Dwarf Fortress - Getting Started (Beginners Guide / Tutorial)

[@heinyhxc]

i started doing all the stuff like setting up stockpiles and things while paused and immediately had a dwarf get annihilated by a gator in the creek next to the wagon lol

[@honeyalmondfritters]

Freaking alligators man. Exact same thing happened to me. Set up stockpiles, first unpause and my fisherdwarf is ripped apart by a gator. I am starting to think this video is cursed by the gator gods. 😅

[@silli_cat]

wow, mine just died from the cave collapsing two of them did

[@silli_cat]

(i didnt know about the trees making holes thing)

[@rumplstiltztinkerstein]

Guys. Just to point out that there is absolutely NO NEED to choose a bigger starting area, as pointed out by @Blind. While horizontally it might not look that larger, you can dig deep, reeeeeaaaaalllyyy deep. You can create a tower of 200 floors and still there would be a lot of room to expand above and below.

[@jamesderiven1843]

While the game allows you to choose a bigger starting area, it HATES you actually doing it and will make your life hell.

[@b9904]

❤

[@b9904]

I have a 2yr old gaming laptop and the amount of stuff in my fortress 6 hours later notably slowed the game. Not bad, but notable. So, I now start on medium maps on 3x3 and the speed improvement was stark past the 6hour mark and on wards.

[@KambrenZaliski-j6t]

We can never dig too deep!

[@MoxkyBashwell]

@26:25 "they will prep un coocked fish," insert explaination how how to set a water source, a fishign area, and storage for uncooked fish, a reminder of how to use pots and barrens, how to place them into uncooked storage lots. also how to fish!

[@MoxkyBashwell]

"greetings, and welcome back to another episode of exploring 'Dwarf fortress':tutorials. i am your host, blind."

[@BlindiRL]

They fish anywhere. You can set a fishing zone with the super clear "Fishing zone" in the zones screen.

[@SnipesMcFinley]

21:28 the arrangement of logs

[@justgoosing9662]

This game is so damn addicting man. Learn new stuff all the time, and great topics here.

[@archaeologistify]

It's always a good game when the progress is irl in your brain :)

[@dm0ney743]

Im not a beginner but I still enjoyed the video

[@BlindiRL]

yay

[@thisguybro]

I have 200 hours. I still feel like a beginner haha. Still watching videos like this.

[@ultimatekao]

I have played on and off for a decade and still learn new things from these videos 😂

[@JarheadLief]

Wow, so you must be pretty good!

[@santapoca]

waited for the steam version to get into this game, these videos have been a great help

[@ovrsurge4689]

I was waiting for the steam release to get back into dwarftress. I think the first version I played back in highschool didn't even have 3 dimensional trees. The 3d trees was a big update and made peace with the elves more viable when you could get multiple logs from one tree.

[@soybean9098]

There are plenty of "overly" complicated games I try to get into, but only a few do I put the effort to actually get into. Hope this is one of em because I love the concept.

[@RaineErasmusWalker]

what other complicated games have you tried? which ones did you stick with the longest?

[@xinlou6707]

This series helped get into it, what amazed me is that the world you created is constantly living like you can embark to make 2nd fortress and the previous one is there same as you can go adventure mode create demigods and put them all in one fortress and wrestle demons for fun :D

[@ElvencloudYT]

Just want to say you were a pleasure when I randomly clicked your twitch channel a couple years ago - and a pleasure to listen to here while at work. This game is quite overwhelming and you made it much easier to parse. Well done!

[@BlindiRL]

Wow, thank you!

[@KaikuPen]

Thanks so much for this! The in game tutorial takes the training wheels off way to early, and moves so fast through the steps that I ended up with an inefficient horribly built fortress, I dint lose, But I knew that the first conflict or Disaster would mean death.

[@MoxkyBashwell]

@17:22 "how to stop a mining selected tile/secon/area after its been selected for mining!" i could use a video on baisc mining,

[@BlindiRL]

Hit eraser, erase area. Are you.. unable to understand basic ui functions or are you trolling?

[@endrankluvsda4loko172]

Thank you! I just bought this and was almost immediately overwhelmed lol. This seems like such an awesome game; there's so much to do! But yeah after trying a few worlds on my own and not being able to figure out the basics even after following the in game tutorials, I turned to youtube for help.

[@DumpleShop]

As a new player, I appreciated you pointing out the slopes, because I felt so dumb when I saw one of my dwarves walk up one and realized they were passable 🥺

[@laka0013]

Thank you for making this! Really helpful for a beginner to DF like myself

[@kingmonday2918]

Holy shit I watched this to get a refresher as I hadn't played in months and my goodness there was so many things I never new and better ways of doing stuff... Well done. I'm more dwarf than I've ever been right now.

