general areas which it has found will be indicated by flashing characters on the map.

Notes about find tool:
"Calm" is classified as Medium Evil, Low Savagery. (See [[Surroundings#Combinations_of_surroundings|the chart here]] for why.) The find tool will also only indicate a general area so you will still need to check the attributes manually by moving between flashing regions and by moving around in each one until you find the most suitable site.

The find tool may take 1-2 minutes to run, when it's done, '''be sure to press {{K|ESC}} to look around at the different sites it returns''' (look for flashing Xs on the world map). As you move your yellow X over the flashing suggested sites, the info bar on the right will tell you soil, minerals, aquifer, etc. Choose the one that looks best to you!

Your site may have multiple biomes overlapping it. If so make sure to press {{K|F1}}, {{K|F2}}, etc, to take a look at all of them. They may each have significantly different characteristics.

See '''[[/Starting site|Starting site]]''' for more info on why these characteristics are important.}}

Press {{K|e}} to embark once you're sure you have the right area highlighted on the local map.

== Skills and Equipment ==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Optional: Preparing Carefully|If, at this point, you'd like to get into all of the details of picking individual skills and equipment for your expedition, select {{DFtext|Prepare for the journey carefully}} and see '''[[Quickstart_guide/Preparing_carefully|Preparing carefully]]''' for instructions. '''This is completely optional.'''}}

Now the '''Prepare for the Journey''' screen should appear. You will be given the choice to either:
*{{DFtext|Play Now!}}
*{{DFtext|Prepare for the journey carefully}}.

Selecting {{DFtext|Play Now!}} will start you out with a default set of equipment that is reasonably safe, allowing you to skip having to set up your skills and equipment. If you'd like to get going now, just select that option.

=A Minimal Fortress=
[[File:Quickstart-map-starting.png|thumb|right|Starting out. In this example the dwarves will be digging out an entrance tunnel in the sandy cliff on the right. (You can use {{K|Tab}} to show or hide the overview map.)]]

At this point you have embarked and your dwarves have arrived at their destination. You will see your dwarves clustered around their wagon full of supplies somewhere near the center of your map. '''Immediately hit {{K|Space}} to pause the game''' unless it is already paused.

==Surveying the Area==
'''Do not unpause the game just yet.''' Take a look around. Use the {{K|k}} command and the arrow keys. Look up and down a few [[z-level]]s with {{K|<}} and {{K|>}}. Place the cursor on various tiles to familiarize yourself with what the symbols mean. If you get lost, you can press {{K|F1}} to return to the wagon. (You can define more [[hotkeys]] later, to jump quickly to other sites of interest.)

Notice the terrain features, the vegetation, and any minerals visible. If you chose a site with flowing water, where is it? What about pools of water? The more carefully you examine your site before breaking ground, the better off you will be.

Remember that this is more of a simulation than a game. It is not "play balanced", and you can very easily find yourself in impossible situations. That is all part of the [[fun]] because even when you lose, you create an interesting story.

Your wagon serves as the initial meeting area for your dwarves. Since you should have started in a non-freezing, calm (low savagery), non-evil biome, you shouldn't face any immediate danger, but if for some reason the area around your wagon proves to be unsafe, immediately designate another meeting zone using {{K|i}} (see ''Temporary Meeting Area'' below).

==Controlling Your Dwarves==
The first thing to keep in mind is that, for the most part, you can't directly control your dwarves the way you control characters in a typical fantasy RPG. Instead, you '''designate''' things that need to be done and then dwarves with the appropriate labor assignments will decide what to start working on based on a set of largely hard-coded priorities.

For example, if a dwarf needs to eat then he will go eat and only get around to digging a tunnel once he is done eating. It is also possible to designate things that no dwarf is able to do. For example, if you designate an area to mine but no dwarf has mining as one of his allowed labors or no dwarf has a pickaxe then the mining will never get done, and the game will not always advise you of why.

So what you are doing throughout the game is essentially giving your dwarves a detailed group-wide to-do list, but it's up to them to figure out which one of them will execute any given task if the task is even possible. Often many of the details of how a task is performed (such as exactly which rock will be used to make crafts) are left up to them.

==Strike The Earth!==
Generally, you will want to get all your dwarves and supplies inside a protected area as quickly as possible. So the first thing you will do is {{K|d}}esignate some areas to "mine".

Decide where you will build your main entrance. The best thing to do is just put it near your wagon to make it faster and less work to haul all of your supplies inside.

To designate an area for digging:
#Hit {{K|d}} to bring up the [[Designations Menu]].
#Hit {{K|d}} again to select Mine. (Note: Dwarves mine horizontally, not downwards. Use Channel instead if you want to dig down.)
#Place the cursor on one corner of the rectangular area you want to designate and press {{K|Enter}}.
#Move the cursor to the other corner of the rectangle and press {{K|Enter}}. A rectangle will be highlighted and a miner dwarf will start to dig out this area once you exit the menu (with {{K|Esc}}) and unpause the game with {{K|Space}}.

This is basically how all of the designation commands work. Everything has to be designated one rectangle at a time, but rectangles can also be one tile wide, or just one single tile.

If your wagon is near a [[cliff]], you can just designate a tunnel to mine ({{K|d}}-{{K|d}}) into the cliff to create an entryway. If you are on flat land with no cliff near the wagon, [[channel]] out a small rectangle (perhaps 3x3) on the surface with {{K|d}}-{{K|h}} to create a sort of pit with ramps on the edges, then go down one z-level with {{K|>}} and tunnel into the wall of the pit (with {{K|d}}-{{K|d}}) to create your entry. (Think of this as creating your own cliff, with the inside wall of the pit being the "cliff".)

Dig a hallway one tile wide and ''at least'' 10 long, ideally more like 20. This will be your entryway.

Your entryway defines the boundary between your safe and protected inner fort, and the big bad outside world. You want this to be your only entrance so that you only have to worry about defending this one opening.

A guide to starting a fortress can be found [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLYDcuk29bE&feature=plcp here]

==Delving Secure Lodgings==
[[File:Quickstart-level0.png|thumb|right|Level 0: This is the ground level which we'll call "level 0". The entrance tunnel is on the left where the refuse and wood stockpiles are partially visible. Inside are the general storage area, trade depot, stairwell, and farm plot.]]
Near the beginning of the entryway, build a 5x5 room, and link it to the entrance tunnel with a 3-wide passageway. From the link to the opening, extend the entrance tunnel to a 3-wide tunnel. At the end of the entrance tunnel, dig a 3x3 room, which will later become your main stairwell. Two tiles away from that, dig an 11x11 room, which will later become your general stockpile, and connect it to the stairwell with a 1-wide passageway.

Don't make any of these rooms too big or your miner will take forever to dig the rooms out, especially if he is digging in stone instead of soil. (Digging through soil is much faster.) You may want to designate one room at a time, then wait for it to be mined out before designating the next room.

=== Stockpiles ===
[[File:Quickstart-custom-stockpile.png|right|thumb|Keep corpses, refuse, stone and wood out of general use stockpiles. You can come back and change the settings on this stockpile using {{K|q}}, selecting the stockpile, then pressing {{K|s}}. Try to remember to come back here to disable/forbid types of things as you create more specific stockpiles for them.]]
'''Stockpiles''' are very important. These areas are where your dwarves will drop things for storage when they aren't needed elsewhere. To create a '''general purpose stockpile''' for your first storage area:
#Hit {{K|p}} to open the Stockpiles menu.
#Use {{K|t}} to change the [[Stockpile#Custom_stockpiles|custom stockpile]] settings to {{K|e}}nable everything but '''Corpses''', '''Refuse''', '''Stone''', '''Gems''', and '''Wood'''. Use directional keys, {{K|e}}nable, {{K|d}}isable to do this.
#{{k|Esc}} out of that screen back to the stockpiles menu.
#Hit {{K|c}} to select Custom Stockpile.
#Designate the whole 11x11 storage room as a custom stockpile. This works just like designating an area to dig: place the cursor on one corner of the room, hit {{K|Enter}}, move to the opposite corner, and hit {{K|Enter}} again.
#Press {{K|Esc}} to get out of the Stockpiles menu.
Once you exit the stockpiles menu you should see dwarves running off to haul everything from your wagon into the new stockpile area. Later you can change what sort of things the stockpile accepts by hitting {{K|q}} (Set Building Tasks/Prefs), placing the cursor on the stockpile, then pressing {{K|s}} to get to the stockpile settings.

It is particularly important to '''keep wood, stone, refuse, and corpses out of your general purpose stockpile''', so you may want to double check to make sure all of these things are disabled in the stockpile settings. Failure to keep these things out of this stockpile will cause problems.

Note- When assigning stockpiles, you should make sure they're in a vacant area. IE; the tiles should only "contain" the ground. Dwarves will not haul stuff to filled tiles, so make sure the area is vacant (Assign the area for dump) before assigning a stockpile.

=== Stairways ===
Designate a Downward Stairway in the middle of your 3x3 room with {{K|d}}-{{K|j}}. Notice that after your miner digs the stairway, it doesn't automatically create another stairway on the z-level below. If you hit {{K|>}} to move the view down a z-level you'll see that there's no stairway below, but there is a revealed tile of rock/soil. Because of the down stairway that was dug, this tile is now accessible to miners. You can then designate an Up/Down Stairway on it with {{K|d}}-{{K|i}} and the miner dwarf will dig it out. Below that you can then dig out another up/down stairway and so on. For now just dig down one level; we will deepen the stairwell later.

==Stout Labor==
'''Labors''' are how you control what types of tasks a dwarf will do. For example, if the Fishing labor is enabled for a dwarf, that dwarf is allowed to engage in fishing.

When dwarves are idle, it could be because you haven't given them anything to do, or it could be because none of the idle dwarves have been told that they're allowed to do the types of tasks you've designated. For example, if you designate an area to mine, but none of the dwarves have the mining labor enabled, they will all just sit around ignoring your mining designation thinking that it isn't their job.

Dwarves will automatically have some labors enabled if they start out with skill in those labors, and some labors (such as hauling and cleaning) are enabled for all dwarves by default. This is why you didn't need to enable any labors on dwarves to get them to haul and mine, but later you may need a labor that no dwarf is currently capable of.

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#aa0|Dwarf Therapist|You may have noticed that the UI for managing dwarves is a bit difficult to use. If you are using a supported operating system, the utility '''[[Utilities#Dwarf_Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]]''' can make this a million times easier, especially later when you're dealing with twenty times the number of dwarves you have now.}}
With the digging and stockpile taken care of, look over your dwarves' assigned [[labor]]s. Press {{K|v}} (View Units) then place the cursor on a dwarf. Now, press {{K|p}}-{{K|l}} for "preferences: labors". You will see a list of labor categories that you can navigate using {{K|-}}{{K|+}}. You can enter each category and toggle each labor off and on with {{K|Enter}} and get back out with {{K|Esc}}.

After exiting the View Units menu, you can use {{K|u}} (the units screen) to help you locate dwarves. Hit {{K|u}}, select a dwarf, hit {{K|c}} for "zoom to creature" and you'll automatically be placed in view mode on that dwarf. (Then use {{K|p}}-{{K|l}} to get to the labor configuration menu if necessary.)

Even if no dwarves have the corresponding skills, ensure that someone has [[wood burner]], [[furnace operator]], [[wood cutter]], [[plant gathering]], [[gem cutter]], [[armorsmith]], [[weaponsmith]], [[blacksmith]], [[metal crafter]], and [[engraver]] (stone detailing) enabled. If you have dwarves with hunting or fishing, ''disable'' those until you have your initial fort completed. When you're first starting out you don't want dwarves wandering around alone where they can get killed.

Any unskilled dwarf can perform any labor given the necessary equipment and materials. Dwarves with no skill will simply be slow and produce a smaller quantity of lower quality goods in a given time period, but they will gain skill points as they do so.

==Temporary Meeting Area==
Using the {{k|i}} key, create an activity zone (at least 5x5) in the stairwell or general stockpile area (be careful not to make this too small lest your [[overcrowding|overcrowded]] animals start fighting). This works much like creating a stockpile except that you draw the rectangle first then hit keys to define what the area is for. Draw the rectangle over the area then set it to be a {{K|m}}eeting area. Your idle dwarves will hang around in this area, hopefully keeping them inside the fort and out of trouble.

==Refuse==
[[File:Dwarf fort tut miasma.jpg|thumb|right|Avoiding [[Miasma]]]]
Outside your fort entrance, use {{K|p}} followed by {{K|r}} to create a stock{{K|p}}ile for [[Stockpile#Refuse|{{K|r}}efuse]] ''at least'' 5x5 in size. This should be outside in the open or you will have problems with [[Miasma]]. If you do not disable [[vermin]] (Item Types -> remains), you will probably have to expand it later as it will fill up with vermin remains rather quickly. If you are seeing refuse appear in your general-purpose stockpile instead of the refuse pile, use {{K|q}} on the general stockpile and check its {{K|s}}ettings to make sure refuse has been disabled.

==Woodcutting==
Create another stock{{K|p}}ile for {{K|w}}ood outside your entrance. As it will only be temporary, don't make it too big (maybe 5x3, or 15 tiles total). Later you will move this closer to your carpenter's workshop once you build one.

Press {{K|q}}, place the cursor on your wagon, and hit {{K|x}} to deconstruct it. This will flag the wagon for disassembly. Eventually a carpenter will come along and turn the useless wagon into a few units of wood. Removing other buildings is done the same way.

Also near the entry, designate at least 10 trees to be chopped down with {{K|d}}-{{K|t}}. Don't designate too many trees at the beginning, or your dwarves will spend all of their time chopping them down and hauling them rather than doing other work.

==Pasture==
If you have any grazing animals with you, such as the draft animals used to pull your wagon, they will die if they are kept away from grass for too long. Use {{K|i}} to create a Pe{{K|n}}/[[Pasture]] zone over a grassy area outside and assign your grazing animals to it using {{K|N}} (while still selecting the zone). This area needs to be about 10x10 or so to ensure they have enough grass and don't trample it all.

The amount of grass required varies greatly depending on the type(s) of animals being pastured. If you intend to keep grazing animals permanently, you may need vastly larger pastures later. As an alternative, you might wish to [[Butcher's shop|slaughter]] your largest animals for food and materials.

==Bare necessities==
To keep functioning, your dwarves require constant supplies of food and drink. You can use the {{k|z}} stock screen to monitor how much food and drink are available. Luckily, your dwarves will eat almost everything raw--if your food starts running low, {{k|d}}esignate some {{k|p}}lants to be gathered on the surface (similar to tree cutting), or build a [[butcher]] shop ({{k|b}}, {{k|w}}, {{k|u}}) and slaughter one of your animals (press {{k|v}}, move the cursor to the animal, then press {{k|p}}, {{k|s}}). Drinks can be more problematic. You can specify a "water source" activity zone ({{k|i}}) around a lake or river on the surface to keep your dwarves from dying of thirst, but dwarves deprived of [[alcohol]] slow down and become unhappy. If your alcohol supply is running low, build a [[still]] ({{k|b}}, {{k|w}}, {{k|l}}) and brew a few plants (if you don't have plants, you'll need to {{k|d}}designate some {{k|p}}lants to be gathered on the surface). Keep a wary eye on your supplies; the only warning that your stocks have run out is a dead dwarf.

==Sustenance by Plow==
For long-term food and alcohol supply, you'll want to setup a farm. Dig out an area in a [[soil]] layer, accessible from inside your fort that you've created so far. You must pick an ''underground'' area with mud or soil. Hopefully you have chosen a site with a soil layer as this will make farming much easier, but if not then you will need to [[Irrigation|irrigate]] to create the required mud on stone floors.

Now use {{K|b}} to build a 3x3 [[Farming|farm {{K|p}}lot]]. Notice that some things like buildings and constructions are not designated corner-to-corner like digging designations, stockpiles, or activity zones. Instead, you define the width and height of the "building" using {{K|u}}{{K|m}}{{K|k}}{{K|h}} then position it with the directional keys. So hit {{K|u}}{{K|u}}{{K|k}}{{K|k}} to make the plot 3x3 and position it in the room you just excavated.

Remember you must enable the "Farming (Fields)" labour for at least one dwarf or the farm plot won't get built and farming will not take place. (If you selected "Play Now" earlier then you will start with a dwarf with farming enabled.)

{{K|Esc}} out of the build menu and wait for the farmer dwarf to create the plot. Once the plot is built, use {{K|q}} to set the plot to grow [[plump helmet]]s during all seasons. You can use {{K|+}} and {{K|-}} to select the crop. You will need to press {{K|a}}, {{K|b}}, {{K|c}}, {{K|d}} and select Plump Helmets for each season, otherwise you'll end up with an idle field for 3/4ths of the year.

==Designing Your First Fortress==
While this guide recommends a vertical fortress design around a central stairwell with each z-level being used for a particular purpose, it is really not that important to use this design for your first fortress. Therefore, feel free to put any of the areas described in the rest of this guide on your main level or wherever you want as long as dwarves can get to them without going outside the fort. In other words, you can think of the "levels" described in the guide more as areas that can really all be on the same level if you have space. Later you can ponder over what makes things most efficient, but for now just do whatever you find easiest.

To get stone though you may need to dig down a bit if you have more than one z-level of sand/clay/soil on the surface.

==Workshops==
[[File:Quickstart-level-1-workshops.png|right|thumb|Level -1: Mason's, carpenter's, mechanic's, and jeweler's workshops surrounded by appropriate stockpiles.]]
Dig your stairwell down one level (with {{K|d}}-{{K|i}}), if you haven't already, and create four 5x5 rooms off of the stairwell. These will hold your [[Mechanic's_workshop|mechanic's]], [[Mason's_workshop|mason's]], [[Carpenter's_workshop|carpenter's]], and [[Jeweler's_workshop|jeweler's]] [[workshop]]s.

Use {{K|b}}-{{K|w}} to build the workshops, and select some sort of junk stone for the material. If you are still digging in soil and don't have stone yet, just use wood. (The material really doesn't matter in this case.) Put each workshop in the center of each room, and use the remaining space for the appropriate type of stockpile (wood for your carpenter, stone for your mason and mechanic, and gems for your jeweler.) If the construction of any building gets "suspended" just use {{K|q}} to unsuspend it. (This can happen if stone is blocking the way. See "Garbage" Dumping below if you find you need to remove some stone.)

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Too Good for Menial Peon Work|Certain labors are crucial in setting up a fort. At some point you may want to disable less important labors such as hauling for dwarves with the crucial skills of mining, masonry, architecture, carpentry, mechanics, and maybe others. You want these dwarves working on creating beds, doors, and trap components before hauling stone and cleaning.}}
Remove the temporary wood stockpile you created outside (using {{K|p}}-{{K|x}}) and dwarves will move the wood to the new wood storage area.

Go to your mason's shop with {{K|q}} and use {{K|a}} to queue up one [[table]] and one [[throne]]/chair. You will find out why you need these in a second, but now is a good time to start building them. If you still don't have any stone at this point just use wood at the carpenter's workshop.

=="Garbage" Dumping==
'''Note that garbage is not the same thing as refuse.''' [[Stockpile#Refuse|Refuse]] is [[Miasma|rotting stuff]]. Garbage is anything you designate to be hauled to a [[Activity_zone#Garbage_Dump|garbage dump]], even important things that aren't really garbage. Think of your garbage dump zone as a way to specify that objects you select will be brought to a specific area.

Use {{K|i}} to create a 1x1 activity zone somewhere near your mason's and mechanic's workshops and set it to be a {{K|g}}arbage Dump. Unlike stockpile areas where you are limited to storing one object per tile, any number of items may be piled in a garbage area. That means you will only need one tile to hold as much garbage as you like. Although many of the room sizes in this guide are suggestions, think of the 1x1 garbage dump size as mandatory. At some point you will probably want to retrieve an important item from your garbage dump, and the larger your dump is, the harder it will be to find anything in it.

Press {{k|d}}-{{k|b}} to get to the mass dump/forbid screen and select the {{k|d}}ump option. With "dump" selected, designate a rectangle over all of the loose stones cluttering up your living area. This will designate this stone to be transported to the closest garbage dump zone.

Once the stone from your living area has been moved there, it will be set as [[Forbid|forbidden]]. Before it can be used you will need to unforbid it using the same {{k|d}}-{{k|b}} screen, hitting {{k|c}} to claim it.

Congratulations! Knowing how to use garbage zones and dump commands puts you head and shoulders above most newbs. It takes some people weeks to figure this out.

==Trade Depot==
Build a [[trade depot]] using {{K|b}}-{{K|D}} in the 5x5 room you created near your entrance. This is where caravans will park their stuff and where [[trading]] will take place when one arrives. (as stated earlier, the wagons are 3x3 so the entrance tunnel needs to be at least 3x3 for the wagons to go by).

You will need one [[architect]], which will be enabled on your mason if you selected {{DFtext|Play now!}} at embark. If you didn't, you can enable it in any dwarf's labor preferences (you may wish to make your mason the architect, but any dwarf can fill the role). Depending on the material you use to build the depot, you also need a [[carpenter]] if you decide to use wood, or a [[mason]] if you decide to use stone.

'''Note:''' You can also build a depot out of metal, but this requires a [[metalsmith]], which you may not have yet. Also, there are many better uses for metal, so you're better off choosing a more common material, like stone or wood.

===Accessibility===
{{hidden||headerstyle="text-align:left;"|
'''Use {{K|D}} from the main menu to make sure your depot is accessible!''' This command is only available once the depot is built (before building, the command will be disabled, and while the depot is under construction everything will flash red until the depot is built). Once completed, checking {{k|D}}epot access will flash some of the following symbols:
* {{raw tile|X|4:4:1}}: This tile is not accessible by wagon. This could be due to a number of reasons:
:* The tile is part of an underground tunnel less than 3 tiles wide.
:* The tile is next to a '''tree''' or '''[[boulder]]'''.
:* The tile is a '''wall''' or part of the '''air''', where it isn't possible for wagons to travel (no, unfortunately, wagons don't fly).
* {{raw tile|W|2:2:1}}: This tile is accessible by wagon. These tiles will radiate outward from the depot, not from the map edges.
:This is '''good''', but does not guarantee wagons will be able to reach the depot. Make sure you see the words {{DFtext|Depot accessible|2:1}} on the left.
* {{raw tile|D|3:2:1}} The depot is accessible via wagon.
* {{raw tile|D|6:2:1}} The depot is '''not''' accessible by wagon. See below.

If you see the message {{DFtext|Depot inaccessible|4:1}} in the menu or the {{raw tile|D|6:2:1}} symbol over the depot, try these solutions:
* Is the entrance to the depot (underground) less than 3 tiles wide? If not, expand the entranceway and try {{k|D}} again.
* Are there trees blocking a path to the depot outside? Try clearing a path by cutting down a few (you probably won't need to cut ''all'' the trees in a 3-tile wide path; usually cut some down where a path of {{raw tile|W|2:2:1}}'s ends and see if that helps.
* Are there [[boulder]]s blocking the path outside? Boulders look like this: {{raw tile|∞|7:0:0}}. To remove them easily, you need an [[engraver]]. If you selected "play now", you should have one already. Select {{k|d}}-{{k|s}}mooth Stone and designate the boulder(s) for smoothing. They should flash this symbol: {{raw tile|┼|7:0:1}}. Once an engraver has removed the boulder(s), check {{k|D}}epot access again.

}} 

==Bedrooms==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Communal Living|When a fort is first getting started, a common [[dormitory]] type [[bedroom]] will suffice for a while, but dwarves will eventually want their own rooms. So feel free to create a [[dormitory]] now if you want and come back later to create individual rooms. You will want an office now though.}}
[[File:Quickstart-level-7-bedrooms.png|left|thumb|Level -7: Meager bedrooms and office. All rooms have doors; the bedrooms have a bed, cabinet, and coffer; and the office has a table and chair.]]
Continue digging your stairwell down about seven more levels. Just create the stairwells for now.

On the lowest level, dig some halls leading to rooms for sleeping quarters. Dwarves don't need much space for living quarters; in fact, you can turn a 1x3 room into decent quarters by smoothing the stone and filling it with some decent quality furniture.

[[Bedroom design|Designing living quarters]] is a matter of personal preference and aesthetic sense. Actual design will be left as an exercise for the player. Just try to keep the bedrooms close to the stairs, and ideally make your access hallways at least two tiles wide so your dwarves don't have to crawl over and under each other to get where they are going.

You will want to create at least eight rooms: seven for your [[bedroom]]s, and one as an [[office]] for your manager/bookkeeper, which, rather than a chest, bed and cabinet, will contain the chair and table you queued up earlier.

==Nobles==
Hit the {{k|n}} key to open up the [[Noble|nobles and administrators]] screen.

The most important positions to assign are '''[[broker]]''', '''[[bookkeeper]]''' and '''[[manager]]'''. Your [[expedition leader]] is a good choice for bookkeeper and manager when starting out. Don't worry that it's just one dwarf doing all this; none of these jobs take very long. The broker should be chosen from one of your other dwarves (rather than being the same as your bookkeeper) so that they're not too busy doing bookkeeping when a trade delegation arrives to actually talk to the traders.

Having a manager will allow you to queue up work orders which will greatly simplify managing your production. Having a bookkeeper will allow you to maintain inventory counts on the {{K|z}} screen so you'll know what you do and don't have. A broker is necessary to trade with a caravan once one has arrived at your trade depot.

[[File:Quickstart-noble-selection.png|right|thumb|Nobles screen. The red stuff turns white once an office is assigned.]]
Don't worry about the [[chief medical dwarf]] yet. He/she will be needed when you set up your [[Healthcare|hospital]] which won't be covered in this guide. Feel free to go check out the [[Healthcare]] guide once you're done.

Lastly, while you are on this screen, highlight the bookkeeper and {{K|s}}et him to work for "Highest Precision" (all counts accurate). This will help train bookkeeping faster and ensure that you aren't dealing with vague inventory counts.

===Offices (Studies)===
Some of your administrative positions (manager and bookkeeper) require an [[office]] in order to function. If your manager, for example, doesn't have an office, you will not be able to do any of the things that require a manager even though you have one assigned.

Earlier you should have queued up a table and throne in your mason's shop, and they should be done by now. Place them in the office (room you created down in the sleeping area) using the {{K|b}}uild command. Once dwarves have installed the furniture, use {{K|q}} to select the chair, select "make study" {{k|r}}, size the room appropriately, and assign the office to your expedition leader (who should be your bookkeeper and manager). Hit {{K|n}} to verify that these positions now have the office they need. If so then you shouldn't see any red.

==Furniture==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Different Names, Same Thing|As you've noticed, some things have different names based on what they're made of (like chairs vs. thrones) even if they're functionally the same. So, if it seems like you can't make something of a particular material, do some poking around and check the wiki.}}
Now would be a good time to start building some [[furniture]]. You could queue up all these items directly from your workshops, but why not give your new manager a little practice?

Using the manager screen {{k|j}}-{{k|m}}, hit {{k|q}} to queue up a new job, and type "bed", and then select "construct bed." Set the quantity to seven. Next, queue up seven wooden [[chest]]s or rock coffers, eight [[door]]s, seven [[cabinet]]s, at least two [[table]]s and two [[throne]]s/chairs. The tables and chairs will go in your [[dining room]], speaking of which...

==Dining and Food Prep Area==
Above the living quarters, and right off the main stairwell, create another four rooms. One will be for general food storage, one a [[dining room|dining hall]], one a [[kitchen]], and one a [[still]]. The still will allow you to make alcohol. The Kitchen will allow you to make [[Cook#Recipes|Prepared food]].

Make the rooms for the kitchen and still 5x5 each. The storage area and dining hall should be larger. Ideally make the dining hall so that it can be further expanded later.

Use {{K|b}}-{{K|w}} to build the still and kitchen in the middle of the 5x5 rooms. Create {{K|f}}ood stockpiles in the remaining space around each workshop, as well as the entire food storage room.

[[File:Quickstart-level-6-dining.png|right|thumb|Level -6: Dining level with dining hall, kitchen, still, and storage area.]]

