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Difference between revisions of "User:Calite/Gloss Guide"

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(New location of my old guide. Thanks to everyone who's done updates to it!)
 
(Big update: New Sections, Rewrote Old Sections, Accurate for Newest Version, Many More Links. Feel free to add to it!)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
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.
 
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==
 
Before playing, realize you will need these for success:
 
Before playing, realize you will need these for success:
 
*Time and patience
 
*Time and patience
−
**You will fail(repeatedly) at first, and a good fortress takes a long time to build
+
**You will fail (repeatedly) at first, and a good fortress takes a long time to build
 
*Planning and long-term thinking
 
*Planning and long-term thinking
−
**Only with these will you be able to make a lasting fortress
+
**You will want to decide the layout of your fortress before digging/building randomly
 
*Open-Mindedness
 
*Open-Mindedness
 
**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.
 
**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.
Line 12: Line 12:
 
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.
  
−
===One More Thing===
+
==Warm-Ups==
 
*Play some adventurer mode.
 
*Play some adventurer mode.
 
**It's very different from Dwarf Fortress, but at least gets you used to the default tileset and the complexity of the game.
 
**It's very different from Dwarf Fortress, but at least gets you used to the default tileset and the complexity of the game.
Line 18: Line 18:
 
**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==
−
No matter where you embark or what you embark with, there are a few things a fort needs for long term survival:
+
No matter your location and your goals, there are a few things that must be taken care of
  
 
*Food
 
*Food
 
*Drinks
 
*Drinks
 
*Safety
 
*Safety
 +
*Happiness
  
−
====Food====
+
===Food===
 
Food is necessary to keep dwarves alive.
 
Food is necessary to keep dwarves alive.
  
Line 31: Line 32:
  
 
*Fishing
 
*Fishing
−
**Very simple, requires only one dwarf assigned to fish, a fishery, [edit] some animal traps, created in a carpenters shop, [/edit] and one dwarf assigned to fish cleaning.
+
**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 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)
+
**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 bones or other such things that have additional usages.
+
**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
 
*Hunting
 
**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.
 
**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 skill of your hunter(a bad hunter will just waste arrows for a few seasons before killing something)
 
**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. Since bones can be made into arrows, this can make hunting self-circulating, as well as providing materials for crafts and other usages.
+
**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.
 +
 
 
*Farming
 
*Farming
 
**Somewhere between fishing and hunting in complexity, it requires a farm plot, seeds and a dwarf assigned to farm.
 
**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
−
****<s>Currently, indoor farms must be made wet, that is, water must be applied to the ground where the farm is to be. There are several ways to achieve this, ranging in difficulty and safety.</s> Indoor farms only require mud on stone floors.  Soil, clay and sandy floors are immediately viable for farming as of a recent bugfix.  
+
****Indoor farms require mud on stone floors.  Soil, clay and sandy floors are immediately viable for farming.
 
***Indoor plants have different growing seasons and growing rates whilst all outdoor crops can be grown all year around.
 
***Indoor plants have different growing seasons and growing rates whilst all outdoor crops can be grown all year around.
−
***Some plants don't even produce food, while others must be cooked or process(Read the page on plants for more information)
+
***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!)''
 
***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
 
*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.
 
**It provides food from ''outdoor'' plants. When used, this food will provide seeds that you can use to start outdoor farms.
 +
 
*Trading
 
*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).
Line 58: Line 64:
 
***Additionally, the caravans may bring a lot of food or a little. This can be influenced by requesting that they bring food next time (when you meet with their representative), but you cannot influence this for the first time you trade with them.
 
***Additionally, the caravans may bring a lot of food or a little. This can be influenced by requesting that they bring food next time (when you meet with their representative), but you cannot influence this for the first time you trade with them.
 
**Traders often bring plants and seeds you cannot obtain from your environment through plant gathering.
 
**Traders often bring plants and seeds you cannot obtain from your environment through plant gathering.
−
*Preparing Meals
+
 
 +
*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.
−
**<s>'''Cooking uses more food than it provides, making it completely counter-productive to providing more food'''</s>
+
**'''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)''
Line 67: Line 74:
 
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.
 
