Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

40d Talk:Your first fortress

2008-11-06T18:37:54Z

MagicJuggler:

=Other=
===== Content from [[Getting started]] =====
The goal of this page is to explain in detail, and for newbies, how to:
#Generate a world (possibly from a seed)(probably will link to article(s) on the topic)
#Pick a fortress location
#Name your fortress and starting group
#Buy skills and items, for the biome type picked in #2 (probably will give the newbie build from the [[starting builds]] page)
#Play the first month or two of the game, for the biome type picked in #2
I don't know how to write an article that does this, but I do know that this is what this article should be. 
--[[User:Savok|Savok]] 11:19, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

I'd like to avoid having an overabundance of tutorial articles again. It sounds to me like all of the above would fit into [[Your first fortress]] just as easily. --[[User:Peristarkawan|Peristarkawan]] 12:00, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

:Should we go ahead and just #redirect it?--[[User:Draco18s|Draco18s]] 12:07, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

::Done. --[[User:Peristarkawan|Peristarkawan]] 12:14, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

===== Recording a Movie =====
I was thinking that someone could record a movie following the steps given here, as a visual aid. As DF is very structure-based it would help to visualize how the fortress is supposed to look. [[User:Memo|Memo]] 15:13, 4 November 2007 (EST)

=Choosing a location=
==Your surrondings==

===== flux, iron, etc. =====

Is it really necessary to recommend a sedimentary layer? You don't really need to start with iron at all, you can just let the goblins import it for you and melt their armor for an essentially infinite supply. Unless this changes at the end of Army Arc I'm not sure starting iron is needed.

*Who said this? Anyway, goblins aren't that reliable, at least in the early years. I've settled in everything but Terrifying regions and I've yet to be sieged or raided. Kobold thieves up the wazoo but no goblins except the odd snatcher. [[User:Corona688|Corona688]] 19:24, 30 October 2008 (EDT)
*Melting is a terrible way to get metal unless you have magma, that's pretty much impossible to argue. Goblins show up at population hurdles, though, so you probably just haven't gotten big enough yet. Regardless, iron-level equipment can be replicated with masterwork leather and bone equipment. Iron is far from critical. Helpful, but not critical. --[[User:ThunderClaw|ThunderClaw]] 20:23, 30 October 2008 (EDT)
*_IF_ you have a magma source, you can also easily strip human and dwarven caravans of all their iron/steel items if you want to. Plus order more bars. This is terrible under an economic point of view, but even a single skilled stonecrafter will turn out more wealth than you ever reasonably need, so from your second or third year on this should not be a problem. Especially since you hardly ever need iron or steel except for high quality weapons and armour. [[User:Qwertyu|Qwertyu]] 07:31, 5 November 2008 (EST)

===== Have to be in contact with dwarves? =====

"You will want to be in contact with dwarves to get immigrants and a dwarven trading caravan."

Is it even possible to settle somewhere without dwarves? --[[User:Juckto|Juckto]] 18:18, 24 May 2008 (EDT)

:Nope. Even on a volcanic island on the opposite side of the map from any dwarven mountainhome, caravans visited. It's worth noting that the local map was all land, but still they took ships over to get to the island itself, I suppose.--[[User:Dadamh|Dadamh]] 14:49, 30 May 2008 (EDT)

::Ships don't exist. <tt>"Boats are the enemy of tiles. And tiles are the enemy of boats." --Toady One</tt>
::They don't need to, either - the caravans just bring along seven units of lava, one block of green glass, and a legendary glassmaker. Once they get to the beach, they turn a tiny patch of sand into an ocean-spanning bridge.
::That, or they tunnel under the ocean with an unskilled miner - he'll become legendary soon enough. --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 23:01, 30 May 2008 (EDT)

:::Well, I sort of meant it as a joke. Off-screen boats. My entire tile was flat land, but they still got there somehow, so I was supposing boats over the water.--[[User:Dadamh|Dadamh]] 07:32, 31 May 2008 (EDT)

=Buying Skills and Items=
==Skills==
===== Skill choices =====
I know skill choices are largely a matter of preference, but the inclusion of a Bookkeeper, Manager, Expedition Leader, and Broker in the landing party definitely merit a mention, as well as whether or not a beginning player should throw a few skill points at improving his Broker's and Leader's key skills. Being able to talk that first dwarven caravan into throwing some extra sides of meat in could mean the difference in survival for a newer player.--[[User:Xazak|Xazak]] 19:29, 3 November 2007 (EDT)
:I agree with this. When I make a new Caravan, I often make a Leader-type with ONLY leader/trade related skills. Even just having the ability to SEE the values of the items (even if you have them memorized) helps aid in making a good first-year trade session. And the first-year Dwarven caravan doesn't expect a large profit. I've done large deals with them that only netted them a 10-coin profit. --[[User:Nekojin|Nekojin]] 12:45, 14 November 2007 (EST)

I think good bridging points are the seasons and end of the years; To aid readability and to separate into chunks, I think a listing of 'things to accomplish by winter', 'things to accomplish by spring (your first immingants!)', that sort of thing -- To avoid having a gigantic page, it might be better to split them off into "your first year", "your second year", especially because the gameplay changes signifiantly when you start getting nobles and your construction focus starts to shift from mere survival into making your dwarves happy, trading, and onward to economy and such. If people are interested in taking this approach, I'd certainly help with the writing. [[User:Bhodi|Bhodi]] 13:10, 4 November 2007 (EST)

Current skill list could be improved. Gem setter? Just wait for immigrant... Starting points can be spent in better ways. Mechanic/architect won't have time for architecture if he has well-planned day. Woodcutting goes up really quick. 4 points in axedwarf will give you enough active defense for everything that isn't strong enough to force you to lock all dwarves underground. Weaponsmith isn't really needed at start. Your unskilled dwarves aren't good fighters, and this 20-40% damage won't change much. Proficient in herbalism is too much. It's either only to bootstrap aboveground farming or to replace it entirely (for starting fortresses) in which case you don't need grower skill. --[[User:Someone-else|Someone-else]] 16:35, 24 April 2008 (EDT)
:Speaking of gem setters, they're completely worthless because it takes more time to stud 300 exceptional mugs with gems than it takes to make 300 masterwork mugs. --[[User:GreyMario|GreyMario]] 16:50, 24 April 2008 (EDT)
::Hey now, the point of gem setting (after you've gotten a legendary one of course) isn't to stud your mugs, its to decorate those statues/thrones/tables/doors for the king or just general enjoyment of the fortress. Its not like you need gems or gem-studded objects for trade, buying out caravans is so trivially easy without that. And if you're going to stud a tradegood with gems, stud something with more intrinsic value than a mug - even a masterwork one isn't worth all that much.
::More generally on skills, i've been finding that once you get comfortable with the game you want to load up on skills that are harder to level up. I haven't even been starting with miners my last couple games, leveling miners is pretty easy. I often grab dwarves who can do one to two of the following: Carpentry, Building Design, Masonry, Mechanics, Weaponsmith, Armorsmith, Metalsmith. After that, choose one of Clothier or Glassworker (and possibly grab some related profession skills). Make sure one dwarf has leader skills (I prefer 1 in each of Negotiator/Appraiser/Judge Intent/Persuader/Consoler). Combine these as you see fit (though I generally combo Architect/Mason and make my Mechanic my broker/trader/bookkeeper/hopefully leader). And make sure to get a Brewer/Grower to handle your food needs (starting with a trained cook I find to be less important than a trained brewer). Anything left I put into other possibly useful and hard to train skills - gem cutter or setter being most typical. The real trick is suitably micromanaging the 'easy-train' necessary jobs to avoid polluting your desired mood skill before the first wave of immigrants arrive. I've also been starting with an anvil most of the time too, and crafting my axe (and sometimes my picks, although you don't save much doing that).
::Which isn't to say beginners shouldn't start with some experienced miners and so forth. But the herbalist is wholely unnecessary (I've only above ground farmed once, and that was for dye plants and 4 years in). It would be more worthwhile to recommend they start in an area with a soil layer to make underground farming easier (and soil layers seem to be pretty common). But the starting advice recommends so much food that the only difficulty is figuring out how to irrigate, not having the time to do so before they run out of food. Finally, defensive skills are overrated. You want defense? That's what the mechanic is for. Stonefall traps are far more reliable than a military dwarf, and won't take ages getting into position, be sleeping/eating/drinking when you need them, or take an unlucky hit and die instead of finishing the critter. Far too much of a gamble, especially for a new player. (Kobold thieves are easily dealt with by drafting everyone within a small radius, or just letting it run away if only one dwarf is nearby - they won't try to engage your dwarves once spotted - or by dogs for that matter).
::--[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 01:31, 30 April 2008 (EDT)

I have a concern that fisherdwarf is a suggested skill. If you are along a river or ocean, chances are any fisherdwarves will be horribly mauled by deadly carp and longnose gar. Fish are deadly enough to any dwarves getting a drink from a river without tempting fate by actually fishing. One dwarf dying along a river creates a deadly cycle of dwarves attempting to loot the body and then being killed by fish.--[[User:Quartic|quartic]] 14:19, 30 May 2008 (EDT)

Of note, if your map has at least one layer of sand, it's better to spend your skill points on your miners into something else like mechanics instead of mining. Sand digs fast even with unskilled miners and they skill up at a fast rate. A much faster rate then any trade-skill, so it's a far more efficient setup. Also, if you embark to any location with stone a Proficient Stonecrafter is essential for generating wealth and more importantly clearing up all the stone laying around.--[[User:Robbox|Robbox]] 20:25, 17 October 2008 (EDT)

