Dwarf Fortress: A Beginners Guide & Tutorial [Steam Edition]

[@Nookrium]

A very important step I forgot: Go into the Labors menu (bottom left) "y" and Kitchen tab, mark Plump Helmets as not cooked and only brewed. If you cook your plump helmets, as default settings, you won't get seeds back and will run out. • Here's a part 2 of this tutorial to expand on things like managing stocks, temples, trade: bit.ly/3iRpySb If you’d rather see a full playthrough, here ya go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYjQp5x-ib-Yqac

[@milesrost6674]

Danka from the North Woods of Wisconsin

[@praticle]

Should pin this comment

[@user-qx7tm5df8j]

oh how could i forget, pretty obvious thing to do if you ask me ... this game 😐😐

[@maxmustermann-hx3fx]

I actually didn't knew this in my first fort and wondered why I have no seeds lol so good to know

[@Kranzio-]

Damn, that’s a hot tip.

[@Varsocona]

The Opening Day Party: Took me two in game years to figure out how to properly set up a tavern, by which point it was over-supplied with a hundred barrels of alcohol. However, by the time The Deep Hole opened for business my dwarves were so pent up and frustrated that everyone (except a few critical workers) went there in a giant mob for one huge party. Considering the tense atmosphere in the fort due to the two years of difficult living (noob player) I expected a brawl or something to break out. Instead, the dwarves decided to drink the entire stockpile, as fast as dwarfenly possible. This resulted in what could only be called a 'tidal wave of vomit' that coated the entire tavern and most of the living quarters. The dwarves got so drunk that seven of them died from alcohol poisoning, right there in the tavern while the rest of the fort partied on top of their corpses. This overwhelmed my meager crypt, and I scrambled to build more tombs, but most of my dwarfs were unconscious or still drinking. Before I could get the last dead dwarf into his tomb, he came back as a ghost and immediately went into the kitchen and tried to punch the cook. This did no damage, of course, but the cook died of fright bringing the total death count of the Opening Day Party to eight. From now on all parties in the fort (And all future ones) will be measured by the number of deaths they cause.

[@stephenchurch1784]

Just be happy that cats no longer get way too drunk from licking their paws in taverns and start barfights before dying of alcohol poisoning. Humans and elves can't handle their liquor still though so be wary of opening your tavern to the public

[@Pinstripedood]

This is amazing. The ghost punching the cook was the cherry on top.

[@TheRamblingSoul]

LMAO oh my God I'm dying from laughter

[@rockjianrock]

Take me down to Boatmurdered City Where the carp kill you and the cats are tipsy oh, won't you please take me home

[@saccorhytus]

I’ve only just heard of this game today and it sounds amazing

[@Captain_Hindsight]

My woodcutter died during the tutorial, hit by a falling log. RNGeezus did not like him

[@Nookrium]

Welcome to Dwarf Fortress! 😂

[@pentasticboom6018]

I remember my very first game back in the day. My woodcutter somehow got himself stuck IN a tree. He ended up starving to death up there.

[@Astalos-ub4by]

@@pentasticboom6018 same but the poor fucker dehydrated.

[@isaiah3613]

@@pentasticboom6018 well you know dwarves, they're kinda like cats but dumber

[@mustardofdoom]

YASD - Yet Another Stupid Death

[@ammygamer]

Beginner's Tip: When creating a stockpile, you can edit where and from it takes and gives items (the 2 buttons showing a stockpile w/ tiny green arrows below, within the edit stockpile window. hover over them for a description in the top right screen corner). So you can build a supply chain that takes things from the surface and delivers them further and further into the mountain, closer to where they are actually used. I tend to have a large stockpile in the surface to quickly store items, then sort them to other smaller stockpiles as they go down the supply chain.

[@tear4442]

Thanks, this is really helpful

[@johnmcorigin2389]

Which can be a tricky feature: a workshop with a stockpile delivering to it, needs _every_ input from a likewise attached stockpile: You cannot "filter" plants to only use "dimple cups" for milling when the processing workshop does not have a stockpile with empty bags linked too.

[@Bronimin]

one way this is useful is selecting a seed stockpile to supply plots (so farmers don't waste their time hunting seeds in the kitchens) and making a small plants stockpile the farms feed into that then feeds the kitchen/processing piles (growers only have to run a short distancr between harvests)

[@tomorbataar5922]

Wait, you actually use the surface?

[@ammygamer]

@@tomorbataar5922 I'm still learning the ropes myself, so, yeah haha. I'm quickly learning it's not necessary to, but I enjoy building an impressive entrance and surface facilities to "awe visitors", even if only to satisfy my aesthetic purposes.