Go back to your general purpose stockpile on the top level and use {{K|q}} to change the {{K|s}}ettings to {{K|d}}isable Food. This will cause any food in your general purpose stockpile to get moved to your new food-only stockpiles.

Hit {{K|z}} and select ''[[Kitchen]]'' from the top of the screen, then disable all cooking for plants and enable brewing for them so that they will only be used for brewing. Also disable alcoholic beverages for cooking, otherwise your cooks will waste perfectly good hooch in their cooking. The only time you might want to use alcohol in cooking is when you have lots of booze but are running out of food.

If you plan to do any fishing, dig out another area and create a [[Fishery]] on this level so the uncleaned fish your fisherdwarf just caught can be cleaned (gutted) for consumption or cooking. If you plan to do any hunting or [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] any animals, create a [[Butcher's shop]] on this level so animal corpses can be butchered. The fishery/butcher's shop can be placed behind the kitchen or the general food stockpile, for example. A door is recommended for the butcher's shop in order to contain [[Miasma]] should something rot, and to otherwise avoid offending squeamish dwarves.

Eventually go check out the subpage on [[/Stockpiles|Stockpiles]] for more information on fine-tuning these stockpiles for maximum efficiency. For now you can safely procrastinate on this and move on to the next section.

==Placing Furniture==
Once your furnishings are complete, you need to place them in rooms using the {{K|b}}uild command. Make sure each bedroom gets a door, chest, bed and cabinet. Put a door on the office (which should already have a chair and table). Put the new chairs and tables in the dining room. Make more doors and put them on other rooms if you want.

Once dwarves have hauled beds to the bedrooms, use {{K|q}} on the installed beds to define the actual bedrooms from them. Don't worry about assigning the bedrooms to specific dwarves; they will eventually pick their own as long as they have been defined as unowned bedrooms.

==Meeting Hall==
Use {{K|q}} on one of the tables you just placed in the dining room, define the area as a room, and configure it to be a meeting hall. This will cause idle dwarves to hang around in the dining hall. You want idlers in a central location, close to where you will be placing your emergency drawbridge levers. You may want to go remove the temporary meeting area and any other meeting areas that you created earlier (with {{K|i}}).

==Checking Supplies==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Hostile Wilds|Before turning on either hunting or fishing, examine the {{K|u}}nits screen to see if there are any dangerous critters your hunters/fishers need worry about. With hunting especially, you may need to check this screen frequently.}}
Use the {{K|z}} ([[status]]) screen to check your stock levels. How much food and booze do you have left? You only have unprepared food at this point, and the booze you brought with you, but soon you will be making more. If you are running low on food, you can designate gathering some [[shrub|outdoor plants]], [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] some animals, turn on [[fishing]], or turn on [[hunting]] to tide you over for a bit. Hunting and slaughtering animals both require a butcher's shop.

==Brewing and Cooking==
Once your first crop of plump helmets starts to come in, you will want to start [[brewing]] as a [[repeat]]ing task. Also, now would be a good time to start [[cooking]] actual meals rather than forcing your dwarves to eat raw food. Cooking [[Cooking#Recipes|easy meals]] will train dwarves faster, but they may be happier with [[Cooking#Recipes|lavish meals]]. So, you might want to cook easy ones until your cook or cooks skill up to a certain point then have them start making lavish meals. Prepared food is cooked from two (easy), three (fine), or four (lavish) raw food/alcohol ingredients. Each prepared food item will be called a "biscuit", "stew", or "roast" depending on the lavishness of the meal.

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Conserving Resources|Some things absolutely require wood (like beds and charcoal), but others can be made out of more common materials like stone. For this reason it's best, especially in the beginning, to make everything that you can out of stone. For example, you could make wood chests and barrels, but stone coffers and rock pots would let you save wood for things that require it and help you rid yourself of all that stone. And if you decide you want solid gold chests or something later when you have more resources, you can always throw out the rock coffers.}}
Speaking of booze, in order to keep the booze flowing, you will need to create some [[barrel]]s, or some stone [[pot]]s. Your dwarves should have emptied a few barrels by now to get you started, but you will definitely need more. A ''lot'' more. If you have an abundance of trees, then you can designate some more for cutting, and have your carpenter make a bunch of wooden barrels, but it may be more prudent to make a [[Craftsdwarf's workshop]], make sure someone has the [[Stonecrafting]] labor enabled, and build a bunch of rock pots. (Rock pots are essentially barrels made of rock.) And don't worry that you've made too many; you almost can't get enough of them.

Keep checking your food and drink stock levels on the {{K|z}} screen periodically. While cooked food (properly stockpiled) and alcohol don't spoil, there is really no need to stock 2,000 units of dwarven wine at this point. Ten times the number of drinks and meals as you have dwarves is more than enough. If you start running out of food or drinks, designate some wild plants for harvesting, [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] some of your animals, start hunting or fishing, or start more farms.

Actually, now would be a fine time to make another three by three farm. Set it to produce [[sweet pod]]s in the spring and summer, [[cave wheat]] or [[pig tail]]s (your choice) in the fall (autumn), and [[plump helmet]]s in the winter. Having multiple types of plants will give your dwarves more variety in their food and drink, keeping them from [[Thought|grumbling]].

==Storage Space==
{{TipBox2|titlebg=#0a0|float=right|Advanced Stockpiling|Check out the [[/Stockpiles|Stockpiles]] sub page for more information on fine-tuning your stockpiles, especially in the food production area. This is somewhat complicated and it can safely be skipped if you don't feel like tinkering with stockpiles right now.}}
You should probably start making some wooden '''[[Bin|bins]]''' to help you store more stuff in less space. You might not need them yet, but you certainly will later. Bins are somewhat like barrels/pots, but they can store things other than just food and drink. Bins will also reduce the amount of labor needed to [[haul]] things to your trade depot or other stockpiles. So designate some more trees to be chopped down and queue up some bins. As with barrels and pots, you almost can't have enough bins.

=Beyond a Minimal Fortress=

By now you should have your main entrance created, along with a farm, general purpose stockpile, refuse pile (for trash), and [[trade depot]]. Somewhere you should have a mason's shop, a mechanic's shop, a carpenter's shop, and a jeweler's shop, surrounded by appropriate storage piles with garbage zone (for excess stone). You should also have a furnished dining area with kitchen, still, and food storage, and a residential area with furnished bedrooms and an office. You should have selected your administrators, and might even have an optional fishery, butcher's shop, craftsdwarf's workshop, or other stuff.

At this point, you have all the components of a minimal but functional fortress! Your next steps will be to make it safer and better protected, to set up your [[metal industry]], and later to prepare your [[military|militia]].

==Preparing for Immigrants==
Soon you should get some [[Immigration|immigrants]] if you haven't already. When you do get a group of [[Immigration|immigrants]], take a headcount and queue up enough beds, doors, cabinets and chests to make bedrooms for them all. Examine their skills. (This is where [[Utilities#Dwarf_Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]] can come in handy again.) Be sure to enable any labors that they have skills in, but aren't active. Turn any useless dwarves into furnace operators.

==Traps==
Start producing '''[[mechanism]]s''' at your [[mechanic's workshop]]. Queue up ten. After they are built, use them to create [[Trap#Stone-fall_Trap|stone fall traps]] <s>near the start of your entry hall</s> after your trade depot (34.11 caravans activate traps) using {{K|b}}-{{K|T}}. Queue up some [[cage]]s, and more mechanisms, and use these to create some [[Trap#Cage_Trap|cage traps]] right after your stone traps. Cage traps are incredibly effective at stopping ambushers, but traps in general will not protect you from [[thief|thieves and kidnappers]] who will almost always bypass them.

Continue to fill up your entry hall with alternating rows of stone and cage traps as the parts become available.

==Guard Animals==
Create two 1x1 [[pasture]]s near the beginning of your entryway, one on either side, using {{K|i}}. Using the {{K|N}} key inside the zone interface, assign a [[dog]] or other non-grazing animal to each of them. These animals will spot thieves and raiders before they gain entrance to your fortress. Try to pick disposable animals, as they ''will'' be slaughtered by the first ambush raiders. Ideally, don't assign female animals; you want them safe for [[Meat industry#Breeding|breeding]].

==Drawbridge==
Build a [[Bridge|drawbridge]] ({{K|b}}-{{K|g}}) to seal off your entryway. Make sure to use {{K|w}}, {{K|a}}, {{K|d}}, or {{K|x}} to make it raise up in the right direction; otherwise it will just retract (disappear) instead of raising up to form a barrier. If you forget to do this, you will need to rebuild the bridge. ("North" in this case means "up," or "the top of the screen")

Put the drawbridge between the trade depot and the hall-o-traps so you can lock things out of the fort. Build a lever ({{K|b}}-{{K|T}}-{{K|l}}) near your meeting area and connect it to the drawbridge by using {{K|q}} on the lever.

In case of an [[ambush]] or [[siege]], you will want to close up your fort, keeping the goblins out until your [[squad]]s have formed up and are in position. Ideally you want to have enough cage traps to take out most of the goblins so your military will only have to mop up.

==Metal Industry==
[[File:Quickstart-level-2-forge.png|thumb|right|Level -2: Forge and smelters with ore stockpile in the middle.]]
Now, below your first workshop level, dig out four more 5x5 rooms around the stairwell. Three of these will be [[smelter]]s, and one a [[metalsmith's forge]]. Designate stockpiles for {{K|b}}ars around the smelters and forge. The bar stockpiles will hold [[Fuel|coke and charcoal]] and metal [[bar]]s. You will probably need larger bar stockpiles, but you can dig out more space and expand them later.

Also dig out some space and create a stockpile for [[ore]] somewhere nearby. To make an ore stockpile, designate a {{K|s}}tone stockpile, then use {{K|q}} to change the {{K|s}}ettings on it to forbid all types of stone other than ore.

Finally, go to your general purpose stockpile on the top level and use {{K|q}} to disable Bars. Stone should already be disabled on this stockpile, and if so then ore is already disabled for it.

===Wood Burning===
Somewhere near your carpenter's shop, near your wood stockpile, dig out an area and build a [[wood furnace]]. This is where you will create charcoal (see below) and ash (for making soap).

Dwarf Fortress has two forms of carbon which are useful as [[fuel]] in the metal industry: ''charcoal'' (which is charred wood), and ''coke'' (refined coal). They are completely interchangeable. If your map has a lot of '''lignite''' or '''bituminous coal''', you can process that into coke, using charcoal to jump-start the process.

If you don't find coal on your map, you'll need to either dig down to [[magma]] or make charcoal out of wood to run your forges and smelters, but don't worry about this yet. You need to do some digging around.

===Mining===
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|"I have struck what?"|New players who don't have a degree in geology usually find themselves confused as to what all these mineral names mean. In DF you'll never strike "iron ore" but you will strike [[magnetite]] or [[limonite]] which are [[ore]]s of [[iron]]. If you don't know that these things are ores of iron then it obviously won't occur to you to try to smelt iron. Note that ores usually look like {{Raw Tile|£|6:7:1}} before they are mined and {{Raw Tile|*|6:1}} after, though the colors will differ. See '''''[[The Non-Dwarf's Guide to Rock]]''''' to help you figure out exactly what you've found.}}
At this point you want to start looking for metal ore. You may have already found some while digging out rooms, in which case you can just mine into the walls of the rooms to get more ore. If you haven't found ore yet or you want to see what else you can find, you will need to dig [[Exploratory mining|exploratory tunnels]] looking for ores, minerals, and [[gem]]s. For now just start digging tunnels out from your stairwell or rooms in all directions and see what you run into. Note that digging into '''damp stone''' or '''warm stone''' is not recommended as those areas may be holding back water or lava which can flood your fort.

===Fuel===
Whether you find coal or not, you will need to burn wood into at least one unit of charcoal. If you find some coal (lignite or bituminous coal), start your smelters out processing it into coke using your charcoal to get things started. From then out you can burn coke to make more coal into more coke and so on.

Put these coke-making jobs on repeat. Only use one smelter to begin with, but you should be getting a group of [[Immigration|immigrants]] fairly soon, if you haven't already, and you can put them to work in the other smelters.

Don't give up on finding coal right away. Dig around for a while and if you're starting to get impatient then burn some more wood into charcoal, smelt some ore, and make some [[weapon]]s. If you rely on charcoal for fuel then you'll be needing a ''lot'' of wood, so in that case dig out another room near the furnace and create a wood stockpile. You might also want to just remove a smelter, replace it with a wood furnace, and create the new wood stockpile down in the smelting area. Finally, go designate more trees for chopping.

===Forging===
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Alternative Energy|If you don't find coal then you will have to continue to burn wood into charcoal, or dig down to the bottom of the map and find the magma sea so you can power [[magma smelter]]s and [[magma forge]]s. Getting to magma can be difficult for various reasons that you will discover, so make sure you are ready for some trouble before you go that direction. Burning charcoal should work out ok in the short term.}}
Once you have smelted some ore to get metal bars, and have additional bars of either coal or charcoal, you can start forging metal items. Here are some suggestions on what to make first:
#'''[[Pick]]s''' - You may have only started out with one pick which limits the number of miners you have to one. By this point you are probably wishing you had more miners. Make a few picks and give some dwarves the mining labor once you get some immigrants. It doesn't matter what metal you use to make picks, at least when it comes to mining, so even copper is perfectly good.
#'''[[Weapon]]s''' - Picks actually make pretty good weapons, but there can be some issues equipping them because they're tied to the mining labor. You may want to make a few axes. They make good weapons, at least against most lightly armored opponents you're likely to encounter first, and can be used to chop trees. Start with 5 or so.
#'''[[Armor]]''' - You're going to want some armor. Start with mail shirts, helmets, leggings, then gauntlets and boots. Start with 3 or so of each in the order listed, then make more later when your military grows. Also make some shields out of wood (since the shield's material doesn't matter for defensive purposes), unless you're swimming in metal. Once you have the essentials covered, you can include breastplates (but they take 3 bars of metal to make, and they don't cover as much of the torso and arms as a mail shirt).

[[Steel]] is the best normal metal to make armor and most weapons out of, but you're likely find that you want some arms before you can make steel. [[Iron]] is good, and [[bronze]] is also good. [[Copper]] is not ideal, but it still works and is better than no metal weapons/armor at all.

==Gemcutting and Trinkets==
You should have uncovered some [[gem]]s by now, so put your [[jeweler]] to work [[Gem cutter|cutting]] them. These will be the only thing you [[Trading|trade]] in the first year, and only for things you absolutely need and can't produce enough of yourself.

Actually, [[Finished goods|stone crafts]] produced by a craftsdwarf can make good trading goods as well. The only problem with this is that you'll need to make a lot of them (50+) because each one isn't too valuable individually. If you go this route you will probably need to dedicate a craftsdwarf's workshop and craftsdwarf to this task almost full-time, but you're very unlikely to ever run out of stone.

==Sticking to the Plan==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Getting Distracted|Say one of your new immigrants turns out to be a legendary weaver. Should you plant some pig tails and create a loom for him? '''No!''' Put his legendary ass to work smelting metal or something that's part of your current industry even though he has no skill at it. Do not split your efforts yet. You can make use of his unique talents later when you can afford to diversify your industry.}}
Metalsmithing will be your primary economic activity, with cutting gems (and possibly making stone crafts) being used to give you some short-term [[wealth]] until the [[metal industry]] gets going. This means you will need miners, haulers, smiths and furnace operators. Unless a dwarf is doing something else vital to the proper functioning of your fort, such as training in the militia, making traps, cooking food, and so forth, they should be doing one of those four things.

==Wealth and Invasion==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Crafting Invitations for Trouble|Creating too much wealth initially is a sure fire method of pulling down a goblin ambush that you are ill-equipped to deal with. Titans will also start attacking you should your wealth go over a certain amount. For this reason, spend no time smelting gold, smoothing, or engraving anything yet. Most of the wealth you create in the beginning should be the sharp pointy kind.}}
You may have struck [[gold]] or some other valuable metal, and you may be tempted to put your furnaces and smiths to work creating valuable metal crafts. Don't do it! Until you have your militia formed and fully equipped with armor and weaponry, your smelters and forge should be doing nothing else but smelting cheaper materials like coal, iron, making pig iron and steel if possible, and making weapons and armor. Making [[steel]] will actually increase your wealth quite a bit, but at least you can stab and beat things to death with steel; you can't make weapons from gold.

=Military=

Your '''military''' is an important part of fortress defense. Unless you have totally cut yourself off from the outside world then you will want at least some sort of military.

Once you reach this point you should hopefully have enough dwarves to start a small military training program. You will need at least 5 dwarves who aren't otherwise doing anything important.

If you don't have any spare dwarves yet, or just don't want to mess with it yet, just skip to the next section and come back to this later. Don't wait too long to set up your military though; you especially will want soldiers before you reach a population of 80 dwarves. (You will find out why.)

When you're ready to start up your military, see the [[Military quickstart]] guide.

= What Next =

Congratulations! If you've made it this far then you have a self-sustaining fort going and can now start to branch out into whatever you are interested in exploring. Expect some goblin invasions, forgotten beasts, titans, dragons, giants, and other creatures to interrupt your activities at various points. This is part of the [[fun]].

Here are some things that people almost always do eventually though not necessarily in any particular order (these are somewhat essential):
*Build [[coffin]]s and a graveyard or [[tomb]]s for dead dwarves and pets
*Set up a [[Healthcare|hospital]]
*Build a [[well]]
*Start producing [[textile industry|clothing]] to replace [[wear|worn-out attire]]
*Build a [[jail]] for unruly dwarves
*Set up [[Scheduling#Alert_Levels|civilian alerts]] to get civilians to a safe area during ambushes and sieges

Here are some things that players often do as their population grows:
*Smooth and [[engraving|engrave]] walls and floors
*Produce [[Meat industry|Meat, eggs, milk, and honey]]
*Continue to expand the [[military]]
*Explore new [[Industry|industries]]
*Dig down to the [[caverns]] and create a defended lower entrance with traps to defend the fort against the [[creatures|denizens]] below
*Build a [[kennel]] and train some war animals
*Build a [[Mass pitting]] system to dispose of caged enemies
*Build above-ground [[construction]]s such as an archery tower or garden
*Create a [[statue|statue garden]] or [[zoo]]
*Farm in an [[Farm#Above_Ground_Farming|above-ground farm plot]]
*Dig down to [[magma]] and set up [[magma forge]]s and [[magma smelter]]s to avoid the need for fuel
*Build [[machine component]]s to pump magma and water
*Create more [[Trap design|elaborate traps]] such as magma and drowning chambers
*Try some [[stupid dwarf trick]]s

You may also want to just read over the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] and the many other very useful documents on the wiki to give you other ideas of what to do.

Keep in mind that how you play is not set in stone. Some people never defend, some start a [[Megaprojects|megaproject]] right after settling, some never dig and just build an above ground castle or town using logs. Some never smelt ore, some start smelting as soon as they arrive. Some make their home in the dangerous natural caverns. Some deal with invaders by flooding the map or isolating themselves completely. And that's not even considering the [[List of mods|mods]] and some of the crazier [[challenges]] that people have come up with. There's really no one "right" way to play DF.

= Feedback =

If you have any feedback on this guide, please leave a message on the [[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|talk page]] for this article or in [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=83452.0 this thread] on the forums.

{{Getting Started}}
{{Category|Fortress mode}}
{{Category|Quickstart guide}}

[[ru:Быстрый старт]]

v0.34:Quickstart guide

2013-04-28T13:46:57Z

Jez9999: /* Nobles */

{{quality|Exceptional|18:27, 29 April 2012 (UTC)}}{{av}}

<div style="font-size:120%">
:''This is a quickstart guide for [[Dwarf fortress mode]] for those who have never played before who quickly want to jump in head-first.''
:''If you are looking to learn adventure mode instead, see the [[Adventure mode quick start]] guide.''
</div>
<div style="font-size:120%">
:'''''Also see [[Tutorials]] for more detailed tutorials that people have submitted.'''''
</div>
{{TipBox2|float=right|Before you get started...|Always remember that '''losing is [[fun]]!''' Be prepared to lose a few fortresses before you get all the way through this guide – it can be easy to accidentally kill the entire fortress while learning. But remember: losing means that next time, ''you'll remember how you lost.'' In a big way, Dwarf Fortress uses the principle of learning from one's mistakes.}}

So, you want to play '''Dwarf Fortress''', but you have no idea what to do. That's understandable; in Dwarf Fortress you can really do anything you like. It is a huge, complex, and totally open-ended game. But in order to do anything, first you need a sustainable fortress. It turns out that this is not as hard as you might think.

As this article doesn't always contain the exact key sequences needed to do everything described, you will likely need to refer to the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] and the rest of the wiki while reading this.

[[File:FlowchartDF.png|thumb|500px|right|[[Main:From Caravan to Happy Dwarves|From Caravan to Happy Dwarves]] - This is a flowchart showing approximately what sequence of actions players usually take when starting up a new fort. Feel free to ignore it if you want. It's not necessary to refer to this to understand the rest of the guide, but by the time you finish the guide it will probably all make sense.]]

__TOC__

= Common UI Concepts =

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Keeping Up|While the guide contains many links, you may still need to look something up. Refer to the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] or use the wiki [[Special:Search|search]] function. Also, don't hesitate to [[Main:Troubleshooting|ask for help]] if you can't find answers on the wiki.}}
{{KeyConventions}}

=World Generation=

The first thing you will need to do is [[World generation|generate a new world]]. Unlike many games, the world that your game takes place in will always be procedurally randomly generated by you or someone else. There is no "default" or "standard" world.

Luckily the basic version of this process is rather simple, and doesn't usually take too long unless your computer is a bit outdated or the world's history is set to Long.

{{TipBox2|titlebg=#00a|Starting World|
For your first game, [[World generation|generate a new world]] using the {{DFtext|Create New World!}} option in the main menu with the following options:

* {{DFtext|World Size}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|History}} is {{DFtext|Short|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Civilizations}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Sites}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Beasts}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Natural Savagery}} is {{DFtext|Very Low|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Mineral Occurrence}} is {{DFtext|Frequent|3:1}}

This should help to avoid difficulties.
}}

= Pre-Embark =

:''Also see: [[Embark]]''

'''Embarking''' is the process of choosing a site, outfitting your initial dwarves, and sending them on their way.

Select {{DFtext|Start Playing}} from the main menu, then select {{DFtext|Dwarf Fortress}}.

The map you see on the right is the '''World Map''' which will show you the whole world. The one in the middle is the '''Region Map''' which will show you a zoomed-in view of the part of the world indicated by the cursor in the world map. The '''Local Map''' on the left will show a zoomed-in view of the part of the region indicated by the cursor in the region map. In the local map area there will be a highlighted embark region that you can move around with {{K|u}} {{K|m}} {{K|k}} {{K|h}}. This highlighted square is what will become your play area after you embark. Use {{k|↑}} {{k|↓}} {{k|←}} {{k|→}} to move the region and world cursors around. Hold down {{K|Shift}} while doing this to move more rapidly.

== Choosing a Good Site ==

Choosing a good embark site is crucial for beginners. Advanced players can create a functional fortress on a glacier, but for now, lets stick to dwarf (and newbie) friendly environments. You will want to look for certain features in your initial embark site that will make your first fort much easier to manage.

{{TipBox2|titlebg=#00a|Starting Site|
[[File:Quickstart-good-location.png|thumb|300px|right|An example of a good starting site.]]
For your first game, find a site with the following properties:
*'''NO [[Aquifer]]''' (This is '''''very''''' important!)
*'''Trees:''' Forested or Heavily Forested
*'''Temperature:''' Warm
*'''Surroundings:''' Calm or at least '''not''' Sinister, Haunted, or Terrifying
*'''Clay or Soil''' is important to make farming easier when starting out
*'''Shallow Metals''' (That's Metals, plural, not Metal. You want more than one.)
*A '''River''' if possible
*'''Deep Metal(s)''' if possible
*'''Flux Stone''' if possible

You may want to use the {{K|f}}ind tool to help you find a site. You may find it easier to put only some of the criteria into the tool (at the very least, No Aquifer). Once the find tool has finished running, the general areas which it has found will be indicated by flashing characters on the map.

Notes about find tool:
"Calm" is classified as Medium Evil, Low Savagery. (See [[Surroundings#Combinations_of_surroundings|the chart here]] for why.) The find tool will also only indicate a general area so you will still need to check the attributes manually by moving between flashing regions and by moving around in each one until you find the most suitable site.

The find tool may take 1-2 minutes to run, when it's done, '''be sure to press {{K|ESC}} to look around at the different sites it returns''' (look for flashing Xs on the world map). As you move your yellow X over the flashing suggested sites, the info bar on the right will tell you soil, minerals, aquifer, etc. Choose the one that looks best to you!

Your site may have multiple biomes overlapping it. If so make sure to press {{K|F1}}, {{K|F2}}, etc, to take a look at all of them. They may each have significantly different characteristics.

See '''[[/Starting site|Starting site]]''' for more info on why these characteristics are important.}}

Press {{K|e}} to embark once you're sure you have the right area highlighted on the local map.

== Skills and Equipment ==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Optional: Preparing Carefully|If, at this point, you'd like to get into all of the details of picking individual skills and equipment for your expedition, select {{DFtext|Prepare for the journey carefully}} and see '''[[Quickstart_guide/Preparing_carefully|Preparing carefully]]''' for instructions. '''This is completely optional.'''}}

Now the '''Prepare for the Journey''' screen should appear. You will be given the choice to either:
*{{DFtext|Play Now!}}
*{{DFtext|Prepare for the journey carefully}}.

Selecting {{DFtext|Play Now!}} will start you out with a default set of equipment that is reasonably safe, allowing you to skip having to set up your skills and equipment. If you'd like to get going now, just select that option.

=A Minimal Fortress=
[[File:Quickstart-map-starting.png|thumb|right|Starting out. In this example the dwarves will be digging out an entrance tunnel in the sandy cliff on the right. (You can use {{K|Tab}} to show or hide the overview map.)]]

At this point you have embarked and your dwarves have arrived at their destination. You will see your dwarves clustered around their wagon full of supplies somewhere near the center of your map. '''Immediately hit {{K|Space}} to pause the game''' unless it is already paused.

==Surveying the Area==
'''Do not unpause the game just yet.''' Take a look around. Use the {{K|k}} command and the arrow keys. Look up and down a few [[z-level]]s with {{K|<}} and {{K|>}}. Place the cursor on various tiles to familiarize yourself with what the symbols mean. If you get lost, you can press {{K|F1}} to return to the wagon. (You can define more [[hotkeys]] later, to jump quickly to other sites of interest.)

Notice the terrain features, the vegetation, and any minerals visible. If you chose a site with flowing water, where is it? What about pools of water? The more carefully you examine your site before breaking ground, the better off you will be.

Remember that this is more of a simulation than a game. It is not "play balanced", and you can very easily find yourself in impossible situations. That is all part of the [[fun]] because even when you lose, you create an interesting story.

Your wagon serves as the initial meeting area for your dwarves. Since you should have started in a non-freezing, calm (low savagery), non-evil biome, you shouldn't face any immediate danger, but if for some reason the area around your wagon proves to be unsafe, immediately designate another meeting zone using {{K|i}} (see ''Temporary Meeting Area'' below).

==Controlling Your Dwarves==
The first thing to keep in mind is that, for the most part, you can't directly control your dwarves the way you control characters in a typical fantasy RPG. Instead, you '''designate''' things that need to be done and then dwarves with the appropriate labor assignments will decide what to start working on based on a set of largely hard-coded priorities.

For example, if a dwarf needs to eat then he will go eat and only get around to digging a tunnel once he is done eating. It is also possible to designate things that no dwarf is able to do. For example, if you designate an area to mine but no dwarf has mining as one of his allowed labors or no dwarf has a pickaxe then the mining will never get done, and the game will not always advise you of why.

So what you are doing throughout the game is essentially giving your dwarves a detailed group-wide to-do list, but it's up to them to figure out which one of them will execute any given task if the task is even possible. Often many of the details of how a task is performed (such as exactly which rock will be used to make crafts) are left up to them.