===== Dwarf with appropriate skills not necessarily the leader =====
I used a skill assignment similar to those recommended here and my presumptive leader with mining/judge of intent/consoler/appraiser/record-keeper/organizer was passed over for the weaponsmith/armorsmith. He was assigned outpost leader, manager, trader, and bookkeeper despite not having a single appropriate skill. And to really rub it it in, one of his traits is "never speaks out or attempts to direct activities." At least I was able to switch the jobs other than leader back to the right dwarf for the job (and I'm forcing the smith to smooth stone all day for his presumption.) One other factor that may have been involved is that the smith is friends with 5 others and the intended boss-dwarf has but one friend and one grudge. --[[User:Danny Rathjens|Danny Rathjens]] 02:12, 7 April 2008 (EDT)
:I believe giving the intended leader a couple points of social skills (Negotiator/Consoler/etc) prevents this, but it could use some testing. [[User:Walliard|Walliard]] 11:43, 4 November 2008 (EST)

===== Switching out Weaponsmith/Armorsmith =====
I was thinking, instead of switching out the weapon/armor smith for a fisher, you could switch them out for a craftsdwarf and remove 1 point from building design for fisherdwarf. --[[User:0todd0|0todd0]] 19:57, 1 September 2008 (EDT)

:The weapon/armor smith is certainly the weakest in this setup, I don't take him with me also. It mostly takes quite a while until you are ready to smelter stuff, usually having quite some migrants already at the time. And even if you have an untrained dwarf. Working with metal is seldom something you need to go really fast. So I for one always take 1 military trained dwarf (marksdwarf) with me instead of the smith, to take care of the early monsters, which can otherwise be quite a pain. --[[User:Catpaw|Catpaw]] 08:56, 22 September 2008 (EDT)

==Items==
=====Huh?=====
Is this still up to date? In the newest version of DF, you don't seem to spend money on skills, but rather use points from a collective pool. There doesn't seem to be enough points to even come close to creating the suggested group. I've never actually played a game (hence my consultation of the "first fortress" page), so I'm not sure if I'm just missing something, though. Any advice? --[[User:DuckAndCower|DuckAndCower]] 23:47, 29 April 2008 (EDT)

Nevermind... I just realized I needed to remove items from the pool first. Maybe a note that you have to hit Tab to get to the items page would help? --[[User:DuckAndCower|DuckAndCower]] 23:52, 29 April 2008 (EDT)

=Beginning the Fortress=
==Intro==
===== Wall of text =====
I think the "Beginning the Fortress" section isn't very pleasant to read. The bullet points help a bit, but I think numbered ones (matching the "TOC" above it) would be a bit more helpful. I'd however prefer to split the steps using numbered headlines, then it'd clearly define each step and automatically be indexed at the top. Thoughts? --[[User:TwoD|TwoD]] 13:03, 2 November 2007 (EDT)
:That's beyond me, but anyone who can should feel free to clean it up and make it as readable as possible. --[[User:BahamutZERO|BahamutZERO]] 01:37, 3 November 2007 (EDT)

I believe the following sentence to be much to hard to understand for its continued existence:
"Stairs can go as deep as you want in a stack if you keep making up/down stairways on top of each other. You can continue stairs from both the top and the bottom of up/down stairways, but only from the bottom of downward stairways, and only from the top of upward stairways so only use the upward stairway or downward stairway when you're not planning to ever go further that direction."
[[User:Iluziat|Iluziat]] 02:23, 15 September 2008 (EDT)

== Trading ==
=====Anvil=====
The caravan is by no means guaranteed to bring an anvil the first year. (Out of ten games started and played through first year, I think I've gotten an anvil twice.) You can request one from the liason, though. I'd edit the entry myself, but I'm not certain how to word it without totally changing that whole paragraph.--[[User:Xazak|Xazak]] 15:41, 11 November 2007 (EST)

:I think that Humans always bring an anvil or two, but I may be wrong. [[User:Memo|Memo]] 17:02, 11 November 2007 (EST)
:: You are not correct, Memo. I've had fortresses that have gone anvil-less for 2 years before a Dwarven Caravan finally brought one (brought three, actually). Edit: The first year's caravans (Fall Dwarven, Spring Elven, and Summer Human) are largely randomized. I've seen vastly different products being brought in on all three of those, with roughly similar settlements and trade requests. --[[User:Nekojin|Nekojin]] 12:18, 14 November 2007 (EST)

===== Trading vs Growing=====
Is it just me, or is it much easier to teach people how to trade for food than it is to farm/grow/brew? I find one dedicated stonecrafter is more than enough to purchase all the food that can be possibly thrown at you, and will likely even be legendary by the time the second trade caravan comes along. For a "newb strategy" this might be the way to go instead of trying to explain floodgates and channels right off the bat. [[User:Weasello|Weasello]] 10:50, 21 March 2008 (EDT)

:Yeah, but you're forgetting something. If a trade caravan gets ambushed or if they don't sell anything to you, then you're in trouble. And of course, trading with an Elf is like trying to get blood out of a stone.
My recommendation is to get food three ways;
1) Grow Plump Helmet
2) Fish
3) Kill animals for meat.[[User:AlexFili|AlexFili]] 07:43, 30 April 2008 (EDT)

::Eeeeeexcept you don't know how to properly trade with the elves. As a general rule of thumb, if it once lived, don't sell it to them. Silk is fine, buy shit from the elves using the *cave spider silk sock*s you made from the dwarves' cave spider silk cloth that you bought with your *cat meat roast [40]*. --[[User:GreyMario|GreyMario]] 15:16, 30 April 2008 (EDT)

:::Alternately, trade them craploads of stonecrafts. I mean, there are two ways to clear a fortress of excess stone (stone blocks and stonecrafts), and one of them provides tradegoods, so stonecraft like mad. You'll get nice clean hallways too. Mechanisms would almost work, except they can't be binned. They're also a great early trade good, but elves will complain about the weight - you can unload a couple on the elves generally though if you clear them out (supplemented by lighter things, like... stonecrafts). Mechanisms are far better for doing things like buying metal bars and an anvil off the dwarf caravan, because they're more value/mass than those are.
:::You can also unload all those Narrow Giant Spider Silk loincloths you'll start collecting on elves, just make sure to check for blood spatters - elves don't like those too much.
:::--[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 17:20, 30 April 2008 (EDT)

===== Office not required to meet with liaison =====
I met him in my barracks with no office built. :) --[[User:Danny Rathjens|Danny Rathjens]] 02:00, 7 April 2008 (EDT)
:I confirm. When I forgot to assign office to my Exp leader, he conducted meeting with liaison at meeting hall (designated from well)--[[User:Dorten|Dorten]] 03:46, 7 April 2008 (EDT)

::I also confirm, my leader's thoughts included 'was embarassed to hold a meeting in a dining room'.--[[User:Dwarven Gemologist|Gemmy]] 13:35, 23 April 2008 (EDT)

:::Despite having built an office for him, he refused to use it while he was still an expedition leader - and received no bad thought because of it. From a different game, after becoming mayor he does receive an embarassed thought if no office is assigned. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 13:48, 23 April 2008 (EDT)

:I fixed this in the article a week ago. [[User:Anydwarf|Anydwarf]] 15:24, 23 April 2008 (EDT)

==Stockpiles==
===== Moving refuse stockpile inside =====
Section about stockpiles recommends moving all stockpiles inside as soon as possible. It's wrong thing as it creates miasma if not handled properly. Best thing that can be done is either making custom stockpiles - one for bones/shells/skulls (inside, near craftdwarf shop) and one for rest (outside, near tanner), designing special anti-miasma room for refuse or order dwarves to dump rotting things into water/magma/chasm etc.

You dont understand the point - if your miasma creating stuff is usually put outside, the shit hits the fan one or another way when u have the first siege or even only ambush. Made this clearer in the article.--[[User:Koltom|Koltom]] 21:36, 23 April 2008 (EDT)

Just for an example, I store my refuge and graveyard in a nearby cave/mountain/basement. I usually make the corridors a bit more winding then usual, and I put a few doors in for an air-lock effect. a 5x5 refuge pit should be enough for the first year, and 1-3 coffins in the graveyard just in case. [[User:AlexFili|AlexFili]] 07:41, 30 April 2008 (EDT)

=Long Term Planning=
Should we add a section discussing what sort of population percentages might be assigned to various tasks once migrants start coming in? Or perhaps adding a page discussing Mid-game and Full Population fortresses and what people can do during them? --[[User:RomeoFalling|RomeoFalling]] 21:41, 25 October 2008 (EDT)

:Sure, I'd love to compare notes. I've got a late-game fortress right now with 164 dwarves. 50 are doing skilled work, 15 are soldiers, 17 are <s>leeches</s> nobles and children, and the remainder (82) are hauling full-time. Legendary dwarves of any sort can turn out so much product, you need like 3 or 4 haulers for each of them just to keep them supplied and their workshops free of clutter.

:Of those 50 skilled dwarves, 4 are miners; 7 are woodcutters who actually spend a lot more time wood hauling; 2-3 are bone carvers or wood crafters turning out practice bolts; one's a glassmaker; 2 are fisherdwarves (they waste most of their time hauling the fish they've caught); 3 are growers who actually haven't grown anything for like three years (they turned out about 5,000 plants in the early years, and booze-roasting and trading for food has kept the fort well-fed since then); one's a brewer/cook doing the booze-roasting; one's a mechanic who made most of my trade goods in the early years (he's mostly hauling these days though); one's a blacksmith churning out nickel bins; and 14 are furnace operators (I've got 3,000 bars, half of which are copper). Most of the hauling at this point is bringing ore to the smelters, bones and corpses to the carvers, and cramming all their output into bins. In the previous "phase", I had at least five dwarves doing everything they could to keep my forges clear of copper armor while I trained up an armorsmith to Legendary+5.

:Oh, and I also have a full-time miller getting rid of all this dimple cup I grew in the first years. Not sure why, I don't have any clothing industry to speak of. And a few of the soldiers with nervous injuries are killing wildlife for the bone carvers to process. I suppose I could butcher some of them but I've got too much meat and leather from the traders as it is. One of the soldiers has 13 goblin kills, 27 elephants, and over 100 other animals. Attaboy.

