Difference between revisions of "Quickstart guide"

{{Quality|Masterwork}}

:''This is a quickstart guide for [[dwarf fortress mode]] for those who have never played before and quickly want to jump in head-first.'' ''If you are looking to learn adventure mode instead, see the [[Adventure mode quick start]] guide.''

{{TipBox2|float=right|Before you get started...|Always remember that '''losing is [[fun]]!''' Be prepared to lose a few fortresses before you get all the way through this guide – it can be easy to accidentally kill the entire fortress while learning. But remember: losing means that next time, ''[[#Situational Awareness|you'll remember how you lost]].'' In a big way, ''Dwarf Fortress'' uses the principle of learning from one's mistakes.}}

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

[[File:FlowchartDF.png|thumb|446px|right|[[Main:From Caravan to Happy Dwarves|From Caravan to Happy Dwarves]] - This is a flowchart showing approximately what sequence of actions players usually take when starting up a new fort. Feel free to ignore it if you want. It's not necessary to refer to this to understand the rest of the guide, but by the time you finish the guide it will probably all make sense.]]

This is just the Quickstart Guide, so we skip lots of details on the UI. If you're looking for more UI help as you get deeper into your first fortress, you may also want to read this section in the [[Dwarf_fortress_mode#Gameplay_user_interface|Fortress Mode Guide]].

{{main|Dwarf_fortress_mode#Options_screen|l1=Options screen}}

Basic game-related tasks (saving, quitting, settings, etc.) are available on the options menu, which can be reached with {{Menu icon|Esc}} from the main screen. {{K|Esc}} again or {{K|right click}} will close the menu. This menu also shows the current or previous music track.

For more information see [[Saved_game_folder#Saving|Saving]], [[Reclaim fortress mode]], and [[Settings]].

First, [[World generation|create a new world]]. ''Dwarf Fortress'' worlds are always procedurally randomly generated - there is no "default" or "standard" world. Luckily, the basic version of this process is simple, and with these suggested settings won't take too long. Wait until the game shows that the world has been generated, since stopping history too soon can limit material availability for embark and trade.

For your first game, [[World generation|generate a new world]] using the {{DFtext|Create new world}} option in the main menu with the following options:

* {{DFtext|World map size}} at {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|History length}} at {{DFtext|100 years|3:1}}

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

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

* {{DFtext|Number of Beasts}} at {{DFtext|Low|3:1}}

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

* {{DFtext|Mineral Occurrence}} at {{DFtext|Everywhere|3:1}}

=Tutorial=

The in game tutorial is quite good and it is strongly suggested that new players play through it at least once. It will automatically choose a site for the fortress as well as dwarves and supplies. It will then show you how to use the [[interface]] to strike the earth and get started on your fortress. If a tutorial window is covering a part of the interface you are trying to use, you can roll up the window with the {{K|^}} button. You can replay any part of the tutorial at any time by pressing the {{K|?}} button next the minimap; this also provides a list of non-interactive guides on many parts of the game.

Embarking is the process of choosing a site, outfitting your initial dwarves, and sending them on their way. If you choose to {{DFtext|Start tutorial|7:2:1}} the game will do it all for you, flashing the location of the site it chose, then skipping straight to your arrival there. It is the quickest way to start.

If you choose {{DFtext|Skip tutorial|7:4:1}}, you'll get some good advice not to ignore any warnings about the site. You can then look around by pointing at locations to see details, zoom in with {{k|left click}}, and zoom out with {{k|right click}} (if any menu is open right click closes it instead.) However, the quickest way to find your own site is by clicking {{DFtext|Find embark location}} (available when the map is zoomed out).

|text=The world tooltip will only show features from the moused-over tile, but since the embark area covers multiple tiles it can contain '''multiple biomes'''. It is '''very important''' to inspect all tiles in a potential site. Each may have significantly different features such as an aquifer or evil biome '''not initially shown''' in the info due to not being under the cursor.

{{TipBox2|titlebg=#00a|Starting Site|

[[File:DFwikiStartingSiteExample.png|thumb|350px|An example of a good starting location, note details in the top-right corner]]

*'''NO [[Aquifer]]''' (or at least no '''heavy''' or '''varied''' aquifers. Light is interesting on later embarks, but heavy guarantees '''[[Fun]]'''!)

*'''Trees:''' Woodland or Heavily Forested (or, at the very least, sparsely forested)

The following are also good to have, but focus on getting a decent site, not a perfect one.

*'''[[Climate|Temperature]]:''' Warm or Temperate

*'''Clay, Sand, or Soil''' makes farming easier when starting out, also can enable pottery or glass

*'''Flux stone layer''' For a steel industry

*Avoid sites containing '''towers''', '''goblins''', or other groups at war with you.

While finding a site is not as simple as world generation, the {{DFtext|Find embark location}} button at the bottom of the screen can help. (Different buttons are shown with the map zoomed out or in; left-click will zoom in on the map, right-click will close an open menu or zoom out.)

Once the find tool has finished searching with matches found, press {{K|Esc}} to look at the results. Any region with a match will be indicated by a green rectangle or {{DFtext|X|2:1}}s on the map, or close partial matches by a yellow rectangle or red {{DFtext|X|5:1}}s. Clicking on one of those will zoom in to show the actual sites in much the same way (partial matches are instead yellow {{DFtext|X|7:1}}s in ASCII mode). On the zoomed in map, existing sites will be shown as red rectangles or {{DFtext|░|5:1}}s; or white rectangles or magenta {{DFtext|░|6:0}}s for sites of the currently selected dwarven civilization if that list is open.