[@QuantumWaltz]

I have a hard time keeping forts alive long enough to have anything really interesting happen, but on my first really successful fort, I also got my first night creature warning, at which I proceeded to laugh my backside off for several minutes. The Wereass had come. Now, keep in mind, this was my FIRST reasonably functional fortress, and I hadn't started in on military or anything yet, so not only did I have no dwarves trained to fight it, but I had no clue of just how incredible, horrifyingly DANGEROUS hoofed animals are in DF. That is, until the wereass cut off my laughter by kicking a fisherdwarf's head off his shoulders, leaving a blood trail across the map as it sailed away in an arc. I learned quickly. Ho boy, did I learn. I learned how to create settings for a lockdown. I learned how to create a ragtag militia. I learned how to order them to kill something. And by the time the dwarves were all locked inside and my poorly-armed group of miners and woodcutters (actually applicable thanks to the strength earned by doing their jobs) wandered out to do their civic duty - The moon phase had changed and the wereass was now an extremely nude, extremely embarrassed human. I had no mercy. They ran him down and pummeled him to death over what would be an agonizing three days in real-time for the victim.

[@Rumpelpumpel3]

Wereass lmao

[@gruntmatherlyesq.4614]

I remember my first functional fortress and how it failed. Times were hard but we were thriving eventually we got to the point where we needed a mayor. A particularly charismatic dwarf was elected and things were good. Then I found the first bloodless body. He wasn't well liked so a few mourners aside his death didn't impact the fortress. I knew we had a vampire and something had to be done. So we started the vampire hunt, which is not hard just look for the dwarf that has a list of associations and deeds that is significantly longer than your other dwarves. I found the vampire easily enough with their mile long list. It was the mayor. So I accused the mayor had the Sheriff arrest him. His sentence, seven blows from the Hammerer. Miraculously he survives and despite being outed as a vampire the dwarves keep him on as mayor. They really, really like their vampire mayor. This was going to be a problem. Upon his release he predictably went back to his mayoral duties and vampiric obligations. Then another bloodless body turned up. It wasn't hard to figure out who was the culprit. Another seven blows from the Hammerer was the sentence and this time the vampire did not survive. I really cannot state how much the dwarves likes their mayor. Sure he was a murderous fucking vampire, but he was a helluva guy. Several dwarves went to drown their sorrows. They got drunk and belligerent and a fight broke out. The militia was unable to restore order without a few casualties. Those dwarves had friends who then got drunk and attacked the militia. A tantrum spiral ensued and they all slaughtered each other with the lone survivor meeting his end when he stumbled out to attack a trade caravan and was promptly killed.

[@andrewa700]

what hooked me into this game long ago was definitely the auto generated story, one of the coolest ones I made was when i made was a small map and apparently a dragon was wrecking everything to the point were it was called "The Draconic Age" and i thought that was the coolest thing ever lol

[@stephenchurch1784]

I sometimes like generating 1000+ year worlds just to dig through the legends file for hilarity

[@talk4dews]

Sounds a lot like the lore for the game Dragon Age as well haha. Quite amazing that such a complex and original story can be created just like that.

[@maaikevreugdemaker9210]

I love how the first personality starts with "impatient, loves fishing" L0L

[@joshualajoie9547]

Probably fishes with explosives!

[@chuckgunn3086]

​@@joshualajoie9547 or goes noodling

[@MunitionsDudTester]

I've known about DF for about a year or two now (thanks Sseth) and have been patiently waiting for Steam release. This is the story of my first fortress.... My first fortress went really well for about a year and a half we had plenty of food so the winters were EZ mode then a were-gopher showed up killed a child and a dwarf lumberjack outside my one dude assigned to militia duty dueled it and killed it but was maimed in the process he was just lying there dying and his health tab said "lost ability to stand" then after a couple days he got up and walked back in my fortress at first I was like "oh good! Our savior is alive!" then I was like "how is he walking if it says he lost the ability to stand?" Next full moon he turns into the were-gopher and proceeds to slaughter about 20 citizens I am now stuck on a never-ending cycle of people coming to the fortress and getting slaughtered by or turning into were-gophers cadavers are constantly exploding and releasing miasma dwarfs dying horrible deaths and their spirits haunting the fortress more people keep showing up it's a never ending cycle of pain and misery when will this madness end

[@Sovereign589]

This happened to my buddy Eric

[@stewartcrawford1095]

@@Sovereign589 can confirm. Im his buddy Eric.

[@HalFromTartary]

Your fortress got Boatmurdered. Remember, loosing is fun!

[@x67th]

Didnt the game allow you to tell the maimed soldier to kill himself or is that not apart of the game ?

[@HalFromTartary]

@@x67th you can’t really directly make your dwarves do things, including sewer slide. The community has a whole Wikipedia page about setting up elaborate traps to murder dwarves who are being a nuisance/you don’t like. They refer to the practice as “accidents”

[@j_atkinson]

Now with a nice layer of graphics, I might finally try this game. I just couldn't handle the old ASCII art because it was just too hard for me to decode.

[@orlondok]

That is a good reason to try it out ... but an even better reason is that the UI is MUCH easier to use now ... well worth the buy imo.

