Dwarf Fortress - Quick Tutorial - Drawbridges and Levers

[@famguy292]

Nobody is going to see this but my bridge didn’t work out as planned. I had a 3x4 bridge over a river. For several hours there didn’t seem to be any problem with it. While I was working on something in another part of my fortress I started hearing rapid notifications and knew that the “fun” had begun. But where? I wasn’t under attack, there were no agitated animals, everybody was healthy and happy. Then I saw the message: a section of the cavern has collapsed. But where? I zoomed over to the bridge. It was still there. There was nothing wrong with the bridge. There was nothing wrong with the layer under the bridge. So what happened? From what I can tell, 30 dorfs somehow slipped into a crack and drowned. I don’t know how. I don’t know why. There was nothing to fix and everybody continued crossing the bridge again normally. But now many people are deeply unhappy and crossing the bridge brings back terrible memories.

[@worlore1651]

If it says “need accessible mechanisms”, you need to build a few more mechanisms at mechanic

[@tzipful]

Yes, this is easy to miss. you actually need 1 mechanism for lever and one for target - for bridge in this case

[@dopwop553]

thanks guys, this was exactly what I was looking for

[@D3nchanter]

oh THANK you

[@terrillclark6486]

Thanks so much for this!

[@SteelRyan]

DEAR GOOD, THANK YOU! I PRAY FOR YOUR HEALTH AND SUCCESS!

[@Ironbuket]

What I found interesting (not mentioned in this video), is that if you build a drawbridge and then try to dig a moat after. The game wont let you dig in the first tile away from the already built bridge. Even if the bridge is up. However, if you dig the moat first, the game is quite happpy for you to build the bridge over a moat in exactly the same location.

[@angelfan16]

TY

[@djsaltystromboli]

If anyone who is struggling to learn how to play Dwarf Fortress is reading this, this series of 30 something short videos is IT! Blind, I don't know if you read these comments, but for me, this series of quick tutorials was what helped me go from not understanding or enjoying Dwarf Fortress at all to falling deep into the rabbit hole. This game is so complex and beautiful, I knew it was something I wanted to immerse myself in. But I was having such a hard time wrapping my head around the mechanics and UI. After spending quite some time scouring youtube and the internet for information about how to enjoy this game, I can honestly say your videos are the most effective, efficient, accessible, and helpful guides to getting a grasp on the many aspects of this game. The amount of material you are able to condense into concise

[@deanmiller541]

love these tutorials - quick and to the point, goes through a specific topic in each video - very good companion piece to reading wiki articles

[@gunting]

Same, I'm not a fan of "Let's play I'll teach you while I'm playing the game while rambling. And each videos going to last 60 minutes, and the series will have 12 episodes in total. Oh it's 40 minutes already, boy so that's how the UI in Dwarf Fortress" But I love this kind of compacted + compressed format, with minimal noises

[@Goozeeeee]

@blind thank you for making a playlist for these videos! They've been super helpful

[@JuddMan03]

Thank you for these videos. I dont have the game yet, but i played the original years ago, and all your videos are entertaining and concise.

[@pUrbanNinja]

I just nuked my expedition leader with the bridge. Are there any best practices to prevent such things from happening?

[@theodeleuu865]

As no dwarf adheres to the OSH act, I would recommend confining all your dwarves to a burrow except for the dwarf that has to pull the lever and then wait for them to clear the bridge before pulling the lever. There are probably other ways but that's off the top of my head. Feel free to explore and have fun, cheers!

[@梅原健司-h7i]

Dig down the area where the bridge is overlapping. Bridge accident or Atom smasher happens/works by having floor tile underneath. Make sure to have a way out for mistakenly trapped poor innocent!

[@Typhaaris]

Two days late: But a decent general option would be to ensure that the bridge is set to 'Restricted Traffic Area', this will prevent dwarves from being on the bridge unless they absolutely have to be. Other than that, the other replies work reasonably well.

[@rikusschulze6249]

any idea why I can't channel out the ground beneath my bridge? is it because I already have a three z level deep moat under it and that it's just the ground level that has still a floor? Got it. It's because the bridge is a building that occupies the space where the floor is.

[@RickStewart1776]

How far can a lever be from it's linked items?

[@crazymcfobo]

Unlimited length

[@winzyl9546]

I love this playlist

[@ЕвгенийКожевников-я3я]

I wonder how many views this tutorial will get soon :)

[@elishmuel1976]

He's the only one for now that has them on day 1

[@Dr.Trustmeonthisone]

>4

[@straightshota6794]

Straight to the point, without stretching the video for 10 minutes with unnecessary information? Thanks for the brevity. No, seriously.

