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v0.31:Quickstart guide
| This article is about an older version of DF. |
- This is a quickstart guide for Template:L for those who have never played before who quickly want to jump in head-first.
- If you are looking to learn adventure mode instead, see the Template:L guide.
- Also see Template:L for more detailed tutorials that people have submitted.
So, you want to play Dwarf Fortress, but you have no idea what to do. That's understandable; in Dwarf Fortress you can really do anything you like. It is a huge, complex, and totally open-ended game. But in order to do anything, first you need a sustainable fortress. It turns out that this is not as hard as you might think.
Note that the "quick" in "quickstart" is kind of relative; this guide is about as quick as you can get given the complexity of the game.
As this article doesn't contain the exact key sequences needed to do everything described, you will likely need to refer to the Template:L and the rest of the wiki while reading this. For something more detailed see the excellent Template:L tutorial.
Common UI Concepts
About key symbols
This wiki uses symbols that look like t or 
t to indicate what keys or interface buttons are used for an operation. Note that keys are case sensitive and to save space, Shift+t is shown as T. So t means "press the 't' key without the shift key" and T means "hold down shift and press the 't' key". Lowercase and uppercase keys will often perform different functions, so it is important to use the correct key. Sequences of keys will be in separate boxes, so abC means "press 'a', then press 'b', then hold shift and press 'c'"; while 
b
T means "press 'b', then hold shift and press 'T'. A plus sign '+' between the boxes means to press them all together, so Shift+Enter means to hold shift and press 'Enter'. Other separators, such as ',' or '-', might be used but mean the same as no separator: to press the keys in sequence.
Keybindings can be seen and changed on the Keybindings tab in the Settings menu.
| Esc or right mouse | Go back to the previous screen/menu |
| Mouse wheel | Scroll menu one line |
| Shift+mouse wheel | Scroll menu one page |
| Left mouse | Select menu option |
Esc or right mouse will almost always return to the previous screen until you get to the top level of the UI, at which point Esc will display the options menu.
World Generation
The first thing you will need to do is Template:L. Unlike many games, the world that your game takes place in will always be procedurally randomly generated by you or someone else. There is no "default" or "standard" world.
Luckily the basic version of this process is rather simple, and doesn't usually take too long unless your computer is a bit outdated.
- World Size is Medium
- History is Short
- Number of Civilizations is Medium
- Number of Sites is Medium
- Number of Beasts is Medium
- Natural Savagery is Very Low
- Mineral Occurrence is Frequent
Pre-Embark
- Also see: Template:L
Embarking is the process of choosing a site, outfitting your initial dwarves, and sending them on their way.
Select Start Playing from the main menu, then select Dwarf Fortress. You will then see something that looks like the screenshot on the right.
The map on the far right is the World Map which will show you the whole world. The one in the middle is the Region Map which will show you a zoomed-in view of the part of the world indicated by the cursor in the world map. The Local Map on the left will show a zoomed-in view of the part of the region indicated by the cursor in the region map. In the local map area will be a highlighted embark region that you can move around with u m k h. This highlighted square is what will become your play area after you embark. Use ↑ ↓ ← → to move the region and world cursors around. Hold down Shift while doing this to move more rapidly.
Choosing a Good Site
Choosing a good embark site is crucial for beginners. Advanced players can create a functional fortress on a glacier, but for now, lets stick to dwarf (and newbie) friendly environments. You will want to look for certain features in your initial embark site that will make your first fort much easier to manage.
- No Aquifer (this is very important)
- Trees: Forested or Heavily Forested
- Temperature: Warm
- Surroundings: Calm or at least not Sinister, Haunted, or Terrifying
- Clay or Soil is important to make farming easier when starting out
- Shallow Metals (That's Metals, plural, not Metal. You want more than one.)
- A River if possible
- Deep Metal(s) if possible
- Flux Stone if possible
You may want to use the find tool to help you find a site. Notes about find tool: "Calm" is classified as Medium Evil, Low Savagery. (See Template:L for why.) The find tool will also only indicate a general area so you will still need to check the attributes manually.
Your site may have multiple biomes overlapping it. If so make sure to press F1, F2, etc, to take a look at all of them. They may each have significantly different characteristics.
See /Starting site for more info on why these characteristics are important.
Press e to embark once you're sure you have the right area highlighted on the local map.
Skills and Equipment
Now the Prepare for the Journey screen should appear. You will be given the choice to either:
- Play Now!
- Prepare for the journey carefully.
Selecting 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, just select that option.
A Minimal Fortress
At this point you have embarked and your dwarves have arrived at their destination. You will see your dwarves clustered around their wagon full of supplies somewhere near the center of your map, with the game paused.