[@MoxkyBashwell]

@24:48 could use a video on storage items, and in what stock zones they should be placed. i have noticed you lost trade off cut gems hidden in crates. or to optimize storage zones.

[@BlindiRL]

Who cares, Trade is busted. Does not matter if you lose out cause you'll make it up down the line in used clothing.

[@chashagin1]

Blind, your tutorials are spectacular and got me into this masterpiece of a game. Thank you and excited to watch a new Tutorial series! Love that KitfoxGames is investing in content like this! Would enjoy some videos on optimizing fortresses now that I can maintain a fort for some period of time before I'm overwhelmed by Fun. I'm sure there's all sorts of cool stuff that can be done with minecarts, storage zones, assigning workshops to specific dwarfs, ramps vs stairs, wheelbarrows, bins/barrels, optimizing where to place workshops relative to Caverns, etc.) Also it'd be great to understand how to get the most value out of major tools like DFHack and/or Dwarf Therapist for those of us new to DF via Steam.

[@StoKill]

Thanks for the tutorial!

[@BlindiRL]

Happy to help!

[@MrDaAsif]

Incredible tutorial. DF always intimidated me but this gave me the confidence to get started. Thank you!!!!

[@raizer21able]

Thank you. I like knowing a bit about the beginning of these games before I go in deep. Thank you for the nice base.

[@captainmaim]

I've been playing since December, and watching Blind videos about it since launch on steam.

[@CasualBeans]

I love seeing tutorial videos because I played 3 forts before I figured out farming. I always learn new tricks!

[@elay2272]

thank you,. you have a great skill to tell quick and clear whats important

[@gnollman]

Not a beginner (any more), but this is a great, concise, and very relevant Getting Started tutorial. Nothing overly complicated, just your basic 'stay alive' video. The tutorial series is great work, keep it up!

[@infinityfabrik]

You created a concise and effective learning tool for me in making this video. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Got two of your playlists lined up to watch next. Liked commented subscribed.

[@0DeadSoul0]

Excellent video! Even though I am no longer a beginner I still learn something new or am reminded of something I forgot.

[@BlindiRL]

Great to hear!

[@MoxkyBashwell]

@15:05 how do i know if there is a asecond pick? need a wagon video, and how to operate from only the wagon. mile stones.

[@BlindiRL]

... click the wagon.

[@forsety2]

Thanks for the great intro! I decided to get the game thanks to you!

[@BlindiRL]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@forsety2]

This game is so good!

[@forsety2]

Haven't slept. Just been dwarving. A werelizard almost took out my fort (down to like 15 dwarves) but it is thriving again after I quarantined the infected

[@ChaoticPsyche01]

I'm not a beginner, but I feel obligated to watch these videos because every time I feel like I know what I'm doing in dwarf fortress, I get to experience some Fun

[@Karboluk]

I know you resisted making new tutorials for a while, but I have to say that you're quite good at it. Skipping important but confusing descriptions is an important skill to not swamp new players, and you have it.

[@ObliqueXuba]

yeah, too many people get a bit too excited at sharing their full knowledge all at once, while putting it in the most literal terms when it is easier to digest if you phrase it better and pace yourself.

[@MoxkyBashwell]

@18:33 my field show up empty without anything to plant, is that becuase we did not bring them, and i did not harvvest plants?

[@BlindiRL]

Means you settled somewhere without plants.

[@beccadoesstuff3344]

Thank you for this! I just started playing, and I usually enjoy figuring out games by myself, but after 12ish hours in game had still not learnt how to brew alcohol and it doesn't seem to be in the tutorial. I have been experimenting with making different containers as I was always missing one, so I assumed I hadn't found the right one yet. But now realise that it was in fact barrels that I needed, but my dwarves must have filled the ones I made with other stuff, so I've never had one free. Sheesh.

[@MoxkyBashwell]

@15:48 how long does it take for trees to regrow ingame, if at all? does this help to prevent elf anger?

[@BlindiRL]

2-3 years depending on the tree

[@EroticBananaz]

Appreciate it

[@vanguze]

Wonderfully done as usual. DF is a game everyone should give a shot at least once.

[@dariuscardren]

Good tutorial!

[@BlindiRL]

Thanks!

