User:Ral/Fortress mode

Fortress mode is the most popular mode of gameplay in Dwarf Fortress and what most people are thinking of when they talk about the game. It provides a sort of real-time strategy sandbox where your simulated dwarves dig out and build a settlement for themselves, craft items, trade with caravans, produce food, eat, sleep, drink massive amounts of alcohol, socialize, throw tantrums, get married, have children, and occasionally fight off invaders using a combination of military units, fortifications, and devious traps. Rather than control individual dwarves, you design everything and your dwarves go about implementing your designs on their own.

This is significantly different from Template:L which is much like a more advanced version of 'rogue' or 'nethack' taking place in the same world in which fortresses are built. In this mode you control a single adventurer (character) who travels around, takes on quests, fights, dies, etc, in a turn-based (rather than real-time) manner. See Template:L for more information on this mode of play.

The World

To play dwarf fortress in fortress mode you must generate a world that includes a dwarven civilization. See Template:L for detailed instructions on generating a world. Once at least one world has been generated you will be able to start the game.

Non-dwarven civilizations can be played in fortress mode if you modify the raws to add the [CIV_CONTROLLABLE] token to other entity definitions. This is not recommended for new players. See the modding guide for information on how to do this.

Embarking

Main article: Template:L

Before starting to build a fortress you must pick a site, assign skill points to dwarves, and buy starting equipment. This is known as Embarking and is a major subject in and of itself. See the Template:L guide for all of the details.

After you embark, gameplay begins.

Gameplay User Interface

This section covers all of the screens and user interface elements used after embarking. It does not necessarily tell you how to accomplish every task you might need to, but instead just describes what you see on the screen and what various keystrokes do.

Later sections in this document help you tie all of this together by describing the sequence of actions needed to accomplish various things in the game; this section is mostly a reference for those who see something on the screen and want to know what it is, or are wondering where the controls for particular functions are.

Main Screen

The screen at the top level of the user interface hierarchy consists of the main map, a menu, and an overview map areas along with a few indicators around the edge. While the main map is always visible, you can use the Tab key to show and hide the menu and overview map areas, giving you more space to view the main map if desired.

Options Menu

Assuming you are at the top level of the user interface looking at the map, you can hit Esc to enter the options menu. This allows you to do things like save or abandon your game.

• Return to Game
• Save Game
• Key Bindings
• Export Local Image
• Music and Sound
• Abandon the Fortress (or Succumb to Invasion)