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 - alcohol and water. Remember these drink-related rules:
 
Dwarves drink two (and only two) types of substances - alcohol and water. Remember these drink-related rules:
  
Line 84: Line 91:
 
**Alcohol can be brewed from plant products, which can be obtained via plant gathering or farming
 
**Alcohol can be brewed from plant products, which can be obtained via plant gathering or farming
 
***Brewing produces seeds
 
***Brewing produces seeds
 +
 
*Trading
 
*Trading
 
**The rules for this are exactly the same as the rules for trading for food.
 
**The rules for this are exactly the same as the rules for trading for food.
  
−
====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:
  
Line 99: Line 107:
 
**Magma
 
**Magma
 
***Destroys most things, and catches stuff on fire.
 
***Destroys most things, and catches stuff on fire.
 +
**Snatchers and Thieves
 +
***Barely more than minor nuisances, but nonetheless problematic
 +
**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 that 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.
 
***Some creatures are sneaky and avoid traps very well.
 +
 
*Active Defense
 
*Active Defense
 
**Army
 
**Army
Line 108: Line 132:
 
***Some domestic animals attack enemies, and all can see them and alert others of them
 
***Some domestic animals attack enemies, and all can see them and alert others of them
  
−
===Essential Resources===
+
===Happiness===
 +
Happiness, or more accurately a lack of sadness, is important to keeping a fortress stable and preventing [[Tantrum]]s.
 +
 
 +
====Things That Upset Dwarves====
 +
*Death
 +
**Somewhat mitigated by [[coffins] and [[slabs]]
 +
*Lack of Alcohol
 +
**This also makes them slower!
 +
*Lack of Food
 +
*Fighting
 +
**Usually caused by other dwarves being upset
 +
*Melancholy, Insane, or Berserk Dwarves
 +
**Caused by failed moods or being upset
 +
*[[Vermin]]
 +
**Common in areas that are not sealed off well
 +
*Dwarves they dislike
 +
*Lack of food/alcohol variety
 +
*Rain
 +
*The sun, if they have [[Cave Adaptation]]
 +
 
 +
====Things That Cheer-Up Dwarves====
 +
*High [[Quality]] [[Furniture]]
 +
*Dwarves They Like
 +
*[[Parties]]
 +
*[[Waterfall]]s
 +
*High Quality Alcohol and Food
 +
*Owning High Quality Items
 +
 
 +
==Resources==
 
After covering your basic survival, you will want resources to accomplish various tasks.
 
After covering your basic survival, you will want resources to accomplish various tasks.
  
−
Basics:
+
===Core===
−
*Wood
+
These two will normally be most of your backbone early on
 +
*[[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
 
**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.
  
−
Most other resources will be skimmed over in Industry; otherwise, look them up on the wiki.
+
===Additional===
 +
*[[Clay]]
 +
**About as useful as wood or stone, but a bit more involved to produce
 +
*[[Glass]]
 +
**Not very important, but not without use and value
 +
*[[Shell]]
 +
**Mostly for crafts and decoration, sometimes abundant with fishing
 +
*[[Bone]]
 +
**Useful for high-volume, low quality arrows
 +
**Otherwise similar to shells
 +
*[[Cloth]] and [[Thread]]
 +
**Needed for hospitals and basic clothes
 +
*[[Leather]]
 +
**Often abundant with hunting, useful for basic armor, quivers, and decoration
 +
*[[Gems]]
 +
**Valuable when cut and good at adding value when encrusted
 +
**Common byproduct of mining
 +
**Vary from cheap gems to the extremely rare and valuable
 +
 
 +
 
 +
===Valuable===
 +
A stable, older fortress often has these.
 +
*[[Metal]]
 +
**This will be your most important resource later in
 +
*[[Obsidian]]
 +
**Similar to Glass
 +
*[[Adamantium]]
 +
**The most valuable substance known to dwarfkind.
  
−
===Digging & Construction===
+
==Mining & Construction==
 
A large part of dwarf fortress is reshaping your environment to fit your needs.
 
A large part of dwarf fortress is reshaping your environment to fit your needs.
  
−
====Digging====
+
===Mining===
−
The majority of forts are built in a mountainside or underground. This is because digging is much easier than construction, in most cases.
+
The majority of forts are built in a mountainside or underground. This is because mining is much easier than construction, in most cases.
  