:The earliest phase of the fortress centered around the farms. After a few years I shut them down altogether and had about 40 clearing all the stone out of an enormous room near the magma pipe, then started up smelting operations. Everybody not involved with that started hauling all the food to the new fort center. The miners have continuously been seeking out ores and digging/widening corridors. Everybody sleeps in a big barracks. Bedrooms are for sissies.

:A few years back I sent some soldiers out to clear the chasm of hostiles, in concert with miners sent to breach their lairs. I've had three sieges and I think four ambushes, with few casualties. The worst losses I've had were to failed moods and The Ogre Incident in the first year. Been quite lucky in this fort. Wardogs took the brunt of the last siege, though I've been replenishing them through trade and still have 58 plus 10 untrained dogs.

:About a year ago I moved my depot to the back of the fortress, where the new operations are, and I finally bridged the chasm, which was visible from the surface and actually was a great natural defensive line against invaders from the south. (The new bridge path is heavily trapped.)

:I still haven't gone hunting for adamantine. I want to train another 20 marksdwarves first. I certainly have enough bolts for it now (about 6,000). And plenty of exceptional steel armor... which the recruits can't carry just yet.--[[User:Maximus|Maximus]] 02:15, 26 October 2008 (EDT)

=Rewrite=
I suggest an almost total overhaul for this article. The major headings are good, as are the images, but it kind of stops there. When talking about your first fortress, we should be explaining the core concepts of the game, providing links to more detailed reading, and encouraging the user to think for themselves, using examples to illustrate the concepts. The way this is set up is a loose example that railroads the user to a specific mold that doesn't even work that well for many people. We should refocus it onto a clear, full explanation of the interface and the considerations for getting started, then use a specific sample from a real game to show the thought process involved. Any other suggestions? --[[User:ThunderClaw|ThunderClaw]] 17:54, 30 October 2008 (EDT)

:I agree. Our "newbie overview" material is scattered all over the place and incomplete. The [[quickstart guide]] has a heavy focus on the interface, like I believe you're suggesting here, although it's really minimal. Other important stuff is scattered throughout the FAQs and [[:category:guides|guides]]. Then there's also [[Indecisive's illustrated fortress mode tutorial]], which is good in its own right, though there's a lot of redundancy between it and other pages. We need to do a lot of consolidation and streamlining of this advice.--[[User:Maximus|Maximus]] 18:46, 30 October 2008 (EDT)

:Actually, in further scrutinizing this page, it's quite good; the only thing I could fault it for is that the recommended [[starting build]] is too specific, which is part of your complaint.

:What interface advice do you think is missing from this page?--[[User:Maximus|Maximus]] 18:58, 30 October 2008 (EDT)
::All the data is there, that's not my gripe. The gripe is that the way it's presented, you already have to know what you're looking for. Most guides that are attempting to introduce concepts will enumerate the concepts very clearly, then list specifics after it's been explicitly described what they're dealing with.

::For example: the descripion of the embark location screen.
# [[Temperature]], amount of [[tree]]s, amount of [[plant]]s, and a hint at the sort of [[Animal|wildlife]] at the center of the selection rectangle.
#* Look at the example picture again. Notice that you are told that you'll see no trees or plants here ([[mountain]]s being too high for either to grow), but that's only true for the exact center of the local area.
#* You'll notice that the local area includes some trees and plants on the edges, which is often all you need.
#* To get more information about the non-mountain areas you can press {{k|F1}} {{k|F2}} {{k|F3}} or {{k|F4}} to view the different types of [[biomes]].
# Nearby [[civilization]]s that are capable of interacting with you. Other settlements are shown with various symbols on the regional map.
#* You will want to be in contact with dwarves to get [[immigrant]]s and a dwarven trading caravan. However, dwarves are, sometimes seemingly magically, everywhere - it is impossible to settle anywhere without dwarves (assuming there is at least one surviving dwarf civilization).
#*You'll want to trade with [[human]]s and [[elves]] if possible.
#*[[Goblin]]s mean trouble, but it's hard to avoid them without hiding on an island and you will be attacked by Goblins some point in the game anyway. Just don't set up your first fortress right on top of a goblin fort.

::In this example, what does Temperature actually mean? How should I interpret the tree count? Why do I care how many plants there are? What is this nebulous hint about the kind of animals I'm going to run into? Aside from what I see in the example pictures, what should I expect to see? The answers to these are NOT obvious for newcomers to the game, but are taken for granted by veterans like us. The biome comments are one of the biggest offenders. I had to read this wiki for hours before I had a good handle on what the alignment and biomes added up to.

::We need ''introduction'', ''enumeration'', ''explanation'', ''example'', in that order. That is how all Prima strategy guides are written, that is how all instruction manuals are written, and that is how most academic textbooks are written, too. It is simply the best way to present alien information, especially when you are in possession of an exhaustive list of topics (which we are, in this case). Currently, we're extremely light on enumeration and and explanation, and too narrow-minded in the examples. Fixing all that is likely going to require a complete rewrite. --[[User:ThunderClaw|ThunderClaw]] 01:22, 31 October 2008 (EDT)

::: I suggest that if you want to "completely rewrite" a tutorial, it would be better to keep the tutorial as it is and write up a completely new one. A variety of examples is more useful than a single thoroughly edited tutorial. There are differences between a Prima Strategy Guide and a wiki. These differences should be harnessed in a way that empowers the wiki.
::: Here's an example that is beyond my own wiki-editing capabilities, but should give ThunderClaw what s/he's looking for without requiring a complete rewrite, or a new tutorial: create a "why" tag which, like the verify tag, allows newbies to easily ask for expansion. This could even be a FAQ-like new category, so that we could quickly edit this tutorial in small, easily managed chunks that more users would likely contribute to. Eg,
[[Temperature]], amount of [[tree]]s ([[why trees]]?), amount of [[plant]]s ([[why plants]]?), and a hint at the sort of [[Animal|wildlife]] ([[why hunt]]?) at the center of the selection rectangle.
::: Put another way, introduction to concepts and keyboard commands should be distinct content, and a step-by-step guide should contain only enough enumeration and/or examples to cover all exceptions once. Additional exploration should be available as links. But then again, that's just my take on it, and the prize goes to the guy who actually does the deed. --[[User:RomeoFalling|RomeoFalling]] 20:38, 4 November 2008 (EST)
::::That is a good way to deal with the ''example'' part of what I was talking about. It'll shorten the article fantastically for people who don't feel they need detailed explanations, but it doesn't address the other problems: bad enumeration and incomplete explanation. The bad enumeration part is really what's killing this guide most, because many times concepts run together and it's difficult follow.
::::This isn't just a 'Prima' thing, this is the fundamentals of technical/instructional writing that all engineers, scientists, mathematicians, researchers, and most liberal arts majors have to learn in college because it just panders to the way that humans traditionally process information and concepts. Wiki formatting and such will definitely be different from a paper strategy guide, but I still maintain that the writing in this article is fundamentally flawed because of the poor enumeration that leads to incomplete and confusing explanation.
::::Anyway, I'm going to do up a rewrite of this pretty soon. The history will always let us revert if everyone universally considers it crap. --[[User:ThunderClaw|ThunderClaw]] 10:07, 5 November 2008 (EST)

::::: To be clear, I wasn't questioning Prima's quality.
::::: It worked perfectly well for me when I first started playing a few weeks ago. For a certain subset of the population, the best way to learn is to make a bunch of random choices and then see why those choices are imperfect. Further, I question if it "panders to the way that humans process info," or if it merely panders to the way AMERICANS process info.
::::: Regardless, space is abundant and memory is cheap. What's wrong with keeping this copy intact as is, and then writing up a "Your First Fortress v2.0" guide, possibly based on this one? I still say that two guides are better than one. --[[User:RomeoFalling|RomeoFalling]] 18:18, 5 November 2008 (EST)
:::::Oxford follows the same rules that I'm advocating, so I seriously doubt it's 'just an american thing'. Toyko University also advocates writing like this. The problem isn't space, the problem is that it violates so many basic writing tenents that many people could find it unreadable. I'm glad it worked for you, but it certainly didn't for the community I tried to get into the game (who, incidentally, are from America, Canada, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, and Mexico), who almost universally called this guide confusing and frustrating. --[[User:ThunderClaw|ThunderClaw]] 12:59, 6 November 2008 (EST)

==Bringing along coal==
I modified the anvil embarking strategy to encompass bringing along coal and lignite as well as a single unit of charcoal; the problem with bringing a 1-1 ratio of charcoal to items for smelting is that while a single unit of charcoal costs 10☼, a unit of coal/lignite costs 3☼ and can produce 3 units of coke; a 27☼ discount after the first charcoal needed to start the coal industry.

First part of the rewrite is done. We really need more images. Hopefully I'll be able to get to that soon. I'm going to finish with the actual play explanation a little bit later. Savok's play tutorial got branched off into a sample game, and not deleted. So far really it's just been an overhaul of how things are arranged. --[[User:ThunderClaw|ThunderClaw]] 12:59, 6 November 2008 (EST)

40d:Your first fortress

2008-11-06T18:35:17Z

MagicJuggler: /* Tools */

This is a guide to help new players get started on their first [[fortress]] and teach them the basics of keeping their [[dwarves]] alive. If you have unanswered questions or find given details confusing, please tell us so on the [[Talk:Your_first_fortress|discussion page]]! Above all else, always remember the [[Dwarf Fortress]] motto: "Losing is fun!"

We discuss generating a world, choosing a fortress location, buying [[skill]]s and items, and playing the first month or so. Setting game initialization options is covered in [[technical tricks]]. The advice here is biased for safety; with a little experience you'll do better with strategies customized for your play style and preferred start locations. For more extended treatment of particular subjects, consult the linked pages or the rest of the Dwarf Fortress Wiki.