[@s7robin105]

I just got this game and this was very helpful. Thank you

[@neilharper1858]

This video is brilliant. Helped so much with getting started. Thanks

[@tangodroid]

Great tutorial as always. I wish i had this when I was beginning with DF

[@Torgoth1]

Despite seeing a ton of tutorials over the years (including some of Blinds) I can never get enough of his DF vids. Thanks for putting this up here. You’ve done a great job with keeping it succinct and accessible…a tough challenge with something like DF. I probably missed it but was there a seed for this map? The embark looks like a really cool site. Love the idea of a fort on a cliff overlooking a waterfall.

[@RangerRick_1988]

Fantastic "remastered" tutorial! Excited to see more!

[@BlindiRL]

More to come!

[@MoxkyBashwell]

@14:13 if you could twitch stream a new embark, for the milestones, required for a survival, (ui, and ingame) so that then one may actually start a game and adventuring, picking up on your more advanced tutorials.

[@BlindiRL]

Check my second channel @blindextras

[@hansdampf640]

finally some concrete tutelage and no constant chatter bout how deep and complicated the game is,thank you!

[@MoxkyBashwell]

@13:20 do you not use a mod to allow you to know what is on each z level, mineral and water wize? demons and other cheese?

[@MoxkyBashwell]

@15:16 still struggling to stop my dwarfs mining when i made a mistake on where.

[@BlindiRL]

I.. can't help you there mate.

[@Joseph_Allan]

Giving this a second go around. Played 13 hours and gave up. Complex!

[@BlindiRL]

You've got this!

[@johbowfor]

Brilliant, thank you so much!

[@truefreak]

Great intro to the game basics!

[@MoxkyBashwell]

@21:15 ooooh do an episode on how to care for, /claim elephants, if you did not start with them. like what do you need to keep them alive. breed them.

[@BlindiRL]

They are exactly the same as any animal. You can watch my animal pastures / husbandry on that. they graze on grass.

[@jonahdedini5958]

I was trying to make a staircase underground as shown in the video, however, when I dragged a square and scrolled to a lower level and clicked again, it did nothing. I also tried pressing m once I had the selected area but nothing happened either when I pressed unpause. I also noticed that when I dragged a square it was not set in place, I could still move around the size of the square. Any ideas of what I am doing wrong?

[@BlindiRL]

To confirm. You clicked on the stairs tool and dragged a small square then moved down levels and clicked again and nothing happened? You can resize as you are dragging that's normal. I'm a bit perplexed by this description honestly.

[@jonahdedini5958]

@@BlindiRLthank you! I figured it out. However, I have another problem. After playing for a while, all of my dwarfs suddenly died from dehydration. I also realized that right before this happened there was like 15 people that all of a sudden came to my fortress. Do you have any ideas how this happened?

[@jonahdedini5958]

Never mind I figured it out.

[@sorrenzz3610]

Hey man I got this game a few days ago. Been playing Qud but then I saw this. Seems quite an amazing game

[@BrimstoneVomit]

Thank you, Sir. Amazing introduction to the game. I've known of Dwarf Fortress since its inception, but couldn't get past the ASCII graphics to try it. Eventually assumed it was just a proto-Rimworld/Gnomoria game and didn't need to try it. But this world/history generation stuff? I thought Soulash and Archmage Rises were doing something novel by including it. Turns out Dwarf Fortress is the O.G. that I should've been playing all along. Oh well. Better late than never.

[@MoxkyBashwell]

@12:17 how am i to be sure that the dwarfs i wish to have strip mine, are equiped with picks? do i not spawn with seven picks?

[@BlindiRL]

If you started with the default setting you have 2, if you started with prepare carefully then. Only you know if you did.

[@alex_lll]

Good tutorial - provides good start and doesn't span multiple hours.

[@RootVegetabIe]

Perfect timing! Quick question, please: How do I get my dwarves to climb out of the screen and give little kisses to my belly

[@TempoTrack]

HAHA

[@jakedanielsen4512]

I emailed the devs but they didnt reply with shit

[@colepolitzer]

Press Control then q ,q

[@austinkaylor8084]

😳

[@AfaroX8]

smear some beer on the edges of your monitor, then capture them when they come out

[@JSparrowist]

Very helpful!

[@BlindiRL]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Solice-lx8mk]

Thank you for such an informative video.

[@condorX2]

Falling tree is deadly for Dwarf 😅

[@w-dad4040]

Great videos, man

[@suspiciousllama385]

I bought the game, and 10 minutes in, i hadn't even finished the tutorial, and my miner was just dead at the bottom of a lake i have no idea

[@sidrat2009]

Thank you for your advice and video tutorial. The beginnings is always the most daunting as there seems to be a lot to do very quickly but you managed it all rather quickly. I wonder what happened to the original seven dwarves (getit!) in this play through?