[@PrimeNPC]

+1, the game is pretty overwhelming by default and seeing all these 40+ min tutorials is equally overwhelming lol

[@StrattCaster]

Thank you for the video, always learning in this game

[@MakimaSimp]

These videos should be plastered all over the wiki front page until its updated, best tutorials for this game i can find. Steam guides gave useless conflicting borderline misinformation and the wiki doesn't explain how to do anything in the v50 game. So thank you for figuring it out for us.

[@snickersmeh2172]

thanks rly fast explanation of making a drawbridge

[@Elocess]

Is there a size limit of the bridge and does that affet the speed it can be raised or lowered?

[@blazepond5518]

excellent series blind!

[@cotillion1687]

Why can’t I connect to a door? It says missing mechanism?

[@TommyLikeTom]

wow that's amazing

[@snickle1980]

Soon...You see, I've built a goblin Flushing machine for my fortress. It's not for self defense. Our 9 dwarf squad of steel is _far too powerful_ for our fortress to require many defenses. This is simply a 3 lever toilet. Caged & captured gobs are carried to the flushing room, the doors are locked, and water fills the room. When all caged guests have drowned, another lever pulls a door open which flushes everything down into the caverns. 😄

[@gianturtlecow1455]

im still struggling with the basics but this was so easy to follow and i feel really comfortable being able to replicate it myself once i stop feeling so overwhelmed

[@jyrbian]

Any chance you can do a quick tutorial on managers and the work orders screen. Specifically I am tyring to understand the difference between empty items and available items such as bags, barrels, and mugs. The wiki, even though updated, doesn't seem to explain this.

[@rubenossorio879]

Thank you for all the tutorials! :D An idea for the next could be how to expel people that start throwing Tantrums

[@adlhbgreqk]

Glad I aready know that the lever can be anywhere not right next to the brige

[@TamerBayouq]

When the bridge is raised, does it act like a closed door blocking entry? (If so if the bridge is 3 tiles wide does it mean it can block a 3 tile high entrance?)

[@BlindiRL]

It acts like a wall and blocks water / lava/ baddies etc.

[@pastafrolla625]

can i dig a pit under the bridge like medieval castels? also, does the atom smasher still work?

[@galacticgon925]

Pull the lever Kronk. WRONG LEVER!

[@ahloz8359]

Blind, can you do a tutorial/guide on a library? im struggling on how to make the scrolls for it, and understand the library. Thanks for the vids man.

[@felsfieber]

Open the Gate a little!

[@TrombonePirate]

I set mine up exactly as yours but when I try and link my lever to the bridge it says "need accessible mechanisms"

[@BlindiRL]

You need to make more mechanisms. two extra for the actual attaching part.

[@SSPARROWW]

Anyone know how he got the highlight of the bounds of where he's placing the bridge? Once I click once the bridge dissappear and I can't see where I'm placing the bridge. This also exists with the farm plots and floors

[@Fundad93]

I have the same issue, it must be a bug

[@winterzee]

Do you have the keyboard cursor on?

[@HinFoo]

i guess i should have done this, lost 40 dwarfs to some kind of zombie monkeys in a raid

[@magicpixeltree]

How do you change the mechanism ? I am stuck I need to use a magma safe mechanism ?

[@suntzu6122]

glass i think is magma safe

[@Litany_of_Fury]

If the bridge is this sized do I need to make space above it when it is raised? Assuming 3 tiles tall? What would happen if this is the case, would it break?

[@evilbob840]

Nope, you can even build it in an underground hallway to completely seal it off. (Unless there is a change in the latest version I don't know about, but I doubt that's the case.)

[@Litany_of_Fury]

@@evilbob840 thanks i'll test this

[@SetArk]

I've tried exactly what you've done and, for some reason, the leaver says there's no Mechanism nearby.

[@BlindiRL]

You need two additional mechs to attach it.

[@SetArk]

@@BlindiRL Oh so a total of 3. Two for the bridge, and 1 for the leaver?

[@SetArk]

@@BlindiRL Thank yah! That worked. Gonna be honest, i didn't got that from the video. If a feeedback is welcome, warning that it would be nescessary 3 Mechanisms would have clarified a little bit >_> Really didn't got that i needed two extra mechanisms on the bridge. But anyhow, amazing videos, love your content Sorry for bothering ç_ç

[@danroberts007]

I tried to do this last night and the game insisted that I place the drawbridge against a slope. It won't allow me to build it on flat ground, so I can't enclose my walls in case of attack. :-(

[@evilbob840]

Were you trying to build it above a channel? The part that "turns into a wall" has to be on solid ground -- so in the video example, he could have had a channel under the 3 left and 3 center tiles, but not the 3 right ones.