==Strike The Earth!==
Generally, you will want to get all your dwarves and supplies inside a protected area as quickly as possible. So the first thing you will do is {{K|d}}esignate some areas to "mine".

Decide where you will build your main entrance. The best thing to do is just put it near your wagon to make it faster and less work to haul all of your supplies inside.

To designate an area for digging:
#Hit {{K|d}} to bring up the [[Designations Menu]].
#Hit {{K|d}} again to select Mine. (Note: Dwarves mine horizontally, not downwards. Use Channel instead if you want to dig down.)
#Place the cursor on one corner of the rectangular area you want to designate and press {{K|Enter}}.
#Move the cursor to the other corner of the rectangle and press {{K|Enter}}. A rectangle will be highlighted and a miner dwarf will start to dig out this area once you exit the menu (with {{K|Esc}}) and unpause the game with {{K|Space}}.

This is basically how all of the designation commands work. Everything has to be designated one rectangle at a time, but rectangles can also be one tile wide, or just one single tile.

If your wagon is near a [[cliff]], you can just designate a tunnel to mine ({{K|d}}-{{K|d}}) into the cliff to create an entryway. If you are on flat land with no cliff near the wagon, [[channel]] out a small rectangle (perhaps 3x3) on the surface with {{K|d}}-{{K|h}} to create a sort of pit with ramps on the edges, then go down one z-level with {{K|>}} and tunnel into the wall of the pit (with {{K|d}}-{{K|d}}) to create your entry. (Think of this as creating your own cliff, with the inside wall of the pit being the "cliff".)

Dig a hallway one tile wide and ''at least'' 10 long, ideally more like 20. This will be your entryway.

Your entryway defines the boundary between your safe and protected inner fort, and the big bad outside world. You want this to be your only entrance so that you only have to worry about defending this one opening.

A guide to starting a fortress can be found [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLYDcuk29bE&feature=plcp here]

==Delving Secure Lodgings==
[[File:Quickstart-level0.png|thumb|right|Level 0: This is the ground level which we'll call "level 0". The entrance tunnel is on the left where the refuse and wood stockpiles are partially visible. Inside are the general storage area, trade depot, stairwell, and farm plot.]]
Near the beginning of the entryway, build a 5x5 room, and link it to the entrance tunnel with a 3-wide passageway. From the link to the opening, extend the entrance tunnel to a 3-wide tunnel. At the end of the entrance tunnel, dig a 3x3 room, which will later become your main stairwell. Two tiles away from that, dig an 11x11 room, which will later become your general stockpile, and connect it to the stairwell with a 1-wide passageway.

Don't make any of these rooms too big or your miner will take forever to dig the rooms out, especially if he is digging in stone instead of soil. (Digging through soil is much faster.) You may want to designate one room at a time, then wait for it to be mined out before designating the next room.

=== Stockpiles ===
[[File:Quickstart-custom-stockpile.png|right|thumb|Keep corpses, refuse, stone and wood out of general use stockpiles. You can come back and change the settings on this stockpile using {{K|q}}, selecting the stockpile, then pressing {{K|s}}. Try to remember to come back here to disable/forbid types of things as you create more specific stockpiles for them.]]
'''Stockpiles''' are very important. These areas are where your dwarves will drop things for storage when they aren't needed elsewhere. To create a '''general purpose stockpile''' for your first storage area:
#Hit {{K|p}} to open the Stockpiles menu.
#Use {{K|t}} to change the [[Stockpile#Custom_stockpiles|custom stockpile]] settings to {{K|e}}nable everything but '''Corpses''', '''Refuse''', '''Stone''', '''Gems''', and '''Wood'''. Use directional keys, {{K|e}}nable, {{K|d}}isable to do this.
#{{k|Esc}} out of that screen back to the stockpiles menu.
#Hit {{K|c}} to select Custom Stockpile.
#Designate the whole 11x11 storage room as a custom stockpile. This works just like designating an area to dig: place the cursor on one corner of the room, hit {{K|Enter}}, move to the opposite corner, and hit {{K|Enter}} again.
#Press {{K|Esc}} to get out of the Stockpiles menu.
Once you exit the stockpiles menu you should see dwarves running off to haul everything from your wagon into the new stockpile area. Later you can change what sort of things the stockpile accepts by hitting {{K|q}} (Set Building Tasks/Prefs), placing the cursor on the stockpile, then pressing {{K|s}} to get to the stockpile settings.

It is particularly important to '''keep wood, stone, refuse, and corpses out of your general purpose stockpile''', so you may want to double check to make sure all of these things are disabled in the stockpile settings. Failure to keep these things out of this stockpile will cause problems.

Note- When assigning stockpiles, you should make sure they're in a vacant area. IE; the tiles should only "contain" the ground. Dwarves will not haul stuff to filled tiles, so make sure the area is vacant (Assign the area for dump) before assigning a stockpile.

=== Stairways ===
Designate a Downward Stairway in the middle of your 3x3 room with {{K|d}}-{{K|j}}. Notice that after your miner digs the stairway, it doesn't automatically create another stairway on the z-level below. If you hit {{K|>}} to move the view down a z-level you'll see that there's no stairway below, but there is a revealed tile of rock/soil. Because of the down stairway that was dug, this tile is now accessible to miners. You can then designate an Up/Down Stairway on it with {{K|d}}-{{K|i}} and the miner dwarf will dig it out. Below that you can then dig out another up/down stairway and so on. For now just dig down one level; we will deepen the stairwell later.

==Stout Labor==
'''Labors''' are how you control what types of tasks a dwarf will do. For example, if the Fishing labor is enabled for a dwarf, that dwarf is allowed to engage in fishing.

When dwarves are idle, it could be because you haven't given them anything to do, or it could be because none of the idle dwarves have been told that they're allowed to do the types of tasks you've designated. For example, if you designate an area to mine, but none of the dwarves have the mining labor enabled, they will all just sit around ignoring your mining designation thinking that it isn't their job.

Dwarves will automatically have some labors enabled if they start out with skill in those labors, and some labors (such as hauling and cleaning) are enabled for all dwarves by default. This is why you didn't need to enable any labors on dwarves to get them to haul and mine, but later you may need a labor that no dwarf is currently capable of.

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#aa0|Dwarf Therapist|You may have noticed that the UI for managing dwarves is a bit difficult to use. If you are using a supported operating system, the utility '''[[Utilities#Dwarf_Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]]''' can make this a million times easier, especially later when you're dealing with twenty times the number of dwarves you have now.}}
With the digging and stockpile taken care of, look over your dwarves' assigned [[labor]]s. Press {{K|v}} (View Units) then place the cursor on a dwarf. Now, press {{K|p}}-{{K|l}} for "preferences: labors". You will see a list of labor categories that you can navigate using {{K|-}}{{K|+}}. You can enter each category and toggle each labor off and on with {{K|Enter}} and get back out with {{K|Esc}}.

After exiting the View Units menu, you can use {{K|u}} (the units screen) to help you locate dwarves. Hit {{K|u}}, select a dwarf, hit {{K|c}} for "zoom to creature" and you'll automatically be placed in view mode on that dwarf. (Then use {{K|p}}-{{K|l}} to get to the labor configuration menu if necessary.)

Even if no dwarves have the corresponding skills, ensure that someone has [[wood burner]], [[furnace operator]], [[wood cutter]], [[plant gathering]], [[gem cutter]], [[armorsmith]], [[weaponsmith]], [[blacksmith]], [[metal crafter]], and [[engraver]] (stone detailing) enabled. If you have dwarves with hunting or fishing, ''disable'' those until you have your initial fort completed. When you're first starting out you don't want dwarves wandering around alone where they can get killed.

Any unskilled dwarf can perform any labor given the necessary equipment and materials. Dwarves with no skill will simply be slow and produce a smaller quantity of lower quality goods in a given time period, but they will gain skill points as they do so.

==Temporary Meeting Area==
Using the {{k|i}} key, create an activity zone (at least 5x5) in the stairwell or general stockpile area (be careful not to make this too small lest your [[overcrowding|overcrowded]] animals start fighting). This works much like creating a stockpile except that you draw the rectangle first then hit keys to define what the area is for. Draw the rectangle over the area then set it to be a {{K|m}}eeting area. Your idle dwarves will hang around in this area, hopefully keeping them inside the fort and out of trouble.

==Refuse==
[[File:Dwarf fort tut miasma.jpg|thumb|right|Avoiding [[Miasma]]]]
Outside your fort entrance, use {{K|p}} followed by {{K|r}} to create a stock{{K|p}}ile for [[Stockpile#Refuse|{{K|r}}efuse]] ''at least'' 5x5 in size. This should be outside in the open or you will have problems with [[Miasma]]. If you do not disable [[vermin]] (Item Types -> remains), you will probably have to expand it later as it will fill up with vermin remains rather quickly. If you are seeing refuse appear in your general-purpose stockpile instead of the refuse pile, use {{K|q}} on the general stockpile and check its {{K|s}}ettings to make sure refuse has been disabled.

==Woodcutting==
Create another stock{{K|p}}ile for {{K|w}}ood outside your entrance. As it will only be temporary, don't make it too big (maybe 5x3, or 15 tiles total). Later you will move this closer to your carpenter's workshop once you build one.

Press {{K|q}}, place the cursor on your wagon, and hit {{K|x}} to deconstruct it. This will flag the wagon for disassembly. Eventually a carpenter will come along and turn the useless wagon into a few units of wood. Removing other buildings is done the same way.

Also near the entry, designate at least 10 trees to be chopped down with {{K|d}}-{{K|t}}. Don't designate too many trees at the beginning, or your dwarves will spend all of their time chopping them down and hauling them rather than doing other work.

==Pasture==
If you have any grazing animals with you, such as the draft animals used to pull your wagon, they will die if they are kept away from grass for too long. Use {{K|i}} to create a Pe{{K|n}}/[[Pasture]] zone over a grassy area outside and assign your grazing animals to it using {{K|N}} (while still selecting the zone). This area needs to be about 10x10 or so to ensure they have enough grass and don't trample it all.

The amount of grass required varies greatly depending on the type(s) of animals being pastured. If you intend to keep grazing animals permanently, you may need vastly larger pastures later. As an alternative, you might wish to [[Butcher's shop|slaughter]] your largest animals for food and materials.

==Bare necessities==
To keep functioning, your dwarves require constant supplies of food and drink. You can use the {{k|z}} stock screen to monitor how much food and drink are available. Luckily, your dwarves will eat almost everything raw--if your food starts running low, {{k|d}}esignate some {{k|p}}lants to be gathered on the surface (similar to tree cutting), or build a [[butcher]] shop ({{k|b}}, {{k|w}}, {{k|u}}) and slaughter one of your animals (press {{k|v}}, move the cursor to the animal, then press {{k|p}}, {{k|s}}). Drinks can be more problematic. You can specify a "water source" activity zone ({{k|i}}) around a lake or river on the surface to keep your dwarves from dying of thirst, but dwarves deprived of [[alcohol]] slow down and become unhappy. If your alcohol supply is running low, build a [[still]] ({{k|b}}, {{k|w}}, {{k|l}}) and brew a few plants (if you don't have plants, you'll need to {{k|d}}designate some {{k|p}}lants to be gathered on the surface). Keep a wary eye on your supplies; the only warning that your stocks have run out is a dead dwarf.

==Sustenance by Plow==
For long-term food and alcohol supply, you'll want to setup a farm. Dig out an area in a [[soil]] layer, accessible from inside your fort that you've created so far. You must pick an ''underground'' area with mud or soil. Hopefully you have chosen a site with a soil layer as this will make farming much easier, but if not then you will need to [[Irrigation|irrigate]] to create the required mud on stone floors.

Now use {{K|b}} to build a 3x3 [[Farming|farm {{K|p}}lot]]. Notice that some things like buildings and constructions are not designated corner-to-corner like digging designations, stockpiles, or activity zones. Instead, you define the width and height of the "building" using {{K|u}}{{K|m}}{{K|k}}{{K|h}} then position it with the directional keys. So hit {{K|u}}{{K|u}}{{K|k}}{{K|k}} to make the plot 3x3 and position it in the room you just excavated.

Remember you must enable the "Farming (Fields)" labour for at least one dwarf or the farm plot won't get built and farming will not take place. (If you selected "Play Now" earlier then you will start with a dwarf with farming enabled.)

{{K|Esc}} out of the build menu and wait for the farmer dwarf to create the plot. Once the plot is built, use {{K|q}} to set the plot to grow [[plump helmet]]s during all seasons. You can use {{K|+}} and {{K|-}} to select the crop. You will need to press {{K|a}}, {{K|b}}, {{K|c}}, {{K|d}} and select Plump Helmets for each season, otherwise you'll end up with an idle field for 3/4ths of the year.

==Designing Your First Fortress==
While this guide recommends a vertical fortress design around a central stairwell with each z-level being used for a particular purpose, it is really not that important to use this design for your first fortress. Therefore, feel free to put any of the areas described in the rest of this guide on your main level or wherever you want as long as dwarves can get to them without going outside the fort. In other words, you can think of the "levels" described in the guide more as areas that can really all be on the same level if you have space. Later you can ponder over what makes things most efficient, but for now just do whatever you find easiest.

To get stone though you may need to dig down a bit if you have more than one z-level of sand/clay/soil on the surface.

==Workshops==
[[File:Quickstart-level-1-workshops.png|right|thumb|Level -1: Mason's, carpenter's, mechanic's, and jeweler's workshops surrounded by appropriate stockpiles.]]
Dig your stairwell down one level (with {{K|d}}-{{K|i}}), if you haven't already, and create four 5x5 rooms off of the stairwell. These will hold your [[Mechanic's_workshop|mechanic's]], [[Mason's_workshop|mason's]], [[Carpenter's_workshop|carpenter's]], and [[Jeweler's_workshop|jeweler's]] [[workshop]]s.

Use {{K|b}}-{{K|w}} to build the workshops, and select some sort of junk stone for the material. If you are still digging in soil and don't have stone yet, just use wood. (The material really doesn't matter in this case.) Put each workshop in the center of each room, and use the remaining space for the appropriate type of stockpile (wood for your carpenter, stone for your mason and mechanic, and gems for your jeweler.) If the construction of any building gets "suspended" just use {{K|q}} to unsuspend it. (This can happen if stone is blocking the way. See "Garbage" Dumping below if you find you need to remove some stone.)

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Too Good for Menial Peon Work|Certain labors are crucial in setting up a fort. At some point you may want to disable less important labors such as hauling for dwarves with the crucial skills of mining, masonry, architecture, carpentry, mechanics, and maybe others. You want these dwarves working on creating beds, doors, and trap components before hauling stone and cleaning.}}
Remove the temporary wood stockpile you created outside (using {{K|p}}-{{K|x}}) and dwarves will move the wood to the new wood storage area.

Go to your mason's shop with {{K|q}} and use {{K|a}} to queue up one [[table]] and one [[throne]]/chair. You will find out why you need these in a second, but now is a good time to start building them. If you still don't have any stone at this point just use wood at the carpenter's workshop.

=="Garbage" Dumping==
'''Note that garbage is not the same thing as refuse.''' [[Stockpile#Refuse|Refuse]] is [[Miasma|rotting stuff]]. Garbage is anything you designate to be hauled to a [[Activity_zone#Garbage_Dump|garbage dump]], even important things that aren't really garbage. Think of your garbage dump zone as a way to specify that objects you select will be brought to a specific area.

Use {{K|i}} to create a 1x1 activity zone somewhere near your mason's and mechanic's workshops and set it to be a {{K|g}}arbage Dump. Unlike stockpile areas where you are limited to storing one object per tile, any number of items may be piled in a garbage area. That means you will only need one tile to hold as much garbage as you like. Although many of the room sizes in this guide are suggestions, think of the 1x1 garbage dump size as mandatory. At some point you will probably want to retrieve an important item from your garbage dump, and the larger your dump is, the harder it will be to find anything in it.

Press {{k|d}}-{{k|b}} to get to the mass dump/forbid screen and select the {{k|d}}ump option. With "dump" selected, designate a rectangle over all of the loose stones cluttering up your living area. This will designate this stone to be transported to the closest garbage dump zone.

Once the stone from your living area has been moved there, it will be set as [[Forbid|forbidden]]. Before it can be used you will need to unforbid it using the same {{k|d}}-{{k|b}} screen, hitting {{k|c}} to claim it.

Congratulations! Knowing how to use garbage zones and dump commands puts you head and shoulders above most newbs. It takes some people weeks to figure this out.

==Trade Depot==
Build a [[trade depot]] using {{K|b}}-{{K|D}} in the 5x5 room you created near your entrance. This is where caravans will park their stuff and where [[trading]] will take place when one arrives. (as stated earlier, the wagons are 3x3 so the entrance tunnel needs to be at least 3x3 for the wagons to go by).

You will need one [[architect]], which will be enabled on your mason if you selected {{DFtext|Play now!}} at embark. If you didn't, you can enable it in any dwarf's labor preferences (you may wish to make your mason the architect, but any dwarf can fill the role). Depending on the material you use to build the depot, you also need a [[carpenter]] if you decide to use wood, or a [[mason]] if you decide to use stone.

'''Note:''' You can also build a depot out of metal, but this requires a [[metalsmith]], which you may not have yet. Also, there are many better uses for metal, so you're better off choosing a more common material, like stone or wood.

===Accessibility===
{{hidden||headerstyle="text-align:left;"|
'''Use {{K|D}} from the main menu to make sure your depot is accessible!''' This command is only available once the depot is built (before building, the command will be disabled, and while the depot is under construction everything will flash red until the depot is built). Once completed, checking {{k|D}}epot access will flash some of the following symbols:
* {{raw tile|X|4:4:1}}: This tile is not accessible by wagon. This could be due to a number of reasons:
:* The tile is part of an underground tunnel less than 3 tiles wide.
:* The tile is next to a '''tree''' or '''[[boulder]]'''.
:* The tile is a '''wall''' or part of the '''air''', where it isn't possible for wagons to travel (no, unfortunately, wagons don't fly).
* {{raw tile|W|2:2:1}}: This tile is accessible by wagon. These tiles will radiate outward from the depot, not from the map edges.
:This is '''good''', but does not guarantee wagons will be able to reach the depot. Make sure you see the words {{DFtext|Depot accessible|2:1}} on the left.
* {{raw tile|D|3:2:1}} The depot is accessible via wagon.
* {{raw tile|D|6:2:1}} The depot is '''not''' accessible by wagon. See below.

If you see the message {{DFtext|Depot inaccessible|4:1}} in the menu or the {{raw tile|D|6:2:1}} symbol over the depot, try these solutions:
* Is the entrance to the depot (underground) less than 3 tiles wide? If not, expand the entranceway and try {{k|D}} again.
* Are there trees blocking a path to the depot outside? Try clearing a path by cutting down a few (you probably won't need to cut ''all'' the trees in a 3-tile wide path; usually cut some down where a path of {{raw tile|W|2:2:1}}'s ends and see if that helps.
* Are there [[boulder]]s blocking the path outside? Boulders look like this: {{raw tile|∞|7:0:0}}. To remove them easily, you need an [[engraver]]. If you selected "play now", you should have one already. Select {{k|d}}-{{k|s}}mooth Stone and designate the boulder(s) for smoothing. They should flash this symbol: {{raw tile|┼|7:0:1}}. Once an engraver has removed the boulder(s), check {{k|D}}epot access again.

}} 

==Bedrooms==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Communal Living|When a fort is first getting started, a common [[dormitory]] type [[bedroom]] will suffice for a while, but dwarves will eventually want their own rooms. So feel free to create a [[dormitory]] now if you want and come back later to create individual rooms. You will want an office now though.}}
[[File:Quickstart-level-7-bedrooms.png|left|thumb|Level -7: Meager bedrooms and office. All rooms have doors; the bedrooms have a bed, cabinet, and coffer; and the office has a table and chair.]]
Continue digging your stairwell down about seven more levels. Just create the stairwells for now.

On the lowest level, dig some halls leading to rooms for sleeping quarters. Dwarves don't need much space for living quarters; in fact, you can turn a 1x3 room into decent quarters by smoothing the stone and filling it with some decent quality furniture.

[[Bedroom design|Designing living quarters]] is a matter of personal preference and aesthetic sense. Actual design will be left as an exercise for the player. Just try to keep the bedrooms close to the stairs, and ideally make your access hallways at least two tiles wide so your dwarves don't have to crawl over and under each other to get where they are going.

You will want to create at least eight rooms: seven for your [[bedroom]]s, and one as an [[office]] for your manager/bookkeeper, which, rather than a chest, bed and cabinet, will contain the chair and table you queued up earlier.

==Nobles==
Hit the {{k|n}} key to open up the [[Noble|nobles and administrators]] screen.

The most important positions to assign are '''[[broker]]''', '''[[bookkeeper]]''' and '''[[manager]]'''. Your [[expedition leader]] is a good choice for bookkeeper and manager when starting out. Don't worry that it's just one dwarf doing all this; none of these jobs take very long. The broker should be chosen from one of your other dwarves (rather than being the same person as your bookkeeper) so that they're not too busy doing bookkeeping when a trade delegation arrives to actually talk to the traders.

Having a manager will allow you to queue up work orders which will greatly simplify managing your production. Having a bookkeeper will allow you to maintain inventory counts on the {{K|z}} screen so you'll know what you do and don't have. A broker is necessary to trade with a caravan once one has arrived at your trade depot.

[[File:Quickstart-noble-selection.png|right|thumb|Nobles screen. The red stuff turns white once an office is assigned.]]
Don't worry about the [[chief medical dwarf]] yet. He/she will be needed when you set up your [[Healthcare|hospital]] which won't be covered in this guide. Feel free to go check out the [[Healthcare]] guide once you're done.

Lastly, while you are on this screen, highlight the bookkeeper and {{K|s}}et him to work for "Highest Precision" (all counts accurate). This will help train bookkeeping faster and ensure that you aren't dealing with vague inventory counts.

===Offices (Studies)===
Some of your administrative positions (manager and bookkeeper) require an [[office]] in order to function. If your manager, for example, doesn't have an office, you will not be able to do any of the things that require a manager even though you have one assigned.

Earlier you should have queued up a table and throne in your mason's shop, and they should be done by now. Place them in the office (room you created down in the sleeping area) using the {{K|b}}uild command. Once dwarves have installed the furniture, use {{K|q}} to select the chair, select "make study" {{k|r}}, size the room appropriately, and assign the office to your expedition leader (who should be your bookkeeper and manager). Hit {{K|n}} to verify that these positions now have the office they need. If so then you shouldn't see any red.

==Furniture==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Different Names, Same Thing|As you've noticed, some things have different names based on what they're made of (like chairs vs. thrones) even if they're functionally the same. So, if it seems like you can't make something of a particular material, do some poking around and check the wiki.}}
Now would be a good time to start building some [[furniture]]. You could queue up all these items directly from your workshops, but why not give your new manager a little practice?

Using the manager screen {{k|j}}-{{k|m}}, hit {{k|q}} to queue up a new job, and type "bed", and then select "construct bed." Set the quantity to seven. Next, queue up seven wooden [[chest]]s or rock coffers, eight [[door]]s, seven [[cabinet]]s, at least two [[table]]s and two [[throne]]s/chairs. The tables and chairs will go in your [[dining room]], speaking of which...

==Dining and Food Prep Area==
Above the living quarters, and right off the main stairwell, create another four rooms. One will be for general food storage, one a [[dining room|dining hall]], one a [[kitchen]], and one a [[still]]. The still will allow you to make alcohol. The Kitchen will allow you to make [[Cook#Recipes|Prepared food]].

Make the rooms for the kitchen and still 5x5 each. The storage area and dining hall should be larger. Ideally make the dining hall so that it can be further expanded later.

Use {{K|b}}-{{K|w}} to build the still and kitchen in the middle of the 5x5 rooms. Create {{K|f}}ood stockpiles in the remaining space around each workshop, as well as the entire food storage room.

[[File:Quickstart-level-6-dining.png|right|thumb|Level -6: Dining level with dining hall, kitchen, still, and storage area.]]

Go back to your general purpose stockpile on the top level and use {{K|q}} to change the {{K|s}}ettings to {{K|d}}isable Food. This will cause any food in your general purpose stockpile to get moved to your new food-only stockpiles.

Hit {{K|z}} and select ''[[Kitchen]]'' from the top of the screen, then disable all cooking for plants and enable brewing for them so that they will only be used for brewing. Also disable alcoholic beverages for cooking, otherwise your cooks will waste perfectly good hooch in their cooking. The only time you might want to use alcohol in cooking is when you have lots of booze but are running out of food.

If you plan to do any fishing, dig out another area and create a [[Fishery]] on this level so the uncleaned fish your fisherdwarf just caught can be cleaned (gutted) for consumption or cooking. If you plan to do any hunting or [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] any animals, create a [[Butcher's shop]] on this level so animal corpses can be butchered. The fishery/butcher's shop can be placed behind the kitchen or the general food stockpile, for example. A door is recommended for the butcher's shop in order to contain [[Miasma]] should something rot, and to otherwise avoid offending squeamish dwarves.

Eventually go check out the subpage on [[/Stockpiles|Stockpiles]] for more information on fine-tuning these stockpiles for maximum efficiency. For now you can safely procrastinate on this and move on to the next section.

==Placing Furniture==
Once your furnishings are complete, you need to place them in rooms using the {{K|b}}uild command. Make sure each bedroom gets a door, chest, bed and cabinet. Put a door on the office (which should already have a chair and table). Put the new chairs and tables in the dining room. Make more doors and put them on other rooms if you want.

Once dwarves have hauled beds to the bedrooms, use {{K|q}} on the installed beds to define the actual bedrooms from them. Don't worry about assigning the bedrooms to specific dwarves; they will eventually pick their own as long as they have been defined as unowned bedrooms.

==Meeting Hall==
Use {{K|q}} on one of the tables you just placed in the dining room, define the area as a room, and configure it to be a meeting hall. This will cause idle dwarves to hang around in the dining hall. You want idlers in a central location, close to where you will be placing your emergency drawbridge levers. You may want to go remove the temporary meeting area and any other meeting areas that you created earlier (with {{K|i}}).

==Checking Supplies==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Hostile Wilds|Before turning on either hunting or fishing, examine the {{K|u}}nits screen to see if there are any dangerous critters your hunters/fishers need worry about. With hunting especially, you may need to check this screen frequently.}}
Use the {{K|z}} ([[status]]) screen to check your stock levels. How much food and booze do you have left? You only have unprepared food at this point, and the booze you brought with you, but soon you will be making more. If you are running low on food, you can designate gathering some [[shrub|outdoor plants]], [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] some animals, turn on [[fishing]], or turn on [[hunting]] to tide you over for a bit. Hunting and slaughtering animals both require a butcher's shop.

==Brewing and Cooking==
Once your first crop of plump helmets starts to come in, you will want to start [[brewing]] as a [[repeat]]ing task. Also, now would be a good time to start [[cooking]] actual meals rather than forcing your dwarves to eat raw food. Cooking [[Cooking#Recipes|easy meals]] will train dwarves faster, but they may be happier with [[Cooking#Recipes|lavish meals]]. So, you might want to cook easy ones until your cook or cooks skill up to a certain point then have them start making lavish meals. Prepared food is cooked from two (easy), three (fine), or four (lavish) raw food/alcohol ingredients. Each prepared food item will be called a "biscuit", "stew", or "roast" depending on the lavishness of the meal.