[@McDank41]

Hey Blind, I just wanted to say I’ve recently discovered your channel after learning about dwarf fortress as of last year! I’ve been binging all of “HeatStone” and wanted to thank you for uploading them to KZbin I’m in the US Army and currently deployed so it really is nice to have the VODS whenever I’m on guard or something man! Although I don’t agree with all your political views I absolutely love watching your gameplay and the knowledge you have man! I hope you continue posting VODS (preferably in 480p as an option since we don’t get good signal out here) But thanks again man! I hope I can catch a stream one day!

[@beepbop6697]

First off, thank you for your service and for watching our backs overseas. However, don't be surprised that your political views are likely going to change once you leave the armed forces. For the encodings, I'm fairly sure that KZbin automatically down samples videos to support streaming over low quality / slower network connections. For example, this video supports 1080p (original upload quality) all the way down to 144p -- you can manually set the quality in the KZbin playback options.

[@BlindiRL]

I will totally keep posting vods, however they've moved to my extras channel. Also it's okay to disagree. My takes can be kind of extreme and that makes it worse for some. Lastly. Thank you for your service.

[@maakkz]

I’m curious, why do you say it’s better to have no barrels in the seeds stockpile?

[@BlindiRL]

Makes it harder to get the seeds out. Kinda hard to explain.

[@pricecheck8107]

Lazy answer: seeds must always go in bags. So when you put bags in barrels, even just needing to take out or put in a single seed locks the contents of that bag until the job is complete and requires a step list of jobs that cancel out any other jobs needing seeds from that bag. Copy pasted long answer: In the "stockpile at rest" (when no new seeds have been generated in a long time), we will most likely have 1 or 2 barrels full of seed bags, plus one empty barrel. (All barrel- and bin-using stockpiles try to keep one empty container for future use.) The barrels can hold a huge number of seed bags, so there will be a small number of very full barrels. Now, suppose some dwarf eats a plump helmet and generates a plump helmet spawn. The stockpile will eventually realize this has occurred, and will generate a job to acquire the seed. If there is already a bag of plump helmet spawn in the stockpile, then the job will be "Store Item in Bag". Some dwarf will be assigned to take the bag of plump helmet spawn out of the stockpile, bring it to the dining room where the seed is, and put the seed into the bag. However, as soon as this job has been created, the bag is marked as being part of the hauling job. All the seeds in it are now unavailable for use -- and the dwarf hasn't even picked it up yet! But it gets worse. Once the bag has been taken to the dining room and has acquired one (or possibly several) new seeds, the stockpile will generate another job to bring the bag back. Since there is a non-full barrel already in the stockpile, the job will be "Store Item in Barrel". Some dwarf will be assigned to take the barrel out of the stockpile, drag it to the dining room where the bag is, and put the bag into the barrel. As soon as this job is created, the whole barrel full of seed bags (which may be every seed in the entire fortress) is marked for hauling and is unavailable for any other purpose, including planting crops. The planter can't use any of those seeds until the barrel has been dragged out, and then finally dragged back to the original stockpile. And if any new seeds have been generated while that's going on, then the cycle never ends.

[@brandon8667]

The depth of this game is crazy. I'm playing it like Rimworld with a Z axis, full well knowing I'm scratching the surface.

[@Techfuse13]

Now I can be even more efficient during the start up phase of my next fort!

[@phatgomeb0ss]

Banger video

[@Critterdale]

Nice video thanks

[@kunibertrandolf1886]

Hey, uhm, maybe a stupid question, but can I change that dwarfes just come flying in TOO FAST?? I love building and stockpiling first and getting inhabitants later while gradually upping general production and filling the spaces needed in such games but dwarfes just keep flooding in! I am very happy that the game seems to like how I handle builds and I never had a food shortage or got wiped out by anything yet but mostly because the amount of inhabitants just overwhelms me and I have to abondon the world for just being too much to handle for my tiny brain. I feel like as soon as I start my gem production and money comes flying in, the entirety of of the dwarf population just wants a piece of the cake, moves in and then gets increasingly angry because I literally cannot give 200+ dwarfs anough to do on two floors of housing, some production and some layers of strip mining.

[@BlindiRL]

If you go into the game settings you can edit the population cap.

[@Kram1032]

In the options, limit the maximum number of residents and kids and what not. You can turn those up later when you feel more ready

[@clearsmashdrop5829]

I don't think I've ever put my still into a Tavern. Have'nt played the game for 6 months....now thiking of starting a new Fortress just to do that. :)

[@zsanart_yt]

High quality tutorial!