[@ItIsYouAreNotYour]

UI still feels a bit clunky for modern day. Still seems better to just use the hot keys.

[@j_atkinson]

@@ItIsYouAreNotYour it's just easier on my eyebones now.

[@ItIsYouAreNotYour]

@@j_atkinson Yeah, agree. haha

[@tcpfuzz9215]

The old game has tons of texture packs available for free if that's really the reason. This version of the game is definitely more accessible though.

[@CarlosSuperBoss]

I haven't seen elaborated timestamps so I made some for myself, hopefully it's useful for others! (It's not complete yet, I'll complete it as I have enough time to follow the whole guide). *Introduction* 00:40 - What is Dwarf Fortress? *World building* 1:25 - World generation settings 2:33 - Taking a look at your world 3:02 - Game modes (Fortress/Adventure/Legends) 3:42 - Starting the game 4:22 - Things you should stay away from 4:38 - Finding a spot to Embark to 5:22 - Pre-game settings 6:46 - The wagon 6:55 - Dwarves 8:28 - Digging into a mountain 8:52 - Building a stockpile 9:20 - Assign tasks to a dwarf *Getting started*

[@gregk3324]

bro forgot the rest

[@CarlosSuperBoss]

@@gregk3324 YO I'M SORRY

[@CarlosSuperBoss]

@@gregk3324 Sorry guys I just momentarily dropped Dwarf Fortress and didn't come back to this tutorial

[@CarlosSuperBoss]

Someone please carry on with my legacy

[@SingingSpock]

I’m still beginning, but something I’ve noticed that I’d like to point out is that adjacency works in three dimensions, not just two. Having a stockpile room connected to a craft room by a staircase is just as if not more efficient than connecting them with a doorway, because it takes no extra time to go up and down.

[@tazgecko]

This is an old trick, stairs are your friend. It's quicker to go up and down than across over tiles.

[@chunkycornbread4773]

Thanks for the tip. I’m just diving into this game and there is a ton to learn.

[@GrantSweatshirt]

Yoooo I might have to try this out. If Im understanding corrrectly, have a stockpile room setup , and then a stairway inside that stockpile room going down to the craft rooms? I believe that would be really visually appealing as well

[@Groundpenguin]

I'm so excited to get back into DF! It has to be one of the greatest games ever made. So happy to see it come out on Steam, so it can get the recognition it really deserves.

[@jimlthor]

Over 30k players on Steam right now. Looks like it's paying off for Tarn and Zack. I hope they make a couple million bucks off this. They deserve it. Things were bad for them recently. Having to move because they couldn't afford the apartment and shit. Hopefully, they never have another financial issue in their life

[@barrett5229]

I had never even heard of it before steam. Spent a bunch on Rimworld though. Happy to support the devs

[@galaxypaper969]

@@barrett5229 Ong dude i spent to much money on Rimworld hopefully this will fuel my need

[@RasCricketSmallAxe]

@@jimlthor They're set now.

[@RasCricketSmallAxe]

@@galaxypaper969 I finally bought Rimworld after hundreds of hours with a pirate version - bought it support the the dev, but also the musician who made that killer soundtrack AND the very very good song when you beat the game. Was well fit. It's interesting to hear how Stranded: Alien Dawn (worth checking out, its a great colony game) tries to simulate that same music and vibe.

[@Atrahasis7]

Hope they add more art over time, maybe even variations for each dwarf depending on equipment. Mods will be insane.

[@nerddotcom5817]

I'm fully ready for the inevitable Deep Rock Galactic mod where the tileset is Hoxxes biomes, mobs are all replaced with glyphids, mactera, and robots, and the premise is setting up a Base of Operations for DRG on the surface of Hoxxes IV.

[@kingklipo]

@@nerddotcom5817 bruh rock and stone, I am so down!

[@stephenchurch1784]

CDDA is the only berlin interpretation roguelike doing this at this point. They can do it because development is open sourced and has thousands of contributors but I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for it in DF with its whopping 3 developers. Mods also won't likely introduce it because modding is limited to editing attribute tables unless you want to take the time to build a full memory map of the game and start injecting machine code into the process (which the dfHack team does, bless their masochistic souls)

[@vilxxblack2472]

@@nerddotcom5817 Im so fucking sick about hearing about Deep Rock Galactic. That game is so shit.

[@nerddotcom5817]

@@vilxxblack2472 Found the leaf-lovin' whale piper!

[@_arman_]

The disdain with which you said "It's borderline elf" was hilarious

[@leesanction2068]

Can't wait to dive into this game. It's been on my radar for a long time. Hope the Steam release will give the game more attention and support.

[@briangaar]

This is a lovely tutorial. I'm old and never could get into the original but this seems much more accessible. Your video is a big part of that. Thanks.

[@Nookrium]

Glad it was helpful!