== Generating a world ==

The first thing you'll want to do when starting Dwarf Fortress is [[World generation |create a world]]. You have two options: Create a fractally-generated random world or re-create one of the [[pregenerated worlds]] using a specific seed.

However, for new players it is recommended that you create a random world using the '''STANDARD''' template, so just hit {{k|Enter}} to continue. The engine will then start to create a random world for you. You might notice that worlds are rejected before the engine continues with rivers and lakes. The rejections are normal engine behaviour, since it rejects the random generated world if it doesn't meet certain criteria.

Generating a random world with the standard template may take a long time on most machines. If you want to jump right into playing, you should probably choose Design New World with Parameters instead of Create New World Now! and pick a small or pocket-sized world instead of a standard-sized world.

(Once you've gotten down the basics, you can return to the world generation screen and experiment with all of the options and create a world using one of the other techniques mentioned above.)

See the article on [[world generation]] for a complete guide to the world generation screen.

== Choosing a location ==

=== The interface ===

If you have at least one world without an active fortress, you will be able to choose "Start Playing" from the main menu. Chose "Dwarf Fortress" and you'll see a four-section window looking something like:

[[Image:FortressLocation_fd2f10.png | caption | This picture is shown with the default tileset. Other [[tilesets]] are available]]

You can move around the region map with {{k|←}}{{k|↑}}{{k|→}}{{k|↓}}, or at 10x speed with {{k|Shift}}+{{k|←}}{{k|↑}}{{k|→}}{{k|↓}}. The region map is immense, at the default size, so there is also a world map that shows you where you are in the world.

Your next goal will be choosing the starting location for your fortress.

=== Your surroundings ===

You can discern a lot of information by scrolling through the various modes. The interface has five modes which you cycle through by pressing {{k|TAB}}. In turn, they display the ''biomes'', ''civilizations'', and ''geology'' of the local area.

====Biomes screen====
This display gives you an idea for the environment you'll be parachuting into. Click any of the blue links for more information on the subject. [[Biome]]s are determined by the type of life in the area. On the Biome screen, you'll see:
* '''[[Temperature]]''': How hot or cold it gets in the area. Can be ''Freezing'', ''Cold'', ''Temperate'', ''Warm'', ''Hot'', and ''Scorching''. In a nutshell, temperature extremes make it harder to get and keep a reliable source of [[water]] going. In Freezing and Scorching climates, you may have to do without water at all. Temperate and Warm are both good places to start your first fort. 
* '''Amount of [[tree]]s, and [[plant|other vegetation]]''': A general indication of the density of plant life in the area. For trees, this can be ''none'', ''scarce'', ''sparse'', ''woodland'', or ''heavily forested''. For other plants, you can see ''none'', ''scarce'', ''moderate'', and ''thick''. Trees are chopped down for [[wood]], which is a critical, if small, part of your fortress. You can import lots of it from [[caravan]]s, so don't worry too much about it. However, more trees never hurt anyone, and totally treeless maps are quite a bit more difficult in the early going, so aim for ''sparse'' or greater trees. Other plants basically means shrubs, bushes, and other vegetation that you can harvest food from with the [[plant gathering]] skill. Generally speaking, you will use this trick in the first year of your fortress, then never again. [[Plant]] density is not very important. 
* '''[[Surroundings]]''': This is a hint at how wild the wilderness is. The outskirts of a jungle might be fairly calm and safe, while the heart of that same jungle could be thick with vicious predators. In game terms, this will clue you in to the specific types of [[tree]]s and [[plant]]s you will find, in addition to indicating the [[animal]] types you'll run int. This also clues you in to the ''alignment'' of the surrounding area. So, the two things this word tells you is how ''good'' or ''evil'' an area as, and how ''calm'' or ''savage'' an area is. ''Good''-aligned areas, from calm to savage, are ''serene'', ''mirthful'', or ''joyous wilds''. ''Neutral''-aligned areas are, from calm to savage, ''calm'', ''wilderness'', or ''untamed wilds''. ''Evil''-aligned areas are, from calm to savage, ''sinister'', ''haunted'', or ''terrifying''. ''Good'' zones tend to have one of the most aggressive animals in the game, the [[unicorn]], and ''evil'' areas have a multitude of [[undead]] and some of the most vicious [[creature]]s in the game. For your first fortress, stick to a ''neutral'' alignment. 
* '''Major land forms''': A last field, which will not always be full, will mention things you should know about, like [[river]]s. [[River]]s provide an unlimited source of [[water]], but can be home to dangerous fish like the [[longnose gar]] and [[carp]]. Still, though, the benefits generally far outweigh the risks. [[Volcano]]s are also noted here, one of the only guaranteed ways to get [[magma]]. [[Magma]] makes a few things a lot easier, but it is dangerous to work with and must be handled very carefully because of the [[fire imp|horrible]] [[magma man|creature]]s that come out of it. Not critical, especially not for your first time out. 

Sometimes, you'll be looking at a place with more than one [[biome]] in the same selected square. You can press {{k|F1}} {{k|F2}} {{k|F3}} or {{k|F4}} to view the different types of [[biomes]]. In the picture above, we are looking at the mountain in the center, which is cold and has no trees or plants because it's too high up for those things to grow.

====Civilization screen====
These are nearby [[civilization]]s that are capable of interacting with you. Other settlements are shown with various symbols on the regional map. The possible entries here are ''dwarves'', ''humans'', ''elves'', ''goblins'', and ''kobolds''.
* '''[[Dwarves]]''': You will want to be in contact with dwarves to get [[immigrant]]s and a dwarven trading caravan. However, dwarves are, sometimes seemingly magically, everywhere. It is impossible to settle anywhere without dwarves, assuming there is at least one surviving dwarf civilization. Depending on how remote the area is, though, you may not get some of the features of the game you would otherwise: being cut off from the world will prevent most [[noble]]s from coming to your fort, which will stop the [[dwarven economy]] from ever being activated. You will also not get a [[liason]] with your dwarven caravan, so you will be unable to request goods. 
* '''[[Humans]]''': Humans are almost always friendly, and love [[trade]]. They send [[liason]]s to let you request goods and are generally a huge boon to any fortress. 
* '''[[Elves]]''': Elves are usually friendly and make fair trading partners, but have a [[Trade#Elves|particular ethos]] about trading. They do not send a trade [[liason]] and their goods are luxuries at best. They can be very annoying, but are generally not dangerous unless you provoke them. 
* '''[[Goblin]]s''': Goblins are your main enemies in Dwarf Fortress, and will lead almost all of the aggressive attacks on your fort. You can try to settle away from them, but at a certain point the game will spawn a goblin civilization to harass you, anyway. Just be sure not to start in the middle of a goblin citadel, and you will be fine. 
* '''[[Kobold]]''': Kobolds are petty thieves that are little more than irritations in most situations. If you are careless and let their thieves get away with a lot of stuff, though, they may upgrade to raiding parties of archers.

====Elevation screen====
Relative [[elevation]]. This is a normal topographic map that you're used to from real-life maps. It just gives you an idea of the lay of the land.
====Slope screen====
[[Slope]] steepness. This shows you where large cliffs are. Try to avoid [[cliff]]s of 4 or more, as the taller maps take a lot more computer power to run. On the other hand, flat areas are boring - a good elevation map contains lots of low elevation changes ranging from 1 to 4.
====Embark alerts====
When you're satisfied with your area and hit {{k|e}} to embark, you may get some alerts about being in a very difficult area, or about an [[aquifer]]. [[Aquifers]] can make it frustrating to get started, so if you are alerted about an aquifer, seriously consider moving somewhere else for your first fortress. After you have the basics down, tackling an aquifer is much easier.
====Location recap====

For your first fortress, it's not entirely important. However, there are some general guidelines that can help you decide: 

* Try to get a temperate or warm climate, since extreme temperatures are more difficult.
* Trees and vegetation are good for producing lumber and food for your fortress, but you don't need tons of them.
* ''Neutral''-aligned [[surroundings]] are best for your first fortress, but ''good''-aligned surroundings are also OK. Avoid ''evil''-aligned surroundings, however.
* Running water (rivers, streams, and brooks) are a permanent source of [[water]]. Lakes and pools have a finite amount of water and may dry out. Not having enough [[water]] can be a big obstacle, so try to get some running water your first time out.
* [[Humans]] and [[elves]] are friendly, so an area they have access to is nice.
* [[Magma]] is cool, but not critical.
* Areas with [[Aquifers]] require some engineering to get to rock. You'll be warned if you chose an area with an aquifer. When in doubt, don't try it.
* Who cares? If you like what you see, go for it. You can always start over. And remember the DF motto: Losing is fun! 

For more information on specific game mechanics such as [[sand]], [[flux]], and how to find [[iron]], check [[How_to_correctly_start_fortress_mode|this page]].

==== Fortress size ====

Once you've decided on location, you need to decide the size of your fortress area. This is the size of the game field you're playing on. Advantages of requesting a large local area include more raw materials, greater diversity of [[rock]]s and special underground features, and the ability to include desired terrain (such as a river, a forest, or a magma vent). Disadvantages include slower game performance (larger areas require more CPU power), higher likelihood of merchants failing to reach your [[trade depot]] before they run out of time, and more risk of losing immigrants as they struggle to your front [[gate]]. (Note that you can [[mine]] many levels deep into the ground, and even a 3x3 area generally contains more raw materials than you're ever likely to need.)

You can adjust the size of your fort's area by using {{k|SHIFT}} + the {{k|h}} {{k|k}} {{k|u}} or {{k|m}}keys. 

=== Embark ===

When done, hit {{k|e}} to embark. A warning may appear if you've chosen a challenging site, or one with an [[aquifer]].