[@MoxkyBashwell]

@14:05 "food beer and beds" what is the order of operations for a new player to get that started, along side chests and cabinets. are beds not able to be crafted of stone ? ok so i need wood a carpenter and a stone crafter ? a farm, a farm crafting thing, a farm, and a still? how do i get all that asap? what am i missing? bah!

[@MoxkyBashwell]

stone pots, stone doors, storage, ... how not to agrovate elfs. i want 7 dwarves, set to go, asap, and then expand upon that, and my plans to strip mine the earth. water source should be added to this i am sure?

[@BlindiRL]

Set it to whatever you want. Its a sandbox game with literally no necessary set of operations,.

[@hey_how_are_ya]

Do you have a video giving some little more advanced tips? Like how to automate food and drink production? I keep running out of seeds for one type of plant while gaining seeds for another. So i built several different plots of land so that i dont have to keep changing what to plant each season. Also is there a better way to make 100 bedrooms rather than manually selecting what to mine out?

[@sarahjane1975]

my 1st fort, I think there is no water, no river, no aquifer. just hit the 1st cavern layer and still have not found water (yet). should I give up?

[@BlindiRL]

You could. Or keep digging and have an adventure.

[@alexasalas6189]

I’m finally purchasing this game to give it a try, I hope my seven dwarves can live at least one month in game, if that happens I will consider it as a win. Thank you for the video, definitely annotating some tips from this :) ❤

[@rottenroadkill3311]

I have missed going to DF school with blind

[@moltenwood]

the latest version supports multi threading, which is a game changer

[@randompopcat9615]

what mineral occurence do you recommend

[@BlindiRL]

Frequent as you think you need I play on sparse

[@BazzaroPlays]

What would be the best way to veiw the story of the world you have?

[@BlindiRL]

Reading legends or playing adventure mode.

[@Tenelia]

quick question: why do you not build right next to water? esp the fishery?

[@stevendonaldson1216]

I'm not a beginner but hell if miss a great Blind Tutorial

[@jamesderiven1843]

One bigger tip I might add is pausing long enough on the world gen screen to turn off goddamn werebeasts, do much to make the current version so unpleasant.

[@pavloxis5158]

Werebeasts arent that bad. If the infect some dwarfs then exile them. Eazy

[@eeik5150]

Good video.

[@demonicbunny3po]

Mostly watched to help this spread. Commenting for the same. I learned nothing! Then again, I’m not a beginner. I’m actively working on a mega structure, generational Volcano fort. I’ve got it carved out around the lava tube and am building structures in the hollowed out areas.

[@thestoebz]

I did everything here and I’m so lost still haha. I love it

[@tatawbr]

Thanks!

[@nibnob9]

great voice great content keep it comin on youtube!

[@BlindiRL]

Thank you so much!

[@clintharris8519]

Great video! I know you've done multiple beginner videos, but .. please, please more!

[@BlindiRL]

Thank you! Will do!

[@robertstimmel1100]

I've always been interested in this game, but also a little intimidated. I bought it on day one when it was released on Steam and still haven't played it. This guide may be just what I needed to take the plunge.

[@thehedgehogarmy8930]

Good video

[@咕咕-t8m]

How did you draw the digging area for 8 rooms all at once?

[@Fabiano_il_Flaco]

It's video editing power :D

[@dndmat]

I played RimWorld first and it kinda lost me. This one has grabbed me because....DWARVES!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lovin it.

[@donterrenoalto4235]

My dwarfs and others mobs are invisible for some reason

[@BlindiRL]

Are you using any mods?

[@donterrenoalto4235]

@@BlindiRL nope, just downloaded it today from the bay12 page, i start the tutorial and the dwarves are invisible..like they do their labors and all, but i cant see them

[@lausenteternidad]

Finally, the trick to get waterfall

[@kommentarepostenwill]

Thank you

[@TylerChristensen69420]

Do the holes in the floor from cutting down trees still happen? I haven't witnessed it any

[@BlindiRL]

Yes they do

[@BlindiRL]

But only on layers directly above dug out layers.

[@TylerChristensen69420]

@@BlindiRL That's really weird. I never noticed. This might be a problem lol

[@fidmid]

Thank you!^^

[@Derikboy]

Hey, can you please do this again for v50.13, it seems that everything has changed, you can't just mine like you've shown, you have to construct stairs down, construct floors, lord knows how to make that underground farm. Thanks!

[@MoxkyBashwell]

@16:43 ok so one is not able to start large orders, untill a manager is available, what is the best order of operations video to that. haha.

[@BlindiRL]

Start whatever whenever. This game does not really have a meta.

[@facethefaceandmore44]

It’s definitely a game.

[@maakkz]

One of the games of all time