[@stephenchurch1784]

My favorite fort so far is Murkmire, founded by the Comedic Failure. When I saw that, I decided that someone in the mountain homes had it out for the expedition leader. Starting dwarves were specced for bookmaking/scholarly discussion and I limited myself to the surface. It's going about as well as you would expect but the dwarves, realizing that they were set up to fail, have begun bootlegging whiskey made in the secret stills under the library to the elves

[@seouljah760]

My very first game on the Steam release, I spent like 40 minutes generating a map messing with custom settings with 500 years of history, tried getting my bearings on the new map, looked for starting positions on the map with my desired speccs. Carefully went through the new UI and embarked with custom dorfs and starting items. Started on a map, unbeknownst to me, with 5 keas. Had no idea I was getting robbed, as I wasn't used to the notification system. Immediately started breaking down my wagon, digging earth, chopping trees, farm plotting etc. They took all my weapons, bolts, mechanisms for my first well. Just about everything of value except my anvil. I wasn't expecting this much *fun* so early. So much *fun*, I haven't opened the game again yet. Not sure I want to start this fort again. I think I might start fresh this weekend. Damn those thieving birds!

[@Simone-xe9cw]

The tutorial we all needed. Even if I already played rimworld a bit, this saved me a lot of small headaches here and there. Thank you ❤️

[@svenhoek8615]

I have like 500 hours in Rimworld and I'm fully aware losing is FUN but I really didn't feel like failing the first few fortresses because I didn't understand the administrator thing, or just missed some crucial system while I was experimenting, or whatever. This guide eliminates that part of it, it gives me everything I need to spam out at the start like Rimworld and have all the basics handled before I start doing crazy shit.

[@sephypantsu]

I couldn't appreciate Rimworld making things easier for us until I tried dwarf fortress

[@Simone-xe9cw]

@@sephypantsu not always having feedback about what's not working is probably my greatest problem with this game atm

[@zwenkwiel816]

@@svenhoek8615 yeah even with the greatly improved interface and everything it's still no the most intuitive game out there. which is kind of understandable given all the different mechanics but it does feel kind of bad if you lose cuz you didn't catch some obscure mechanic or something. so I already restarted my fortress 3 times before I ever started losing just cuz I felt I didn't do things right and now I'm here watching tutorials XD

[@linkwarior5]

@@zwenkwiel816 me too fam

[@WOWOW_3]

As someone who's never played Dwarf Fortress it's relieving to know it's similar to Rimworld(400hrs played), real excited to play.

[@straightshota6794]

So, the game that inspired RimWorld is like RimWorld? Who would have throught, no way!

[@entelin]

@@straightshota6794 Well... It's sort of a two way street at this point to a degree. Of course RW was heavily inspired by both DF and Dwarf Therapist, the tool that made DF playable. However the Steam version of DF certainly takes some cues from RW regarding the UI. Which is good, because honestly, the UI was a train-wreck before.

[@the_good_bud3685]

@@entelin it's awesome we can have two amazing games learn from each other and both improve from it ⛏️

[@ResonanceSD]

@@straightshota6794 no need to be a dick about it.

[@derianardor]

@@straightshota6794 let's not be too mean with the sarcasm my dude. At this point people have been born well after DF released and a whole new generation doesn't know what it is. I'm just happy both exist and glad to see this iteration of DF take cues from modern QOL features such as RimWorld UI

[@themasterkey3]

First time playing and thanks to you, I survived my first fort and its still going strong after 5 years, although sloppily made. I quickly made a second fort and world to make a clean and neat fort. 1-2 years in and also surviving well. Your guides got me, a player who hasn't played this game nor any game like this before, to understanding all the basics. Just enough for a foundation and now I'm learning a lot on my own. Thank you. Its been fun.

[@LIONHEARTE944]

Honestly more of this, like this video is the only one I've found that is remotely good at teaching, this game has the depth of the deepest sea on earth and we need nookium as our guide

[@mdc123-v2v]

It's not real depth though, it's garbage UX/UI disguised as complexity and supported by a random text generator.

[@NavidIsANoob]

@@mdc123-v2v The UX/UI has little do to with the mechanics that drive the simulation within this game.

[@aarondonald1611]

@@mdc123-v2v Play this game once and you'll realize you're wrong

[@ARUCARDFTEPES]

At my peak obsession with Dorf Fort I went trudging through legends mode, in the first few years after the world was made I found a dragon that was routinely terrorizing a nearby town. Every 10 years or so he would attack and steal some shiny thing, eventually they start sending heroes to slay him. About year 50 he's killed a handful of fighters, but one was able to stab him in the eye, so the next hero finally slew him. ( To be clear, this never actually happened in-game, it was simulated before my game ever even started. ) The level of simulation in this game is absolutely unprecedented, save the actual irl world. The way water levels, gravity collapses unsupported structures, even in combat damage to the organs and limbs affect how the creature can move and fight. This is the alternate reality where Toady made DF instead of Skynet, lucky us.