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Conserving Resources|Some things absolutely require wood (like beds and charcoal), but others can be made out of more common materials like stone. For this reason it's best, especially in the beginning, to make everything that you can out of stone. For example, you could make wood chests and barrels, but stone coffers and rock pots would let you save wood for things that require it and help you rid yourself of all that stone. And if you decide you want solid gold chests or something later when you have more resources, you can always throw out the rock coffers.}}
Speaking of booze, in order to keep the booze flowing, you will need to create some [[barrel]]s, or some stone [[pot]]s. Your dwarves should have emptied a few barrels by now to get you started, but you will definitely need more. A ''lot'' more. If you have an abundance of trees, then you can designate some more for cutting, and have your carpenter make a bunch of wooden barrels, but it may be more prudent to make a [[Craftsdwarf's workshop]], make sure someone has the [[Stonecrafting]] labor enabled, and build a bunch of rock pots. (Rock pots are essentially barrels made of rock.) And don't worry that you've made too many; you almost can't get enough of them.

Keep checking your food and drink stock levels on the {{K|z}} screen periodically. While cooked food (properly stockpiled) and alcohol don't spoil, there is really no need to stock 2,000 units of dwarven wine at this point. Ten times the number of drinks and meals as you have dwarves is more than enough. If you start running out of food or drinks, designate some wild plants for harvesting, [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] some of your animals, start hunting or fishing, or start more farms.

Actually, now would be a fine time to make another three by three farm. Set it to produce [[sweet pod]]s in the spring and summer, [[cave wheat]] or [[pig tail]]s (your choice) in the fall (autumn), and [[plump helmet]]s in the winter. Having multiple types of plants will give your dwarves more variety in their food and drink, keeping them from [[Thought|grumbling]].

==Storage Space==
{{TipBox2|titlebg=#0a0|float=right|Advanced Stockpiling|Check out the [[/Stockpiles|Stockpiles]] sub page for more information on fine-tuning your stockpiles, especially in the food production area. This is somewhat complicated and it can safely be skipped if you don't feel like tinkering with stockpiles right now.}}
You should probably start making some wooden '''[[Bin|bins]]''' to help you store more stuff in less space. You might not need them yet, but you certainly will later. Bins are somewhat like barrels/pots, but they can store things other than just food and drink. Bins will also reduce the amount of labor needed to [[haul]] things to your trade depot or other stockpiles. So designate some more trees to be chopped down and queue up some bins. As with barrels and pots, you almost can't have enough bins.

=Beyond a Minimal Fortress=

By now you should have your main entrance created, along with a farm, general purpose stockpile, refuse pile (for trash), and [[trade depot]]. Somewhere you should have a mason's shop, a mechanic's shop, a carpenter's shop, and a jeweler's shop, surrounded by appropriate storage piles with garbage zone (for excess stone). You should also have a furnished dining area with kitchen, still, and food storage, and a residential area with furnished bedrooms and an office. You should have selected your administrators, and might even have an optional fishery, butcher's shop, craftsdwarf's workshop, or other stuff.

At this point, you have all the components of a minimal but functional fortress! Your next steps will be to make it safer and better protected, to set up your [[metal industry]], and later to prepare your [[military|militia]].

==Preparing for Immigrants==
Soon you should get some [[Immigration|immigrants]] if you haven't already. When you do get a group of [[Immigration|immigrants]], take a headcount and queue up enough beds, doors, cabinets and chests to make bedrooms for them all. Examine their skills. (This is where [[Utilities#Dwarf_Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]] can come in handy again.) Be sure to enable any labors that they have skills in, but aren't active. Turn any useless dwarves into furnace operators.

==Traps==
Start producing '''[[mechanism]]s''' at your [[mechanic's workshop]]. Queue up ten. After they are built, use them to create [[Trap#Stone-fall_Trap|stone fall traps]] <s>near the start of your entry hall</s> after your trade depot (34.11 caravans activate traps) using {{K|b}}-{{K|T}}. Queue up some [[cage]]s, and more mechanisms, and use these to create some [[Trap#Cage_Trap|cage traps]] right after your stone traps. Cage traps are incredibly effective at stopping ambushers, but traps in general will not protect you from [[thief|thieves and kidnappers]] who will almost always bypass them.

Continue to fill up your entry hall with alternating rows of stone and cage traps as the parts become available.

==Guard Animals==
Create two 1x1 [[pasture]]s near the beginning of your entryway, one on either side, using {{K|i}}. Using the {{K|N}} key inside the zone interface, assign a [[dog]] or other non-grazing animal to each of them. These animals will spot thieves and raiders before they gain entrance to your fortress. Try to pick disposable animals, as they ''will'' be slaughtered by the first ambush raiders. Ideally, don't assign female animals; you want them safe for [[Meat industry#Breeding|breeding]].

==Drawbridge==
Build a [[Bridge|drawbridge]] ({{K|b}}-{{K|g}}) to seal off your entryway. Make sure to use {{K|w}}, {{K|a}}, {{K|d}}, or {{K|x}} to make it raise up in the right direction; otherwise it will just retract (disappear) instead of raising up to form a barrier. If you forget to do this, you will need to rebuild the bridge. ("North" in this case means "up," or "the top of the screen")

Put the drawbridge between the trade depot and the hall-o-traps so you can lock things out of the fort. Build a lever ({{K|b}}-{{K|T}}-{{K|l}}) near your meeting area and connect it to the drawbridge by using {{K|q}} on the lever.

In case of an [[ambush]] or [[siege]], you will want to close up your fort, keeping the goblins out until your [[squad]]s have formed up and are in position. Ideally you want to have enough cage traps to take out most of the goblins so your military will only have to mop up.

==Metal Industry==
[[File:Quickstart-level-2-forge.png|thumb|right|Level -2: Forge and smelters with ore stockpile in the middle.]]
Now, below your first workshop level, dig out four more 5x5 rooms around the stairwell. Three of these will be [[smelter]]s, and one a [[metalsmith's forge]]. Designate stockpiles for {{K|b}}ars around the smelters and forge. The bar stockpiles will hold [[Fuel|coke and charcoal]] and metal [[bar]]s. You will probably need larger bar stockpiles, but you can dig out more space and expand them later.

Also dig out some space and create a stockpile for [[ore]] somewhere nearby. To make an ore stockpile, designate a {{K|s}}tone stockpile, then use {{K|q}} to change the {{K|s}}ettings on it to forbid all types of stone other than ore.

Finally, go to your general purpose stockpile on the top level and use {{K|q}} to disable Bars. Stone should already be disabled on this stockpile, and if so then ore is already disabled for it.

===Wood Burning===
Somewhere near your carpenter's shop, near your wood stockpile, dig out an area and build a [[wood furnace]]. This is where you will create charcoal (see below) and ash (for making soap).

Dwarf Fortress has two forms of carbon which are useful as [[fuel]] in the metal industry: ''charcoal'' (which is charred wood), and ''coke'' (refined coal). They are completely interchangeable. If your map has a lot of '''lignite''' or '''bituminous coal''', you can process that into coke, using charcoal to jump-start the process.

If you don't find coal on your map, you'll need to either dig down to [[magma]] or make charcoal out of wood to run your forges and smelters, but don't worry about this yet. You need to do some digging around.

===Mining===
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|"I have struck what?"|New players who don't have a degree in geology usually find themselves confused as to what all these mineral names mean. In DF you'll never strike "iron ore" but you will strike [[magnetite]] or [[limonite]] which are [[ore]]s of [[iron]]. If you don't know that these things are ores of iron then it obviously won't occur to you to try to smelt iron. Note that ores usually look like {{Raw Tile|£|6:7:1}} before they are mined and {{Raw Tile|*|6:1}} after, though the colors will differ. See '''''[[The Non-Dwarf's Guide to Rock]]''''' to help you figure out exactly what you've found.}}
At this point you want to start looking for metal ore. You may have already found some while digging out rooms, in which case you can just mine into the walls of the rooms to get more ore. If you haven't found ore yet or you want to see what else you can find, you will need to dig [[Exploratory mining|exploratory tunnels]] looking for ores, minerals, and [[gem]]s. For now just start digging tunnels out from your stairwell or rooms in all directions and see what you run into. Note that digging into '''damp stone''' or '''warm stone''' is not recommended as those areas may be holding back water or lava which can flood your fort.

===Fuel===
Whether you find coal or not, you will need to burn wood into at least one unit of charcoal. If you find some coal (lignite or bituminous coal), start your smelters out processing it into coke using your charcoal to get things started. From then out you can burn coke to make more coal into more coke and so on.

Put these coke-making jobs on repeat. Only use one smelter to begin with, but you should be getting a group of [[Immigration|immigrants]] fairly soon, if you haven't already, and you can put them to work in the other smelters.

Don't give up on finding coal right away. Dig around for a while and if you're starting to get impatient then burn some more wood into charcoal, smelt some ore, and make some [[weapon]]s. If you rely on charcoal for fuel then you'll be needing a ''lot'' of wood, so in that case dig out another room near the furnace and create a wood stockpile. You might also want to just remove a smelter, replace it with a wood furnace, and create the new wood stockpile down in the smelting area. Finally, go designate more trees for chopping.

===Forging===
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Alternative Energy|If you don't find coal then you will have to continue to burn wood into charcoal, or dig down to the bottom of the map and find the magma sea so you can power [[magma smelter]]s and [[magma forge]]s. Getting to magma can be difficult for various reasons that you will discover, so make sure you are ready for some trouble before you go that direction. Burning charcoal should work out ok in the short term.}}
Once you have smelted some ore to get metal bars, and have additional bars of either coal or charcoal, you can start forging metal items. Here are some suggestions on what to make first:
#'''[[Pick]]s''' - You may have only started out with one pick which limits the number of miners you have to one. By this point you are probably wishing you had more miners. Make a few picks and give some dwarves the mining labor once you get some immigrants. It doesn't matter what metal you use to make picks, at least when it comes to mining, so even copper is perfectly good.
#'''[[Weapon]]s''' - Picks actually make pretty good weapons, but there can be some issues equipping them because they're tied to the mining labor. You may want to make a few axes. They make good weapons, at least against most lightly armored opponents you're likely to encounter first, and can be used to chop trees. Start with 5 or so.
#'''[[Armor]]''' - You're going to want some armor. Start with mail shirts, helmets, leggings, then gauntlets and boots. Start with 3 or so of each in the order listed, then make more later when your military grows. Also make some shields out of wood (since the shield's material doesn't matter for defensive purposes), unless you're swimming in metal. Once you have the essentials covered, you can include breastplates (but they take 3 bars of metal to make, and they don't cover as much of the torso and arms as a mail shirt).

[[Steel]] is the best normal metal to make armor and most weapons out of, but you're likely find that you want some arms before you can make steel. [[Iron]] is good, and [[bronze]] is also good. [[Copper]] is not ideal, but it still works and is better than no metal weapons/armor at all.

==Gemcutting and Trinkets==
You should have uncovered some [[gem]]s by now, so put your [[jeweler]] to work [[Gem cutter|cutting]] them. These will be the only thing you [[Trading|trade]] in the first year, and only for things you absolutely need and can't produce enough of yourself.

Actually, [[Finished goods|stone crafts]] produced by a craftsdwarf can make good trading goods as well. The only problem with this is that you'll need to make a lot of them (50+) because each one isn't too valuable individually. If you go this route you will probably need to dedicate a craftsdwarf's workshop and craftsdwarf to this task almost full-time, but you're very unlikely to ever run out of stone.

==Sticking to the Plan==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Getting Distracted|Say one of your new immigrants turns out to be a legendary weaver. Should you plant some pig tails and create a loom for him? '''No!''' Put his legendary ass to work smelting metal or something that's part of your current industry even though he has no skill at it. Do not split your efforts yet. You can make use of his unique talents later when you can afford to diversify your industry.}}
Metalsmithing will be your primary economic activity, with cutting gems (and possibly making stone crafts) being used to give you some short-term [[wealth]] until the [[metal industry]] gets going. This means you will need miners, haulers, smiths and furnace operators. Unless a dwarf is doing something else vital to the proper functioning of your fort, such as training in the militia, making traps, cooking food, and so forth, they should be doing one of those four things.

==Wealth and Invasion==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Crafting Invitations for Trouble|Creating too much wealth initially is a sure fire method of pulling down a goblin ambush that you are ill-equipped to deal with. Titans will also start attacking you should your wealth go over a certain amount. For this reason, spend no time smelting gold, smoothing, or engraving anything yet. Most of the wealth you create in the beginning should be the sharp pointy kind.}}
You may have struck [[gold]] or some other valuable metal, and you may be tempted to put your furnaces and smiths to work creating valuable metal crafts. Don't do it! Until you have your militia formed and fully equipped with armor and weaponry, your smelters and forge should be doing nothing else but smelting cheaper materials like coal, iron, making pig iron and steel if possible, and making weapons and armor. Making [[steel]] will actually increase your wealth quite a bit, but at least you can stab and beat things to death with steel; you can't make weapons from gold.

=Military=

Your '''military''' is an important part of fortress defense. Unless you have totally cut yourself off from the outside world then you will want at least some sort of military.

Once you reach this point you should hopefully have enough dwarves to start a small military training program. You will need at least 5 dwarves who aren't otherwise doing anything important.

If you don't have any spare dwarves yet, or just don't want to mess with it yet, just skip to the next section and come back to this later. Don't wait too long to set up your military though; you especially will want soldiers before you reach a population of 80 dwarves. (You will find out why.)

When you're ready to start up your military, see the [[Military quickstart]] guide.

= What Next =

Congratulations! If you've made it this far then you have a self-sustaining fort going and can now start to branch out into whatever you are interested in exploring. Expect some goblin invasions, forgotten beasts, titans, dragons, giants, and other creatures to interrupt your activities at various points. This is part of the [[fun]].

Here are some things that people almost always do eventually though not necessarily in any particular order (these are somewhat essential):
*Build [[coffin]]s and a graveyard or [[tomb]]s for dead dwarves and pets
*Set up a [[Healthcare|hospital]]
*Build a [[well]]
*Start producing [[textile industry|clothing]] to replace [[wear|worn-out attire]]
*Build a [[jail]] for unruly dwarves
*Set up [[Scheduling#Alert_Levels|civilian alerts]] to get civilians to a safe area during ambushes and sieges

Here are some things that players often do as their population grows:
*Smooth and [[engraving|engrave]] walls and floors
*Produce [[Meat industry|Meat, eggs, milk, and honey]]
*Continue to expand the [[military]]
*Explore new [[Industry|industries]]
*Dig down to the [[caverns]] and create a defended lower entrance with traps to defend the fort against the [[creatures|denizens]] below
*Build a [[kennel]] and train some war animals
*Build a [[Mass pitting]] system to dispose of caged enemies
*Build above-ground [[construction]]s such as an archery tower or garden
*Create a [[statue|statue garden]] or [[zoo]]
*Farm in an [[Farm#Above_Ground_Farming|above-ground farm plot]]
*Dig down to [[magma]] and set up [[magma forge]]s and [[magma smelter]]s to avoid the need for fuel
*Build [[machine component]]s to pump magma and water
*Create more [[Trap design|elaborate traps]] such as magma and drowning chambers
*Try some [[stupid dwarf trick]]s

You may also want to just read over the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] and the many other very useful documents on the wiki to give you other ideas of what to do.

Keep in mind that how you play is not set in stone. Some people never defend, some start a [[Megaprojects|megaproject]] right after settling, some never dig and just build an above ground castle or town using logs. Some never smelt ore, some start smelting as soon as they arrive. Some make their home in the dangerous natural caverns. Some deal with invaders by flooding the map or isolating themselves completely. And that's not even considering the [[List of mods|mods]] and some of the crazier [[challenges]] that people have come up with. There's really no one "right" way to play DF.

= Feedback =

If you have any feedback on this guide, please leave a message on the [[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|talk page]] for this article or in [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=83452.0 this thread] on the forums.

{{Getting Started}}
{{Category|Fortress mode}}
{{Category|Quickstart guide}}

[[ru:Быстрый старт]]

v0.34:Quickstart guide

2013-04-28T13:46:19Z

Jez9999: /* Nobles */ - I disagree a bit here

{{quality|Exceptional|18:27, 29 April 2012 (UTC)}}{{av}}

<div style="font-size:120%">
:''This is a quickstart guide for [[Dwarf fortress mode]] for those who have never played before who quickly want to jump in head-first.''
:''If you are looking to learn adventure mode instead, see the [[Adventure mode quick start]] guide.''
</div>
<div style="font-size:120%">
:'''''Also see [[Tutorials]] for more detailed tutorials that people have submitted.'''''
</div>
{{TipBox2|float=right|Before you get started...|Always remember that '''losing is [[fun]]!''' Be prepared to lose a few fortresses before you get all the way through this guide – it can be easy to accidentally kill the entire fortress while learning. But remember: losing means that next time, ''you'll remember how you lost.'' In a big way, Dwarf Fortress uses the principle of learning from one's mistakes.}}

So, you want to play '''Dwarf Fortress''', but you have no idea what to do. That's understandable; in Dwarf Fortress you can really do anything you like. It is a huge, complex, and totally open-ended game. But in order to do anything, first you need a sustainable fortress. It turns out that this is not as hard as you might think.

As this article doesn't always contain the exact key sequences needed to do everything described, you will likely need to refer to the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] and the rest of the wiki while reading this.

[[File:FlowchartDF.png|thumb|500px|right|[[Main:From Caravan to Happy Dwarves|From Caravan to Happy Dwarves]] - This is a flowchart showing approximately what sequence of actions players usually take when starting up a new fort. Feel free to ignore it if you want. It's not necessary to refer to this to understand the rest of the guide, but by the time you finish the guide it will probably all make sense.]]

__TOC__

= Common UI Concepts =

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Keeping Up|While the guide contains many links, you may still need to look something up. Refer to the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] or use the wiki [[Special:Search|search]] function. Also, don't hesitate to [[Main:Troubleshooting|ask for help]] if you can't find answers on the wiki.}}
{{KeyConventions}}

=World Generation=

The first thing you will need to do is [[World generation|generate a new world]]. Unlike many games, the world that your game takes place in will always be procedurally randomly generated by you or someone else. There is no "default" or "standard" world.

Luckily the basic version of this process is rather simple, and doesn't usually take too long unless your computer is a bit outdated or the world's history is set to Long.

{{TipBox2|titlebg=#00a|Starting World|
For your first game, [[World generation|generate a new world]] using the {{DFtext|Create New World!}} option in the main menu with the following options:

* {{DFtext|World Size}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|History}} is {{DFtext|Short|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Civilizations}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Sites}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Beasts}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Natural Savagery}} is {{DFtext|Very Low|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Mineral Occurrence}} is {{DFtext|Frequent|3:1}}

This should help to avoid difficulties.
}}

= Pre-Embark =

:''Also see: [[Embark]]''

'''Embarking''' is the process of choosing a site, outfitting your initial dwarves, and sending them on their way.

Select {{DFtext|Start Playing}} from the main menu, then select {{DFtext|Dwarf Fortress}}.

The map you see on the right is the '''World Map''' which will show you the whole world. The one in the middle is the '''Region Map''' which will show you a zoomed-in view of the part of the world indicated by the cursor in the world map. The '''Local Map''' on the left will show a zoomed-in view of the part of the region indicated by the cursor in the region map. In the local map area there will be a highlighted embark region that you can move around with {{K|u}} {{K|m}} {{K|k}} {{K|h}}. This highlighted square is what will become your play area after you embark. Use {{k|↑}} {{k|↓}} {{k|←}} {{k|→}} to move the region and world cursors around. Hold down {{K|Shift}} while doing this to move more rapidly.

== Choosing a Good Site ==

Choosing a good embark site is crucial for beginners. Advanced players can create a functional fortress on a glacier, but for now, lets stick to dwarf (and newbie) friendly environments. You will want to look for certain features in your initial embark site that will make your first fort much easier to manage.

{{TipBox2|titlebg=#00a|Starting Site|
[[File:Quickstart-good-location.png|thumb|300px|right|An example of a good starting site.]]
For your first game, find a site with the following properties:
*'''NO [[Aquifer]]''' (This is '''''very''''' important!)
*'''Trees:''' Forested or Heavily Forested
*'''Temperature:''' Warm
*'''Surroundings:''' Calm or at least '''not''' Sinister, Haunted, or Terrifying
*'''Clay or Soil''' is important to make farming easier when starting out
*'''Shallow Metals''' (That's Metals, plural, not Metal. You want more than one.)
*A '''River''' if possible
*'''Deep Metal(s)''' if possible
*'''Flux Stone''' if possible

You may want to use the {{K|f}}ind tool to help you find a site. You may find it easier to put only some of the criteria into the tool (at the very least, No Aquifer). Once the find tool has finished running, the general areas which it has found will be indicated by flashing characters on the map.

Notes about find tool:
"Calm" is classified as Medium Evil, Low Savagery. (See [[Surroundings#Combinations_of_surroundings|the chart here]] for why.) The find tool will also only indicate a general area so you will still need to check the attributes manually by moving between flashing regions and by moving around in each one until you find the most suitable site.

The find tool may take 1-2 minutes to run, when it's done, '''be sure to press {{K|ESC}} to look around at the different sites it returns''' (look for flashing Xs on the world map). As you move your yellow X over the flashing suggested sites, the info bar on the right will tell you soil, minerals, aquifer, etc. Choose the one that looks best to you!

Your site may have multiple biomes overlapping it. If so make sure to press {{K|F1}}, {{K|F2}}, etc, to take a look at all of them. They may each have significantly different characteristics.

See '''[[/Starting site|Starting site]]''' for more info on why these characteristics are important.}}

Press {{K|e}} to embark once you're sure you have the right area highlighted on the local map.

== Skills and Equipment ==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Optional: Preparing Carefully|If, at this point, you'd like to get into all of the details of picking individual skills and equipment for your expedition, select {{DFtext|Prepare for the journey carefully}} and see '''[[Quickstart_guide/Preparing_carefully|Preparing carefully]]''' for instructions. '''This is completely optional.'''}}

Now the '''Prepare for the Journey''' screen should appear. You will be given the choice to either:
*{{DFtext|Play Now!}}
*{{DFtext|Prepare for the journey carefully}}.

Selecting {{DFtext|Play Now!}} will start you out with a default set of equipment that is reasonably safe, allowing you to skip having to set up your skills and equipment. If you'd like to get going now, just select that option.

=A Minimal Fortress=
[[File:Quickstart-map-starting.png|thumb|right|Starting out. In this example the dwarves will be digging out an entrance tunnel in the sandy cliff on the right. (You can use {{K|Tab}} to show or hide the overview map.)]]

At this point you have embarked and your dwarves have arrived at their destination. You will see your dwarves clustered around their wagon full of supplies somewhere near the center of your map. '''Immediately hit {{K|Space}} to pause the game''' unless it is already paused.

==Surveying the Area==
'''Do not unpause the game just yet.''' Take a look around. Use the {{K|k}} command and the arrow keys. Look up and down a few [[z-level]]s with {{K|<}} and {{K|>}}. Place the cursor on various tiles to familiarize yourself with what the symbols mean. If you get lost, you can press {{K|F1}} to return to the wagon. (You can define more [[hotkeys]] later, to jump quickly to other sites of interest.)

Notice the terrain features, the vegetation, and any minerals visible. If you chose a site with flowing water, where is it? What about pools of water? The more carefully you examine your site before breaking ground, the better off you will be.

Remember that this is more of a simulation than a game. It is not "play balanced", and you can very easily find yourself in impossible situations. That is all part of the [[fun]] because even when you lose, you create an interesting story.

Your wagon serves as the initial meeting area for your dwarves. Since you should have started in a non-freezing, calm (low savagery), non-evil biome, you shouldn't face any immediate danger, but if for some reason the area around your wagon proves to be unsafe, immediately designate another meeting zone using {{K|i}} (see ''Temporary Meeting Area'' below).

==Controlling Your Dwarves==
The first thing to keep in mind is that, for the most part, you can't directly control your dwarves the way you control characters in a typical fantasy RPG. Instead, you '''designate''' things that need to be done and then dwarves with the appropriate labor assignments will decide what to start working on based on a set of largely hard-coded priorities.

For example, if a dwarf needs to eat then he will go eat and only get around to digging a tunnel once he is done eating. It is also possible to designate things that no dwarf is able to do. For example, if you designate an area to mine but no dwarf has mining as one of his allowed labors or no dwarf has a pickaxe then the mining will never get done, and the game will not always advise you of why.

So what you are doing throughout the game is essentially giving your dwarves a detailed group-wide to-do list, but it's up to them to figure out which one of them will execute any given task if the task is even possible. Often many of the details of how a task is performed (such as exactly which rock will be used to make crafts) are left up to them.

==Strike The Earth!==
Generally, you will want to get all your dwarves and supplies inside a protected area as quickly as possible. So the first thing you will do is {{K|d}}esignate some areas to "mine".

Decide where you will build your main entrance. The best thing to do is just put it near your wagon to make it faster and less work to haul all of your supplies inside.

To designate an area for digging:
#Hit {{K|d}} to bring up the [[Designations Menu]].
#Hit {{K|d}} again to select Mine. (Note: Dwarves mine horizontally, not downwards. Use Channel instead if you want to dig down.)
#Place the cursor on one corner of the rectangular area you want to designate and press {{K|Enter}}.
#Move the cursor to the other corner of the rectangle and press {{K|Enter}}. A rectangle will be highlighted and a miner dwarf will start to dig out this area once you exit the menu (with {{K|Esc}}) and unpause the game with {{K|Space}}.

This is basically how all of the designation commands work. Everything has to be designated one rectangle at a time, but rectangles can also be one tile wide, or just one single tile.

If your wagon is near a [[cliff]], you can just designate a tunnel to mine ({{K|d}}-{{K|d}}) into the cliff to create an entryway. If you are on flat land with no cliff near the wagon, [[channel]] out a small rectangle (perhaps 3x3) on the surface with {{K|d}}-{{K|h}} to create a sort of pit with ramps on the edges, then go down one z-level with {{K|>}} and tunnel into the wall of the pit (with {{K|d}}-{{K|d}}) to create your entry. (Think of this as creating your own cliff, with the inside wall of the pit being the "cliff".)

Dig a hallway one tile wide and ''at least'' 10 long, ideally more like 20. This will be your entryway.

Your entryway defines the boundary between your safe and protected inner fort, and the big bad outside world. You want this to be your only entrance so that you only have to worry about defending this one opening.

A guide to starting a fortress can be found [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLYDcuk29bE&feature=plcp here]

==Delving Secure Lodgings==
[[File:Quickstart-level0.png|thumb|right|Level 0: This is the ground level which we'll call "level 0". The entrance tunnel is on the left where the refuse and wood stockpiles are partially visible. Inside are the general storage area, trade depot, stairwell, and farm plot.]]
Near the beginning of the entryway, build a 5x5 room, and link it to the entrance tunnel with a 3-wide passageway. From the link to the opening, extend the entrance tunnel to a 3-wide tunnel. At the end of the entrance tunnel, dig a 3x3 room, which will later become your main stairwell. Two tiles away from that, dig an 11x11 room, which will later become your general stockpile, and connect it to the stairwell with a 1-wide passageway.

Don't make any of these rooms too big or your miner will take forever to dig the rooms out, especially if he is digging in stone instead of soil. (Digging through soil is much faster.) You may want to designate one room at a time, then wait for it to be mined out before designating the next room.

=== Stockpiles ===
[[File:Quickstart-custom-stockpile.png|right|thumb|Keep corpses, refuse, stone and wood out of general use stockpiles. You can come back and change the settings on this stockpile using {{K|q}}, selecting the stockpile, then pressing {{K|s}}. Try to remember to come back here to disable/forbid types of things as you create more specific stockpiles for them.]]
'''Stockpiles''' are very important. These areas are where your dwarves will drop things for storage when they aren't needed elsewhere. To create a '''general purpose stockpile''' for your first storage area:
#Hit {{K|p}} to open the Stockpiles menu.
#Use {{K|t}} to change the [[Stockpile#Custom_stockpiles|custom stockpile]] settings to {{K|e}}nable everything but '''Corpses''', '''Refuse''', '''Stone''', '''Gems''', and '''Wood'''. Use directional keys, {{K|e}}nable, {{K|d}}isable to do this.
#{{k|Esc}} out of that screen back to the stockpiles menu.
#Hit {{K|c}} to select Custom Stockpile.
#Designate the whole 11x11 storage room as a custom stockpile. This works just like designating an area to dig: place the cursor on one corner of the room, hit {{K|Enter}}, move to the opposite corner, and hit {{K|Enter}} again.
#Press {{K|Esc}} to get out of the Stockpiles menu.
Once you exit the stockpiles menu you should see dwarves running off to haul everything from your wagon into the new stockpile area. Later you can change what sort of things the stockpile accepts by hitting {{K|q}} (Set Building Tasks/Prefs), placing the cursor on the stockpile, then pressing {{K|s}} to get to the stockpile settings.