The {{DFtext|Choose origin civilization}} button on the zoomed out map shows a list of the dwarven civilizations on this world. Selecting one will center the map on their capital with a blue outline on each of their sites (no outline in ASCII mode), and show population and site counts.

Additionally, when placing the embark area you can resize it using the buttons on-screen. A 4×4 embark (the default) is usually reasonable, but you may want to change the size to avoid an undesirable biome or match your finder criteria.

* "Calm" surroundings can be rare, you can try "Wilderness" instead.

* "≤ Deep" doesn't include "very deep" soil{{bug|12171}}, you can try "N/A" but make sure at least part of the site has some (it should since clay and sand count).

* "No" Aquifer (either type) means in the entire embark area; but even if some tiles have one, others might not. If you do embark at such a site, remember which tiles don't so you can dig down there.

You don't need a perfect site, but if you are unable to find a site that you are willing to embark on, you could always create a new world. Otherwise, move on to the next step.

And preparing carefully makes little difference in the long run, especially without experience as to what to change.}}

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

[[File:DFwikiGettingYourBearingsExample.png|thumb|right|Starting out. In this example, the dwarves will be digging out an entrance tunnel in the cliff on the right.]]

 

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

==Getting your bearings==

'''Do not unpause the game just yet.''' Take a look around with {{k|w}}{{k|a}}{{k|s}}{{k|d}}. Look up and down a few [[z-level]]s with the scroll wheel. You can zoom in and out with {{k|Ctrl}}-scroll wheel. Place the cursor on various tiles to familiarize yourself with what the symbols mean.  If you get lost, you can press {{K|F1}} (or {{k-|Fn|F1}} on some systems) to return to the wagon.  (You can define more [[hotkeys]] later, to jump quickly to other sites of interest.) Notice the terrain features, the vegetation, and any minerals visible. If you chose a site with flowing water, where is it? What about pools of water? The more carefully you examine your site before breaking ground, the better off you will be.

In the bottom left, click the citizens information button to see a list of your dwarves. In the {{DFtext|Others}} tab, you can see any wild animals that may be nearby.

The {{DFtext|Stocks}} button at the top of the screen will show the items owned by your fortress.

On the left, there are buttons for various message logs.

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

Some tasks receive a higher priority. For example, if a dwarf needs to eat, then they will go eat, and only get around to digging a tunnel once they are done eating. It is also possible to designate things that no dwarf is able to do. For example, if you designate an area to mine, but no dwarf has mining as one of their allowed labors, or no dwarf has a [[pick]], then the mining will never get done, and the game will not always advise you of why.

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

===Labor and work details===

You may have noticed that the UI for managing dwarves is a bit difficult to use. There are a few utilities available for this purpose (for Windows and most Linux systems):  

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

Labors are assigned to dwarves in groups called '''work details'''. Open the labor menu from the bottom left to see all the default work details and their assignments.

Fortunately, you don't need to assign a dwarf for every single labor in the game; work details can be set to "everybody does this" to allow any idle dwarf to pick up the job.

'''While you're here''', set the Hunters and Fisherdwarves work details to "nobody does this." Dwarves with these details enabled will constantly be outside attempting to perform them, and for now you don't want dwarves wandering around alone where they can get killed (in addition, they won't be doing anything useful, like hauling).

Also, the default embark comes with three pickaxes: so for efficiency, make sure two dwarves have the Miners detail enabled.

As dwarves perform jobs, they gain skill in those areas which leads to them working faster or producing higher-quality things. Note that ''any'' unskilled dwarf can perform any labor given the necessary equipment and materials; they'll just be worse at it.

 

The default work details contain all the essential labors for the very start of your fortress, but this guide will involve other labors. Keep in mind that at some point you'll have to assign the following labors by creating custom work details:

| Farming/Related || Wood Burning

| Metalsmithing || Furnace Operating

| Metalsmithing || Armoring

| Metalsmithing || Weaponsmithing

| Metalsmithing || Blacksmithing

| Metalsmithing || Metalcrafting

| Jewelry || Gem Cutting

*[[Activity_zone#Meeting_area|Meeting Area]] You can designate a Meeting Area zone inside the new rooms. Press {{Menu icon|z|sep=-}} and click "Meeting Area". Draw a rectangle to create a meeting area, then click "Accept". ''See also the [[zone]] page for more information.''

The digging orders menu allows you to select areas to dig. Click the pick axe at the bottom or press {{Menu icon|m|sep=-}}. There are multiple methods of digging:

* '''[[Mining]]''' ({{K|m}}) removes solid, floor-to-ceiling terrain (natural 'walls') on the z-level selected, leaving behind a rock or soil surface (also referred to as a natural floor). This does '''not''' do anything in areas without natural walls (for example, the surface or previously-mined areas).

* '''[[Channel]]ing''' ({{K|m}}-{{K|u}}) removes ''natural'' (rock/soil) floors (either created naturally or by mining) and creates a ramp (▲) on the z-level below. Note that you will see a down arrow (▼) on the current z-level, indicating a ramp on the level below. (For best results, ensure that the area below is unrevealed, i.e. black).

#Hit {{K|m}} to bring up the digging orders menu.

#Hit {{K|m}} to mine or {{k|u}} to channel (see above)

#Draw a rectangular square that you want to dig out.

#A rectangle will be highlighted and a miner will start to dig out this area once you unpause the game with {{K|Space}}.

[[File:DFwikiDigChannelDifference.png|225px|thumb|right|Demonstrating the difference between mining and channeling. Mining creates empty space on the same level where it is designated. Channeling creates empty space in the level below, clearing the floor. The levels are connected by up/down ramps. ]]