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Editing User:Calite/Gloss Guide
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− | This guide hopefully helps one get into | + | This guide hopefully helps one get into dwarf fortress and get a fort going without imposing any particular way to play. The notes below don't tell you how to carry out actions within the game, instead they give you an overview of DF's cruicial elements. |
==Prior Consideration== | ==Prior Consideration== | ||
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**You will want to decide the layout of your fortress before digging/building randomly | **You will want to decide the layout of your fortress before digging/building randomly | ||
*Open-Mindedness | *Open-Mindedness | ||
− | **Whether it's because | + | **Whether it's because dwarf fortress often does impossible and absurd things, or because there's a better way to accomplish your goals, you need to be willing to learn new rules and new ways of thinking. |
This may seem like work, but a game that requires a lot of thinking is very rewarding in the long run. | This may seem like work, but a game that requires a lot of thinking is very rewarding in the long run. | ||
==Warm-Ups== | ==Warm-Ups== | ||
− | *Play some | + | *Play some adventurer mode. |
− | **It's very different from | + | **It's very different from Dwarf Fortress, but at least gets you used to the default tileset and the complexity of the game. |
*Don't be afraid of the wiki | *Don't be afraid of the wiki | ||
**Read about anything in the game you don't understand or are confused about. | **Read about anything in the game you don't understand or are confused about. | ||
− | |||
==Fortress Survival== | ==Fortress Survival== | ||
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===Food=== | ===Food=== | ||
− | + | Food is necessary to keep dwarves alive. | |
There are several ways to obtain food, I'll outline each here. | There are several ways to obtain food, I'll outline each here. | ||
− | * | + | *Fishing |
− | ** Very simple, requires only one dwarf assigned to fish, a | + | **Very simple, requires only one dwarf assigned to fish, a fishery, and one dwarf assigned to fish cleaning. Optionally, some animal traps, created in a carpenters shop |
− | ** The stability of this source of food depends on how much | + | **The stability of this source of food depends on how much water you have, how many dwarves you need to feed, and luck (sometimes it seems like none of your water sources have fish, sometimes it seems like they never end) |
**Fishing requires no oversight or extra resources after you have the fishery, it may not be the best choice for a main food source but it is a great source of extra food, and some things that can be caught (such as turtles) drop shells or bones, which are useful. | **Fishing requires no oversight or extra resources after you have the fishery, it may not be the best choice for a main food source but it is a great source of extra food, and some things that can be caught (such as turtles) drop shells or bones, which are useful. | ||
− | * | + | *Hunting |
− | **Perhaps the most complicated source of food, requiring a hunter with a quiver, arrows, and a bow | + | **Perhaps the most complicated source of food, requiring a hunter with a quiver, arrows, and a bow and a butcher's shop where the meat may be butchered. |
− | **This food source's stability depends on the amount of animals on the map and the | + | **This food source's stability depends on the amount of animals on the map and the skill of your hunter(a bad hunter will just waste arrows for a few seasons before killing something) |
**A great plus of hunting is that almost everything your hunter brings back will drop bones and other things besides meat. | **A great plus of hunting is that almost everything your hunter brings back will drop bones and other things besides meat. | ||
***Since bones can be made into arrows, hunting can become self-sufficient. | ***Since bones can be made into arrows, hunting can become self-sufficient. | ||
− | * | + | *Farming |
− | **Somewhere between fishing and hunting in complexity, it requires a farm plot, seeds and a dwarf assigned to | + | **Somewhere between fishing and hunting in complexity, it requires a farm plot, seeds and a dwarf assigned to farm. |
