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.

[@thewallachianbard6975]

One might have to be aware of cleaning too, since who or whatever caused the blood and vomit splatter may still be there- or at least what is left of 'em . Since most animals breed in batches, one can pick a part of the batch to be eaten and the rest to continue the cycle .

[@Robert-vk7je]

Sometimes I think Tarn does these things on purpose.

[@rysiii811]

well, obviously wait for them to grow up, more meat to have this way :D

[@jirzetta]

Keep the puppies, they can be trained into war dogs. DO eat the kitties and everything else that can't be trained though!

[@vincentsalcido9605]

Nah, those kids need to toughen up

[@wulfieonline745]

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

[@BlindiRL]

That would do it. Just like if a dwarf is stuck in a tree and you tell them to leave the map to go attack another location. I think that's the only two things that could cause that now.

[@suzumes6738]

"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. "

[@kevingriffith6011]

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.

[@BlindiRL]

Why not giant war grizzlies

[@kevingriffith6011]

@@BlindiRL Hey, now. We can't let the children feel *too* secure. A little fear is healthy for a growing dwarf.

[@ker0356]

:o that's genius

[@arthurbarros5189]

One of the first combat I saw in my first fort was a pack of dogs persecuting and annihilating a goblin snatcher. Good boys.

[@thewallachianbard6975]

Once I have seen a snatched head towards the fortress, the war dogs I put on guard oddly didn't seem to go after him as he walked inside.

[@thedeadwookie25]

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.

[@BlindiRL]

Yes

[@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

[@tristanridley1601]

I learned today that the catsplosion is fixed and that doors lock out animals again. (The door bug was when it first went on Steam.)

[@rottenroadkill3311]

Hyped to go to dwarf fortress school

[@rottenroadkill3311]

I learned so much

[@lawka2699]

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

[@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!

[@ElfyBean]

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

[@no_mnom]

Putting cabinets and chests in the rooms is important. Destroying garbage is important for longevity of fort.

[@arthurbarros5189]

I always plan to make "civilian squads" just to force everyone into using armor, and avoiding old clothing everywhere. I end up never doing it, of course.

[@johnpawlak7350]

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

[@JulianSloman]

"Legendary bugs are gone [...] but by default kids will play with the dead and turn into murderers" :D

[@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.

[@BlindiRL]

Rimworld is far harder then dwarf fortress. Less tedious but a much harder game.

[@peterstedman6140]

Dwarf fortress isn't actually hard to keep your dwarves alive. Farming and brewing are very easily taught in the tutorial and are all you need to support a fort for decades. Then you gradually learn other game systems as they gain your interest

[@tristanridley1601]

As soon as you realize that starting a new fort in the same world is a huge part of the depth of the game, it becomes a better game.

[@ivegotavandetta]

Ah yes the infamous puppy slaughter galena year 104

[@AzureDragon158]

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.

[@arthurbarros5189]

I avoid doing this because of the useless seeds it generates. I only consistently did this when I had a count who loved perry.

[@audraambrozy9443]

The yield from fruit bearing trees is pretty huge. Given that cooked foods are the best trading goods currently, I like to have as many materials as possible. I try to focus my deforestation on the types of trees which don't obviously produce fruit.

[@vholes2803]

As a "can't hurt, might help" addendum I build two or three stepladders, not just one.

[@arthurbarros5189]

@@audraambrozy9443 I always plan on walling some Olive trees, covering the roof with clear glass, consistently using olive oil soap, but end up never doing it.

[@fastfiddler1625]

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.

[@halotoxin6043]

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

[@RetiredNavyVet]

Thanks Blind!

[@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.

[@jakedanielsen4512]

Need more BOOZE

[@TheRyujinLP]

@@jakedanielsen4512 I'm hoping they fixed things a bit since then (I still haven't played since before I posted that) since I'm finally getting the desire to try again.

[@DACUCOR]

the fps didn't go up and I miss my dog

[@RaiOshynnCat]

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

[@HunterMayer]

Hey man... I think you should do one of these every release... Well especially if it changes something... Every major release there's such a huge bump to the meta I like to dig through these What's the most effective tactics available kind of posts all the time so why not. Just killing the silence while I'm working solo. Dreaming of dwarves and beard stuff. Yeah I just made it weird... 😂

[@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!!

[@devindailey598]

thanks blind!