[@Blanksmithy123]

I don’t get how it’s able to do all that without some kind of generative AI

[@infinityfabrik]

You taught me how to play CK3, my second most played game ever, and now DF. I am so appreciative of your positive demeanor and your breadth of knowledge. You've exposed me to so many games I might never have seen otherwise. Grateful for you.

[@draeath]

11:27 a quick correction, you only excluded *some* stone and *some* refuse types from the stockpile! Green check: whole category allowed Grey minus/dash: category partially allowed Red X: whole category excluded Hope this helps someone if this confuses them.

[@anderdrache8504]

Thank you! I already tried getting into dwarf fortress once or twice but failed to stay motivated. But I wishlisted it on steam and bought it the day it released. The graphics and mouse controls are an amazing improvement. This video was definitely perfect to get into the basics! I only wish that the game would support smooth camera scrolling and zooming, would be a great improvement to be able to scroll through the fortress smoothly.

[@Deckardb25364]

I adore that you're just like, known across KZbin as the guy for anything to do with any game like this at all. But specifically dwarf fortress, you're like just the only person worth watching when trying to learn.

[@MerrStudio]

Idk why but I love that you mentioned "if you're like me and you prefer video tutorials". I always felt lonely in this department as a software engineer. Wiki and documentations are great but for a startup it's always a misery for me, I will always prefer a video startup than a written tutorial. Thanks for the video.

[@ogrehunter]

Same. I need to see someone do whatever the thing is first for me to fully understand it!

[@ShadowNinetales]

21:16 Dude, bunnies and adult rabbits most definitely do need to be pastured unless they have an owner to feed them, they are grazing animals. I know it's not a huge or important detail at all, but if you're making a guide it's good to fact-check your info.

[@xursed7990]

Used to play DF a lot but forgot about the different biomes. Ended up settling in untamed wilds by accident. At least a few heroes made it into the legends before the fort fell.

[@philo8035]

You need to include the walls around the room for the zone, if you want to include future wall engravings.

[@maxxxt68]

I'm new to DF (despite my age and being around back in the day) . I had tried to run a few worlds but always hit something i could not figure out or spend hours trying to figure it out. Thank you for this starter video it has hyped me up to start a new one today!

[@AHSman1]

İ wanna thank you. Because all of those who play dwarf fortress you are the only one who teach it by playing it. Others talk too much explain to much while not showing anything. İ learned a lot from this vid

[@weakamna]

Here's some story bits since you asked for them =D the tutorial plonked me down in a "Wild" biome with a bunch of giant hippos very near to my wagon, and I figured if normal sized hippos are one of the most scary creatures on earth, I didn't want _anything_ to do with _giant_ ones, so I quickly made sure to haul everything over to a temporary stockpile and set a meeting zone ASAP. Was a sweaty couple of days as the hippos roamed back and forth... Luckily they decided to leave relatively quickly... A while in a tick-man couple came in and I'm not sure what happened since I can't find any proper logs anywhere, but soon the tick-husband was stuck bleeding and grieving his mate inside my fortress after they both got attacked by my dogs (not sure if it was provoked or not). He was a grouchy racist anyway, so while I felt bad for him it wasn't too bad... A well-equipped goblin came to visit, and after taking a look down into the caverns we'd uncovered petitioned for residency as he wanted to hunt the cave crocodiles and other creatures down there. My magnanimous leader of course accepted this proposal, to the goblins delight. My leader quickly changed his mind after his trusty friend and assistant bookkeeper pointed out that the goblin would only make trouble, and that we had no medical infrastructure set up to deal with any problems of that nature, and that the goblin would refuse to do any work. so we kicked him out basically immediately. The angry knight stormed out and left. (I checked the wiki =P) The traders arriving had my fortress scramble to set up any sort of crafting and gemcutting to try and produce anything of value before the trader left..

[@absolutfreak5012]

Thanks! I haven't played in a couple years, waiting on this release. Now that it's here, I'm listening to your video during work, chomping at the bit to wrap up my day and get underground!

[@ChaseFace]

Your speaking voice and pace make this perfect as a new player. Thanks for the help!

[@geeko55]

Needed a refresher to make sure I still remembered the basics, and this was perfect! Great and fairly quick summation of what's needed to get started and grow, considering how much there is to go over.

[@YanniCooper]

Same!

[@MauroC74]

DF is one of those games that make impossible to watch passively a video (such as a tutorial) without feeling the urge to play

[@theosdeimos]

I was terrified to get started with Dwarf Fortress and this has made it so much more palatable in such a concise manner. Thank you!

[@mikehunt3420]

Glad im not the only one a bit daunted to start DF. It looks so amazing but my early Rimworld days were full of obsessive confusion. I dont know if i can do that again lol

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

@@mikehunt3420 I'm in the exact same boat.