Surveying the Area
Do not unpause the game just yet. Take a look around. Use the k command. Look up and down a few Template:Ls with < and >. Place the cursor on various tiles to familiarize yourself with what the symbols mean. If you get lost, you can press F1 to return to the wagon. (You can define more Template:L 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. If your wagon starts on top of tiles that are pure cyan or white, it is on ice and the ice is likely to melt unless that portion of your site is Freezing.
Remember that this is more of a simulation than a game. It is not "play balanced", and you can very easily find yourself in impossible situations. That is all part of the Template:L because even when you lose, you create an interesting story.
Creatures
But you don't want too much Template:L yet, do you? So, open up the unit screen and look at what other critters share the map with you. Your wagon functions as your initial meeting areas until you designate another, so if your wagon is parked next to a river full of crocodiles, or near other dangerous animals, you may want to designate another meeting area (using i to define a meeting Template:L) immediately.
Strike The Earth!
Generally, you will want to get all your dwarves and supplies inside a protected area as quickly as possible. So the first thing you will do is designate some areas to dig.
If your wagon is near a Template:L, you can tunnel into the cliff to create an entryway. If you are on flat land, dig Template:Ls down and then tunnel over to create your entry. Your entryway defines the boundary between your safe and protected inner fort, and the big bad outside world. You may be tempted to make a short entry hall, so your dwarves don't have to walk as far to get outside. Bad idea. You may also think it clever to have several entrances, and you would be wrong. (Although it could be Template:L.)
Think about the difference between inside and outside. Outside does not necessarily mean outdoors, and inside does not mean underground. Outside means undefended. Inside means defended. You can have multiple entrances, for instance, as long as they all lead to the same well defended gateway. But if you have an undefended back door, that is where you will be attacked. Make sure that to get inside, into the defended areas of your fort, enemies must pass through your defenses. Initially, you will not have the resources to defend more than one entrance.
Stout Labor
First off, look over your dwarves' assigned Template:Ls by pressing v then placing the cursor on a dwarf. Now, press p-l for "preferences: labors". You will see a list of labor categories that you can navigate using -+. You can enter each category and toggle each labor with Enter.
Using u can help you locate dwarves. Select a dwarf, hit c for "zoom to creature" and you'll automatically be placed in view mode on that dwarf. Use p-l to get to the labor configuration menu.
Besides the labor enabled automatically from having the skill, ensure that someone has Template:L, Template:L, Template:L, Template:L, Template:L, Template:L, Template:L, Template:L, Template:L, and Template:L (stone detailing) enabled, even if nobody has the corresponding skills. If you have dwarves with hunting or fishing, disable those until you have your initial fort completed. At the beginning you don't want dwarves wandering around alone where they can get killed.
Main Entrance
Decide where you will build your main entrance. Unless you have a compelling reason to do otherwise, (such as a large deposit of valuable ores visible on a distant cliff face) put it near your wagon.
Dig a hallway three tiles wide and at least ten long. This will be your entryway. At the end of the hall, dig a 5x5 room for your trade depot, a stairwell, and a storage area at least 10x10 tiles. Hit p, then use t to set the Template:L settings to accept any and all items you brought with you. Hit c and designate the whole room as a custom stockpile. (You can change the stockpile settings later with q).
Using the q key, set your wagon to be deconstructed. Using the i key, create an activity zone, at least three by three, near the stairwell. Set this as a meeting area. Your idle dwarves will hang around in this area, hopefully keeping them out of trouble.
Build a Template:L using b. This is where caravans will park their stuff and where Template:L will take place when one arrives.
Refuse
Near your planned entry, create a stockpile for Template:L about 5x5 in size. Create another storage area for wood; it will only be temporary, don't make it too big, maybe 5x3, or fifteen tiles total.
Pasture
If you have any grazing animals with you, such as the draft animals used to pull your wagon, they will die if they are kept away from grass for too long. Use i to create a Pen/Template:L zone over a grassy area and assign your grazing animals to it using N. This area needs to be at least 10x10 or so to ensure they have enough grass and don't trample it all.
Woodcutting
Also near the entry, designate at least 14 trees to be chopped down. You will turn these into seven Template:Ls and seven Template:Ls. Don't designate too many trees at the beginning, or your dwarves will spend all their time chopping them down and hauling them rather than making things out of them.
Sustenance by Plow
Dig out an area in a soil layer, preferably inside your fort, and use b to build a 3x3 Template:L in it. You must pick an underground area with mud or soil. Hopefully you have chosen a site with a soil layer as this will make farming much easier, but if not then you will need to Template:L to create the required mud on stone floors.
Use q to set the plot to grow Template:Ls during all seasons. You will need to press a, b, c, d and select Plump Helmets for each season, otherwise you'll end up with an idle field for 3/4ths of the year.
Create a stockpile and set it to accept food, but then use q to change the stockpile settings and disable every food except for seeds. Obviously, you want your seeds stored near your farmland and not down in your dining area. This will make planting happen faster.