−
Digging:
 
 
*provides stone, metal, and gems
 
*provides stone, metal, and gems
 
*uses no resources besides having a miner with a pickaxe
 
*uses no resources besides having a miner with a pickaxe
−
*provides space built exactly as you intended(excluding fun)
+
*provides space built exactly as you intended (excluding [[fun]] surprises)
  
−
====Construction====
+
===Construction===
 
Construction is anything as simple as putting walls, doors, and floodgates in a dug-out fort to anything as complex as building a castle from nothing.
 
Construction is anything as simple as putting walls, doors, and floodgates in a dug-out fort to anything as complex as building a castle from nothing.
  
−
Problems of Construction:
+
====Problems====
 
*Requires resources
 
*Requires resources
 
**Wood or stone mostly, though metal and glass can be used too.
 
**Wood or stone mostly, though metal and glass can be used too.
Line 139: Line 218:
 
*Constructed walls cannot be engraved like natural stone walls
 
*Constructed walls cannot be engraved like natural stone walls
  
−
Benefits:
+
====Benefits====
−
*Extremely complicated things are easier to construct than to dig out.
+
*Extremely complicated things are often easier to construct than to dig out.
 
*Constructed areas are easier to rearrange than dug-out areas.
 
*Constructed areas are easier to rearrange than dug-out areas.
  
−
===Industry===
+
==Industry==
 
Most forts have one or more industries going. These provide anything from food to tools to weapons to crafts.
 
Most forts have one or more industries going. These provide anything from food to tools to weapons to crafts.
  
−
====Crafting====
+
===Crafting===
−
At a craftdwarves' workshop, one can turn various resources into crafts or instruments, or improve existing items with raw resources.
+
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 improve 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.
  
−
====Metalsmithing====
+
===Metalsmithing===
 
Metalsmithing is a more complicated but very rewarding and practical industry. Metal can be used for construction, weaponry, statues, buckets/bins/barrels, and crafts.
 
Metalsmithing is a more complicated but very rewarding and practical industry. Metal can be used for construction, weaponry, statues, buckets/bins/barrels, and crafts.
  
−
===Ambition===
+
==Ambition==
 
After getting a stable fortress, one can feel free to enjoy themselves in many ways.
 
After getting a stable fortress, one can feel free to enjoy themselves in many ways.
  
 
Check these pages for ideas:
 
Check these pages for ideas:
 
*[[Megaprojects]]
 
*[[Megaprojects]]
−
*[[DF2010:Stupid_dwarf_trick]]
+
*[[Stupid_dwarf_trick | Stupid Dwarf Tricks]]
−
*[[DF2010:Mega_construction]]
+
*[[Mega_construction | Mega Constructions]]

Revision as of 21:04, 20 May 2012

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

Before playing, realize you will need these for success:

  • Time and patience
    • You will fail (repeatedly) at first, and a good fortress takes a long time to build
  • Planning and long-term thinking
    • You will want to decide the layout of your fortress before digging/building randomly
  • Open-Mindedness
    • 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.

Warm-Ups

  • Play some adventurer mode.
    • 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
    • Read about anything in the game you don't understand or are confused about.

Fortress Survival

No matter your location and your goals, there are a few things that must be taken care of

  • Food
  • Drinks
  • Safety
  • Happiness

Food

Food is necessary to keep dwarves alive.

There are several ways to obtain food, I'll outline each here.

  • Fishing
    • 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 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.
  • Hunting
    • 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 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.
      • 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 farm.
    • Stability is variable depending on what plant(s) you are growing.
      • Some plants grow outside, while others grow inside
        • Indoor farms require mud on stone floors. Soil, clay and sandy floors are immediately viable for farming.
      • Indoor plants have different growing seasons and growing rates whilst all outdoor crops can be grown all year around.
      • 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.
      • 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.
  • 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).
    • 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).
    • The stability of trading for food depends entirely on the caravans.
      • A caravan from each civilization that can reach your location (and is not at war with you) will come in a specific season (at most one civilization per season).
      • Additionally, the caravans may bring a lot of food or a little. This can be influenced by requesting that they bring food next time (when you meet with their representative), but you cannot influence this for the first time you trade with them.
    • Traders often bring plants and seeds you cannot obtain from your environment through plant gathering.
  • Cooking
    • 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
      • 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.