==Buying skills and items==
After you embark, you're given the option to either start immediately or prepare for the journey carefully. You should pretty much always prepare carefully if you enjoy staying alive.

Here, presumably, you are the dwarf determining who will go and what they will take. You have a total of 2060☼ to spend in two categories: Skilled dwarves and items. Some items have already been selected for you, but you probably won't want most of these.

There are as many possible ways to approach setting up as there are fortress locations. The [[starting builds]] page offers several examples for you to choose from. Here, we are only going to discuss some basics that help you understand enough to make your own decisions. The embark screen opens up on the ''skills'' screen, and can be changed to the ''items'' screen by pressing {{k|TAB}}.

===Skills===
In Dwarf Fortress, it's not what you have, it's who you have. Skilled dwarves are the cornerstone of everything, from domestics to security, so it's extremely important to embark with good people.

As you will see in this screen, you have 7 dwarves, all with 10 points to put toward starting skills. We will want to use all 10 of the points on all 7 of the dwarves. By default, you won't have enough ☼ to do this, so hit {{k|TAB}} to go to the items screen and hit {{k|-}} over the ''Steel battle axe'' line to give subtract one. This should give you enough ☼ to assign all your skills. You can only spend 5 of the 10 points in any one skill, making the maximum skill level upon embark ''proficient''. This makes a total of 14 ''proficient'' skills. 

In a fledgeling fortress, the 4 indispensible jobs are [[mason]], [[miner]], [[grower]], and [[carpenter]]. You should not embark without at least 1 dwarf being ''proficient'' in these 4 skills. Many people choose to double up on proficient [[miner]]s and [[grower]]s, since mining and farming are both pretty big jobs.

Other useful skills to consider: 
* '''[[Cook]]:''' Cooks make [[prepared meal]]s in the [[kitchen]], which helps you manage your food stock space. Well-prepared meals are also valuable [[trade]] goods, and make dwarves happy when eaten. Highly skilled cooks make better meals, and prepare meals faster. 
* '''[[Brewer]]:''' Brewers make [[booze]] in the [[still]]. Dwarves being dwarves, they need alcohol to operate at peak efficiency, and highly-skilled brewers make better tasting booze. Dwarves get happier when they drink good booze, and they finish brewing faster. 
* '''[[Herbalist]]:''' Herbalists gather food and seeds from [[shrub]]s in the local area. Skilled herbalists pick faster and come away with far more food. Where an unskilled herbalist will come away with one [[wild strawberry]] or none at all, a proficient herbalist will often pick 3, 4, or sometimes 5. 
* '''[[Woodcutter]]:''' Woodcutters fell [[tree]]s for use by [[carpenter]]s. Highly skilled woodcutters fell trees much faster. However, since you don't need that much wood, you can get away with a normal (no tag) woodcutter just fine. 
* '''[[Mechanic]]:''' Mechanics build and use [[mechanism]]s, which have myriad uses in [[trap]]s and [[lever]]s. Highly skilled mechanics finish installing mechanisms much faster, and the mechanisms they build are of higher quality. However, the quality of the mechanism only matters for its [[trade]] value, and in early fortresses the need for mechanisms is usually so small that any dwarf can pick it up and handle it well enough. Still, a solid choice, especially if you like [[trap]]s. 
* '''[[Armorsmith]], [[Weaponsmith]], and [[Siege engineer]]:''' These 3 skills are not useful at all in an early fortress, but become very important later on, and training an unskilled dwarf in these skills is hard and requires a lot of material, so if you're in it for the long haul, consider them. 
* '''Military skills ([[Wrestler]], [[Axedwarf]], [[Hammerdwarf]], etc):''' Early on, it's unlikely that you'll need these, since there's generally very few things that will bother a band of dwarves who aren't hurting anyone, but certain places, such as those with a [[chasm]], will have hostile creatures around. In these areas, you may consider giving your woodcutter the [[Axedwarf]] skill so he can use his chopping axe as a weapon. 
* '''Social skills ([[Appraiser]], [[Judge of Intent]], [[Consoler]], etc):''' Putting these on one dwarf will make them a shoo-in for the Expedition Leader slot, and ranks in [[Appraiser]] and [[Judge of Intent]] will make interacting with the first caravan much easier. However, even if you don't train this at all, some persistance in trading with the first caravan will level your leader up enough to trade with the second caravan like a champion. 

Once again, examples can be found in the [[starting builds]] page. What you bring is incredibly dependant on your play style, though. Some people think bringing Mechanics along is a total waste of time, others consider them indispensible. Some people like having skills that aren't even on this list, like [[Leatherworker]]. Read the [[starting builds]], ask questions, and explore! Who cares if your first idea doesn't work out after playing an hour? Restarting is easy and ''losing is fun''.

===Items===
Now that we're done with assigning skills, hit {{k|TAB}} to go over to the item screen. Item worth is another extremely situational thing, and you'll find as many opinions as there are Dwarf Fortress players as to what is good to bring. Once more, it depends VERY heavily on your play style. Again, [[starting builds]] can provide some good example reading. This section will only cover the basics and give you enough information to make your own decisions.

====Tools====
You'll need a couple of finished tools to get yourself started.
* '''[[Battle axe]]s''': You'll need 1 for every [[Woodcutter]] you bring along. You can only buy the steel variety, which costs 300☼. The cost of that axe is one of the best arguments for not doubling up on [[woodcutter]]s. 
* '''[[Pick]]s''': You'll need 1 for every [[Miner]] you have. All the picks work equally well, the material only determines how much damage they do in combat. So, you'll want to bring the cheap copper picks, at a paltry 20☼ each. 
* '''[[Anvil]]''': One of the biggest questions you'll ask yourself is if you want an anvil on embark. It's extremely expensive at 1000☼, but to start a [[metal]] industry, you will either have to start with one or request and purchase one from a [[caravan]] somewhere down the line. It chiefly depends on the terrain around. If you are going to a very mountainous area where you're likely to see lots of ore and you'll want to use it immediately, bring an anvil. If you're going to spend a few years getting yourself established and going before worrying about a lot of metal production, drop it and bring more raw commodities. 

One occasional problem is that axes and picks are absent entirely. If this is the case, you can bring the materials to build these things yourself. Purchase an anvil, and two non-ignitable rocks (e.g. not [[lignite]], [[bituminous coal]], or [[graphite]]), a unit of charcoal, the nuggets needed for the metals you wish to make, and either bituminous coal or lignite if available; the advantage of buying coal or lignite as opposed to charcoal is it costs 3☼ instead of 10☼, and when smelted generates 3 units of refined coke, each worth a piece of charcoal. However, you need one charcoal to perform the initial conversion of coke to bituminous coal. The advantage of a smelter over buying a metal bar is the saving of ☼ at the cost of time.
If you wish for bronze equipment, bring an equal ratio of [[copper nuggets]] and [[cassiterite]]; for early steel, two units of [[flux]], and two of either [[hematite]], [[limonite]], or [[magnetite]] will be sufficient to create two steel bars. Factoring the cost of a single charcoal and coal or lignite, the cost for the materials needed for two steel axes is 82☼, a steal compared to the 600☼ needed to buy two steel axes plus if your weaponsmith is talented, there remains the possibility of quality modifiers.

====Raw materials====
As it was briefly covered above, sometimes it makes more sense to bring a lot of raw materials than some finished goods. Raw materials are a lot cheaper than finished goods, and so long as you invest heavily in your dwarves' skills (which you should!), you can probably make better quality stuff, anyway.
*'''[[Stone]]''': Only bring this if you're trying to build some of your tools on the spot, as noted above. Otherwise, you will get stone coming out of your ears once you start mining. 
*'''[[Metal]]''': Generally not recommended. However, if you're expecting trouble and you're bringing an anvil, bringing many bars of [[iron]] and [[charcoal]] in lieu of a [[battle axe]] can be a big boon. If your dwarves can get to a spot that gives them a breather, a proficient weaponsmith or armorsmith could stamp out high-quality goods to give your dwarves a better fighting chance. This is a pretty advanced trick to pull off, though, so don't try to pull it if you're not confident. 
*'''[[Wood]]''': Wood is a bargain at only 3☼ per log, and the 100 logs you can bring in exchange for a steel battle axe will last you a long time. This is a great technique for making [[Woodcutter]] unneeded in the early game, but you need to budget your wood use for the first year very carefully. When you're out, you're out! 

====Consumables====
Easily the most important part of your preparation is what you're going to eat, drink, and plant once you get on site. Without food and booze, you're not going much of anywhere.
*'''[[Food]]''': Most food comes at a mere 2☼ per unit, and 8 units will feed 1 dwarf for a year. Bringing a year of food will give you a good cushion to getting your farms working, so aim for about 60 food if you can. If you must cut back, though, 40 will be fine if you make your farms an early priority. The best food staple to bring along is [[turtle]]. Turtle produces [[shell]] and [[bones]] when eaten, which can be used as raw materials for other things you need, including armor, crossbows, and crossbow bolts. Further, shell is a common request for [[strange mood]]s and is a pain to produce, so getting some early could save yourself a failed mood and a dead dwarf. 
''Note:'' Food is stored in [[barrel]]s on embark, with all food in its own barrel. Therefore, you can get a lot of free barrels by taking 1 unit of many, many kinds of food. Barrels are important, and usually need wood to make, so it's worth it to use this quirk while you can. 
*'''[[Booze]]''': Dwarves drink twice as often as they eat, and they always want to down some alcohol if at all possible. They also like different kinds of alcohol. Bring twice as much booze as you bring food, and divide it evenly among the 3 types of alcohol you can take (dwarven wine, dwarven beer, dwarven ale). 
*'''[[Seeds]]''': Your farms have got to start somewhere. Definitely bring along [[plump helmet spawn]] (for food and booze) and [[pig tails]] (for cloth ropes and booze variety). How many you bring is dependant on how big you want your initial farms to be. 5 of each is plenty to feed your initial dwarves, and you will get more seeds any time the plants are consumed in any way ''except cooking''. You may want to use the [[kitchen]] menu to disallow cooking of plump helmets until you have a healthy supply of seeds. Or, alternatively, just don't make any prepared meals until you've got a healthy supply of seeds. The other seed types require a lot more labor to use properly, and should probably wait until you have more dwarves in the fortress. You can buy seeds from the dwarven caravan for almost nothing, but if you want a greater variety along, go for [[rock nuts]]. The [[quarry bush]] that sprouts from it produces the greatest space to yield ratio in the game. Eventually, though, you should be planting all 6 of the underground [[crop]]s at least.