It is particularly important to '''keep wood, stone, refuse, and corpses out of your general purpose stockpile''', so you may want to double check to make sure all of these things are disabled in the stockpile settings. Failure to keep these things out of this stockpile will cause problems.

Note- When assigning stockpiles, you should make sure they're in a vacant area. IE; the tiles should only "contain" the ground. Dwarves will not haul stuff to filled tiles, so make sure the area is vacant (Assign the area for dump) before assigning a stockpile.

=== Stairways ===
Designate a Downward Stairway in the middle of your 3x3 room with {{K|d}}-{{K|j}}. Notice that after your miner digs the stairway, it doesn't automatically create another stairway on the z-level below. If you hit {{K|>}} to move the view down a z-level you'll see that there's no stairway below, but there is a revealed tile of rock/soil. Because of the down stairway that was dug, this tile is now accessible to miners. You can then designate an Up/Down Stairway on it with {{K|d}}-{{K|i}} and the miner dwarf will dig it out. Below that you can then dig out another up/down stairway and so on. For now just dig down one level; we will deepen the stairwell later.

==Stout Labor==
'''Labors''' are how you control what types of tasks a dwarf will do. For example, if the Fishing labor is enabled for a dwarf, that dwarf is allowed to engage in fishing.

When dwarves are idle, it could be because you haven't given them anything to do, or it could be because none of the idle dwarves have been told that they're allowed to do the types of tasks you've designated. For example, if you designate an area to mine, but none of the dwarves have the mining labor enabled, they will all just sit around ignoring your mining designation thinking that it isn't their job.

Dwarves will automatically have some labors enabled if they start out with skill in those labors, and some labors (such as hauling and cleaning) are enabled for all dwarves by default. This is why you didn't need to enable any labors on dwarves to get them to haul and mine, but later you may need a labor that no dwarf is currently capable of.

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#aa0|Dwarf Therapist|You may have noticed that the UI for managing dwarves is a bit difficult to use. If you are using a supported operating system, the utility '''[[Utilities#Dwarf_Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]]''' can make this a million times easier, especially later when you're dealing with twenty times the number of dwarves you have now.}}
With the digging and stockpile taken care of, look over your dwarves' assigned [[labor]]s. Press {{K|v}} (View Units) then place the cursor on a dwarf. Now, press {{K|p}}-{{K|l}} for "preferences: labors". You will see a list of labor categories that you can navigate using {{K|-}}{{K|+}}. You can enter each category and toggle each labor off and on with {{K|Enter}} and get back out with {{K|Esc}}.

After exiting the View Units menu, you can use {{K|u}} (the units screen) to help you locate dwarves. Hit {{K|u}}, select a dwarf, hit {{K|c}} for "zoom to creature" and you'll automatically be placed in view mode on that dwarf. (Then use {{K|p}}-{{K|l}} to get to the labor configuration menu if necessary.)

Even if no dwarves have the corresponding skills, ensure that someone has [[wood burner]], [[furnace operator]], [[wood cutter]], [[plant gathering]], [[gem cutter]], [[armorsmith]], [[weaponsmith]], [[blacksmith]], [[metal crafter]], and [[engraver]] (stone detailing) enabled. If you have dwarves with hunting or fishing, ''disable'' those until you have your initial fort completed. When you're first starting out you don't want dwarves wandering around alone where they can get killed.

Any unskilled dwarf can perform any labor given the necessary equipment and materials. Dwarves with no skill will simply be slow and produce a smaller quantity of lower quality goods in a given time period, but they will gain skill points as they do so.

==Temporary Meeting Area==
Using the {{k|i}} key, create an activity zone (at least 5x5) in the stairwell or general stockpile area (be careful not to make this too small lest your [[overcrowding|overcrowded]] animals start fighting). This works much like creating a stockpile except that you draw the rectangle first then hit keys to define what the area is for. Draw the rectangle over the area then set it to be a {{K|m}}eeting area. Your idle dwarves will hang around in this area, hopefully keeping them inside the fort and out of trouble.

==Refuse==
[[File:Dwarf fort tut miasma.jpg|thumb|right|Avoiding [[Miasma]]]]
Outside your fort entrance, use {{K|p}} followed by {{K|r}} to create a stock{{K|p}}ile for [[Stockpile#Refuse|{{K|r}}efuse]] ''at least'' 5x5 in size. This should be outside in the open or you will have problems with [[Miasma]]. If you do not disable [[vermin]] (Item Types -> remains), you will probably have to expand it later as it will fill up with vermin remains rather quickly. If you are seeing refuse appear in your general-purpose stockpile instead of the refuse pile, use {{K|q}} on the general stockpile and check its {{K|s}}ettings to make sure refuse has been disabled.

==Woodcutting==
Create another stock{{K|p}}ile for {{K|w}}ood outside your entrance. As it will only be temporary, don't make it too big (maybe 5x3, or 15 tiles total). Later you will move this closer to your carpenter's workshop once you build one.

Press {{K|q}}, place the cursor on your wagon, and hit {{K|x}} to deconstruct it. This will flag the wagon for disassembly. Eventually a carpenter will come along and turn the useless wagon into a few units of wood. Removing other buildings is done the same way.

Also near the entry, designate at least 10 trees to be chopped down with {{K|d}}-{{K|t}}. Don't designate too many trees at the beginning, or your dwarves will spend all of their time chopping them down and hauling them rather than doing other work.

==Pasture==
If you have any grazing animals with you, such as the draft animals used to pull your wagon, they will die if they are kept away from grass for too long. Use {{K|i}} to create a Pe{{K|n}}/[[Pasture]] zone over a grassy area outside and assign your grazing animals to it using {{K|N}} (while still selecting the zone). This area needs to be about 10x10 or so to ensure they have enough grass and don't trample it all.

The amount of grass required varies greatly depending on the type(s) of animals being pastured. If you intend to keep grazing animals permanently, you may need vastly larger pastures later. As an alternative, you might wish to [[Butcher's shop|slaughter]] your largest animals for food and materials.

==Bare necessities==
To keep functioning, your dwarves require constant supplies of food and drink. You can use the {{k|z}} stock screen to monitor how much food and drink are available. Luckily, your dwarves will eat almost everything raw--if your food starts running low, {{k|d}}esignate some {{k|p}}lants to be gathered on the surface (similar to tree cutting), or build a [[butcher]] shop ({{k|b}}, {{k|w}}, {{k|u}}) and slaughter one of your animals (press {{k|v}}, move the cursor to the animal, then press {{k|p}}, {{k|s}}). Drinks can be more problematic. You can specify a "water source" activity zone ({{k|i}}) around a lake or river on the surface to keep your dwarves from dying of thirst, but dwarves deprived of [[alcohol]] slow down and become unhappy. If your alcohol supply is running low, build a [[still]] ({{k|b}}, {{k|w}}, {{k|l}}) and brew a few plants (if you don't have plants, you'll need to {{k|d}}designate some {{k|p}}lants to be gathered on the surface). Keep a wary eye on your supplies; the only warning that your stocks have run out is a dead dwarf.

==Sustenance by Plow==
For long-term food and alcohol supply, you'll want to setup a farm. Dig out an area in a [[soil]] layer, accessible from inside your fort that you've created so far. You must pick an ''underground'' area with mud or soil. Hopefully you have chosen a site with a soil layer as this will make farming much easier, but if not then you will need to [[Irrigation|irrigate]] to create the required mud on stone floors.

Now use {{K|b}} to build a 3x3 [[Farming|farm {{K|p}}lot]]. Notice that some things like buildings and constructions are not designated corner-to-corner like digging designations, stockpiles, or activity zones. Instead, you define the width and height of the "building" using {{K|u}}{{K|m}}{{K|k}}{{K|h}} then position it with the directional keys. So hit {{K|u}}{{K|u}}{{K|k}}{{K|k}} to make the plot 3x3 and position it in the room you just excavated.

Remember you must enable the "Farming (Fields)" labour for at least one dwarf or the farm plot won't get built and farming will not take place. (If you selected "Play Now" earlier then you will start with a dwarf with farming enabled.)

{{K|Esc}} out of the build menu and wait for the farmer dwarf to create the plot. Once the plot is built, use {{K|q}} to set the plot to grow [[plump helmet]]s during all seasons. You can use {{K|+}} and {{K|-}} to select the crop. You will need to press {{K|a}}, {{K|b}}, {{K|c}}, {{K|d}} and select Plump Helmets for each season, otherwise you'll end up with an idle field for 3/4ths of the year.

==Designing Your First Fortress==
While this guide recommends a vertical fortress design around a central stairwell with each z-level being used for a particular purpose, it is really not that important to use this design for your first fortress. Therefore, feel free to put any of the areas described in the rest of this guide on your main level or wherever you want as long as dwarves can get to them without going outside the fort. In other words, you can think of the "levels" described in the guide more as areas that can really all be on the same level if you have space. Later you can ponder over what makes things most efficient, but for now just do whatever you find easiest.

To get stone though you may need to dig down a bit if you have more than one z-level of sand/clay/soil on the surface.

==Workshops==
[[File:Quickstart-level-1-workshops.png|right|thumb|Level -1: Mason's, carpenter's, mechanic's, and jeweler's workshops surrounded by appropriate stockpiles.]]
Dig your stairwell down one level (with {{K|d}}-{{K|i}}), if you haven't already, and create four 5x5 rooms off of the stairwell. These will hold your [[Mechanic's_workshop|mechanic's]], [[Mason's_workshop|mason's]], [[Carpenter's_workshop|carpenter's]], and [[Jeweler's_workshop|jeweler's]] [[workshop]]s.

Use {{K|b}}-{{K|w}} to build the workshops, and select some sort of junk stone for the material. If you are still digging in soil and don't have stone yet, just use wood. (The material really doesn't matter in this case.) Put each workshop in the center of each room, and use the remaining space for the appropriate type of stockpile (wood for your carpenter, stone for your mason and mechanic, and gems for your jeweler.) If the construction of any building gets "suspended" just use {{K|q}} to unsuspend it. (This can happen if stone is blocking the way. See "Garbage" Dumping below if you find you need to remove some stone.)

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Too Good for Menial Peon Work|Certain labors are crucial in setting up a fort. At some point you may want to disable less important labors such as hauling for dwarves with the crucial skills of mining, masonry, architecture, carpentry, mechanics, and maybe others. You want these dwarves working on creating beds, doors, and trap components before hauling stone and cleaning.}}
Remove the temporary wood stockpile you created outside (using {{K|p}}-{{K|x}}) and dwarves will move the wood to the new wood storage area.

Go to your mason's shop with {{K|q}} and use {{K|a}} to queue up one [[table]] and one [[throne]]/chair. You will find out why you need these in a second, but now is a good time to start building them. If you still don't have any stone at this point just use wood at the carpenter's workshop.

=="Garbage" Dumping==
'''Note that garbage is not the same thing as refuse.''' [[Stockpile#Refuse|Refuse]] is [[Miasma|rotting stuff]]. Garbage is anything you designate to be hauled to a [[Activity_zone#Garbage_Dump|garbage dump]], even important things that aren't really garbage. Think of your garbage dump zone as a way to specify that objects you select will be brought to a specific area.

Use {{K|i}} to create a 1x1 activity zone somewhere near your mason's and mechanic's workshops and set it to be a {{K|g}}arbage Dump. Unlike stockpile areas where you are limited to storing one object per tile, any number of items may be piled in a garbage area. That means you will only need one tile to hold as much garbage as you like. Although many of the room sizes in this guide are suggestions, think of the 1x1 garbage dump size as mandatory. At some point you will probably want to retrieve an important item from your garbage dump, and the larger your dump is, the harder it will be to find anything in it.

Press {{k|d}}-{{k|b}} to get to the mass dump/forbid screen and select the {{k|d}}ump option. With "dump" selected, designate a rectangle over all of the loose stones cluttering up your living area. This will designate this stone to be transported to the closest garbage dump zone.

Once the stone from your living area has been moved there, it will be set as [[Forbid|forbidden]]. Before it can be used you will need to unforbid it using the same {{k|d}}-{{k|b}} screen, hitting {{k|c}} to claim it.

Congratulations! Knowing how to use garbage zones and dump commands puts you head and shoulders above most newbs. It takes some people weeks to figure this out.

==Trade Depot==
Build a [[trade depot]] using {{K|b}}-{{K|D}} in the 5x5 room you created near your entrance. This is where caravans will park their stuff and where [[trading]] will take place when one arrives. (as stated earlier, the wagons are 3x3 so the entrance tunnel needs to be at least 3x3 for the wagons to go by).

You will need one [[architect]], which will be enabled on your mason if you selected {{DFtext|Play now!}} at embark. If you didn't, you can enable it in any dwarf's labor preferences (you may wish to make your mason the architect, but any dwarf can fill the role). Depending on the material you use to build the depot, you also need a [[carpenter]] if you decide to use wood, or a [[mason]] if you decide to use stone.

'''Note:''' You can also build a depot out of metal, but this requires a [[metalsmith]], which you may not have yet. Also, there are many better uses for metal, so you're better off choosing a more common material, like stone or wood.

===Accessibility===
{{hidden||headerstyle="text-align:left;"|
'''Use {{K|D}} from the main menu to make sure your depot is accessible!''' This command is only available once the depot is built (before building, the command will be disabled, and while the depot is under construction everything will flash red until the depot is built). Once completed, checking {{k|D}}epot access will flash some of the following symbols:
* {{raw tile|X|4:4:1}}: This tile is not accessible by wagon. This could be due to a number of reasons:
:* The tile is part of an underground tunnel less than 3 tiles wide.
:* The tile is next to a '''tree''' or '''[[boulder]]'''.
:* The tile is a '''wall''' or part of the '''air''', where it isn't possible for wagons to travel (no, unfortunately, wagons don't fly).
* {{raw tile|W|2:2:1}}: This tile is accessible by wagon. These tiles will radiate outward from the depot, not from the map edges.
:This is '''good''', but does not guarantee wagons will be able to reach the depot. Make sure you see the words {{DFtext|Depot accessible|2:1}} on the left.
* {{raw tile|D|3:2:1}} The depot is accessible via wagon.
* {{raw tile|D|6:2:1}} The depot is '''not''' accessible by wagon. See below.

If you see the message {{DFtext|Depot inaccessible|4:1}} in the menu or the {{raw tile|D|6:2:1}} symbol over the depot, try these solutions:
* Is the entrance to the depot (underground) less than 3 tiles wide? If not, expand the entranceway and try {{k|D}} again.
* Are there trees blocking a path to the depot outside? Try clearing a path by cutting down a few (you probably won't need to cut ''all'' the trees in a 3-tile wide path; usually cut some down where a path of {{raw tile|W|2:2:1}}'s ends and see if that helps.
* Are there [[boulder]]s blocking the path outside? Boulders look like this: {{raw tile|∞|7:0:0}}. To remove them easily, you need an [[engraver]]. If you selected "play now", you should have one already. Select {{k|d}}-{{k|s}}mooth Stone and designate the boulder(s) for smoothing. They should flash this symbol: {{raw tile|┼|7:0:1}}. Once an engraver has removed the boulder(s), check {{k|D}}epot access again.

}} 

==Bedrooms==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Communal Living|When a fort is first getting started, a common [[dormitory]] type [[bedroom]] will suffice for a while, but dwarves will eventually want their own rooms. So feel free to create a [[dormitory]] now if you want and come back later to create individual rooms. You will want an office now though.}}
[[File:Quickstart-level-7-bedrooms.png|left|thumb|Level -7: Meager bedrooms and office. All rooms have doors; the bedrooms have a bed, cabinet, and coffer; and the office has a table and chair.]]
Continue digging your stairwell down about seven more levels. Just create the stairwells for now.

On the lowest level, dig some halls leading to rooms for sleeping quarters. Dwarves don't need much space for living quarters; in fact, you can turn a 1x3 room into decent quarters by smoothing the stone and filling it with some decent quality furniture.

[[Bedroom design|Designing living quarters]] is a matter of personal preference and aesthetic sense. Actual design will be left as an exercise for the player. Just try to keep the bedrooms close to the stairs, and ideally make your access hallways at least two tiles wide so your dwarves don't have to crawl over and under each other to get where they are going.

You will want to create at least eight rooms: seven for your [[bedroom]]s, and one as an [[office]] for your manager/bookkeeper, which, rather than a chest, bed and cabinet, will contain the chair and table you queued up earlier.

==Nobles==
Hit the {{k|n}} key to open up the [[Noble|nobles and administrators]] screen.

The most important positions to assign are '''[[broker]]''', '''[[bookkeeper]]''' and '''[[manager]]'''. Your [[expedition leader]] is a good choice for bookkeeper and manager when starting out. Don't worry that it's just one dwarf doing all this; none of these jobs take very long. The broker should be chosen from one of your other dwarves so that they're not too busy doing bookkeeping when a trade delegation arrives to actually talk to the traders.

Having a manager will allow you to queue up work orders which will greatly simplify managing your production. Having a bookkeeper will allow you to maintain inventory counts on the {{K|z}} screen so you'll know what you do and don't have. A broker is necessary to trade with a caravan once one has arrived at your trade depot.

[[File:Quickstart-noble-selection.png|right|thumb|Nobles screen. The red stuff turns white once an office is assigned.]]
Don't worry about the [[chief medical dwarf]] yet. He/she will be needed when you set up your [[Healthcare|hospital]] which won't be covered in this guide. Feel free to go check out the [[Healthcare]] guide once you're done.

Lastly, while you are on this screen, highlight the bookkeeper and {{K|s}}et him to work for "Highest Precision" (all counts accurate). This will help train bookkeeping faster and ensure that you aren't dealing with vague inventory counts.

===Offices (Studies)===
Some of your administrative positions (manager and bookkeeper) require an [[office]] in order to function. If your manager, for example, doesn't have an office, you will not be able to do any of the things that require a manager even though you have one assigned.

Earlier you should have queued up a table and throne in your mason's shop, and they should be done by now. Place them in the office (room you created down in the sleeping area) using the {{K|b}}uild command. Once dwarves have installed the furniture, use {{K|q}} to select the chair, select "make study" {{k|r}}, size the room appropriately, and assign the office to your expedition leader (who should be your bookkeeper and manager). Hit {{K|n}} to verify that these positions now have the office they need. If so then you shouldn't see any red.

==Furniture==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Different Names, Same Thing|As you've noticed, some things have different names based on what they're made of (like chairs vs. thrones) even if they're functionally the same. So, if it seems like you can't make something of a particular material, do some poking around and check the wiki.}}
Now would be a good time to start building some [[furniture]]. You could queue up all these items directly from your workshops, but why not give your new manager a little practice?

Using the manager screen {{k|j}}-{{k|m}}, hit {{k|q}} to queue up a new job, and type "bed", and then select "construct bed." Set the quantity to seven. Next, queue up seven wooden [[chest]]s or rock coffers, eight [[door]]s, seven [[cabinet]]s, at least two [[table]]s and two [[throne]]s/chairs. The tables and chairs will go in your [[dining room]], speaking of which...

==Dining and Food Prep Area==
Above the living quarters, and right off the main stairwell, create another four rooms. One will be for general food storage, one a [[dining room|dining hall]], one a [[kitchen]], and one a [[still]]. The still will allow you to make alcohol. The Kitchen will allow you to make [[Cook#Recipes|Prepared food]].

Make the rooms for the kitchen and still 5x5 each. The storage area and dining hall should be larger. Ideally make the dining hall so that it can be further expanded later.

Use {{K|b}}-{{K|w}} to build the still and kitchen in the middle of the 5x5 rooms. Create {{K|f}}ood stockpiles in the remaining space around each workshop, as well as the entire food storage room.

[[File:Quickstart-level-6-dining.png|right|thumb|Level -6: Dining level with dining hall, kitchen, still, and storage area.]]

Go back to your general purpose stockpile on the top level and use {{K|q}} to change the {{K|s}}ettings to {{K|d}}isable Food. This will cause any food in your general purpose stockpile to get moved to your new food-only stockpiles.

Hit {{K|z}} and select ''[[Kitchen]]'' from the top of the screen, then disable all cooking for plants and enable brewing for them so that they will only be used for brewing. Also disable alcoholic beverages for cooking, otherwise your cooks will waste perfectly good hooch in their cooking. The only time you might want to use alcohol in cooking is when you have lots of booze but are running out of food.

If you plan to do any fishing, dig out another area and create a [[Fishery]] on this level so the uncleaned fish your fisherdwarf just caught can be cleaned (gutted) for consumption or cooking. If you plan to do any hunting or [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] any animals, create a [[Butcher's shop]] on this level so animal corpses can be butchered. The fishery/butcher's shop can be placed behind the kitchen or the general food stockpile, for example. A door is recommended for the butcher's shop in order to contain [[Miasma]] should something rot, and to otherwise avoid offending squeamish dwarves.

Eventually go check out the subpage on [[/Stockpiles|Stockpiles]] for more information on fine-tuning these stockpiles for maximum efficiency. For now you can safely procrastinate on this and move on to the next section.

==Placing Furniture==
Once your furnishings are complete, you need to place them in rooms using the {{K|b}}uild command. Make sure each bedroom gets a door, chest, bed and cabinet. Put a door on the office (which should already have a chair and table). Put the new chairs and tables in the dining room. Make more doors and put them on other rooms if you want.

Once dwarves have hauled beds to the bedrooms, use {{K|q}} on the installed beds to define the actual bedrooms from them. Don't worry about assigning the bedrooms to specific dwarves; they will eventually pick their own as long as they have been defined as unowned bedrooms.

==Meeting Hall==
Use {{K|q}} on one of the tables you just placed in the dining room, define the area as a room, and configure it to be a meeting hall. This will cause idle dwarves to hang around in the dining hall. You want idlers in a central location, close to where you will be placing your emergency drawbridge levers. You may want to go remove the temporary meeting area and any other meeting areas that you created earlier (with {{K|i}}).

==Checking Supplies==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Hostile Wilds|Before turning on either hunting or fishing, examine the {{K|u}}nits screen to see if there are any dangerous critters your hunters/fishers need worry about. With hunting especially, you may need to check this screen frequently.}}
Use the {{K|z}} ([[status]]) screen to check your stock levels. How much food and booze do you have left? You only have unprepared food at this point, and the booze you brought with you, but soon you will be making more. If you are running low on food, you can designate gathering some [[shrub|outdoor plants]], [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] some animals, turn on [[fishing]], or turn on [[hunting]] to tide you over for a bit. Hunting and slaughtering animals both require a butcher's shop.

==Brewing and Cooking==
Once your first crop of plump helmets starts to come in, you will want to start [[brewing]] as a [[repeat]]ing task. Also, now would be a good time to start [[cooking]] actual meals rather than forcing your dwarves to eat raw food. Cooking [[Cooking#Recipes|easy meals]] will train dwarves faster, but they may be happier with [[Cooking#Recipes|lavish meals]]. So, you might want to cook easy ones until your cook or cooks skill up to a certain point then have them start making lavish meals. Prepared food is cooked from two (easy), three (fine), or four (lavish) raw food/alcohol ingredients. Each prepared food item will be called a "biscuit", "stew", or "roast" depending on the lavishness of the meal.

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Conserving Resources|Some things absolutely require wood (like beds and charcoal), but others can be made out of more common materials like stone. For this reason it's best, especially in the beginning, to make everything that you can out of stone. For example, you could make wood chests and barrels, but stone coffers and rock pots would let you save wood for things that require it and help you rid yourself of all that stone. And if you decide you want solid gold chests or something later when you have more resources, you can always throw out the rock coffers.}}
Speaking of booze, in order to keep the booze flowing, you will need to create some [[barrel]]s, or some stone [[pot]]s. Your dwarves should have emptied a few barrels by now to get you started, but you will definitely need more. A ''lot'' more. If you have an abundance of trees, then you can designate some more for cutting, and have your carpenter make a bunch of wooden barrels, but it may be more prudent to make a [[Craftsdwarf's workshop]], make sure someone has the [[Stonecrafting]] labor enabled, and build a bunch of rock pots. (Rock pots are essentially barrels made of rock.) And don't worry that you've made too many; you almost can't get enough of them.

Keep checking your food and drink stock levels on the {{K|z}} screen periodically. While cooked food (properly stockpiled) and alcohol don't spoil, there is really no need to stock 2,000 units of dwarven wine at this point. Ten times the number of drinks and meals as you have dwarves is more than enough. If you start running out of food or drinks, designate some wild plants for harvesting, [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] some of your animals, start hunting or fishing, or start more farms.

Actually, now would be a fine time to make another three by three farm. Set it to produce [[sweet pod]]s in the spring and summer, [[cave wheat]] or [[pig tail]]s (your choice) in the fall (autumn), and [[plump helmet]]s in the winter. Having multiple types of plants will give your dwarves more variety in their food and drink, keeping them from [[Thought|grumbling]].

==Storage Space==
{{TipBox2|titlebg=#0a0|float=right|Advanced Stockpiling|Check out the [[/Stockpiles|Stockpiles]] sub page for more information on fine-tuning your stockpiles, especially in the food production area. This is somewhat complicated and it can safely be skipped if you don't feel like tinkering with stockpiles right now.}}
You should probably start making some wooden '''[[Bin|bins]]''' to help you store more stuff in less space. You might not need them yet, but you certainly will later. Bins are somewhat like barrels/pots, but they can store things other than just food and drink. Bins will also reduce the amount of labor needed to [[haul]] things to your trade depot or other stockpiles. So designate some more trees to be chopped down and queue up some bins. As with barrels and pots, you almost can't have enough bins.

=Beyond a Minimal Fortress=

By now you should have your main entrance created, along with a farm, general purpose stockpile, refuse pile (for trash), and [[trade depot]]. Somewhere you should have a mason's shop, a mechanic's shop, a carpenter's shop, and a jeweler's shop, surrounded by appropriate storage piles with garbage zone (for excess stone). You should also have a furnished dining area with kitchen, still, and food storage, and a residential area with furnished bedrooms and an office. You should have selected your administrators, and might even have an optional fishery, butcher's shop, craftsdwarf's workshop, or other stuff.

At this point, you have all the components of a minimal but functional fortress! Your next steps will be to make it safer and better protected, to set up your [[metal industry]], and later to prepare your [[military|militia]].

==Preparing for Immigrants==
Soon you should get some [[Immigration|immigrants]] if you haven't already. When you do get a group of [[Immigration|immigrants]], take a headcount and queue up enough beds, doors, cabinets and chests to make bedrooms for them all. Examine their skills. (This is where [[Utilities#Dwarf_Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]] can come in handy again.) Be sure to enable any labors that they have skills in, but aren't active. Turn any useless dwarves into furnace operators.

==Traps==
Start producing '''[[mechanism]]s''' at your [[mechanic's workshop]]. Queue up ten. After they are built, use them to create [[Trap#Stone-fall_Trap|stone fall traps]] <s>near the start of your entry hall</s> after your trade depot (34.11 caravans activate traps) using {{K|b}}-{{K|T}}. Queue up some [[cage]]s, and more mechanisms, and use these to create some [[Trap#Cage_Trap|cage traps]] right after your stone traps. Cage traps are incredibly effective at stopping ambushers, but traps in general will not protect you from [[thief|thieves and kidnappers]] who will almost always bypass them.

Continue to fill up your entry hall with alternating rows of stone and cage traps as the parts become available.