Workshops
Dig down one level and create four 5x5 rooms off of the stairwell. These will hold your Template:L, Template:L, Template:L, and Template:L Template:Ls. Put each workshop in the center of each room, and use the remaining space for the appropriate type of stockpile (wood for your carpenter, stone for your mason and mechanic, and gems for your jeweler.) Remove the temporary wood stockpile you created outside and dwarves will move the wood to the new wood storage area.
Go to your mason's shop with q and queue up one Template:L and one rock Template:L. You will find out why you need these in a second, but now is a good time to start building them.
Bedrooms
Continue digging down about seven more levels. Just create the stairwells for now.
On the lowest level, dig some halls leading to rooms for sleeping quarters. Dwarves don't need much space for living quarters; in fact, you can turn a 1x3 room into decent quarters by smoothing the stone and filling it with a high quality Template:L, Template:L, and Template:L.
Designing living quarters is a matter of personal preference and aesthetic sense. Actual design will be left as an exercise for the player. Just try to keep the bedrooms close to the stairs, and make your access hallways at least two tiles wide so your dwarves don't have to crawl over and under each other to get where they are going.
You will want to create at least eight rooms: seven for your Template:Ls, and one as an Template:L for your manager/bookkeeper, which, rather than a chest, bed and cabinet, will contain a chair and table.
"Garbage" Dumping
Note that garbage is not the same thing as refuse. Template:L is Template:L. Garbage is anything you designate to be hauled to a Template:L, even important things that aren't really garbage. Think of your garbage dump zone as a way to specify that objects you select will be brought to a specific area.
Use i to create a 1x1 activity zone somewhere near your mason's and mechanic's workshops and set it to be a garbage Dump. Unlike storage areas where you are limited to storing one object per tile, any number of items may be piled in a garbage area. That means you will only need one tile to hold as much garbage as you like.
Press d-b to get to the mass dump/forbid screen and select the dump option. With "dump" selected, create a rectangle over all the loose stones cluttering up your living area. This will designate this stone to be transported to the closest garbage dump zone.
Once the stone from your living area has been moved there, it will be set as Template:L. You will need to unforbid it using the same d-b screen, hitting c to claim it instead of d to dump it.
Nobles
Hit the n key to open up the Template:L screen.
The most important positions to assign are Template:L, Template:L and Template:L. Your Template:L is a good choice for all three when starting out. Don't worry that it's just one dwarf doing all this; none of these jobs take very long.
Don't worry about the Template:L yet. He will be needed when you set up your Template:L which won't be covered in this guide. Feel free to go check out the Template:L guide once you're done with the quickstart guide.
Lastly, while you are on this screen, highlight the bookkeeper and set him to work for maximum accuracy. You really don't need this level of accuracy, but it will ensure he trains up the record keeping skill early. Turn it down to medium after he has achieved total accuracy, which he can't even start on until you have built him an office.
Offices
Some of your administrative positions (manager and bookkeeper) require an Template:L. Earlier you should have queued up a table and throne in your mason's shop, and they should be done by now. Place them in the office (room you created down in the sleeping area) using the build command. Use q to select the chair, make the office an office, and assign the office to your expedition leader (who should be your bookkeeper and manager). Hit n to verify that these positions now have the office they need. If so then you shouldn't see any red.
Furniture
Now would be a good time to start building some Template:L. You could queue up all these items directly from your workshops, but why not give your new manager a little practice?
Using the manager screen j-m, hit q to queue up a new job, and type "bed", and then select "construct bed." Set the quantity to seven. Next, queue up seven wooden Template:Ls (or stone coffers), eight Template:Ls, seven Template:Ls, at least two Template:Ls and two Template:Ls/chairs. The tables and chairs will go in your Template:L, speaking of which...
Dining Room
Above the living quarters, and right off the main stairwell, create another four rooms. One will be for food storage, one a Template:L, one a Template:L, and one a Template:L.
Make the rooms for the kitchen and still 5x5 each. The storage area and dining hall should be larger.
Use b-w to build the still and kitchen in the middle of the 5x5 rooms. Create storage areas in the remaining space around each. For the still, customize this storage to accept food and furniture, then turn off all food except plants (not seeds or leaves, just plants) and all furniture types except "barrels" and "Large Pots/Food Storage". Make sure "prepared food" is turned off for this storage area. If you set your first initial storage area to accept furniture, use q to disable barrels and large pots for it now.
For the kitchen storage area, turn off prepared food, plants (You want your brewers to get first shot at those; the kitchen staff will still take them from the still if nothing is closer.) and seeds. For the main food storage room, just turn off seeds. You may also want to use the z Kitchen screen to disable cooking for plants so that they will always be used for brewing.
If you plan to do any fishing, create a