====Animals====
Not only dwarves live in your fortress, after all.
*'''[[Dog]]s''': Dogs are dwarf's best friend. They can be trained into [[hunting dog]]s or [[war dog]]s, require no food or maintenance, and make good pets for your dwarves. Always bring at least 2. Genders alternate when picking them up, so 2 will give you a breeding pair that will have more puppies freely. They make fantastic security early and fantastic dwarfsaving distractions later on. Dogs will happily lay down their lives to protect their master, which is huge when it means one of your best legendary dwarves is running away from an angry [[goblin]]. 
*'''[[Cat]]s''': Cats provide a wonderful function in controlling [[vermin]] in the fort. Vermin can make your dwarves extremely unhappy, so some cats are more or less a requirement. The largest problem with cats, however, is that their population is very difficult to control. Cats will choose their own owners (without the dwarf in question's consent), and after they've done so, you cannot order them butchered to control their numbers. The resulting [[catsplosion|population explosion]] can clutter hallways and murder your framerate. The best thing to do is to put all stray cats and kittens in a [[cage]] (one will hold them all). You can then butcher them without running the risk of the cats adopting dwarves before the butcher gets around to them, and if vermin start to get out of hand, you can always release one or two to help. If you want vermin control from the start, bring just ONE cat so it cannot breed and cause a population problem early. However, immigrants will very commonly bring their pet cats to the fortress, so if you can live with vermin early, you'll likely get a cat for free within a year. 
*'''Beasts of burden ([[Horse]]s, [[musk ox]]en, etc)''': You will get a breeding pair of these for free when you start the game (they pull your starting wagon), and they will breed just as fast as anything else, so don't bring any along, and don't be afraid to use that [[cage]] to contain their numbers. Unlike cats, dwarves must choose to adopt beasts of burden, which they won't do unless they have a particular affinity for the animal. That's fairly rare, so the vast majority of the beasts of burden in your fortress will stay strays. 

Once again, check the [[starting builds]] page for more ideas, read the pages linked above, and experiment. The learning process is half the fun in Dwarf Fortress; enjoy it!

==Sample games==
These are sample games that others have played and recorded to provide good learning examples. They are not routinely updated, so some information may be out of date, but they still provide good hands-on tutorials of how to prepare for your fortress and play the game.

[[Indecisive's illustrated fortress mode tutorial]] 
[[Savok's first fortress playthrough]]
[[Category:Guides]]

{{Starting FAQ}}

40d Talk:Exploratory mining

2008-11-03T10:05:54Z

MagicJuggler:

This is a guide on how to search for valuable materials by mining. 
...why is there any use for it? --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 18:52, 13 March 2008 (EDT)

:I think it's useful. The need for more resources, unless you're extremely lucky in the beginning, is not satisfied by the fort's initial digging efforts or its natural expansion. This usually leads to the need to dig in order to reveal large areas, and more often not, the most intuitive method the player thinks up is not the most efficient for their situation. Mining labor, being pretty scarce even for a medium sized fortress, shouldn't be squandered by using an inefficient method, especially if you want fast results.
:--[[User:AlienChickenPie|AlienChickenPie]] 04:13, 14 March 2008 (EDT)

::Mining labor? Scarce? O.o.
::Grab a few peasant immigrants (or miner immigrants if you get any - they come with picks), get picks for them, and start them mining. If you mine out a significant area (like, "enough that you want more than two miners") you'll have legendary miners within a year.
::But alright. I do agree that efficiency in exploratory mining is useful, since without it you ruin the area and get lots of useless stone. However, I argue that this article states things that should not be in a manual of any sort: We don't tell you how to make your fortress. We tell you what happens when X happens and we tell you what to do to get Y.
::But you still disagree, I assume? Alright. If it really is bad, the article will get deleted/shrunk/merged. If it isn't, we should do it right.
::<nowiki>*brings out the umkey*</nowiki>
::--[[User:Savok|Savok]] 10:18, 14 March 2008 (EDT)

:::I see what you're getting at, it would definitely be wrong to state design tips as facts or tell people how to build their fortress.
:::However, this article is intended to be a technical guide to mining methods, not a style guide. I'd like to make it as neutral and factual as possible.
:::Going over it again, I noticed that parts of it are written inappropriately for a technical article. For example, the usability part definitely steps quite a bit over the line, and I wouldn't mind seeing it removed or altered to contain only necessary facts.
:::--[[User:AlienChickenPie|AlienChickenPie]] 14:10, 14 March 2008 (EDT)

== Proposal: Diagonal pattern ==

Would it be useful to add this pattern?
<div style="font-family: monospace; white-space: pre; line-height: 126.5%"><nowiki>
▒▒.▒▒▒▒.▒▒
▒.▒▒▒▒.▒▒▒
.▒▒▒▒.▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒.▒▒▒▒.
▒▒▒.▒▒▒▒.▒
</nowiki></div>
* Labor: 20% of the tiles are excavated.
* Scarcity: Any scarcity. Clusters as small as a single tile are revealed.
* Visibility: 100%.
* Reusability: With a bit of imagination you can build nice 3x3 rooms

I usually dig a diagonal squares with the sides 25 tiles long. And use this pattern later. (See Minepoint at map archive). It shows (almost) every vein...[[User:Dorten|Dorten]] 09:16, 14 March 2008 (EDT)

:I fixed the formatting. Hope you don't mind. --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 10:18, 14 March 2008 (EDT)

::Not at all. I was hoping that someone would come over and give it a proper wiki makeover.
::As for the layout, It's incredibly good. It's superior to the rows layout in every way, and it's less work intensive than the 7X7 block layout while giving full visibility.
::Comparing all the layouts gave me an idea- We could group all the block layouts into a single block layout, seeing as they are all very similar and related. Different characters would denote different phases in the digging process. Then, we could introduce the block layout as modular, the diagonal layout as efficient and the hollow layout as thorough. I have half a mind to scrap the row layout altogether, seeing as it's pretty inferior.
::--[[User:AlienChickenPie|AlienChickenPie]] 14:33, 14 March 2008 (EDT)

:::Actually, I was talking to Dorten - I fixed his formatting.
:::Anyway, the row layout does have one advantage: It gets all tiles and can be designated relatively quickly. I would hate to designate the diagonal layout for a whole z-level.
:::Additionally, row layouts are actually more efficient than block layouts, per tiles dug, although they might not catch a vein running in parallel to them. --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 18:45, 14 March 2008 (EDT)

::::Macros help there a lot. Have you seen MinePoint? It was pretty quick.[[User:Dorten|Dorten]] 01:38, 18 March 2008 (EDT)

:::::No. What is it? --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 14:35, 18 March 2008 (EDT)

== Proposal: Real mining shafts ==

<div style="font-family: monospace; white-space: pre; line-height: 126.5%"><nowiki>
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒X▒▒X▒▒X▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒X▒▒X▒▒X▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
</nowiki></div>
* Labor: 11.1% of the tiles are excavated.
* Scarcity: Any scarcity. Clusters as small as a single tile are revealed.
* Visibility: 100%.

You'll have to have a floor above it with tunnels to the stairs to go down, but after that floor, this provides maximum possible efficiency. --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 23:53, 14 March 2008 (EDT)

:This actually has an 11.1% Labor Efficiency. An added bonus is that it's easy to make into square rooms of various sizes, the stairways can be removed and used as doorways, or just carved out as part of the rooms. It really is similar to the rows method, except turned on end each mined tile exposes 8 tiles, instead of 2. Instead of scattered tiles I'd call it mine shafts, though. [[User:Basilisk|Basilisk]] 16:38, 20 March 2008 (EDT)

::Erm. Oops. I'm usually better at math than that. *hurriedly fixes error* --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 14:54, 21 March 2008 (EDT)

: this pattern is a a lot of work to designate, so I created a ahk script to speed it up, hope no one minds the link.--[[User:Otherdwarf|Otherdwarf]] 17:04, 25 March 2008 (EDT)

I redid this script's functionality from scratch, and I decided that since the original did not function at all (under the current version of AHK), that replacing old one was justified.[[User:StrawberryBunny|StrawberryBunny]] 00:41, 6 August 2008 (EDT)

== query: similar minerals together==

ive noticed whislt runnign explaratory mining in one of my forts that minerals often come in similar groups- for example i have one floor with 6 or seven garnerite viens and one with atleast 2 lignite veins. is this just coinicedence or a propper pattenr that should be noted on the page. i find i useful myself when looking for resuacres i have already had.
{{unsigned|Gnomegnome}}

:Rock layers (sedimentary, metamorphic, etc.) tend to change according to depth (Z-levels), so you'll find stuff in one rock layer that won't be present in a lower rock layer. That should be noted in the article, though other than that, I don't believe there's a pattern.--[[User:Maximus|Maximus]] 13:42, 2 November 2008 (EST)
:: i am aware of that it just i have seen a significant correalation to this effect in my current fortress, beyond what one might attribute to strata, it is a real one Z levels has the garnerite one Z level has the lingnite and one Z level has the hematite type distinciton, and was wondering if it was more that coincedence, also sorry about not signing my comment, i don't acutally know how :D

==Separate section on effectively finding magma vents and underground rivers?