[@funkypunk1001]

Thank you for making this! I had to watch this video about ten times just to get myself started but I now have a semi-stable fortress of about 52 dwarves. I dug too deep without a militia and some sort of cave-horse thing came inside and kicked 2 of my dwarves to death before taking a mining pick to the face. Never could have happened without this video. Thanks!

[@brigbrizz]

So, so, so excited for another Nook Dwarf Fortress video. Feels like the old days, then the days after that, and after that. :D Bought it, but waiting for the weekend so I can get a nice uninterrupted DF time. Thanks as always for the fantastic videos sir!

[@wyndnfyre]

This is so much better than the in game tutorial. This has been on my wishlist forever and I finally bought it. Tutorial in the game just confused me. It made me dig straight down instead of getting everyone inside and out of the rain or even a place to sleep. So thank you for making me not regret buying this. I'm so looking forward to starting over. 😊

[@kotablackburn5240]

Keep these DF tutorials coming! I love this game but I have no clue what I'm doing most the time and you are entertaining and informative!

[@Chloe_557]

I love that you say what you're doing like "right click, it goes away" (yes I've spent a long time watching this lol.. get busy... get free.. watch a bit.. busy.. free.. watch..etc etc)

[@randomdude8877]

I really love the fact that they modernized this gem of a game.

[@chadbishop-sr]

I was afraid of playing this on the Steamdeck. I've heard about it for 15 years. This tutorial convinced me to give it a try. About two hours in while half listening to this video and trying things on my own, I'm loving it. I'm having to rewind a lot to figure out why I can't build stairs, or how to assign an area as a store, but I want to thank you for giving me the confidence and helping me not regret my buy.

[@orlondok]

One of the best parts of DF coming out on Steam is being able to watch Nook play some more ... 😃

[@Blackhaart88]

I tried to play the original dwarf fortress and was quickly overwhelmed, I'm glad your making a tutorial on the steam version and can't wait to buy and play it. Thank you for helping.

[@BobrLovr]

how were you overwhelmed lol. Like, do you pass out when trying to figure out how to tie your shoes?

[@Blackhaart88]

@@BobrLovr really you wanna share insults on youtube ? Bit pathetic

[@BobrLovr]

@@Blackhaart88 keep telling yourself that

[@stuartjameson1439]

I'm brushing off an atrocious amount of rust, having not picked up DF in years, waiting for this release. This was fantastically put-together refresher.

[@Thunk00]

Nook, you're the best. I love it that you had this ready just in time for the hour of release.

[@chef0death88vods2]

Thank you nook, been itching to get into Dwarf Fortress for years. Im a time and sleep poor fellow, and i dont usually comment on yt at all. Saw this pop up when i got home, just the gentleman i needed to help get my ears dry. This is my tip of the hat to you sir, always love your vids. This one was as if you knew exactly what i needed! Good day to you and yours, and pass on a fine compliment to someone you respect in their craft like i have done and make their day, like this little slice of entertainment has done for me.

[@shanewalsh9644]

Amazing, really nice neat starter fort. When mining the gold, you can click the yellow arrow pointing to the right and it will auto mine the whole vein! My woodchopper somehow caused a cave in, broken his legs in winter, when there was no water due to being frozen, and he died... :/

[@thexfaceable]

Mate thanks a lot for these beginner tutorials, these have been the key to start enjoying steam version DF for me, and I believe for hundreds or thousands of others.

[@gilbertdarisse4705]

I played the hell out of DF back in the day. Loved it so much, and I'm so happy it got a UI update and is now on Steam for a wider audience. As much as I liked the original graphics it was so hard to play without a graphics pack. I picked up a copy from Steam to give it another go with the new graphics. Hopefully I get to dive in to it this weekend

[@Thingsyourollup]

Was surprised to see an email today from steam letting me know this game that's been sitting on my wishlist for longer than I can remember finally decided to release.

[@ALEJANDRO-gy1sp]

Hi! I wanted to thank you for the video, I just bought the game did the tutorial but it didn't helped to much haha I was so lost.. Now I know a little what to do! Honestly I always got my eye on dwarf fortress classic but I couldn't stand the dos feeling (to overwhelming) and now the graphics and everything is nice, design great too! Thanks again! If you make more tutorials I would watch them differently to learn more, or a playthrough is also nice! 😁 I'm a Big fan of your rimworld / kenshi videos. These kind of games makes me always so happy! Thumbs up Mr. Nook!

[@HENN3H]

Thanks man! It's your playthroughs that got me into this game a few years ago. Kept running into a wall due to the interface. Having tons of fun with the steam release, pretty sure this is gonna be this years GOTY for me! Thanks for all the tutorials man, they're really informative and your enthusiasm is really infectious to me!

[@barrett5229]

Fantastic intro! Hope you plan to do more covering the deeper aspects of the game.

[@mirkociamp]

I have to say excellent video, I had experience playing games like Dwarf Fortress such as Rimworld or Going Medieval, but yet the game was still complicated for me and I did not want to bash my head against the wall until I learnt. I searched for your video and the 40 minutes went by flying, not only was it educational but entertaining too! So yeah, I wanted to thank you.

