User:Lichenousd/Tutorial

(Yeah, I'm planning a tutorial. I find Dwarf Fortress' current tutorials either hard to follow or just plain old. What really needs to be done is a flash tutorial, but I will call on movies as well as screenshots and charts as visual aids. If you find something amiss, plant it on the Talk page.)

Preface

Here are some short but very important things to know about DF before you start. If you have fooled around with it and played a couple forts already, skip this section.

Before We Start

File Structure

where you can find your save files

Regions

downloading premade ones, etc

Changing Init Options

some very basic work in init.txt

Resolution

how to figure out resolution

Showing Features in Finder

picking magma areas easily

Controlling the Game!

Space exits Up, Down, PgUp, PgDn moves the main (leftmost) cursor -, +, /, * moves the secondary (rightmost) cursor

Let's Go!

Welcome! Go ahead and start dwarfort.exe in your folder...

The Main Menu

Create New World Now! does x Design New World with Parameters does x, but is not covered in this tutorial.

Start Game

Dwarf Fortress does x Adventurer does x, but is not covered in this tutorial. Legends does x, but is not covered in this tutorial.

Create Your Universe

Create New World Now!

this section will briefly explain regions and what is happening as your world is created.

Design New World with Parameters

See tutorial on world parameters?

Hit the road!

Choosing your Site!

Controls

The cursor in the world view is not directly controlled. That's a "zoomed-out" view.

1. The Number Pad moves region cursor
2. u m h k moves embark area
3. U M H K resizes embark area
4. tab shows more info
5. Fn keys shows more biome info

How to Choose

*V* Things that we'll look for when choosing an area, for the sake of this tutorial:

1. No aquifer (≈≈≈≈≈) for now.
2. Forestation level of at least Scarce.
3. Flowing water in the form of a brook or stream. Rivers are OK, but make sure not to start near them, as carp hang out near them.
4. A small map size. Use UMHK to resize your area. 2x2 areas are perfectly fine and plenty big for even the most claustrophobic player. DF may take more CPU then you think.
5. No evil. If your "Surroundings" are purple and the map features insidious-looking colors (rivers running red, for example), you're in an evil area. Let's leave the undead for another time, OK?

Choosing your Items!

First of all, dump the anvil. Bring turtles and one piece of silk. Seeds and booze to get us started. Leave some points for...

Choosing your Dwarves!

the manager miner (Organizer/Pacifier/Consoler), the broker miner (Appraiser/JoI), a mason, 2 woodcutters/carpenters, cook/brewer, grower

Arrival!

Designating

how the designating works: rectangular selection

Cutting Trees

getting wood *V*

Stairways

digging a central stairway *V*

Digging Out

digging out area for farming *V*

Building!

how buildings are generally erected and placed *V*

Resizable Buildings

building a farm plot *V*

Constructed Buildings

building a carpenter's workshop, a mason's workshop, a kitchen, and a still *V*

Placement Buildings

building beds and doors *V*

Notes about this tutorial in progress

The tutorial will divide everything into clean parts.

Section names will be short phrases, ending in ! if it is important!

Notes about Videos

Sections marked with *V* will (eventually) have a short video demonstration attached via a link.