As it stands, this focuses more on finding minerals and less on finding underground rivers/vents. Considering the unique challenges of the two (especially in regards to potential flooding/monsters), is there any advice specific to finding them quickly and safely? [[User:MagicJuggler|MagicJuggler]] 05:05, 3 November 2008 (EST)

40d:Siege engine

2008-10-17T16:51:23Z

MagicJuggler: /* Ballista battery */

'''Siege engines''' include the '''catapult''' and the '''ballista'''. Both are formidable weapons of tremendous range (more than a screen-width) and capable of dealing out horrendous damage. A [[ballista arrow]] means immediate death to each and every common creature in its path and will severely injure even a [[dragon]].

==Building Siege Engines==
In order to build a siege engine, you first need to produce three catapult or ballista parts in the [[Siege Workshop]]; you may then build the respective siege engine like any other building. Both tasks require the "Siege Engineering" labor and use the "Engineer" skill. It is not known whether the skill of the [[dwarf]] assembling the siege engine has any effect, but the quality of the parts certainly has: siege engines put together from [[quality|masterpiece]] parts have a much higher rate of fire and accuracy.

The assembled siege engine is, effectively, a 3x3 building. It cannot be moved about other than by taking it down and re-assembling it at the new site. Siege engines do not impede movement, though, so you don't have to worry about building them in a corridor.

==Using Siege Engines (simple)==
{{key|o}} will let you change the orientation, whether the siege engine is pointing north / south / east / west. This takes effect immediately, it does not require a dwarf to come and turn the engine.

{{key|f}} toggles the current status between:
*Not In Use: [[Dwarves]] with the [[Siege Operator]] [[job]] will reload unloaded engines and leave them unattended.
*Prepare to Fire: Siege Operators will load the engine and remain stationed for further commands.
*Fire at Will: Siege Operators will fire and load normally.

The dwarves will (re-)load any siege engines that are not currently loaded; there's no way to prevent this short of disabling the labor on all dwarves. Ballistae require ''ballista arrows'' (made from wooden [[log]]s at the siege workshop, optionally tipped with [[metal]] ''ballista arrow heads'' made at a [[forge]]). Catapults use simple [[stone]] as ammunition.

[[Ammo]] is usually destroyed upon being fired, unless it falls a z-level.

########
CCC..._#
CCC..._#
CCC..._#
########

The [[channel]] at the end of this firing range preserves the stone. For catapults there is usually so much spare stone that this is not necessary, but it could be used for fast stone transport, or simply to set up a self-contained training area. A similar effect can sometimes be observed when firing a catapult over bumpy ground outside.

The design can be further improved by using a [[drawbridge]] rather than a wall, this way when the drawbridge is raised it acts like a wall deflecting the stone into the channel below. In the case of an attack on your [[fortress]] the drawbridge can be lowered allowing the catapult to fire.

#####################
CCC..._¦.............
CCC..._¦.............
CCC..._¦.............
#####################

Drawbridge raised deflecting stones into channel.

#####################
CCC...[].............
CCC...[].............
CCC...[].............
#####################

Drawbridge lowered allowing catapult to shoot down the corridor.

==Using Siege Engines (advanced)==

===Safety Warning===

'''Ballistas will kill anything in their path!''' Ballista arrows appear to hit any units in any square that the head passes through. They are devastatingly dangerous weapons, and should never be used with friendlies anywhere in their cone of fire, including the space the ballista arrowhead occupies when loaded on the engine. Always designate a restricted traffic zone for a lot of tiles along the firing arc and keep dwarves out of the area. The shots appear to travel until they hit a wall or fly off the screen; the maximum range is about 150 tiles for an ordinary ballista.{{v|0.28.181.39e}} If the bolt passes through a [[tree]], the tree will disappear, presumably reduced to toothpicks.

Surprisingly, catapults are relatively safe. Catapult operators will target enemies (and wild [[animals]]) if there are any in their field of fire. If not, they will loose the shot in a high arc that misses everything. It is perfectly safe to operate a catapult in the cave: just point it at a nearby wall of solid rock. A nice side effect is that this will in due time clear the whole area of stone.

Using catapults to shoot into the open may provide some [[meat]]: as said above, the operators will target animals if there are any. However, [[elephant]]s don't take nicely if you slay some of them. You also have a slight risk of killing your own dwarves or [[caravan]] escorts if they happen to be hunting the selfsame animal (and hence is close to it).

===Placement===
Siege engines can almost only shoot at targets right in front of them on the same Z-level. The target may deviate only slightly, as the field of fire is about 20-30 degrees wide. Because of the huge blind spots, it is advisable to prepare the position so that the enemy will be channeled through the field of fire.

Siege operators are civilians! They will drop their work and run if the enemy comes too close, which is about 5 tiles, though there has been reports of [[troll]]s scaring civilians away at 10 tiles.  You should therefore place the engines behind a [[moat]] that will keep the enemy at a safe distance, or shield access to their location in some other fashion.

Siege engines can shoot through [[fortifications]], just like any other projectile weapon. As fortifications appear to provide some protection against incoming [[bolt]]s and [[arrow]]s, it's usually a good idea to protect the siege engine in that way. The siege engine only needs a one tile wide fortification to shoot out.

===Skill and Quality===

The quality of the siege engine parts affects the engine's accuracy and reload time. It is not known whether the siege engine itself also can be of a certain quality. The quality and material of the ammunition (in case of ballista arrows) affects the damage and possibly accuracy as well.

The only way of obtaining high-quality siege engine parts is to have them made by a trained engineer; the only way to train an engineer is to make parts or ammunition. Assembling and disassembling siege engines does not train the [[engineer]] skill. Dwarves will occasionally produce masterpieces long before reaching [[Legendary]] skill level, but be prepared to waste hundreds of logs until you have three masterpiece parts. Bringing an engineer to [[Experience|Proficient]] level (the highest you could buy when starting a new fortress) will take about 120 logs. Becoming Legendary requires the wood of 600 trees.

The operator skill may affect accuracy; it certainly affects reload time. It will take a whole month for an unskilled dwarf to load a catapult; a Legendary operator with nearby ammo will get several shots at a running enemy.

Operators are best trained on catapults, as these require nothing but cheap stone for ammo. It is recommended to have a number of dedicated operators that will follow no other line of work, and enough catapults for all of them to play with. As they're often going for a drink or sleep, you may get along with three catapults for four operators, and even two pieces would go a long way. Since the dwarf must hold the heavy stone in his inventory during the entire loading procedure, dwarves that have increased their strength statistic load catapults much more rapidly than others, making them good candidates for operator duty. You should start training early: it can take one year for an operator to become Proficient, and two more years until he finally reaches Legendary level; by then he will have spent 300 rounds.

Loading ballista arrows seems to be much faster than loading catapults, probably due to the much lighter weight of the projectile.

An alternative approach is cross-training any highly-skilled dwarves who aren't doing anything useful at the moment. With a couple levels each in strength and agility, a decent-quality catapult, and an ample supply of ammunition nearby, a dwarf can become a Legendary siege operator within a few seasons at most, giving more flexibility in defense and several more levels for the fortunate dwarf. Rotating Legendary miners out to siege-operation and then to stone-hauling duties sets up an efficient cycle.

===In Battle===

Ballistas hit any unit that the ballista arrowhead passes through. This makes them an order of magnitude more effective in combat than catapults, which fire in an arc that hits only a few tiles per shot and is nearly useless against anything smaller than a troop of [[goblin]]s.

A siege engine you want to use for actual defense should be not set to fire at will, as this likely means that it's not loaded and ready at the time you actually need it. You should train your operators on other pieces.

When the time comes, switch off all training engines and set all of the ones you'll be using to prepare to fire so the operators will be on-station; if some of them are currently not loaded, designate them to be disassembled so to prevent your operators from loading the training weapons instead of firing the real ones.

Remember, operators are civilians. They do not care that the fortress is at stake: hunger, thirst and sleep always go first. That's why you trained more operators than you actually need; that's also why you disabled all other work that might distract them. The most effective way to ensure that your operators won't run off is to lock them in with the siege engine when the time comes.

===Ballista battery===

If you place ballistas close enough together, you can completely cover a two or three tile wide corridor. Because siege engines are 3x3, they need to be staggered, so each one fires through the edge of the one ahead of it. This can be dangerous for your operators. To minimize risk, place [[fortification]]s to keep dwarves from wandering too far, and have only one entrance to the ballista room. There is still some risk that dwarves might wander into the line of fire, even with no reason to do so.

In the diagrams, the ballistas ('b') fire to the right, and the entrance is the stairs ('X') to the south. The center-line of each engine is marked 'B' for clarity. Ammo storage is near the [[stair]]s, or possibly on another z-level. Expand the room southward for more storage.

An alternate strategy could be to place a floodgate in the center of the 3x3 hallway, and activate it during times of crisis so that the Goblins are forced to fight in two separate 1x1 corridors rather than a single 3x3 corridor. If the corridors are further lined with spike traps and weapon traps, this combined defense can assure your men that any attempts to assault your base will be very, very bloody.

Two tile corridor (8x6 room)

##########
#bbb######
#BBBbbbF++
#bbbBBBF++
#X++bbb###
##########

Three tile corridor (11x7 room)
#############
#bbb#########
#BBBbbbFFFF++
#bbbBBBbbbF++
#+++bbbBBBF++
#X+++++bbb###
#############

==The Hopoate Doctrine==

Forums user John Hopoate has written this guide (now slightly edited for modern versions) to the effective construction and operation of siege engines:

Please bear in mind that this is VERY long term stuff (10 years). Only by having highly trained siege operators and high quality siege weapons can you shoot accurately.