[@deezboyeed6764]

Thats because it is complicated, its the grandfather to both those games. Df is so indepth it tracks all 32 teeth of each dwarf

[@aeway_]

Simple and solid tutorial, need more of these! Great work :)

[@fil0fax]

Excellent tutorial, more informative and easier to follow than the official in-game tutorial. I have linked it and recommended it in the Steam Dwarf Fortress Discussion Forum.

[@MudCorpPlaythroughs]

oooh i am so liking the new art style. Updated but it didnt loose its old vibes. Cant wait to start playing myself !

[@antnydoom6291]

I’ve never played this damn game, I only watch people play it… but I picked it up this morning and will be playing now myself thank you for the knowledge

[@marcbennett9232]

I remember one of my first forts. I was new, i could barely survive. but i had marble! and a waterfall! i imagined a waterfall pouring down directly into my cistern which drained near the entrance to my fortress creating mist before finally draining into the river. it was going to be glorious! believe it or not I actually got the main cistern finished completely out of marble... of course building the floor of my cistern while the waterfall was pouring down was not the best idea..... several bodies then clogged the entrance which soured my dwarves moods, followed by hauntings until the living were outnumbered by the ghosts.... so much fun lol.

[@KimStennabbCaesar]

Amazing lol.

[@DarkWolper]

I was so hoping for this game finallz to get remastered since I tried to get into the old one but I couldnt decode it, no matter how much I tried. Its a wonderful experience, thank you for the beginners tutorial

[@KatsPurr]

Thanks for the tutorial! I'm just starting and everything else seems clear, but I am having huuuuuuuge issues trying to find inside terrain that I can actually plant the plump helmets on. I've restarted many times and so far I've just had stone floors. And yes, the area I selected was supposed to have "soil". Problem is that once I hit the game, I can't find the soil! And let me clarify: When I do the tutorial, sure... it works. The problem is when I try to choose my own spot that has a little bit of mountains, a little bit of forest and a river. There's no soil, no matter whether I dig into the cave sideways like in this tutorial, or whether I dig below any grass showing.

[@Nookrium]

If you mouse along the walls of the mountain you can see what material is in there. When you embark try to find the clay or sand, it normally sits in patches

[@KatsPurr]

@@Nookrium Thanks! And great work on this tutorial series! I've been recommending it during my streams :)

[@anxietypronecucumber4934]

Did the tutorial last night. Fumbled around for a bit blindly. I had no clue what to focus on but I did get the basics. This is a super helpful follow up. Thank you.

[@nitroxwolf2098]

Love to see a let's play of DF. Been watching your videos for some time and am enjoying each one

[@tonygunk2139]

just got into playing the game with my friend, he recommended your vid, Great tutorial. My friend just got half of his dwarves killed by a necromancer within his second year. Cant wait to see what wild stuff ill experience.

[@samvimes9510]

Always wanted to get into Dwarf Fortress but it was too intimidating. With the Steam release I feel like I have less of an excuse. I'm just gonna save this video...I have a feeling I may need to return to it a few times.

[@adegbrs3838]

I'm in the same boat as you here. Too daunting as was but this updated version for steam makes me wanna give it a go

[@bagelburgling]

Bro you have such a nice voice. You were made for KZbin. So calming. I would totally listen to you reading a book

[@tomt5745]

This hurts my eyes. No letters and dots. The horror! The horror! ;)

[@tomt5745]

Just brilliant Tarn did this.

[@jessedaman22]

Thank you for being one of the few to break this complicated game down.

[@jacethejackal2475]

Ive always wanted to get into this game but the ascii madness always turned me away and made everything seem 100x more complicated than it already is, so glad this finally came to steam so I can actually visually understand the game.

[@Doncergio]

There have been 100s of free skins for years. Sseth did a video years ago where every time he took footage he used a different skin :P.

[@epichuman3198]

Thank you so much for this tutorial. When I first started playing I did not have a good grasp on what scale the fortress should start out at, what to prioritize, etc. But this tutorial helped me a lot. Thank you.

[@mikkelnpetersen]

In any game like this the 3 most important things in the beginning will always be food, drink and shelter.

[@SidneyGutteridge]

Love that they've finally brought it to a larger audience with steam. I do kind of wish that there was a way to use all the old keybinds. I find it so much slower to do anything even simple shit like putting in a bunch of doors

[@jonaut5705]

In case you ever see this, there’s a few mods that do this, I can’t quite remember the names, but they certainly exist.

[@Jackoff_icial]

I tried DF for the first time last night and the in-game tutorial helped a bit but I still felt sort of unprepared. 10 minutes into your video and I feel much, much more eager to give it a second go. thanks! :)

[@Nookrium]

Good luck! Take out some elves for me! 😆

[@simsimmauk7587]

I been gaming since the late 80s never played DF. This was a great beginners guide thanks!