**Stability is variable depending on what plant(s) you are growing. | **Stability is variable depending on what plant(s) you are growing. | ||
***Some plants grow outside, while others grow inside | ***Some plants grow outside, while others grow inside | ||
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***Some plants produce food immediately, some must be cooked or processed, and others don't produce any food. See [[crops]] | ***Some plants produce food immediately, some must be cooked or processed, and others don't produce any food. See [[crops]] | ||
**Farming has several additional benefits. | **Farming has several additional benefits. | ||
− | *** | + | ***Seeds come from the usage of the product of the plant. This means that eating, processing or brewing a plant product will provide the seeds needed to grow more. ''(WARNING: Cooking does not leave seeds!)'' |
***Many plants can be brewed into alcohol. More on the importance of this in the drinks section. | ***Many plants can be brewed into alcohol. More on the importance of this in the drinks section. | ||
− | * | + | *Plant Gathering |
**A very simple way to get food, it requires a dwarf with Plant Gathering assigned and an area designated for plant gathering. | **A very simple way to get food, it requires a dwarf with Plant Gathering assigned and an area designated for plant gathering. | ||
**Plants grow slowly naturally, and an unskilled dwarf won't even get anything from most of the plants it picks (but still destroys the plant). | **Plants grow slowly naturally, and an unskilled dwarf won't even get anything from most of the plants it picks (but still destroys the plant). | ||
− | ** | + | **It provides food from ''outdoor'' plants. When used, this food will provide seeds that you can use to start outdoor farms. |
− | * | + | *Trading |
**Trading requires a trade depot, things you want to trade to the traders, and a dwarf assigned to trade (a broker, usually). | **Trading requires a trade depot, things you want to trade to the traders, and a dwarf assigned to trade (a broker, usually). | ||
**The stability of trading for food depends entirely on the caravans. | **The stability of trading for food depends entirely on the caravans. | ||
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*Cooking | *Cooking | ||
**Preparing Meals requires someone assigned to cook and a kitchen, as well as 2 or more pieces of food. | **Preparing Meals requires someone assigned to cook and a kitchen, as well as 2 or more pieces of food. | ||
− | **''' | + | **'''Cooking uses more food than it provides, making it completely counter-productive to providing more food''' |
**'''Prepared meals have a much higher value than the food used to make them, especially if the cook is highly skilled''' | **'''Prepared meals have a much higher value than the food used to make them, especially if the cook is highly skilled''' | ||
***Eating a prepared meal gives a dwarf a happy thought, making them great for morale ''(Only if the meal contains a food the dwarf likes)'' | ***Eating a prepared meal gives a dwarf a happy thought, making them great for morale ''(Only if the meal contains a food the dwarf likes)'' | ||
***This also makes it great for trading to caravans for other things. | ***This also makes it great for trading to caravans for other things. | ||
+ | |||
+ | As far as I know, farming is the most common source of food in forts due to its high stability once you get it going. Personally I mainly use hunting, farming, and fishing to ensure stability and variety. | ||
===Drinks=== | ===Drinks=== | ||
− | Dwarves drink two (and only two) types of substances - | + | Dwarves drink two (and only two) types of substances - alcohol and water. Remember these drink-related rules: |
*Dwarves are '''alcohol-dependent''' | *Dwarves are '''alcohol-dependent''' | ||
− | **Lack of alcohol will make a dwarf work and move slower; on a large scale | + | **Lack of alcohol will make a dwarf work and move slower; on a large scale this can bring a fortress to a virtual halt |
− | * | + | *A dwarf will not drink the same type of alcohol forever |
+ | **They will deprive themselves of alcohol if there is only one choice (bringing us back to the first bullet). | ||
*'''An injured dwarf cannot drink alcohol''' | *'''An injured dwarf cannot drink alcohol''' | ||
**They must have water, or they will die. | **They must have water, or they will die. | ||
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===Safety=== | ===Safety=== | ||
There are way too many facets of safety, so I'll just gloss over it: | There are way too many facets of safety, so I'll just gloss over it: | ||
+ | |||
*Dangers | *Dangers | ||
− | **Cave-Ins | + | **Cave-Ins |