* Download LabourDF from here:

http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Utilities#LabourDF

* Start off with two [[miner]]s and a [[woodcutter]] trained to proficient siege engineer status (the latter costs many starting points so choose your other starting gear and stats wisely)

* After your fortress has about 50 dwarfs, build a siege workshop, place it at the front of your fort near the battlements and designate a custom [[stockpile]] within the battlements that can take only ballista arrows. Designate another custom stockpile that can take only regular stone.

* Make sure only one of your dwarfs is set to have siege engineering as an active labour. Change that dwarf's orders to have nothing but siege engineering enabled. It may help to give that dwarf a custom profession title (such as SIEGE) to distinguish that dwarf from others. When new [[Mechanic]] or [[Siege Engineer]] dwarfs arrive, make sure to disable siege engineering for them.

* You'll need [[wood]], lots of wood.

* Get the siege engineer dwarf to build 18 catapult parts, place them inside behind fortifications (which catapults CAN shoot through), designate a custom stockpile of regular stone within the battlements.

* Train six dwarves to legendary status with mining or another fast-training skill: their high attributes are absolutely necessary for siege operating. All operators should have no job orders other than their stat-training and siege operating. When there is no mining to be done, set six catapults to "fire at will"

* After the catapult parts are done, get the siege engineer dwarf to build about 100 wooden ballista arrows. Don't bother with metal arrowheads as they'll use 3 pieces of metal each, and that certainly adds up.

* Now that his or her skill is at a high level, your siege engineer dwarf should be able to build superior quality (*) siege engine parts with about a 75% success rate. Build about 40 catapult parts and 40 ballista parts.

* Build ten catapults and ten ballistas with a MINIMUM of superior quality (*) components in an alternating sequence along your well stocked battlements. Dump any inferior components.

* By this point your miners/operators should be at a high level of skill, possibly legendary. This gives your superior quality weapons a devastatingly high rate of fire and awesome accuracy.

[[Category:Buildings]]
[[Category:Fortress defense]]

40d Talk:Crossbow

2008-10-15T18:25:00Z

MagicJuggler: /* Two-handed? */

== Training with Crossbows, Wooden/Bone Bolts more than preferred ==

Dwarves will automatically use only wooden or bone bolts, you needn't worry about metal bolts being wasted on practice.

Based on classic DF, bone or wooden bolts will indeed be used to fight if the dwarf doesn't have anything else though, and they sometimes would just coincidentally have a handful of "practice" bolts when they went out to battle thus having a useful backup. Especially nice when they're very highly skilled and 35-45 bolts isn't enough to last the duration of a fight!

== Out of ammo ==

Is it worth noting (on this page) that dwarves will use the hammer skill to bludgeon with their crossbow if they run out of ammo? --[[User:Matryx|Matryx]] 09:22, 5 November 2007 (EST)

:I think it is, if only to warn that if they run out of bolts while they're fighting something, they won't immediately run back to the stockpile to get more. --[[User:Xazak|Xazak]] 09:26, 5 November 2007 (EST)

==Xbow material==
Do someone know if your crossbow hit harder, or do more damage, when it's made of metal rather than wood or bone in the same way a melee weapon would? --[[User:Eagle of Fire|Eagle of Fire]] 02:42, 28 November 2007 (EST)
:When it is used in melee - crossbow material is important as all other melee weapons. In ranged only material and quality of the bolt affect it's damage potential. Crossbow's quality level is directly added to the soldier's effective marksdwarf skill increasing his accuracy and rate of fire.--[[User:Another|Another]] 13:11, 9 December 2007 (EST)

== training ===

Does say, hunting with a crossbow increase marksdwarf skill?
—Preceding [[template:unsigned|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Shadow archmagi|Shadow archmagi]] ([[User talk:Shadow archmagi|talk]]•[[Special:Contributions/Shadow archmagi|contribs]]) {{{2|}}}
: Yes it does. Unfortunately it will also increase hammerdwarf skill ;) --[[User:Koltom|Koltom]] 23:53, 27 February 2008 (EST)

== dual wielding ==

I set one of my marksdwarves to wield 2 crossbows, and he's currently holding them both in the same hand. Can he use them both like this or does it mean he'll just going to be using one of them? --[[User:Tachyon|Tachyon]] 18:18, 6 August 2008 (EDT)

==Two-handed?==
Are crossbows two-handed when used at range? You'd think they'd be two-handed for re-loading, and one-handed (at the very least, two hands are more accurate) for firing, but I don't know if DF supports this.[[User:StrawberryBunny|StrawberryBunny]] 10:34, 8 August 2008 (EDT)

On a more important issue; will a Dwarf be capable of carrying a shield while using a crossbow in case he was forced into melee? Would he only equip the shield up close? How would it affect his ability to carry bolts in his off-hand?

40d Talk:Stupid dwarf trick

2008-10-14T19:18:43Z

MagicJuggler:

== Magma pumping ==
Thanks for the update [[user:Cizra|Cizra]], I've modified it to be more encyclopedic. :) I think more research/verification of which parts of [[screw pump|pumps]] need to be magma-proof is warranted. --[[User:Raumkraut|Raumkraut]] 17:23, 2 August 2008 (EDT)

== Obsidian Factory ==
Any ideas on how I would get started with this? I actually have a magma pipe near some natural lakes. Do I have the makings of an Obsidian Factory? -- [[User:Ehertlein|Ehertlein]] 10:59, 20 August 2008 (EDT)
:So you have an unlimited supply of magma. Is your water supply also unlimited? If not, you may want to save some for other things. But yes, that's really all you need, water and magma. It also helps to have bauxite and steel. You have two options: bring the magma to the water (via floodgates or pumps) or to bring the water to the magma (by pumps or floodgates or even buckets -which may be recommended it you have a less plentiful supply of water, as even one bucket of water will turn a square of magma into obsidian). Just be careful not to flood your fortress with anything or leave magma lying around where dwarves will foolishly walk on it and catch on fire before fleeing to their bed in the barracks to "recover". Other safety tips from my experiments with obsidian farming: Magma flows up in magma pipes up to the top of the pipe, so watch out if you're filling in, then mining out the pipe. If you are trying to drop water from a bucket onto magma, it needs to be at least two z-levels above, not just one; this is just the way it works. Good luck. Soon your giant tower made of obsidian blocks will rise majestically into the sky, I'm sure. --[[User:Zombiejustice|Zombiejustice]] 11:48, 20 August 2008 (EDT)
::You don't actually need any bauxite or adamantine to start an obsidian factory. What I did was: build a pump on top of the magmapimp to take magme out of the pipe and pump it into the wall. In this wall create a tunnel to an underground area that is at least 2z levels high. (Use channel to channel through one floor. Ideally the bottom of this area should be one z-level above your sourced water (a brook in my case). The pump only needs the screw and the pipes of iron or steel, everything else can be stone. Don't make the magma tunnel too long since magma will be very slow. Create one or more windmills (depending on wind strength) above and connect one axle to a switch far a way (preferable in your fort), turn the axle of and connect the windmill(s) with the pump. Shield the pump with walls, so the magma will only run into the tunnel and nothing else aruond. Build a pump on the water source, create a channel for the water into the underground area, connect the pump with a waterwheel (but also turned of yet by a lever). Make a water exit with a floodgate, so the water can run back into the river if you open that, connect the floodgate also to a lever in your for (you should have 3 levels in your fort). Shield the whole area from dwarven acess by walls/moats/doors so once you got it ready and every dwarf is outside you can lock it. So no dwarf runs there to drink (like mine did) and catch fire. Pull the water pump level, fill the area with water. Turn the pump of. Pull the magma pump level, let some magma drop down into that area, as the first tiles will transform to obsidian, having a 2 level space will allow the magma to travel over it to more water further away. Never have too much magma, or you could end up with a permanent magma pool on top of the obsidian, you don't want that. So turn the magma pump soon enough off (get some experience, how much magma you can take in one shot)... wait until there are only 1/7 magma tiles left, wait further until everything is cooled down. Push the 3rd level attached to the floodgate to remove access water (there is likely some resevoir on the far end from the pipe left), wait for the water to be gone. Now you can open acess to dwarves, you might wand to channel some obsidian blocks to free some locked water. Or you just can let some of it it be trapped to be reused for the next go. Mine all obsdian. Rinse and repeat. However I found once I started to mine around to create my obsidian factory, I found so much obsidian in that area, I question how useful the whole construction is after all. --[[User:Catpaw|Catpaw]] 10:06, 22 September 2008 (EDT)

One advantage to molding a building as opposed to building it from the ground up is that as it's technically considered earth, you can smooth and engrave the rock, before building even more valuable floors on top of it; the obsidian produced from the mining will still be useful for making swords/doors/other valuable items.

Template:Water FAQ

2008-10-04T05:45:27Z

MagicJuggler:

<center>
{| class="collapsible collapsed infobox" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 1px solid #aaa; font-size: 90%; margin: 1em 0em 0em; padding: 2px; text-align: center; width: 60%;"
! colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #aaa; font-weight:bold; background-color: #ccf; padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;" | ''' Water FAQ'''
|-
| [[Screw pump|How do I move water up levels?]]
|-
| [[Water pressure|How do I stop water moving up levels?]]
|-
| [[Swimmer|Can dwarves swim to the surface for air?]]
|-
| [[Water|How deep is the water?]]
|-
| [[Ice|Is it possible to melt ice in order to get water during winter?]]
|-
| [[Well|How do I build a well?]]
|-
| [[Channel|How do I channel water?]]


Can water be used to transport objects, such as stone or wood blocks, and how do they affect each other?


|-
|height="10"|
|-
| {{Edit|Template:Water_FAQ|Add a question to the Water FAQ}}
|-
| [[Frequently Asked Questions|Back to the Main FAQ]]
|}

<includeonly>[[Category:FAQ - Water]]</includeonly>
<noinclude>[[Category:FAQ templates]]</noinclude>