[@snafu2350]

There's another important point: the only thing for which wood is mandatory is beds; anything else can be made from other stuff (eg rock pots for barrels; rock bins; rock almost everything!) It might go by a different name (eg goblets/mugs/cups; thrones/chairs etc) but you'll get the idea soon enough

[@gueton5200]

been playing this game for years, just learned rock pots are just barrels made of stone, thank you

[@ruckusmania]

I just started and I was wondering what the hell the difference was between chairs and thrones besides looks, thanks 🙏

[@BlehTheSeal]

Thank you so much! I don’t typically play these games but I was just so interested with how everything works in the game and figured I’d give it a try!

[@miguelluhulima9400]

Bought the game yesterday, played it and started to follow the tutorial. Went smooth for a while, had difficulty looking for fertile ground underground. Just that I forgot to set a pasture for my animals, they lived underground for 2 seasons without food :)

[@lanebauer7624]

Thank you for this beginners guide, I read through most of the help pages in game, but hearing you discuss many of the topics helped engrain it. STRIKE THE EARTH!

[@lordbezzington8435]

12:46 Really glad you did that!

[@JonesCrimson]

Here is my tip: 1 Layer At a Time (Two or Three Layers apart) You may want to really deep dive down a stairwell to hell as soon as you have some measly berries collected, but don't. Not only is it necessary to start making rooms, beds, stockpiles, crafting stations, defenses, etc as soon as the game starts, but you also run the risk of flooding if you dig and then expand later. Instead, dig down a couple layers, then expand, then down, then expand. You also don't want your floors directly beneath each other because that can lead to cave ins. You can make some drainage holes and canals, and can even deal with flooding while it happens, but this is very costly and sometimes Dwarves fall in or make mistakes. Prevention beats a cure. Expect a wall to start gushing every time you dig it.

[@guritche]

Fun stuff! Wish I had watched to the end because dingoes attacked my settlement and ate everyone. I didn't know the doors could be locked. Thought dingoes would not know how to open them.. now I know better. Also I had my trade depot 2 levels down in the cave and the caravan guys seem to make it there no problem.

[@peterstedman6140]

You need to be a barony before the traders bring wagons. Then they'll need a 3 tile path to the depot.

[@eugenec1733]

You can filter for a better embark site, before you strike the earth. Iron and flux stone and some soil, no aquifers will set you up for a better start. A stream in one corner also is very nice to have. IMO

[@vonbilka8435]

Awesome guide. After over a decade since I first found out about the game, it's awesome to be finally getting into Dwarf Fortress.

[@huldu]

Thank you so much for this guide. I had no idea how those farms even worked. First time I played I put one outside because it made "sense" yet nothing worked, couldn't plant anything. Had no idea you could put them inside the mountain!

[@DerBeppone]

Very helpful stuff! Thank you very much! I allready played like 17 hours and got overwhelmed, by all the possibilities and the deepnes of the game. And some functions are simply not that deeply explained by the in game tutorials, like I realise how much easier it is to do work orders or even being able to build staircases several levels at once! Mind blown!

[@trevorsavage9463]

Really enjoyed the tutorial. I'm still new to the game and I think this video does the best job of covering the basics without being overwhelming. Thanks!

[@MikaTheAboveAverageDog]

This is a really well done video, you did a great job. I went to look at your other content and none of it really overlaps for my interests but I am jealous of those for who, it does. You did great work and I hope you dont stop!

[@TommasoDS]

This was that one game that always interested me but also always scared me with its complexity, now that it has graphics I finally decided to buy it and thank you so much for this tutorial because I'd be lost without those tips, quite literally. XD

[@AEGISDEFENSE]

Saved this video as I saw it launched with new graphics and my buddy who played the ASCII version raved about it. Thanks for this vid; just picked it up and im excited to dive in.

[@CptFUBAR]

Found you via a random youtube search. VERY informative video, it's going to help me out IMMENSLY

[@findingpetey]

thanks for the tutorial!! you have such a pleasant voice to listen to.

[@stoikil1490]

God I need like 20 more guides like this to start understanding the game and what to do first or what not to do.

[@samhughes1747]

This is the first time I've heard someone else use the expression, "an obscene amount of ...". I use it exactly so, but I haven't heard anyone else use that expression. I feel quite validated.

[@nolle]

great guide, I just booted it up and went with the flow and somehow still surviving after a few years. Despite accidentally putting a stockpile 6 levels deep where I stored EVERYTHING and didn't even carve out a mountain. So all my workshops were on the surface which made everyone's job miserable. Then someone became a vengeful ghost and started throwing stuff around which made someone so miserable they killed someone else

[@nolle]

my plan is to just destroy everything by finding lava

[@Xardueth]

This is an excellent intro and tutorial, I had to put the playback speed at 0.75x speed as you speak at the speed of light :D