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

Dwarves drink two (and only two) types of substances - alcohol and water. Remember these drink-related rules:

  • Dwarves are alcohol-dependent
    • 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
    • They must have water, or they will die.
  • Dwarves always prioritize alcohol over water
    • If all other rules are met, then a dwarf will not go out of his way to obtain water (unless he is bringing it to an injured dwarf)

There aren't nearly as many ways to obtain alcohol as food:

  • Brewing
    • Alcohol can be brewed from plant products, which can be obtained via plant gathering or farming
      • Brewing produces seeds
  • Trading
    • The rules for this are exactly the same as the rules for trading for food.

Safety

There are way too many facets of safety, so I'll just gloss over it:

  • Dangers
    • Cave-Ins
      • If an area of rock is no longer connected to the rock below it, it will fall, killing or hurting anyone nearby.
    • Fire
      • Dwarves don't understand the dangers of fire, so things can go downhill awfully fast.
    • Flooding
      • Water quickly becomes your worst enemy when it fills your dwellings. Do all water related projects carefully
    • Magma
      • Destroys most things, and catches stuff on fire.
    • Snatchers and Thieves
      • Barely more than minor nuisances, but nonetheless problematic
    • 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 that other civilizations
  • Passive Defense
    • Traps are your best friends
      • Some creatures are sneaky and avoid traps very well.
  • Active Defense
    • Army
      • 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, or more accurately a lack of sadness, is important to keeping a fortress stable and preventing Tantrums.

Things That Upset Dwarves

  • Death
    • Somewhat mitigated by [[coffins] and slabs
  • Lack of Alcohol
    • This also makes them slower!
  • Lack of Food
  • Fighting
    • Usually caused by other dwarves being upset
  • Melancholy, Insane, or Berserk Dwarves
    • Caused by failed moods or being upset
  • Vermin
    • Common in areas that are not sealed off well
  • Dwarves they dislike
  • Lack of food/alcohol variety
  • Rain
  • The sun, if they have Cave Adaptation

Things That Cheer-Up Dwarves

Resources

After covering your basic survival, you will want resources to accomplish various tasks.

Core

These two will normally be most of your backbone early on

  • 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
    • Often the most abundant and most used resource, stone is useful for construction and crafts.

Additional

  • Clay
    • About as useful as wood or stone, but a bit more involved to produce
  • Glass
    • Not very important, but not without use and value
  • Shell
    • Mostly for crafts and decoration, sometimes abundant with fishing
  • Bone
    • Useful for high-volume, low quality arrows
    • Otherwise similar to shells
  • Cloth and Thread
    • Needed for hospitals and basic clothes
  • Leather
    • Often abundant with hunting, useful for basic armor, quivers, and decoration
  • Gems
    • Valuable when cut and good at adding value when encrusted
    • Common byproduct of mining
    • Vary from cheap gems to the extremely rare and valuable


Valuable

A stable, older fortress often has these.

  • Metal
    • This will be your most important resource later in
  • Obsidian
    • Similar to Glass
  • Adamantium
    • The most valuable substance known to dwarfkind.

Mining & Construction

A large part of dwarf fortress is reshaping your environment to fit your needs.

Mining

The majority of forts are built in a mountainside or underground. This is because mining is much easier than construction, in most cases.

  • provides stone, metal, and gems
  • uses no resources besides having a miner with a pickaxe
  • provides space built exactly as you intended (excluding fun surprises)

Construction

Construction is anything as simple as putting walls, doors, and floodgates in a dug-out fort to anything as complex as building a castle from nothing.

Problems

  • Requires resources
    • Wood or stone mostly, though metal and glass can be used too.
  • Requires more planning than digging
  • Constructed walls cannot be engraved like natural stone walls

Benefits

  • Extremely complicated things are often easier to construct than to dig out.
  • Constructed areas are easier to rearrange than dug-out areas.

Industry

Most forts have one or more industries going. These provide anything from food to tools to weapons to crafts.

Crafting

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.

Metalsmithing

Metalsmithing is a more complicated but very rewarding and practical industry. Metal can be used for construction, weaponry, statues, buckets/bins/barrels, and crafts.

Ambition

After getting a stable fortress, one can feel free to enjoy themselves in many ways.

Check these pages for ideas:

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