[@secfeed6987]

I think there is a bug, everytime I build my bridge it only puts the mechanism to the left side, no matter what direction I select

[@BlindiRL]

you gotta select the direction on the tiny menu on the right.

[@secfeed6987]

@@BlindiRL Figured it out, direction must be selected before you place it. It's confusing as it allows you to set its direction after you place it.

[@chillin_chicken]

Are walls created by closed bridges always one tile tall, or are they as tall as the bridge is long??

[@BlindiRL]

Yes, BUT they don't have floor on top and are easier to climb then normal walls so put a overhang or something on top of it.

[@hippocrap9189]

I followed this video exactly but when I try to link the lever it just says "need accessible mechanism"

[@evilbob840]

You need a total of 3 mechanisms, 1 to create the lever, and then when doing the link, 1 to attach to the bridge, and 1 to attach to the lever.

[@alexdmitriev4665]

@@evilbob840 Thanks very much

[@ecscottindiana]

I'm playing 50.07 Windows -- the *NON*-steam version -- and the arrows version of the direction menu (the free version doesn't have icons, but there are arrows pointing in four directions in the same spot as the menu in kzbin.info/www/bejne/goraY5qlZpyGp6s. unfortunately, pressing the WASD keys doesn't highlight any of the directions. It just moves the window over the play area like it normally does. Clicking doesn't highlight anything, either. Any advice?? Anyways, I found a way that worked (the draw bridge raised in the correct direction). Dunno if that was pure chance, or if what I describe below is the way it works in the 50.07 windows freeware version). Here's what I did: I built two-tile-long draw-bridge (minimum lenght) where on one end, there's NO adjacent blocks (just floor or open), and on the other end, the attached (anchored) end, I have solid walls on either side of the bridge. Oh BTW, it also helps to know the following fact: no matter how long a draw bridge is when it's open, when closed, the bridge is only 1 z-level tall. Please find illustrations below: Legend: W = Solid wall-block B = Bridge tile (extended), and U = Bridge tile (Raised) F = Floor tile U = Upright bridge tile (functions as a wall) Diagram of draw-bridge while it is down (open): F F F F B F W B W F F F Diagram of draw-bridge while it is up (closed): F F F F F F W U W F F F (path runs from bottom of illustration (the "inside" of the bridge) to the top of the illustration (the "outside" of the bridge)

[@D3nchanter]

guess you can't channel under a bridge to make a moat... lame do i have to remove it and THEN channel now? sigh, i guess ill spend the summer doing just that

[@kalaksed]

Yup, once the bridge is built it counts as a building. You can dig away everything under where it will be except for the one row where it will lift/retract to, which neess solid ground beneath it ...but as this reply is two days late, you likely figured this out by now

[@1YCARADOFACAO]

The dwarves just walk over it, idk if that works

[@MOISECRIMI]

Support comment

[@ScottBot726]

How do you determine which side the bridge will raise? Is it based on how you draw it or can you switch the axis after it’s built?

[@evilbob840]

That's the buttons that first show up around 0:26. The cluster of 4 together are for raising drawbridges (he selects the one on the right, which causes the bridge to raise to the right). He also mentions the 5th button off to the right of the rest, which makes the bridge retract (disappear).

[@evilbob840]

Oh, and no, once the bridge is built you cannot change its size or axis.

[@TheFatPunisher]

"No accessible mechanisms" I have a bridge right next to it.

[@ReinhardB100]

Important question from a non-native speaker: Is it L-EA-ver or L-E-ver?

[@owenvenes]

/'lever/ in AmE /'li:ver/ in BrE I believe Blind is Canadian, so he probably uses a combination of both American and British English vocabulary and pronunciation.

[@christophermcguffey2514]

:)

[@kuamir573]

You need at least 2 mechanism if not this wont work, wonky DF mechanic 😂😂😂

[@underagedrinking69]

what is the ceilling height minimum requirements within a mountain for a bridge size?

[@jasonterry9343]

Does not work for me. i.imgur.com/4jrNovM.png

[@20xy94]

you have linus tech tips voice congrations

[@mnap89]

Sadly, you cant make a moat with it. Cant remove gorund under the bridge.

[@douxiepoo]

try removing the ground then placing the bridge after

[@kowalski173]

Lol was wondering where the big gates were. Big bridge it is then

[@TheRealMrBillyBob]

How far can the lever be?

[@BlindiRL]

As far as you want.

[@mammajamma4115]

@@BlindiRL Does that include z levels?