==Guard Animals==
Create two 1x1 [[pasture]]s near the beginning of your entryway, one on either side, using {{K|i}}. Using the {{K|N}} key inside the zone interface, assign a [[dog]] or other non-grazing animal to each of them. These animals will spot thieves and raiders before they gain entrance to your fortress. Try to pick disposable animals, as they ''will'' be slaughtered by the first ambush raiders. Ideally, don't assign female animals; you want them safe for [[Meat industry#Breeding|breeding]].

==Drawbridge==
Build a [[Bridge|drawbridge]] ({{K|b}}-{{K|g}}) to seal off your entryway. Make sure to use {{K|w}}, {{K|a}}, {{K|d}}, or {{K|x}} to make it raise up in the right direction; otherwise it will just retract (disappear) instead of raising up to form a barrier. If you forget to do this, you will need to rebuild the bridge. ("North" in this case means "up," or "the top of the screen")

Put the drawbridge between the trade depot and the hall-o-traps so you can lock things out of the fort. Build a lever ({{K|b}}-{{K|T}}-{{K|l}}) near your meeting area and connect it to the drawbridge by using {{K|q}} on the lever.

In case of an [[ambush]] or [[siege]], you will want to close up your fort, keeping the goblins out until your [[squad]]s have formed up and are in position. Ideally you want to have enough cage traps to take out most of the goblins so your military will only have to mop up.

==Metal Industry==
[[File:Quickstart-level-2-forge.png|thumb|right|Level -2: Forge and smelters with ore stockpile in the middle.]]
Now, below your first workshop level, dig out four more 5x5 rooms around the stairwell. Three of these will be [[smelter]]s, and one a [[metalsmith's forge]]. Designate stockpiles for {{K|b}}ars around the smelters and forge. The bar stockpiles will hold [[Fuel|coke and charcoal]] and metal [[bar]]s. You will probably need larger bar stockpiles, but you can dig out more space and expand them later.

Also dig out some space and create a stockpile for [[ore]] somewhere nearby. To make an ore stockpile, designate a {{K|s}}tone stockpile, then use {{K|q}} to change the {{K|s}}ettings on it to forbid all types of stone other than ore.

Finally, go to your general purpose stockpile on the top level and use {{K|q}} to disable Bars. Stone should already be disabled on this stockpile, and if so then ore is already disabled for it.

===Wood Burning===
Somewhere near your carpenter's shop, near your wood stockpile, dig out an area and build a [[wood furnace]]. This is where you will create charcoal (see below) and ash (for making soap).

Dwarf Fortress has two forms of carbon which are useful as [[fuel]] in the metal industry: ''charcoal'' (which is charred wood), and ''coke'' (refined coal). They are completely interchangeable. If your map has a lot of '''lignite''' or '''bituminous coal''', you can process that into coke, using charcoal to jump-start the process.

If you don't find coal on your map, you'll need to either dig down to [[magma]] or make charcoal out of wood to run your forges and smelters, but don't worry about this yet. You need to do some digging around.

===Mining===
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|"I have struck what?"|New players who don't have a degree in geology usually find themselves confused as to what all these mineral names mean. In DF you'll never strike "iron ore" but you will strike [[magnetite]] or [[limonite]] which are [[ore]]s of [[iron]]. If you don't know that these things are ores of iron then it obviously won't occur to you to try to smelt iron. Note that ores usually look like {{Raw Tile|£|6:7:1}} before they are mined and {{Raw Tile|*|6:1}} after, though the colors will differ. See '''''[[The Non-Dwarf's Guide to Rock]]''''' to help you figure out exactly what you've found.}}
At this point you want to start looking for metal ore. You may have already found some while digging out rooms, in which case you can just mine into the walls of the rooms to get more ore. If you haven't found ore yet or you want to see what else you can find, you will need to dig [[Exploratory mining|exploratory tunnels]] looking for ores, minerals, and [[gem]]s. For now just start digging tunnels out from your stairwell or rooms in all directions and see what you run into. Note that digging into '''damp stone''' or '''warm stone''' is not recommended as those areas may be holding back water or lava which can flood your fort.

===Fuel===
Whether you find coal or not, you will need to burn wood into at least one unit of charcoal. If you find some coal (lignite or bituminous coal), start your smelters out processing it into coke using your charcoal to get things started. From then out you can burn coke to make more coal into more coke and so on.

Put these coke-making jobs on repeat. Only use one smelter to begin with, but you should be getting a group of [[Immigration|immigrants]] fairly soon, if you haven't already, and you can put them to work in the other smelters.

Don't give up on finding coal right away. Dig around for a while and if you're starting to get impatient then burn some more wood into charcoal, smelt some ore, and make some [[weapon]]s. If you rely on charcoal for fuel then you'll be needing a ''lot'' of wood, so in that case dig out another room near the furnace and create a wood stockpile. You might also want to just remove a smelter, replace it with a wood furnace, and create the new wood stockpile down in the smelting area. Finally, go designate more trees for chopping.

===Forging===
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Alternative Energy|If you don't find coal then you will have to continue to burn wood into charcoal, or dig down to the bottom of the map and find the magma sea so you can power [[magma smelter]]s and [[magma forge]]s. Getting to magma can be difficult for various reasons that you will discover, so make sure you are ready for some trouble before you go that direction. Burning charcoal should work out ok in the short term.}}
Once you have smelted some ore to get metal bars, and have additional bars of either coal or charcoal, you can start forging metal items. Here are some suggestions on what to make first:
#'''[[Pick]]s''' - You may have only started out with one pick which limits the number of miners you have to one. By this point you are probably wishing you had more miners. Make a few picks and give some dwarves the mining labor once you get some immigrants. It doesn't matter what metal you use to make picks, at least when it comes to mining, so even copper is perfectly good.
#'''[[Weapon]]s''' - Picks actually make pretty good weapons, but there can be some issues equipping them because they're tied to the mining labor. You may want to make a few axes. They make good weapons, at least against most lightly armored opponents you're likely to encounter first, and can be used to chop trees. Start with 5 or so.
#'''[[Armor]]''' - You're going to want some armor. Start with mail shirts, helmets, leggings, then gauntlets and boots. Start with 3 or so of each in the order listed, then make more later when your military grows. Also make some shields out of wood (since the shield's material doesn't matter for defensive purposes), unless you're swimming in metal. Once you have the essentials covered, you can include breastplates (but they take 3 bars of metal to make, and they don't cover as much of the torso and arms as a mail shirt).

[[Steel]] is the best normal metal to make armor and most weapons out of, but you're likely find that you want some arms before you can make steel. [[Iron]] is good, and [[bronze]] is also good. [[Copper]] is not ideal, but it still works and is better than no metal weapons/armor at all.

==Gemcutting and Trinkets==
You should have uncovered some [[gem]]s by now, so put your [[jeweler]] to work [[Gem cutter|cutting]] them. These will be the only thing you [[Trading|trade]] in the first year, and only for things you absolutely need and can't produce enough of yourself.

Actually, [[Finished goods|stone crafts]] produced by a craftsdwarf can make good trading goods as well. The only problem with this is that you'll need to make a lot of them (50+) because each one isn't too valuable individually. If you go this route you will probably need to dedicate a craftsdwarf's workshop and craftsdwarf to this task almost full-time, but you're very unlikely to ever run out of stone.

==Sticking to the Plan==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Getting Distracted|Say one of your new immigrants turns out to be a legendary weaver. Should you plant some pig tails and create a loom for him? '''No!''' Put his legendary ass to work smelting metal or something that's part of your current industry even though he has no skill at it. Do not split your efforts yet. You can make use of his unique talents later when you can afford to diversify your industry.}}
Metalsmithing will be your primary economic activity, with cutting gems (and possibly making stone crafts) being used to give you some short-term [[wealth]] until the [[metal industry]] gets going. This means you will need miners, haulers, smiths and furnace operators. Unless a dwarf is doing something else vital to the proper functioning of your fort, such as training in the militia, making traps, cooking food, and so forth, they should be doing one of those four things.

==Wealth and Invasion==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Crafting Invitations for Trouble|Creating too much wealth initially is a sure fire method of pulling down a goblin ambush that you are ill-equipped to deal with. Titans will also start attacking you should your wealth go over a certain amount. For this reason, spend no time smelting gold, smoothing, or engraving anything yet. Most of the wealth you create in the beginning should be the sharp pointy kind.}}
You may have struck [[gold]] or some other valuable metal, and you may be tempted to put your furnaces and smiths to work creating valuable metal crafts. Don't do it! Until you have your militia formed and fully equipped with armor and weaponry, your smelters and forge should be doing nothing else but smelting cheaper materials like coal, iron, making pig iron and steel if possible, and making weapons and armor. Making [[steel]] will actually increase your wealth quite a bit, but at least you can stab and beat things to death with steel; you can't make weapons from gold.

=Military=

Your '''military''' is an important part of fortress defense. Unless you have totally cut yourself off from the outside world then you will want at least some sort of military.

Once you reach this point you should hopefully have enough dwarves to start a small military training program. You will need at least 5 dwarves who aren't otherwise doing anything important.

If you don't have any spare dwarves yet, or just don't want to mess with it yet, just skip to the next section and come back to this later. Don't wait too long to set up your military though; you especially will want soldiers before you reach a population of 80 dwarves. (You will find out why.)

When you're ready to start up your military, see the [[Military quickstart]] guide.

= What Next =

Congratulations! If you've made it this far then you have a self-sustaining fort going and can now start to branch out into whatever you are interested in exploring. Expect some goblin invasions, forgotten beasts, titans, dragons, giants, and other creatures to interrupt your activities at various points. This is part of the [[fun]].

Here are some things that people almost always do eventually though not necessarily in any particular order (these are somewhat essential):
*Build [[coffin]]s and a graveyard or [[tomb]]s for dead dwarves and pets
*Set up a [[Healthcare|hospital]]
*Build a [[well]]
*Start producing [[textile industry|clothing]] to replace [[wear|worn-out attire]]
*Build a [[jail]] for unruly dwarves
*Set up [[Scheduling#Alert_Levels|civilian alerts]] to get civilians to a safe area during ambushes and sieges

Here are some things that players often do as their population grows:
*Smooth and [[engraving|engrave]] walls and floors
*Produce [[Meat industry|Meat, eggs, milk, and honey]]
*Continue to expand the [[military]]
*Explore new [[Industry|industries]]
*Dig down to the [[caverns]] and create a defended lower entrance with traps to defend the fort against the [[creatures|denizens]] below
*Build a [[kennel]] and train some war animals
*Build a [[Mass pitting]] system to dispose of caged enemies
*Build above-ground [[construction]]s such as an archery tower or garden
*Create a [[statue|statue garden]] or [[zoo]]
*Farm in an [[Farm#Above_Ground_Farming|above-ground farm plot]]
*Dig down to [[magma]] and set up [[magma forge]]s and [[magma smelter]]s to avoid the need for fuel
*Build [[machine component]]s to pump magma and water
*Create more [[Trap design|elaborate traps]] such as magma and drowning chambers
*Try some [[stupid dwarf trick]]s

You may also want to just read over the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] and the many other very useful documents on the wiki to give you other ideas of what to do.

Keep in mind that how you play is not set in stone. Some people never defend, some start a [[Megaprojects|megaproject]] right after settling, some never dig and just build an above ground castle or town using logs. Some never smelt ore, some start smelting as soon as they arrive. Some make their home in the dangerous natural caverns. Some deal with invaders by flooding the map or isolating themselves completely. And that's not even considering the [[List of mods|mods]] and some of the crazier [[challenges]] that people have come up with. There's really no one "right" way to play DF.

= Feedback =

If you have any feedback on this guide, please leave a message on the [[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|talk page]] for this article or in [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=83452.0 this thread] on the forums.

{{Getting Started}}
{{Category|Fortress mode}}
{{Category|Quickstart guide}}

[[ru:Быстрый старт]]

v0.34:Activity zone

2013-04-27T18:37:42Z

Jez9999:

{{quality|Fine|18:19, 6 April 2012 (UTC)}}{{av}} {{buggy}}

'''Activity zones''' are areas in which [[dwarf|dwarves]] are instructed to perform specific tasks, such as [[fishing]], dumping objects, or collecting [[water]]. While activity zones are optional for the performance of certain tasks (fishing, collecting water) and obligatory for certain others (dumping), they can also be used to help keep dwarves out of [[fun|danger]].

Activity zones can be placed in any [[revealed tile]], including in [[open space]] or over a [[river]] or on top of a [[building]] or [[stockpile]]. They are placed in one of three ways: rectangular, flow, or floor flow. From within the Zones [[menu]], ({{k|i}})Pressing {{k|e}} in the Zones menu cycles through each method, and pressing {{k|Enter}} begins designation. Rectangular zones are placed in the same manner as stockpiles, specifying two corners of the rectangle. The numbers in brackets after each type of zone indicate how many selected floor tiles can be used for that type of zone. Flow and floor flow are placed similarly to designating rooms from pieces of furniture using {{k|+}}/{{k|-}} to adjust the size (floor flow excludes walls). After that the zone has to be assigned to one of the listed tasks to become functional, by pressing the proper key. In some cases ([[healthcare|hospital]], pit/pond) additional orders can then be set from the same menu.

The location of a zone is only visible while in the Zones menu, and any object lying on the ground will hide the presence of a zone tile.

The maximum size of an activity zone is 31x31.

== Water Source ==
:Shortcut {{k|w}}
Dwarves will draw water from this zone to satisfy their thirst, to tend to another thirsty dwarf, or to fill a Pond zone.

Only tiles '''adjacent''' to water qualify as usable water sources - thus, if you want to place a single-tile zone, place the zone onto a ground tile next to the water, not over the water itself.

This zone should '''not''' be used with [[well]]s - they are already their own type of water source.

== Fishing ==
:Shortcut {{k|f}}
The above advice for '''water source''' zones is applicable to fishing zones. You can fish through a [[grate]] or even a [[well]], provided there is water in the well 1 z-level below the activity zone.

== Garbage Dump ==
:Shortcut {{k|g}}

Garbage dump zones are areas in which dwarves will throw items specifically designated by using {{k|k}} then {{k|d}} for single items at a time, or {{k|d}}, {{k|b}}, {{k|d}} to designate a larger area to be dumped (or use the mouse to point and click). Garbage dumps are not the same as [[Refuse#Refuse|refuse]] stockpiles, which can be designated to accept any specific type(s) of refuse-type item, such as animal [[corpse]]s or [[bones]], and then are randomly filled by haulers as the items become available on the map.

The garbage dump may be inappropriately named, as it's more of a matter compression zone. The specifics are beyond human understanding, however, dwarves are in fact capable of compressing an infinite amount of matter into only one tile, as long as it is specified as a garbage dump. If for some reason Urist is yet again incapable of locating his favorite pair of cave troll leather socks, he should think to look among the black hole of matter that is the nearest garbage dump, as they could be snugly lodged between a few billion rocks.

Garbage dumps:
:* Only accept items that have been marked for dumping.
:* Require dwarves to have [[refuse hauling]] [[labor]] enabled.
::* Are subject to refuse orders (''{{k|o}}: Set Orders and Options -> {{k|r}}: Refuse Orders''). Most notably, dwarves will not dump items that are outside unless you allow them to ({{k|o}}->{{k|r}}->{{k|o}}).

To place a garbage dump, trace a zone on either a relatively empty plot of land or adjacent to a cliff face or hole. If a garbage zone is designated beside a [[cliff]] or hole (both natural or dwarf made) garbage will be thrown off/in the z-space. Each ground tile within that zone is considered a garbage dump tile; thus, if you want to place a single-tile zone, place the zone onto a ground tile (optionally adjacent to a cliff or [[pit]]), not onto an [[open space]].
Items dumped into [[magma]] (provided they are not [[magma safe]]) will disappear permanently. Otherwise a single tile (either a dump zone, or the ground below the open space) will hold any number of dumped objects.

Once items are dumped they are automatically marked as "[[forbid]]den" however they will not dump items that are also forbidden. If you wish to use dumped items, you need to reclaim them. Press {{k|k}} to view the item and {{k|f}} to toggle forbid status. You may also use the reclaim [[designation]] to reclaim simultaneously all of the items dumped by using {{k|d}}, {{k|b}}, {{k|c}} and tracing the designation over top of the objects.

If a garbage dump is located next to open space, dwarves will always stand on a garbage dump square when throwing ''into that open space'', even if it could potentially be done more efficiently. If a garbage dump is located next to multiple tiles of open space, they seem to prefer the one farthest to the northwest. If a tile to the north and a tile to the west are the only tiles available, they will throw to the west. Such garbage dumps can be a very efficient method of moving materials to the lower levels of your fortress. However care must be taken to prevent dwarves and livestock from being struck by falling objects.

Dwarves seem to throw dumped items in the nearest available garbage dump, although this is probably not reliable given that they don't always use the nearest available item to make things at workshops. If a nearer zone becomes available as they are traveling to a zone they will ignore it. Also, they seem to prefer dumps that allow them to throw things in to open space regardless of how far away they are.

Probably due to a bug, dwarves periodically ignore items that are meant to be dumped. Viewing the item by pressing {{k|k}} then toggling forbid and dump status on, then off again {{k|f}}->{{k|f}}->{{k|d}}->{{k|d}} seems to correct this problem.

Previously dumped items are regarded as 'refuse' and will not be recognized (or re-dumped) unless 'gather refuse from outside' is enabled in your orders.

:Notes
* Garbage dumps are great space savers because they can hold an infinite number of items on one tile. If the dump is designated inside a workshop, the workshop will not become cluttered.
* It may be a good idea, to set a garbage dump in a stone workshop, then fill it with nearby stones. Reclaim them {{k|d}}{{k|b}}{{k|c}}, but make sure, that your dwarves will not haul them into a far stone stockpile.
* However, if you put a garbage dump inside a magma workshop with the intent of dumping ores there, make sure the zone does not overlap any open pits of magma you may have carelessly left around, or as per the intended behavior, items will be dumped into the magma.
* If you designate an area {{k|d}}{{k|b}}{{k|d}} to dump, everything in that area will be dumped starting with the deepest item. This means, if you have a food stockpile, with a barrel, inside some bags with dwarven flour, then both the barrel, bag, and flour will be designated for dump, and the order will be: flour (you will lose any milled plant / liquid if hauled from the container), bag, barrel.
* If you want to quickly sort out a stockpile (make several plant specific ones instead of one plant stockpile), dump your barrels (one by one {{k|k}}{{k|d}}), and all your barrels are inside the garbage dump, you can area dump it {{k|d}}{{k|b}}{{k|d}} making your dwarves to run much less. (Technically they should just stay still, and unload the contents). After you have finished (and redesignated your new plant specific stockpiles), claim your plants and barrels {{k|d}}{{k|b}}{{k|c}}.
* If you designate items for dumping, but forget to mark an active garbage dump, your dwarves will continue hauling / using the item, until an active garbage dump is marked.
*Dumping items into [[magma]] can be [[fun|dangerous]] due to the [[magma mist]] generated when objects fall into magma. It is advised to dump items into magma from a hole several z-levels up to avoid [[Fire|!!Dwarves!!]] running around the fortress.

== Pen/[[Pasture]] ==
:shortcut {{k|n}}

A pen or a pasture is used to contain tame animals. Once one is created, animals must be assigned to it individually by pressing {{k|N}} from the zone information screen. Dwarves will drag the assigned animals to the pen or pasture automatically. Many domestic animals will become hungry and starve if not assigned to a pasture with [[grass]] or fungus (note that the assigned creatures can eat all of the grass in a pen/pasture and then starve). Any tame creature with the "grazer" token in the raws should be assigned to a pasture. This includes mules, cows, goats, horses, yaks, unicorns etc. Animals will not typically wander out of their assigned pasture even if it is not walled in, however an exposed pasture may lead to premature slaughter at the hands of invaders. Since pets can be assigned to pen/pastures and a zone can be created under a [[dwarven atom smasher]], this is one of the easiest ways to prevent [[catsplosion]]s.

== Pit/Pond ==
:Shortcut {{k|p}}

A Pit/Pond requires a [[ramp]] or hole with adjacent flooring on which a dwarf can stand. Designate the zone from the top of the ramp or hole, such that the zone designation is floating in the open space above the floor of the pit/pond. By default, the zone will be a pit. To change it to a pond, press {{k|P}} then {{k|f}}. It can be changed back to a pit the same way.

Creatures can be assigned to a pit/pond through the {{k|P}} menu. If the creature is [[cage]]d, a dwarf will release it from the cage (rather than bringing the cage to the pit). The dwarf will lead the beast to the pit and throw it in. If the pit is a ramp rather than a hole, the creature will then wander back out, as it will if the pit has some other exit path (which would include straight back up the hole for flying creatures).

Note that not all hostile creatures can safely be dragged to a pit opening. Large creatures will escape on being released from their cage. See [[Mass pitting]] for more information on pit design involving hostile creatures. "Thieves/snatchers" includes the common goblin thief, but also animals such as chimpanzees.

The only real difference between a pit and a pond is that dwarves will attempt to fill a pond with [[water]], carried by [[bucket]] from a water source. They will stand on the floor adjacent to the top of the ramp or hole, and toss the water onto the ramp or into the hole. Each bucketful increases the depth of the water in the tile below by 1/7. Once the water is dumped from the bucket, the dwarf will either drop the bucket and perform a different task, or choose to fill a pond zone tile again using the bucket (s)he currently holds.

Dwarves will stop scheduling the Fill Pond job when the water depth reaches 6/7.

Specifying a pond zone is one technique used for [[irrigation]], in order to make [[mud]] for [[farming]] on areas without soil.

Currently, no matter how large the designated pond area, only one dwarf at a time will try to fill the pond. In order to fill a large area quickly, it is necessary to designate multiple smaller pond zones (or several zones overlapping the same area).

If you have more than one pond designated as a water source, your dwarves may endlessly try to fill each pond with the other pond's water, making a loop of useless duty.

== Sand Collection ==
:Shortcut {{k|s}}

A '''sand collection''' zone allows dwarves with the [[item hauling]] labor active to fill an unused [[bag]] with [[sand]] for use in the [[glass industry]]. The collect sand task is created at a [[glass furnace]].

== Clay Collection ==
:shortcut {{k|c}}

A '''clay collection''' zone allows dwarves with the [[item hauling]] labor active to create [[clay]] for use in the [[ceramic industry]]. The collect clay task is created at a [[kiln]].

== Meeting Area ==
:Shortcut {{k|m}}

Meeting area zones are zones in which idle dwarves and animals will congregate, similar to [[meeting hall]]s. Additionally, immigrants will collect at a meeting area until their "migrant" status wears off.

Note that the [[wagon (embark)|wagon]] you [[embark|arrive with]] constitutes a meeting area until you designate the first meeting area of your own. If you start in hostile surroundings it is important to get your dwarves and animals out of danger quickly.

It is a good idea to have at least one meeting area of one form or another: It allows you to make off-duty dwarves and animals gather in an area where they are not vulnerable, such as within the fortress. It is however not advisable to have animals mill around in crowded (read: any) meeting areas for a prolonged time as they will pick fights with dwarves and other animals. While this may be negligible in the case of a hen, it also applies to your war dogs...

Designating a meeting area is done via the zone menu; type {{k|i}}, set up a zone, and mark it both "active" and "meeting".

A meeting area filled with dwarves increases the social skills of idlers. It makes idle dwarves a little less idle. Because almost every dwarf visits a meeting area at least occasionally, it's an ideal place to site valuable objects and buildings. A meeting area exposed to sunlight will prevent dwarves from becoming [[cave adaptation|cave-adapted]].

Be warned that having dwarves socialize will often result in them becoming [[friend]]s (or forming a [[grudge]]).

== Hospital ==
:''See also: [[Healthcare#Setting_up_a_Hospital|Setting up a Hospital]]''

:Shortcut {{k|h}}

A hospital zone allows [[wound]]ed dwarves to rest, receive care, and be [[healthcare|treated]]. Dwarves can still rest, be cared for and receive some treatments in any fortress bed but in order for doctors to use medical furniture they must be designated in a hospital zone. Hospital zones will claim any [[traction bench]]es, [[Plaster powder|casting powder]], [[splint]]s, [[crutch]]es, [[table]]s, [[bed]]s, [[thread]], [[cloth]], [[soap]], [[bucket]]s and some [[container]]s within its area. The limits of storage in containers can be set in the zones menu by using ({{k|i}}) selecting the hospital zone and then {{k|H}}.

== Animal Training ==
:Shortcut {{k|t}}

An animal training zone allows animals to be [[Animal trainer|trained]]. Animals cannot be trained unless they are in a training zone or [[pasture]] or on a [[Chain|restraint]].
To be tamed, they must be in a [[cage]].

For making an animal training zone, it is advisable to create a small room with a [[Door|tightly shut door]]. The training zone should be combined with a pasture to keep in wild animals. This will make sure your animals don't escape when they are not being trained.

==Bugs==
Hospital stores more materials than assigned. {{Bug|191}} {{Bug|4406}} (several more) (despite some bugs being marked as resolved, this still happens in 0.34.11.

{{Category|Fortress mode}}

v0.34:Quickstart guide

2013-04-27T16:03:35Z

Jez9999: /* Sustenance by Plow */ - revising this as the whole 'not accessible from outside' is very confusing

{{quality|Exceptional|18:27, 29 April 2012 (UTC)}}{{av}}

<div style="font-size:120%">
:''This is a quickstart guide for [[Dwarf fortress mode]] for those who have never played before who quickly want to jump in head-first.''
:''If you are looking to learn adventure mode instead, see the [[Adventure mode quick start]] guide.''
</div>
<div style="font-size:120%">
:'''''Also see [[Tutorials]] for more detailed tutorials that people have submitted.'''''
</div>
{{TipBox2|float=right|Before you get started...|Always remember that '''losing is [[fun]]!''' Be prepared to lose a few fortresses before you get all the way through this guide – it can be easy to accidentally kill the entire fortress while learning. But remember: losing means that next time, ''you'll remember how you lost.'' In a big way, Dwarf Fortress uses the principle of learning from one's mistakes.}}

So, you want to play '''Dwarf Fortress''', but you have no idea what to do. That's understandable; in Dwarf Fortress you can really do anything you like. It is a huge, complex, and totally open-ended game. But in order to do anything, first you need a sustainable fortress. It turns out that this is not as hard as you might think.

As this article doesn't always contain the exact key sequences needed to do everything described, you will likely need to refer to the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] and the rest of the wiki while reading this.

[[File:FlowchartDF.png|thumb|500px|right|[[Main:From Caravan to Happy Dwarves|From Caravan to Happy Dwarves]] - This is a flowchart showing approximately what sequence of actions players usually take when starting up a new fort. Feel free to ignore it if you want. It's not necessary to refer to this to understand the rest of the guide, but by the time you finish the guide it will probably all make sense.]]

__TOC__

= Common UI Concepts =

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Keeping Up|While the guide contains many links, you may still need to look something up. Refer to the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] or use the wiki [[Special:Search|search]] function. Also, don't hesitate to [[Main:Troubleshooting|ask for help]] if you can't find answers on the wiki.}}
{{KeyConventions}}

=World Generation=

The first thing you will need to do is [[World generation|generate a new world]]. Unlike many games, the world that your game takes place in will always be procedurally randomly generated by you or someone else. There is no "default" or "standard" world.

Luckily the basic version of this process is rather simple, and doesn't usually take too long unless your computer is a bit outdated or the world's history is set to Long.

{{TipBox2|titlebg=#00a|Starting World|
For your first game, [[World generation|generate a new world]] using the {{DFtext|Create New World!}} option in the main menu with the following options:

* {{DFtext|World Size}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|History}} is {{DFtext|Short|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Civilizations}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Sites}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Beasts}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Natural Savagery}} is {{DFtext|Very Low|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Mineral Occurrence}} is {{DFtext|Frequent|3:1}}

This should help to avoid difficulties.
}}

= Pre-Embark =

:''Also see: [[Embark]]''

'''Embarking''' is the process of choosing a site, outfitting your initial dwarves, and sending them on their way.

Select {{DFtext|Start Playing}} from the main menu, then select {{DFtext|Dwarf Fortress}}.