− | **Fire | + | ***If an area of rock is no longer connected to the rock below it, it will fall, killing or hurting anyone nearby. |
− | **Flooding | + | **Fire |
− | **Magma | + | ***Dwarves don't understand the dangers of fire, so things can go downhill awfully fast. |
− | **Snatchers and Thieves | + | **Flooding |
− | **Wild Animals | + | ***Water quickly becomes your worst enemy when it fills your dwellings. Do all water related projects carefully |
− | **Ambushes | + | **Magma |
− | **Sieges | + | ***Destroys most things, and catches stuff on fire. |
− | **Ghosts | + | **Snatchers and Thieves |
− | **Vampires | + | ***Barely more than minor nuisances, but nonetheless problematic |
− | **[[Hidden Fun Stuff]] | + | **Wild Animals |
+ | ***Some will steal anything they can get to (''despite its weight!''), some will attack and even kill dwarves, many more with simply cause job cancellations. | ||
+ | **Ambushes | ||
+ | ***Very dangerous and problematic, though rarely life threatening | ||
+ | **Sieges | ||
+ | ***Very possibly capable of completely destroying your fortress | ||
+ | **Ghosts | ||
+ | ***Can pull levers and bother dwarves | ||
+ | **Vampires | ||
+ | ***Difficult to catch, can do a lot of damage overtime, and can take out an entire fortress if they berserk | ||
+ | **[[Hidden Fun Stuff]] | ||
+ | ***There are things worse than other civilizations | ||
*Passive Defense | *Passive Defense | ||
− | **Traps are your best friends | + | **Traps are your best friends |
+ | ***Some creatures are sneaky and avoid traps very well. | ||
*Active Defense | *Active Defense | ||
− | **Army | + | **Army |
− | **Animals | + | ***A well trained, well equipped, well managed army will take care of almost all potential assailants before they cause problems |
+ | **Animals | ||
+ | ***Some domestic animals attack enemies, and all can see them and alert others of them | ||
===Happiness=== | ===Happiness=== | ||
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====Things That Upset Dwarves==== | ====Things That Upset Dwarves==== | ||
*Death | *Death | ||
− | **Somewhat mitigated by [[coffins | + | **Somewhat mitigated by [[coffins] and [[slabs]] |
*Lack of Alcohol | *Lack of Alcohol | ||
**This also makes them slower! | **This also makes them slower! | ||
*Lack of Food | *Lack of Food | ||
− | * | + | *Fighting |
− | + | **Usually caused by other dwarves being upset | |
− | ** | + | *Melancholy, Insane, or Berserk Dwarves |
− | * | + | **Caused by failed moods or being upset |
− | **Caused by failed | ||
*[[Vermin]] | *[[Vermin]] | ||
**Common in areas that are not sealed off well | **Common in areas that are not sealed off well | ||
− | |||
*Dwarves they dislike | *Dwarves they dislike | ||
*Lack of food/alcohol variety | *Lack of food/alcohol variety | ||
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These two will normally be most of your backbone early on | These two will normally be most of your backbone early on | ||
*[[Wood]] | *[[Wood]] | ||
− | ** | + | **Wood is important for most forts because barrels, buckets, and bins can only be made from wood or metal(which weighs much more). It's also useful in construction |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
*[[Stone]] | *[[Stone]] | ||
**Often the most abundant and most used resource, stone is useful for construction and crafts. | **Often the most abundant and most used resource, stone is useful for construction and crafts. | ||
===Additional=== | ===Additional=== | ||
− | |||
− | |||
*[[Clay]] | *[[Clay]] | ||
**About as useful as wood or stone, but a bit more involved to produce | **About as useful as wood or stone, but a bit more involved to produce | ||
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*[[Obsidian]] | *[[Obsidian]] | ||
**Similar to Glass | **Similar to Glass | ||
− | *[[ | + | *[[Adamantium]] |
**The most valuable substance known to dwarfkind. | **The most valuable substance known to dwarfkind. | ||
==Mining & Construction== | ==Mining & Construction== | ||
− | A large part of | + | A large part of dwarf fortress is reshaping your environment to fit your needs. |
===Mining=== | ===Mining=== | ||
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===Crafting=== | ===Crafting=== | ||
− | At a | + | At a craftdwarves' workshop, one can turn various resources into crafts, or improve existing items with raw resources. |
Most products of crafting are only useful for trading, but improving existing and useful items can improve dwarves' mood. | Most products of crafting are only useful for trading, but improving existing and useful items can improve dwarves' mood. |