10 Things you Should Know Before Playing Dwarf Fortress

Rad art is by @cooler_sk

00:00 Start
00:30 Most bugs have been patched
01:06 Lock doors
01:35 Pick, vs axe, vs hunting
02:18 Eat the puppies
02:39 Diagonal water
03:08 Seed Cooking
03:47 Surface gather
04:25 Rocks are good
04:53 Holes in the roof from trees
05:19 Chores

10 Things you Should Know Before Playing Dwarf Fortress

[truefreak]

I really think the corpse hauling for children and the cooking plump helmet spawn should be off by default for new embarks. Also, don't eat the puppies...wait until they grow up...then eat them.

[wulfieonline]

I recall having a huge FPS drop after a dwarf having a strange mood got stuck in a tree. That was certainly a wild time

[suzumes]

"Am I a monster for having the children haul the mangled corpses of their relatives to the rot pit?", "no, it's the children that are wrong. "

[kevingriffith]

I don't think I've ever been in a position where I thought "I have too many dogs". Then again, I've started assigning a war dog to every child in my fortress, because every child needs a dog and (generally) a snatcher is no match for a war dog. I'm sure the children would feel safer with a war grizzly though, I just gotta tame a few.

[ElfyBean]

"Eat the puppies; it'll increase your frame rate"
Thank you for today's Discord status, sir.

[Oddigan]

This is a solid list and I appreciate the placement of #1. The friend who initially got me into DF talked up a lot of old mechanics/bugs that had been changed long ago by the time I started playing, which I didn't find out until months later. lol

[lawka]

I genuinely thought that somehow the weight of a falling tree was destroying a random nearby grass floor tile because i had dug under the tree layer and not built supports... but it's just where the roots used to be. To be able to make trees fall over, roots and all-- Dwarven tree cutters are way more advanced than I ever would have expected. They don't even use an axe to fell the tree, the push it over and cut it up to move it. Hilarious

[thedeadwookie]

so... is the battle axe also used to cut down trees? I honestly don't see a "forge a woodcutting axe" only battle axes and giant axe blades.

[LordWoffingshire]

damn this is useful and im not even a new player. Had no idea about the kids hauling corpses, and ive been assigning both cutting and mining to my dwarves for ages!

[no_mnom]

Putting cabinets and chests in the rooms is important.

Destroying garbage is important for longevity of fort.

[johnpawlak]

The explanation about trees removing the tile below them when cut down explains so much...😊

[fastfiddler]

I learned a lot but drowning in this video. I think I can apply that to real life too. I'll update when I find out.

[halotoxin]

You're really coming into your own with these voiceovers. Keep it up!

[ivegotavandetta]

Ah yes the infamous puppy slaughter galena year 104

[AdamsOlympia]

I'm so attracted to the premise of games with emergent gameplay and world building, but the barrier to entry is so darn high that I haven't gotten over the hump.
I feel like I should start in another "emergent" type game with a lower learning curve -- something with training wheels, so to speak...Wondering if anyone might recommend one or two options for me. Prison architect, Project Zomboid and Rimworld are a few I'm currently looking into. Also Songs of Syx, since the demo is basically the full game for free.

[AzureDragon]

Another hint for food and alcohol:
Some trees (apple, cherry, etc.) produce fruit. If you set up a gathering zone around the base of those tress and make sure to have a stepladder (which you should have by default if you didn't remove them from the embark screen, or can be made from wood), the dwarves will gather this fruit, which can be cooked or brewed into alcohol. A wide variety of alcohol is important for happiness, as dwarves get bored of drinking the same thing all the time.

[HunterMayer]

I've been meaning to test this If you attach a door to a lever does it no longer get taken over by another creature when it goes through it?

[uaputte]

You are explainin everything so good whit a good voise and a minimum of spoilers!!

[RaiOshynnCat]

I've already started playing but I love a good list of things to know before I do that!

[TheRyujinLP]

I've given those tiny bearded bastards master crafted toys, turned off all their chores and given them high level bedrooms, never seen a single war.... and they're still all either fumbling about in depression or going berserk. Nothing I do calms them down... or any angry dwarf that matter. Like I've built grand temples to their gods right next to dwarves that are bitching about needing to prey.... and they never go in them. I'll make a burro and assigned them to it... they still won't go. I haven't played in months since I got so frustrated at the fact nothing I do improves the moods of my dwarves.