The map you see on the right is the '''World Map''' which will show you the whole world. The one in the middle is the '''Region Map''' which will show you a zoomed-in view of the part of the world indicated by the cursor in the world map. The '''Local Map''' on the left will show a zoomed-in view of the part of the region indicated by the cursor in the region map. In the local map area there will be a highlighted embark region that you can move around with {{K|u}} {{K|m}} {{K|k}} {{K|h}}. This highlighted square is what will become your play area after you embark. Use {{k|↑}} {{k|↓}} {{k|←}} {{k|→}} to move the region and world cursors around. Hold down {{K|Shift}} while doing this to move more rapidly.

== Choosing a Good Site ==

Choosing a good embark site is crucial for beginners. Advanced players can create a functional fortress on a glacier, but for now, lets stick to dwarf (and newbie) friendly environments. You will want to look for certain features in your initial embark site that will make your first fort much easier to manage.

{{TipBox2|titlebg=#00a|Starting Site|
[[File:Quickstart-good-location.png|thumb|300px|right|An example of a good starting site.]]
For your first game, find a site with the following properties:
*'''NO [[Aquifer]]''' (This is '''''very''''' important!)
*'''Trees:''' Forested or Heavily Forested
*'''Temperature:''' Warm
*'''Surroundings:''' Calm or at least '''not''' Sinister, Haunted, or Terrifying
*'''Clay or Soil''' is important to make farming easier when starting out
*'''Shallow Metals''' (That's Metals, plural, not Metal. You want more than one.)
*A '''River''' if possible
*'''Deep Metal(s)''' if possible
*'''Flux Stone''' if possible

You may want to use the {{K|f}}ind tool to help you find a site. You may find it easier to put only some of the criteria into the tool (at the very least, No Aquifer). Once the find tool has finished running, the general areas which it has found will be indicated by flashing characters on the map.

Notes about find tool:
"Calm" is classified as Medium Evil, Low Savagery. (See [[Surroundings#Combinations_of_surroundings|the chart here]] for why.) The find tool will also only indicate a general area so you will still need to check the attributes manually by moving between flashing regions and by moving around in each one until you find the most suitable site.

The find tool may take 1-2 minutes to run, when it's done, '''be sure to press {{K|ESC}} to look around at the different sites it returns''' (look for flashing Xs on the world map). As you move your yellow X over the flashing suggested sites, the info bar on the right will tell you soil, minerals, aquifer, etc. Choose the one that looks best to you!

Your site may have multiple biomes overlapping it. If so make sure to press {{K|F1}}, {{K|F2}}, etc, to take a look at all of them. They may each have significantly different characteristics.

See '''[[/Starting site|Starting site]]''' for more info on why these characteristics are important.}}

Press {{K|e}} to embark once you're sure you have the right area highlighted on the local map.

== Skills and Equipment ==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Optional: Preparing Carefully|If, at this point, you'd like to get into all of the details of picking individual skills and equipment for your expedition, select {{DFtext|Prepare for the journey carefully}} and see '''[[Quickstart_guide/Preparing_carefully|Preparing carefully]]''' for instructions. '''This is completely optional.'''}}

Now the '''Prepare for the Journey''' screen should appear. You will be given the choice to either:
*{{DFtext|Play Now!}}
*{{DFtext|Prepare for the journey carefully}}.

Selecting {{DFtext|Play Now!}} will start you out with a default set of equipment that is reasonably safe, allowing you to skip having to set up your skills and equipment. If you'd like to get going now, just select that option.

=A Minimal Fortress=
[[File:Quickstart-map-starting.png|thumb|right|Starting out. In this example the dwarves will be digging out an entrance tunnel in the sandy cliff on the right. (You can use {{K|Tab}} to show or hide the overview map.)]]

At this point you have embarked and your dwarves have arrived at their destination. You will see your dwarves clustered around their wagon full of supplies somewhere near the center of your map. '''Immediately hit {{K|Space}} to pause the game''' unless it is already paused.

==Surveying the Area==
'''Do not unpause the game just yet.''' Take a look around. Use the {{K|k}} command and the arrow keys. Look up and down a few [[z-level]]s with {{K|<}} and {{K|>}}. Place the cursor on various tiles to familiarize yourself with what the symbols mean. If you get lost, you can press {{K|F1}} to return to the wagon. (You can define more [[hotkeys]] later, to jump quickly to other sites of interest.)

Notice the terrain features, the vegetation, and any minerals visible. If you chose a site with flowing water, where is it? What about pools of water? The more carefully you examine your site before breaking ground, the better off you will be.

Remember that this is more of a simulation than a game. It is not "play balanced", and you can very easily find yourself in impossible situations. That is all part of the [[fun]] because even when you lose, you create an interesting story.

Your wagon serves as the initial meeting area for your dwarves. Since you should have started in a non-freezing, calm (low savagery), non-evil biome, you shouldn't face any immediate danger, but if for some reason the area around your wagon proves to be unsafe, immediately designate another meeting zone using {{K|i}} (see ''Temporary Meeting Area'' below).

==Controlling Your Dwarves==
The first thing to keep in mind is that, for the most part, you can't directly control your dwarves the way you control characters in a typical fantasy RPG. Instead, you '''designate''' things that need to be done and then dwarves with the appropriate labor assignments will decide what to start working on based on a set of largely hard-coded priorities.

For example, if a dwarf needs to eat then he will go eat and only get around to digging a tunnel once he is done eating. It is also possible to designate things that no dwarf is able to do. For example, if you designate an area to mine but no dwarf has mining as one of his allowed labors or no dwarf has a pickaxe then the mining will never get done, and the game will not always advise you of why.

So what you are doing throughout the game is essentially giving your dwarves a detailed group-wide to-do list, but it's up to them to figure out which one of them will execute any given task if the task is even possible. Often many of the details of how a task is performed (such as exactly which rock will be used to make crafts) are left up to them.

==Strike The Earth!==
Generally, you will want to get all your dwarves and supplies inside a protected area as quickly as possible. So the first thing you will do is {{K|d}}esignate some areas to "mine".

Decide where you will build your main entrance. The best thing to do is just put it near your wagon to make it faster and less work to haul all of your supplies inside.

To designate an area for digging:
#Hit {{K|d}} to bring up the [[Designations Menu]].
#Hit {{K|d}} again to select Mine. (Note: Dwarves mine horizontally, not downwards. Use Channel instead if you want to dig down.)
#Place the cursor on one corner of the rectangular area you want to designate and press {{K|Enter}}.
#Move the cursor to the other corner of the rectangle and press {{K|Enter}}. A rectangle will be highlighted and a miner dwarf will start to dig out this area once you exit the menu (with {{K|Esc}}) and unpause the game with {{K|Space}}.

This is basically how all of the designation commands work. Everything has to be designated one rectangle at a time, but rectangles can also be one tile wide, or just one single tile.

If your wagon is near a [[cliff]], you can just designate a tunnel to mine ({{K|d}}-{{K|d}}) into the cliff to create an entryway. If you are on flat land with no cliff near the wagon, [[channel]] out a small rectangle (perhaps 3x3) on the surface with {{K|d}}-{{K|h}} to create a sort of pit with ramps on the edges, then go down one z-level with {{K|>}} and tunnel into the wall of the pit (with {{K|d}}-{{K|d}}) to create your entry. (Think of this as creating your own cliff, with the inside wall of the pit being the "cliff".)

Dig a hallway one tile wide and ''at least'' 10 long, ideally more like 20. This will be your entryway.

Your entryway defines the boundary between your safe and protected inner fort, and the big bad outside world. You want this to be your only entrance so that you only have to worry about defending this one opening.

A guide to starting a fortress can be found [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLYDcuk29bE&feature=plcp here]

==Delving Secure Lodgings==
[[File:Quickstart-level0.png|thumb|right|Level 0: This is the ground level which we'll call "level 0". The entrance tunnel is on the left where the refuse and wood stockpiles are partially visible. Inside are the general storage area, trade depot, stairwell, and farm plot.]]
Near the beginning of the entryway, build a 5x5 room, and link it to the entrance tunnel with a 3-wide passageway. From the link to the opening, extend the entrance tunnel to a 3-wide tunnel. At the end of the entrance tunnel, dig a 3x3 room, which will later become your main stairwell. Two tiles away from that, dig an 11x11 room, which will later become your general stockpile, and connect it to the stairwell with a 1-wide passageway.

Don't make any of these rooms too big or your miner will take forever to dig the rooms out, especially if he is digging in stone instead of soil. (Digging through soil is much faster.) You may want to designate one room at a time, then wait for it to be mined out before designating the next room.

=== Stockpiles ===
[[File:Quickstart-custom-stockpile.png|right|thumb|Keep corpses, refuse, stone and wood out of general use stockpiles. You can come back and change the settings on this stockpile using {{K|q}}, selecting the stockpile, then pressing {{K|s}}. Try to remember to come back here to disable/forbid types of things as you create more specific stockpiles for them.]]
'''Stockpiles''' are very important. These areas are where your dwarves will drop things for storage when they aren't needed elsewhere. To create a '''general purpose stockpile''' for your first storage area:
#Hit {{K|p}} to open the Stockpiles menu.
#Use {{K|t}} to change the [[Stockpile#Custom_stockpiles|custom stockpile]] settings to {{K|e}}nable everything but '''Corpses''', '''Refuse''', '''Stone''', '''Gems''', and '''Wood'''. Use directional keys, {{K|e}}nable, {{K|d}}isable to do this.
#{{k|Esc}} out of that screen back to the stockpiles menu.
#Hit {{K|c}} to select Custom Stockpile.
#Designate the whole 11x11 storage room as a custom stockpile. This works just like designating an area to dig: place the cursor on one corner of the room, hit {{K|Enter}}, move to the opposite corner, and hit {{K|Enter}} again.
#Press {{K|Esc}} to get out of the Stockpiles menu.
Once you exit the stockpiles menu you should see dwarves running off to haul everything from your wagon into the new stockpile area. Later you can change what sort of things the stockpile accepts by hitting {{K|q}} (Set Building Tasks/Prefs), placing the cursor on the stockpile, then pressing {{K|s}} to get to the stockpile settings.

It is particularly important to '''keep wood, stone, refuse, and corpses out of your general purpose stockpile''', so you may want to double check to make sure all of these things are disabled in the stockpile settings. Failure to keep these things out of this stockpile will cause problems.

Note- When assigning stockpiles, you should make sure they're in a vacant area. IE; the tiles should only "contain" the ground. Dwarves will not haul stuff to filled tiles, so make sure the area is vacant (Assign the area for dump) before assigning a stockpile.

=== Stairways ===
Designate a Downward Stairway in the middle of your 3x3 room with {{K|d}}-{{K|j}}. Notice that after your miner digs the stairway, it doesn't automatically create another stairway on the z-level below. If you hit {{K|>}} to move the view down a z-level you'll see that there's no stairway below, but there is a revealed tile of rock/soil. Because of the down stairway that was dug, this tile is now accessible to miners. You can then designate an Up/Down Stairway on it with {{K|d}}-{{K|i}} and the miner dwarf will dig it out. Below that you can then dig out another up/down stairway and so on. For now just dig down one level; we will deepen the stairwell later.

==Stout Labor==
'''Labors''' are how you control what types of tasks a dwarf will do. For example, if the Fishing labor is enabled for a dwarf, that dwarf is allowed to engage in fishing.

When dwarves are idle, it could be because you haven't given them anything to do, or it could be because none of the idle dwarves have been told that they're allowed to do the types of tasks you've designated. For example, if you designate an area to mine, but none of the dwarves have the mining labor enabled, they will all just sit around ignoring your mining designation thinking that it isn't their job.

Dwarves will automatically have some labors enabled if they start out with skill in those labors, and some labors (such as hauling and cleaning) are enabled for all dwarves by default. This is why you didn't need to enable any labors on dwarves to get them to haul and mine, but later you may need a labor that no dwarf is currently capable of.

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#aa0|Dwarf Therapist|You may have noticed that the UI for managing dwarves is a bit difficult to use. If you are using a supported operating system, the utility '''[[Utilities#Dwarf_Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]]''' can make this a million times easier, especially later when you're dealing with twenty times the number of dwarves you have now.}}
With the digging and stockpile taken care of, look over your dwarves' assigned [[labor]]s. Press {{K|v}} (View Units) then place the cursor on a dwarf. Now, press {{K|p}}-{{K|l}} for "preferences: labors". You will see a list of labor categories that you can navigate using {{K|-}}{{K|+}}. You can enter each category and toggle each labor off and on with {{K|Enter}} and get back out with {{K|Esc}}.

After exiting the View Units menu, you can use {{K|u}} (the units screen) to help you locate dwarves. Hit {{K|u}}, select a dwarf, hit {{K|c}} for "zoom to creature" and you'll automatically be placed in view mode on that dwarf. (Then use {{K|p}}-{{K|l}} to get to the labor configuration menu if necessary.)

Even if no dwarves have the corresponding skills, ensure that someone has [[wood burner]], [[furnace operator]], [[wood cutter]], [[plant gathering]], [[gem cutter]], [[armorsmith]], [[weaponsmith]], [[blacksmith]], [[metal crafter]], and [[engraver]] (stone detailing) enabled. If you have dwarves with hunting or fishing, ''disable'' those until you have your initial fort completed. When you're first starting out you don't want dwarves wandering around alone where they can get killed.

Any unskilled dwarf can perform any labor given the necessary equipment and materials. Dwarves with no skill will simply be slow and produce a smaller quantity of lower quality goods in a given time period, but they will gain skill points as they do so.

==Temporary Meeting Area==
Using the {{k|i}} key, create an activity zone (at least 5x5) in the stairwell or general stockpile area (be careful not to make this too small lest your [[overcrowding|overcrowded]] animals start fighting). This works much like creating a stockpile except that you draw the rectangle first then hit keys to define what the area is for. Draw the rectangle over the area then set it to be a {{K|m}}eeting area. Your idle dwarves will hang around in this area, hopefully keeping them inside the fort and out of trouble.

==Refuse==
[[File:Dwarf fort tut miasma.jpg|thumb|right|Avoiding [[Miasma]]]]
Outside your fort entrance, use {{K|p}} followed by {{K|r}} to create a stock{{K|p}}ile for [[Stockpile#Refuse|{{K|r}}efuse]] ''at least'' 5x5 in size. This should be outside in the open or you will have problems with [[Miasma]]. If you do not disable [[vermin]] (Item Types -> remains), you will probably have to expand it later as it will fill up with vermin remains rather quickly. If you are seeing refuse appear in your general-purpose stockpile instead of the refuse pile, use {{K|q}} on the general stockpile and check its {{K|s}}ettings to make sure refuse has been disabled.

==Woodcutting==
Create another stock{{K|p}}ile for {{K|w}}ood outside your entrance. As it will only be temporary, don't make it too big (maybe 5x3, or 15 tiles total). Later you will move this closer to your carpenter's workshop once you build one.

Press {{K|q}}, place the cursor on your wagon, and hit {{K|x}} to deconstruct it. This will flag the wagon for disassembly. Eventually a carpenter will come along and turn the useless wagon into a few units of wood. Removing other buildings is done the same way.

Also near the entry, designate at least 10 trees to be chopped down with {{K|d}}-{{K|t}}. Don't designate too many trees at the beginning, or your dwarves will spend all of their time chopping them down and hauling them rather than doing other work.

==Pasture==
If you have any grazing animals with you, such as the draft animals used to pull your wagon, they will die if they are kept away from grass for too long. Use {{K|i}} to create a Pe{{K|n}}/[[Pasture]] zone over a grassy area outside and assign your grazing animals to it using {{K|N}} (while still selecting the zone). This area needs to be about 10x10 or so to ensure they have enough grass and don't trample it all.

The amount of grass required varies greatly depending on the type(s) of animals being pastured. If you intend to keep grazing animals permanently, you may need vastly larger pastures later. As an alternative, you might wish to [[Butcher's shop|slaughter]] your largest animals for food and materials.

==Bare necessities==
To keep functioning, your dwarves require constant supplies of food and drink. You can use the {{k|z}} stock screen to monitor how much food and drink are available. Luckily, your dwarves will eat almost everything raw--if your food starts running low, {{k|d}}esignate some {{k|p}}lants to be gathered on the surface (similar to tree cutting), or build a [[butcher]] shop ({{k|b}}, {{k|w}}, {{k|u}}) and slaughter one of your animals (press {{k|v}}, move the cursor to the animal, then press {{k|p}}, {{k|s}}). Drinks can be more problematic. You can specify a "water source" activity zone ({{k|i}}) around a lake or river on the surface to keep your dwarves from dying of thirst, but dwarves deprived of [[alcohol]] slow down and become unhappy. If your alcohol supply is running low, build a [[still]] ({{k|b}}, {{k|w}}, {{k|l}}) and brew a few plants (if you don't have plants, you'll need to {{k|d}}designate some {{k|p}}lants to be gathered on the surface). Keep a wary eye on your supplies; the only warning that your stocks have run out is a dead dwarf.

==Sustenance by Plow==
For long-term food and alcohol supply, you'll want to setup a farm. Dig out an area in a [[soil]] layer, accessible from inside your fort that you've created so far. You must pick an ''underground'' area with mud or soil. Hopefully you have chosen a site with a soil layer as this will make farming much easier, but if not then you will need to [[Irrigation|irrigate]] to create the required mud on stone floors.

Now use {{K|b}} to build a 3x3 [[Farming|farm {{K|p}}lot]]. Notice that some things like buildings and constructions are not designated corner-to-corner like digging designations, stockpiles, or activity zones. Instead, you define the width and height of the "building" using {{K|u}}{{K|m}}{{K|k}}{{K|h}} then position it with the directional keys. So hit {{K|u}}{{K|u}}{{K|k}}{{K|k}} to make the plot 3x3 and position it in the room you just excavated.

Remember you must enable the "Farming (Fields)" labour for at least one dwarf or the farm plot won't get built and farming will not take place. (If you selected "Play Now" earlier then you will start with a dwarf with farming enabled.)

{{K|Esc}} out of the build menu and wait for the farmer dwarf to create the plot. Once the plot is built, use {{K|q}} to set the plot to grow [[plump helmet]]s during all seasons. You can use {{K|+}} and {{K|-}} to select the crop. You will need to press {{K|a}}, {{K|b}}, {{K|c}}, {{K|d}} and select Plump Helmets for each season, otherwise you'll end up with an idle field for 3/4ths of the year.

==Designing Your First Fortress==
While this guide recommends a vertical fortress design around a central stairwell with each z-level being used for a particular purpose, it is really not that important to use this design for your first fortress. Therefore, feel free to put any of the areas described in the rest of this guide on your main level or wherever you want as long as dwarves can get to them without going outside the fort. In other words, you can think of the "levels" described in the guide more as areas that can really all be on the same level if you have space. Later you can ponder over what makes things most efficient, but for now just do whatever you find easiest.

To get stone though you may need to dig down a bit if you have more than one z-level of sand/clay/soil on the surface.

==Workshops==
[[File:Quickstart-level-1-workshops.png|right|thumb|Level -1: Mason's, carpenter's, mechanic's, and jeweler's workshops surrounded by appropriate stockpiles.]]
Dig your stairwell down one level (with {{K|d}}-{{K|i}}), if you haven't already, and create four 5x5 rooms off of the stairwell. These will hold your [[Mechanic's_workshop|mechanic's]], [[Mason's_workshop|mason's]], [[Carpenter's_workshop|carpenter's]], and [[Jeweler's_workshop|jeweler's]] [[workshop]]s.

Use {{K|b}}-{{K|w}} to build the workshops, and select some sort of junk stone for the material. If you are still digging in soil and don't have stone yet, just use wood. (The material really doesn't matter in this case.) Put each workshop in the center of each room, and use the remaining space for the appropriate type of stockpile (wood for your carpenter, stone for your mason and mechanic, and gems for your jeweler.) If the construction of any building gets "suspended" just use {{K|q}} to unsuspend it. (This can happen if stone is blocking the way. See "Garbage" Dumping below if you find you need to remove some stone.)

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Too Good for Menial Peon Work|Certain labors are crucial in setting up a fort. At some point you may want to disable less important labors such as hauling for dwarves with the crucial skills of mining, masonry, architecture, carpentry, mechanics, and maybe others. You want these dwarves working on creating beds, doors, and trap components before hauling stone and cleaning.}}
Remove the temporary wood stockpile you created outside (using {{K|p}}-{{K|x}}) and dwarves will move the wood to the new wood storage area.

Go to your mason's shop with {{K|q}} and use {{K|a}} to queue up one [[table]] and one [[throne]]/chair. You will find out why you need these in a second, but now is a good time to start building them. If you still don't have any stone at this point just use wood at the carpenter's workshop.

=="Garbage" Dumping==
'''Note that garbage is not the same thing as refuse.''' [[Stockpile#Refuse|Refuse]] is [[Miasma|rotting stuff]]. Garbage is anything you designate to be hauled to a [[Activity_zone#Garbage_Dump|garbage dump]], even important things that aren't really garbage. Think of your garbage dump zone as a way to specify that objects you select will be brought to a specific area.

Use {{K|i}} to create a 1x1 activity zone somewhere near your mason's and mechanic's workshops and set it to be a {{K|g}}arbage Dump. Unlike stockpile areas where you are limited to storing one object per tile, any number of items may be piled in a garbage area. That means you will only need one tile to hold as much garbage as you like. Although many of the room sizes in this guide are suggestions, think of the 1x1 garbage dump size as mandatory. At some point you will probably want to retrieve an important item from your garbage dump, and the larger your dump is, the harder it will be to find anything in it.

Press {{k|d}}-{{k|b}} to get to the mass dump/forbid screen and select the {{k|d}}ump option. With "dump" selected, designate a rectangle over all of the loose stones cluttering up your living area. This will designate this stone to be transported to the closest garbage dump zone.

Once the stone from your living area has been moved there, it will be set as [[Forbid|forbidden]]. Before it can be used you will need to unforbid it using the same {{k|d}}-{{k|b}} screen, hitting {{k|c}} to claim it.

Congratulations! Knowing how to use garbage zones and dump commands puts you head and shoulders above most newbs. It takes some people weeks to figure this out.

==Trade Depot==
Build a [[trade depot]] using {{K|b}}-{{K|D}} in the 5x5 room you created near your entrance. This is where caravans will park their stuff and where [[trading]] will take place when one arrives. (as stated earlier, the wagons are 3x3 so the entrance tunnel needs to be at least 3x3 for the wagons to go by).

You will need one [[architect]], which will be enabled on your mason if you selected {{DFtext|Play now!}} at embark. If you didn't, you can enable it in any dwarf's labor preferences (you may wish to make your mason the architect, but any dwarf can fill the role). Depending on the material you use to build the depot, you also need a [[carpenter]] if you decide to use wood, or a [[mason]] if you decide to use stone.

'''Note:''' You can also build a depot out of metal, but this requires a [[metalsmith]], which you may not have yet. Also, there are many better uses for metal, so you're better off choosing a more common material, like stone or wood.

===Accessibility===
{{hidden||headerstyle="text-align:left;"|
'''Use {{K|D}} from the main menu to make sure your depot is accessible!''' This command is only available once the depot is built (before building, the command will be disabled, and while the depot is under construction everything will flash red until the depot is built). Once completed, checking {{k|D}}epot access will flash some of the following symbols:
* {{raw tile|X|4:4:1}}: This tile is not accessible by wagon. This could be due to a number of reasons:
:* The tile is part of an underground tunnel less than 3 tiles wide.
:* The tile is next to a '''tree''' or '''[[boulder]]'''.
:* The tile is a '''wall''' or part of the '''air''', where it isn't possible for wagons to travel (no, unfortunately, wagons don't fly).
* {{raw tile|W|2:2:1}}: This tile is accessible by wagon. These tiles will radiate outward from the depot, not from the map edges.
:This is '''good''', but does not guarantee wagons will be able to reach the depot. Make sure you see the words {{DFtext|Depot accessible|2:1}} on the left.
* {{raw tile|D|3:2:1}} The depot is accessible via wagon.
* {{raw tile|D|6:2:1}} The depot is '''not''' accessible by wagon. See below.

If you see the message {{DFtext|Depot inaccessible|4:1}} in the menu or the {{raw tile|D|6:2:1}} symbol over the depot, try these solutions:
* Is the entrance to the depot (underground) less than 3 tiles wide? If not, expand the entranceway and try {{k|D}} again.
* Are there trees blocking a path to the depot outside? Try clearing a path by cutting down a few (you probably won't need to cut ''all'' the trees in a 3-tile wide path; usually cut some down where a path of {{raw tile|W|2:2:1}}'s ends and see if that helps.
* Are there [[boulder]]s blocking the path outside? Boulders look like this: {{raw tile|∞|7:0:0}}. To remove them easily, you need an [[engraver]]. If you selected "play now", you should have one already. Select {{k|d}}-{{k|s}}mooth Stone and designate the boulder(s) for smoothing. They should flash this symbol: {{raw tile|┼|7:0:1}}. Once an engraver has removed the boulder(s), check {{k|D}}epot access again.

}} 

==Bedrooms==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Communal Living|When a fort is first getting started, a common [[dormitory]] type [[bedroom]] will suffice for a while, but dwarves will eventually want their own rooms. So feel free to create a [[dormitory]] now if you want and come back later to create individual rooms. You will want an office now though.}}
[[File:Quickstart-level-7-bedrooms.png|left|thumb|Level -7: Meager bedrooms and office. All rooms have doors; the bedrooms have a bed, cabinet, and coffer; and the office has a table and chair.]]
Continue digging your stairwell down about seven more levels. Just create the stairwells for now.

On the lowest level, dig some halls leading to rooms for sleeping quarters. Dwarves don't need much space for living quarters; in fact, you can turn a 1x3 room into decent quarters by smoothing the stone and filling it with some decent quality furniture.

[[Bedroom design|Designing living quarters]] is a matter of personal preference and aesthetic sense. Actual design will be left as an exercise for the player. Just try to keep the bedrooms close to the stairs, and ideally make your access hallways at least two tiles wide so your dwarves don't have to crawl over and under each other to get where they are going.

You will want to create at least eight rooms: seven for your [[bedroom]]s, and one as an [[office]] for your manager/bookkeeper, which, rather than a chest, bed and cabinet, will contain the chair and table you queued up earlier.

==Nobles==
Hit the {{k|n}} key to open up the [[Noble|nobles and administrators]] screen.

The most important positions to assign are '''[[broker]]''', '''[[bookkeeper]]''' and '''[[manager]]'''. Your [[expedition leader]] is a good choice for all three when starting out. Don't worry that it's just one dwarf doing all this; none of these jobs take very long.

Having a manager will allow you to queue up work orders which will greatly simplify managing your production. Having a bookkeeper will allow you to maintain inventory counts on the {{K|z}} screen so you'll know what you do and don't have. A broker is necessary to trade with a caravan once one has arrived at your trade depot.

[[File:Quickstart-noble-selection.png|right|thumb|Nobles screen. The red stuff turns white once an office is assigned.]]
Don't worry about the [[chief medical dwarf]] yet. He/she will be needed when you set up your [[Healthcare|hospital]] which won't be covered in this guide. Feel free to go check out the [[Healthcare]] guide once you're done.

Lastly, while you are on this screen, highlight the bookkeeper and {{K|s}}et him to work for "Highest Precision" (all counts accurate). This will help train bookkeeping faster and ensure that you aren't dealing with vague inventory counts.

===Offices (Studies)===
Some of your administrative positions (manager and bookkeeper) require an [[office]] in order to function. If your manager, for example, doesn't have an office, you will not be able to do any of the things that require a manager even though you have one assigned.

Earlier you should have queued up a table and throne in your mason's shop, and they should be done by now. Place them in the office (room you created down in the sleeping area) using the {{K|b}}uild command. Once dwarves have installed the furniture, use {{K|q}} to select the chair, select "make study" {{k|r}}, size the room appropriately, and assign the office to your expedition leader (who should be your bookkeeper and manager). Hit {{K|n}} to verify that these positions now have the office they need. If so then you shouldn't see any red.

==Furniture==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Different Names, Same Thing|As you've noticed, some things have different names based on what they're made of (like chairs vs. thrones) even if they're functionally the same. So, if it seems like you can't make something of a particular material, do some poking around and check the wiki.}}
Now would be a good time to start building some [[furniture]]. You could queue up all these items directly from your workshops, but why not give your new manager a little practice?

Using the manager screen {{k|j}}-{{k|m}}, hit {{k|q}} to queue up a new job, and type "bed", and then select "construct bed." Set the quantity to seven. Next, queue up seven wooden [[chest]]s or rock coffers, eight [[door]]s, seven [[cabinet]]s, at least two [[table]]s and two [[throne]]s/chairs. The tables and chairs will go in your [[dining room]], speaking of which...

==Dining and Food Prep Area==
Above the living quarters, and right off the main stairwell, create another four rooms. One will be for general food storage, one a [[dining room|dining hall]], one a [[kitchen]], and one a [[still]]. The still will allow you to make alcohol. The Kitchen will allow you to make [[Cook#Recipes|Prepared food]].

Make the rooms for the kitchen and still 5x5 each. The storage area and dining hall should be larger. Ideally make the dining hall so that it can be further expanded later.

Use {{K|b}}-{{K|w}} to build the still and kitchen in the middle of the 5x5 rooms. Create {{K|f}}ood stockpiles in the remaining space around each workshop, as well as the entire food storage room.

[[File:Quickstart-level-6-dining.png|right|thumb|Level -6: Dining level with dining hall, kitchen, still, and storage area.]]

Go back to your general purpose stockpile on the top level and use {{K|q}} to change the {{K|s}}ettings to {{K|d}}isable Food. This will cause any food in your general purpose stockpile to get moved to your new food-only stockpiles.

Hit {{K|z}} and select ''[[Kitchen]]'' from the top of the screen, then disable all cooking for plants and enable brewing for them so that they will only be used for brewing. Also disable alcoholic beverages for cooking, otherwise your cooks will waste perfectly good hooch in their cooking. The only time you might want to use alcohol in cooking is when you have lots of booze but are running out of food.

If you plan to do any fishing, dig out another area and create a [[Fishery]] on this level so the uncleaned fish your fisherdwarf just caught can be cleaned (gutted) for consumption or cooking. If you plan to do any hunting or [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] any animals, create a [[Butcher's shop]] on this level so animal corpses can be butchered. The fishery/butcher's shop can be placed behind the kitchen or the general food stockpile, for example. A door is recommended for the butcher's shop in order to contain [[Miasma]] should something rot, and to otherwise avoid offending squeamish dwarves.

Eventually go check out the subpage on [[/Stockpiles|Stockpiles]] for more information on fine-tuning these stockpiles for maximum efficiency. For now you can safely procrastinate on this and move on to the next section.

==Placing Furniture==
Once your furnishings are complete, you need to place them in rooms using the {{K|b}}uild command. Make sure each bedroom gets a door, chest, bed and cabinet. Put a door on the office (which should already have a chair and table). Put the new chairs and tables in the dining room. Make more doors and put them on other rooms if you want.

Once dwarves have hauled beds to the bedrooms, use {{K|q}} on the installed beds to define the actual bedrooms from them. Don't worry about assigning the bedrooms to specific dwarves; they will eventually pick their own as long as they have been defined as unowned bedrooms.

==Meeting Hall==
Use {{K|q}} on one of the tables you just placed in the dining room, define the area as a room, and configure it to be a meeting hall. This will cause idle dwarves to hang around in the dining hall. You want idlers in a central location, close to where you will be placing your emergency drawbridge levers. You may want to go remove the temporary meeting area and any other meeting areas that you created earlier (with {{K|i}}).

==Checking Supplies==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Hostile Wilds|Before turning on either hunting or fishing, examine the {{K|u}}nits screen to see if there are any dangerous critters your hunters/fishers need worry about. With hunting especially, you may need to check this screen frequently.}}
Use the {{K|z}} ([[status]]) screen to check your stock levels. How much food and booze do you have left? You only have unprepared food at this point, and the booze you brought with you, but soon you will be making more. If you are running low on food, you can designate gathering some [[shrub|outdoor plants]], [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] some animals, turn on [[fishing]], or turn on [[hunting]] to tide you over for a bit. Hunting and slaughtering animals both require a butcher's shop.

==Brewing and Cooking==
Once your first crop of plump helmets starts to come in, you will want to start [[brewing]] as a [[repeat]]ing task. Also, now would be a good time to start [[cooking]] actual meals rather than forcing your dwarves to eat raw food. Cooking [[Cooking#Recipes|easy meals]] will train dwarves faster, but they may be happier with [[Cooking#Recipes|lavish meals]]. So, you might want to cook easy ones until your cook or cooks skill up to a certain point then have them start making lavish meals. Prepared food is cooked from two (easy), three (fine), or four (lavish) raw food/alcohol ingredients. Each prepared food item will be called a "biscuit", "stew", or "roast" depending on the lavishness of the meal.

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Conserving Resources|Some things absolutely require wood (like beds and charcoal), but others can be made out of more common materials like stone. For this reason it's best, especially in the beginning, to make everything that you can out of stone. For example, you could make wood chests and barrels, but stone coffers and rock pots would let you save wood for things that require it and help you rid yourself of all that stone. And if you decide you want solid gold chests or something later when you have more resources, you can always throw out the rock coffers.}}
Speaking of booze, in order to keep the booze flowing, you will need to create some [[barrel]]s, or some stone [[pot]]s. Your dwarves should have emptied a few barrels by now to get you started, but you will definitely need more. A ''lot'' more. If you have an abundance of trees, then you can designate some more for cutting, and have your carpenter make a bunch of wooden barrels, but it may be more prudent to make a [[Craftsdwarf's workshop]], make sure someone has the [[Stonecrafting]] labor enabled, and build a bunch of rock pots. (Rock pots are essentially barrels made of rock.) And don't worry that you've made too many; you almost can't get enough of them.

Keep checking your food and drink stock levels on the {{K|z}} screen periodically. While cooked food (properly stockpiled) and alcohol don't spoil, there is really no need to stock 2,000 units of dwarven wine at this point. Ten times the number of drinks and meals as you have dwarves is more than enough. If you start running out of food or drinks, designate some wild plants for harvesting, [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] some of your animals, start hunting or fishing, or start more farms.

Actually, now would be a fine time to make another three by three farm. Set it to produce [[sweet pod]]s in the spring and summer, [[cave wheat]] or [[pig tail]]s (your choice) in the fall (autumn), and [[plump helmet]]s in the winter. Having multiple types of plants will give your dwarves more variety in their food and drink, keeping them from [[Thought|grumbling]].

==Storage Space==
{{TipBox2|titlebg=#0a0|float=right|Advanced Stockpiling|Check out the [[/Stockpiles|Stockpiles]] sub page for more information on fine-tuning your stockpiles, especially in the food production area. This is somewhat complicated and it can safely be skipped if you don't feel like tinkering with stockpiles right now.}}
You should probably start making some wooden '''[[Bin|bins]]''' to help you store more stuff in less space. You might not need them yet, but you certainly will later. Bins are somewhat like barrels/pots, but they can store things other than just food and drink. Bins will also reduce the amount of labor needed to [[haul]] things to your trade depot or other stockpiles. So designate some more trees to be chopped down and queue up some bins. As with barrels and pots, you almost can't have enough bins.

=Beyond a Minimal Fortress=

By now you should have your main entrance created, along with a farm, general purpose stockpile, refuse pile (for trash), and [[trade depot]]. Somewhere you should have a mason's shop, a mechanic's shop, a carpenter's shop, and a jeweler's shop, surrounded by appropriate storage piles with garbage zone (for excess stone). You should also have a furnished dining area with kitchen, still, and food storage, and a residential area with furnished bedrooms and an office. You should have selected your administrators, and might even have an optional fishery, butcher's shop, craftsdwarf's workshop, or other stuff.

At this point, you have all the components of a minimal but functional fortress! Your next steps will be to make it safer and better protected, to set up your [[metal industry]], and later to prepare your [[military|militia]].

==Preparing for Immigrants==
Soon you should get some [[Immigration|immigrants]] if you haven't already. When you do get a group of [[Immigration|immigrants]], take a headcount and queue up enough beds, doors, cabinets and chests to make bedrooms for them all. Examine their skills. (This is where [[Utilities#Dwarf_Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]] can come in handy again.) Be sure to enable any labors that they have skills in, but aren't active. Turn any useless dwarves into furnace operators.

==Traps==
Start producing '''[[mechanism]]s''' at your [[mechanic's workshop]]. Queue up ten. After they are built, use them to create [[Trap#Stone-fall_Trap|stone fall traps]] <s>near the start of your entry hall</s> after your trade depot (34.11 caravans activate traps) using {{K|b}}-{{K|T}}. Queue up some [[cage]]s, and more mechanisms, and use these to create some [[Trap#Cage_Trap|cage traps]] right after your stone traps. Cage traps are incredibly effective at stopping ambushers, but traps in general will not protect you from [[thief|thieves and kidnappers]] who will almost always bypass them.

Continue to fill up your entry hall with alternating rows of stone and cage traps as the parts become available.

==Guard Animals==
Create two 1x1 [[pasture]]s near the beginning of your entryway, one on either side, using {{K|i}}. Using the {{K|N}} key inside the zone interface, assign a [[dog]] or other non-grazing animal to each of them. These animals will spot thieves and raiders before they gain entrance to your fortress. Try to pick disposable animals, as they ''will'' be slaughtered by the first ambush raiders. Ideally, don't assign female animals; you want them safe for [[Meat industry#Breeding|breeding]].

==Drawbridge==
Build a [[Bridge|drawbridge]] ({{K|b}}-{{K|g}}) to seal off your entryway. Make sure to use {{K|w}}, {{K|a}}, {{K|d}}, or {{K|x}} to make it raise up in the right direction; otherwise it will just retract (disappear) instead of raising up to form a barrier. If you forget to do this, you will need to rebuild the bridge. ("North" in this case means "up," or "the top of the screen")

Put the drawbridge between the trade depot and the hall-o-traps so you can lock things out of the fort. Build a lever ({{K|b}}-{{K|T}}-{{K|l}}) near your meeting area and connect it to the drawbridge by using {{K|q}} on the lever.

In case of an [[ambush]] or [[siege]], you will want to close up your fort, keeping the goblins out until your [[squad]]s have formed up and are in position. Ideally you want to have enough cage traps to take out most of the goblins so your military will only have to mop up.

==Metal Industry==
[[File:Quickstart-level-2-forge.png|thumb|right|Level -2: Forge and smelters with ore stockpile in the middle.]]
Now, below your first workshop level, dig out four more 5x5 rooms around the stairwell. Three of these will be [[smelter]]s, and one a [[metalsmith's forge]]. Designate stockpiles for {{K|b}}ars around the smelters and forge. The bar stockpiles will hold [[Fuel|coke and charcoal]] and metal [[bar]]s. You will probably need larger bar stockpiles, but you can dig out more space and expand them later.

Also dig out some space and create a stockpile for [[ore]] somewhere nearby. To make an ore stockpile, designate a {{K|s}}tone stockpile, then use {{K|q}} to change the {{K|s}}ettings on it to forbid all types of stone other than ore.

Finally, go to your general purpose stockpile on the top level and use {{K|q}} to disable Bars. Stone should already be disabled on this stockpile, and if so then ore is already disabled for it.

===Wood Burning===
Somewhere near your carpenter's shop, near your wood stockpile, dig out an area and build a [[wood furnace]]. This is where you will create charcoal (see below) and ash (for making soap).

Dwarf Fortress has two forms of carbon which are useful as [[fuel]] in the metal industry: ''charcoal'' (which is charred wood), and ''coke'' (refined coal). They are completely interchangeable. If your map has a lot of '''lignite''' or '''bituminous coal''', you can process that into coke, using charcoal to jump-start the process.

If you don't find coal on your map, you'll need to either dig down to [[magma]] or make charcoal out of wood to run your forges and smelters, but don't worry about this yet. You need to do some digging around.

===Mining===
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|"I have struck what?"|New players who don't have a degree in geology usually find themselves confused as to what all these mineral names mean. In DF you'll never strike "iron ore" but you will strike [[magnetite]] or [[limonite]] which are [[ore]]s of [[iron]]. If you don't know that these things are ores of iron then it obviously won't occur to you to try to smelt iron. Note that ores usually look like {{Raw Tile|£|6:7:1}} before they are mined and {{Raw Tile|*|6:1}} after, though the colors will differ. See '''''[[The Non-Dwarf's Guide to Rock]]''''' to help you figure out exactly what you've found.}}
At this point you want to start looking for metal ore. You may have already found some while digging out rooms, in which case you can just mine into the walls of the rooms to get more ore. If you haven't found ore yet or you want to see what else you can find, you will need to dig [[Exploratory mining|exploratory tunnels]] looking for ores, minerals, and [[gem]]s. For now just start digging tunnels out from your stairwell or rooms in all directions and see what you run into. Note that digging into '''damp stone''' or '''warm stone''' is not recommended as those areas may be holding back water or lava which can flood your fort.

===Fuel===
Whether you find coal or not, you will need to burn wood into at least one unit of charcoal. If you find some coal (lignite or bituminous coal), start your smelters out processing it into coke using your charcoal to get things started. From then out you can burn coke to make more coal into more coke and so on.

Put these coke-making jobs on repeat. Only use one smelter to begin with, but you should be getting a group of [[Immigration|immigrants]] fairly soon, if you haven't already, and you can put them to work in the other smelters.

Don't give up on finding coal right away. Dig around for a while and if you're starting to get impatient then burn some more wood into charcoal, smelt some ore, and make some [[weapon]]s. If you rely on charcoal for fuel then you'll be needing a ''lot'' of wood, so in that case dig out another room near the furnace and create a wood stockpile. You might also want to just remove a smelter, replace it with a wood furnace, and create the new wood stockpile down in the smelting area. Finally, go designate more trees for chopping.

===Forging===
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Alternative Energy|If you don't find coal then you will have to continue to burn wood into charcoal, or dig down to the bottom of the map and find the magma sea so you can power [[magma smelter]]s and [[magma forge]]s. Getting to magma can be difficult for various reasons that you will discover, so make sure you are ready for some trouble before you go that direction. Burning charcoal should work out ok in the short term.}}
Once you have smelted some ore to get metal bars, and have additional bars of either coal or charcoal, you can start forging metal items. Here are some suggestions on what to make first:
#'''[[Pick]]s''' - You may have only started out with one pick which limits the number of miners you have to one. By this point you are probably wishing you had more miners. Make a few picks and give some dwarves the mining labor once you get some immigrants. It doesn't matter what metal you use to make picks, at least when it comes to mining, so even copper is perfectly good.
#'''[[Weapon]]s''' - Picks actually make pretty good weapons, but there can be some issues equipping them because they're tied to the mining labor. You may want to make a few axes. They make good weapons, at least against most lightly armored opponents you're likely to encounter first, and can be used to chop trees. Start with 5 or so.
#'''[[Armor]]''' - You're going to want some armor. Start with mail shirts, helmets, leggings, then gauntlets and boots. Start with 3 or so of each in the order listed, then make more later when your military grows. Also make some shields out of wood (since the shield's material doesn't matter for defensive purposes), unless you're swimming in metal. Once you have the essentials covered, you can include breastplates (but they take 3 bars of metal to make, and they don't cover as much of the torso and arms as a mail shirt).

[[Steel]] is the best normal metal to make armor and most weapons out of, but you're likely find that you want some arms before you can make steel. [[Iron]] is good, and [[bronze]] is also good. [[Copper]] is not ideal, but it still works and is better than no metal weapons/armor at all.

==Gemcutting and Trinkets==
You should have uncovered some [[gem]]s by now, so put your [[jeweler]] to work [[Gem cutter|cutting]] them. These will be the only thing you [[Trading|trade]] in the first year, and only for things you absolutely need and can't produce enough of yourself.

Actually, [[Finished goods|stone crafts]] produced by a craftsdwarf can make good trading goods as well. The only problem with this is that you'll need to make a lot of them (50+) because each one isn't too valuable individually. If you go this route you will probably need to dedicate a craftsdwarf's workshop and craftsdwarf to this task almost full-time, but you're very unlikely to ever run out of stone.

==Sticking to the Plan==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Getting Distracted|Say one of your new immigrants turns out to be a legendary weaver. Should you plant some pig tails and create a loom for him? '''No!''' Put his legendary ass to work smelting metal or something that's part of your current industry even though he has no skill at it. Do not split your efforts yet. You can make use of his unique talents later when you can afford to diversify your industry.}}
Metalsmithing will be your primary economic activity, with cutting gems (and possibly making stone crafts) being used to give you some short-term [[wealth]] until the [[metal industry]] gets going. This means you will need miners, haulers, smiths and furnace operators. Unless a dwarf is doing something else vital to the proper functioning of your fort, such as training in the militia, making traps, cooking food, and so forth, they should be doing one of those four things.

==Wealth and Invasion==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Crafting Invitations for Trouble|Creating too much wealth initially is a sure fire method of pulling down a goblin ambush that you are ill-equipped to deal with. Titans will also start attacking you should your wealth go over a certain amount. For this reason, spend no time smelting gold, smoothing, or engraving anything yet. Most of the wealth you create in the beginning should be the sharp pointy kind.}}
You may have struck [[gold]] or some other valuable metal, and you may be tempted to put your furnaces and smiths to work creating valuable metal crafts. Don't do it! Until you have your militia formed and fully equipped with armor and weaponry, your smelters and forge should be doing nothing else but smelting cheaper materials like coal, iron, making pig iron and steel if possible, and making weapons and armor. Making [[steel]] will actually increase your wealth quite a bit, but at least you can stab and beat things to death with steel; you can't make weapons from gold.

=Military=

Your '''military''' is an important part of fortress defense. Unless you have totally cut yourself off from the outside world then you will want at least some sort of military.

Once you reach this point you should hopefully have enough dwarves to start a small military training program. You will need at least 5 dwarves who aren't otherwise doing anything important.

If you don't have any spare dwarves yet, or just don't want to mess with it yet, just skip to the next section and come back to this later. Don't wait too long to set up your military though; you especially will want soldiers before you reach a population of 80 dwarves. (You will find out why.)

When you're ready to start up your military, see the [[Military quickstart]] guide.

= What Next =

Congratulations! If you've made it this far then you have a self-sustaining fort going and can now start to branch out into whatever you are interested in exploring. Expect some goblin invasions, forgotten beasts, titans, dragons, giants, and other creatures to interrupt your activities at various points. This is part of the [[fun]].

Here are some things that people almost always do eventually though not necessarily in any particular order (these are somewhat essential):
*Build [[coffin]]s and a graveyard or [[tomb]]s for dead dwarves and pets
*Set up a [[Healthcare|hospital]]
*Build a [[well]]
*Start producing [[textile industry|clothing]] to replace [[wear|worn-out attire]]
*Build a [[jail]] for unruly dwarves
*Set up [[Scheduling#Alert_Levels|civilian alerts]] to get civilians to a safe area during ambushes and sieges

Here are some things that players often do as their population grows:
*Smooth and [[engraving|engrave]] walls and floors
*Produce [[Meat industry|Meat, eggs, milk, and honey]]
*Continue to expand the [[military]]
*Explore new [[Industry|industries]]
*Dig down to the [[caverns]] and create a defended lower entrance with traps to defend the fort against the [[creatures|denizens]] below
*Build a [[kennel]] and train some war animals
*Build a [[Mass pitting]] system to dispose of caged enemies
*Build above-ground [[construction]]s such as an archery tower or garden
*Create a [[statue|statue garden]] or [[zoo]]
*Farm in an [[Farm#Above_Ground_Farming|above-ground farm plot]]
*Dig down to [[magma]] and set up [[magma forge]]s and [[magma smelter]]s to avoid the need for fuel
*Build [[machine component]]s to pump magma and water
*Create more [[Trap design|elaborate traps]] such as magma and drowning chambers
*Try some [[stupid dwarf trick]]s

You may also want to just read over the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] and the many other very useful documents on the wiki to give you other ideas of what to do.

Keep in mind that how you play is not set in stone. Some people never defend, some start a [[Megaprojects|megaproject]] right after settling, some never dig and just build an above ground castle or town using logs. Some never smelt ore, some start smelting as soon as they arrive. Some make their home in the dangerous natural caverns. Some deal with invaders by flooding the map or isolating themselves completely. And that's not even considering the [[List of mods|mods]] and some of the crazier [[challenges]] that people have come up with. There's really no one "right" way to play DF.

= Feedback =

If you have any feedback on this guide, please leave a message on the [[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|talk page]] for this article or in [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=83452.0 this thread] on the forums.

{{Getting Started}}
{{Category|Fortress mode}}
{{Category|Quickstart guide}}

[[ru:Быстрый старт]]

Dwarf Fortress Wiki:Centralized Discussion

2013-04-27T14:16:38Z

Jez9999: /* Article specific */

This page is for listing various wiki-related discussions. In this sense you can get involved in any of the major initiatives on the wiki and find information on how a particular consensus was reached. If there is a discussion that you'd like to be viewed by more users feel free to list it here.

Items will be occasionally removed from this list to ensure its usability and relevance. To discuss centralized discussion itself or this article please use the [[Dwarf Fortress Wiki talk:Centralized Discussion|talk page]].

:''To view changes to the below discussions click [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Dwarf_Fortress_Wiki:Centralized_Discussion here].''

== Current Discussions ==

=== Content ===
*[[Dwarf Fortress Wiki talk:Centralized Discussion|Centralized Discussion]] - To discuss this page and the general concept of Centralized discussion.

=== Administration ===
*[[Dwarf Fortress Wiki talk:Manual of Style|Manual of style (talk)]] - A general discussion about article style, including subtopics such as spelling (English/UK), the place for humor, page layout, image use, and "vanity articles".

=== Article specific ===
*[[DF2012_Talk:Map_legend]] — The map legend should cover what different ''background'' colors mean, not just foreground colors
*[[v0.31 Talk:How to correctly start fortress mode]]
*[[DF2012 Talk:Children]] — This page should be moved to [[DF2012:Child]] (first, that page needs to be vacated).
*[[DF2012 Talk:Bridge]] — Suggestion to remove or relocate to [[DF2012:Trap design]] a large section of the Bridge page, and replace with "See also"s.
[[Category talk:DF2012:Hermaphrodite]] — This category should be moved to "sexless" or "genderless".
==== Completed ====
*[[DF2012 Talk:Arena]] — This page should be moved to [[DF2012:Object testing arena]].

== Old Discussions ==
:''These have all been inactive for >1 month. But feel free to comment on them if you have something to add, then move the line to current discussions above.''

=== Content ===
*[[Dwarf Fortress Wiki talk:Spambot attacks|Spambot attacks]] - Discussion of the recent (1/29/2011) spambot attacks.
*[[Dwarf Fortress Wiki talk:Redundancy|Redundancy]] - Articles should repeat tabled info as text.
*[[Dwarf Fortress Wiki talk:Article Consolidation|Article Consolidation]] - Are there too many articles forever destined to be stubs? (Ores/Stones/Gems) that can be replaced by tables?
*[[Dwarf Fortress Wiki:Real World Information|Real World Information]] - Discussing the place of real world information in wiki articles.
*[[Dwarf Fortress Wiki talk:Quality|Quality labels]] - Place to discuss the Quality label, as well as the process of labeling articles.
*[[Talk:Main_Page|Main Page]] - To discuss the layout of the main page, and the purpose of the main page talk for discussion.\
*[[Dwarf Fortress Wiki:Improvement_Drive|Improvement Drive]] ([[Dwarf_Fortress_Wiki talk:Improvement_Drive|Talk]]) - Wiki improvement drive
*[[Dwarf_Fortress_Wiki talk:Versions|Wiki Versioning process]] - Archived (as of 4/20) discussion about how to proceed with article versioning for the DF 03.31 (DF2010) upgrade. Project page describes how it was done and how articles are organized to support multiple different game versions.
*[[Dwarf Fortress Wiki talk:Community Portal|Community Portal]] - General discussion area, also to discuss the community portal page itself.
*[[Dwarf Fortress Wiki:Current events|Current events]] - '''old'''
*[[Dwarf Fortress Wiki talk:Announcements|Announcements]] - About the [[Dwarf Fortress Wiki:Announcements|Announcements]] box at the top of every page.

=== Administration ===
*[[Dwarf Fortress Wiki talk:Deletion_Policy|Deletion Policy (talk)]] - To discuss the [[Dwarf_Fortress_Wiki:Deletion_Policy|Deletion Policy]].
*[[Dwarf Fortress Wiki talk:Magmawiki|Magmawiki]] - Discussion about the on-going magmawiki project, which aims to replace mediawiki for this wiki's software.
*[[Dwarf Fortress Wiki:Request for Adminship|Request for Adminship]] - Discussions on granting Adminship to specific users
*[[Dwarf Fortress Wiki talk:Request for Adminship|Request for Adminship (talk)]] - Discussions on the Adminship-granting process
*[[Dwarf Fortress Wiki:Block policy|Block Policy]] - The not yet created policy for blocking users.

=== Article specific ===

[[Category:Wikiprojects]]

[[Category:Wikiprojects]]

v0.34 Talk:Map legend

2013-04-27T14:12:34Z

Jez9999: /* Background color information? */ new section

{{newpage}}

== Background color information? ==

I think we should make some additions to this page about what different background colors mean. For example, on the "overview map" (map on the right once you have embarked), it seems that tiles have a blue background if they contain swarves and a red background if they contain potentially dangerous creatures. I could be wrong on this... so please add documentation on it. ;-)

Dwarf Fortress Wiki:Page request/archive1

2013-04-27T11:38:35Z

Jez9999: /* Article requests */

<div style="text-align:left;">
{{rounded info box|align=left|Instructions|
#Please use the [[Special:Search|search box]] to check if a similar page already exists.
#Consider our [[Dwarf_Fortress_Wiki:Community_Portal#N|guidelines]] when choosing a page name.
#Add a request at the '''top''' of the list, including a link to your requested page '''with namespace'''. (e.g.: <nowiki>[[DF2012:Fire sword]]</nowiki>)
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</div><div class="usermessage" style="background-color:#cfd; border-color:#9ca; {{border radius|3px}} position:relative; top:-.5em;">
If you need a [[Special:MyPage|user page]] or a subpage created (a sandbox, for example), post it in the [[#User page requests|User page requests]] section.
</div>
==Article requests==
{{shortcut|DF:PR}}
Add requests for '''articles''' (with game-related content) here.

* [[DF2012_Talk:Map_legend]] I want to talk about additions to the map legend page, specifically information of background colours of tiles [[User:Jez9999|Jez9999]] ([[User talk:Jez9999|talk]]) 11:38, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
* [[DF2012: One-way track]] minecart tracks made in a circuit [[Special:Contributions/24.20.218.83|24.20.218.83]] 06:40, 21 April 2013 (UTC) Coren
:Created. --[[User:Loci|Loci]] ([[User talk:Loci|talk]]) 19:38, 22 April 2013 (UTC)
* [[Masterwork:Linux]] [[User:Urmane|Urmane]] ([[User talk:Urmane|talk]]) 22:40, 18 April 2013 (UTC)urmane
:Created. --{{User:Lethosor/sig}} 22:55, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

* [[Dwarf Fortress Wiki:PR]] --[[User:Loci|Loci]] 00:06, 10 March 2013 (UTC)
:Created. --[[User:Briess|Briess]] ([[User talk:Briess|talk]]) 10:52, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

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Add requests for user pages here.
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{{upr|[[User:Kurios|Kurios]] ([[User talk:Kurios|talk]]) 01:02, 25 April 2013 (UTC))}}
:Done. (Also created [[User:Kurios/bookdreams]]) --{{User:Lethosor/sig}} 01:14, 25 April 2013 (UTC)