[@alfascav1754]

I feel like the number one thing for new dorf players to know, is dwarves CAN drink water, but they will NOT like it. Dwarves prefer to drink exclusively booze, of any kind. Not that gross water, fish fuck in that y'know?

[@ASquishyBean0126]

I mean, you do you. Also! Yeah, Dwarf Fortress is very stable and pretty awesome regardless. :3 Love your videos dude.

[@Moncew]

really good set of tips

[@Yadmeister]

Great info. Thanks

[@ruadeil_zabelin]

I didn't think I'd learn anything new.. .and yet.. I did. Thanks!

[@amirooorandomgames]

I smash extra cats and dogs by a bridge. I feel it's better than eating them. Also they are great for alerting the fort because they can detect hidden enemies. So tie some dogs to some pillars outside and no one can sneak in. Those pesky warebeasts are the worst. There was one case that some goblins didn't know they can enter my fort because there was a hole in my on-ground fort with stairs going up but no stairs going down (or something close to that, I can't remember). A stupid cat was hanging around the roof and pulled goblins to that single tile and when goblins saw the hole and dwarves inside it, they jumped in and ruined my fort. So be careful that rarely cats and dogs can invite enemies to your fort too.

[@sgtpepper91]

4:53 "If you're clear cleric cutting trees"

[@r.c.christian4633]

Oh wow, finally my cemetary won't be mostly a child cemetary / playground anymore! Not that a lack of population was kind of a problem, but I sometimes did feel bad about that strange issue. Also I always thought it's the collapsing tree that tears holes into your top layer of your fort, not just the root square.

[@nickryan3417]

Dwarves and animals still get stuck up trees and starve unless found and somehow retrieved. Usually the first one knows about this problem is the death notification

[@sol2544]

I have a hundred hours in this game but half your tips were at the very least borderline game changing for me. No more individual plump helmet stockpiles, now i know how to turn off cooking them

[@davidmartensson273]

I should really not have watched this while having a cold with a nasty cough. Laughing with a cough is not a good combination ;) Wonderful explanation.

[@CasualBeans]

Yeah, I have like 600 hours in the game and I didn’t know about civilian uniforms lol. Thanks for the info!

[@keithmofley8275]

Is there still a bug with the quivers getting equipped?

[@BlindiRL]

Not a bug with quivers. There's literally a missing UI element telling the dwarves what type of ammo to equip. So if there's multiple types of ammo they are incapable of simply equipping bolts. And swap between them constantly and don't know what to fire or how to use them or when to use them.

[@keithmofley8275]

@@BlindiRL that makes so much more sense to me now. Thank you!

[@captainmaim]

@@BlindiRL Does it help if I only make one kind of ammo?

[@pierre8838]

@@captainmaim For marksdwarves they will gather ammo from stockpiles in their barracks, you can set up a stockpile with only one type of ammo available. That's how I do it and for now I have a pretty good success with small marksdwarf squads. I also use defend burrows orders instead of station orders for markdwarfs in prepared shooting positions. I still have issues with hunters taking a bow and some bolts and not being able to fire them from time to times.

[@TheGreatAwesome]

Is the "seeds in barrels" bug fixed?

[@BlindiRL]

Its not a bug.

[@TheGreatAwesome]

@@BlindiRL So it's safe to put seeds in barrels without it becoming a problem?

[@HunterMayer]

Can you do an guidance vid focused on clean water... Or am I being too paranoid about my wells picking up muddy water? I'm even going two deep...

[@gervasfuhrmann1506]

What do i do when my dwarfs fear and slaughter every child that they make? Its not even a meme, genuinely what can i do

[@BlindiRL]

Expel the problem dwarves aka the mad dwarves and build a prison then set up the justice system. Something is wrong there cause that is far from normal behavior.

[@michaellebert8907]

"eat the puppies, itll increase your framerate" legendary

[@torymiddlebrooks]

Pay 30$, you heathens.

[@OTOss8]

Groovy.

[@TehRaegls]

For the diagonal water trick, does 'pressure' include resetting the highest Z level it will want to flow to? IE, If I have a cistern on the surface and route it down some Z levels to come out of a diagonal or diagonals, will it want to try and fill that space up the Z level of the cistern still? Or does it now treat where it came out of the diagonal as the 'source' Z level?

[@tristanridley1601]

Hope you got your answer last year, but for any future readers... yes exactly that.

[@eomchy]

That's why I keep running out of seeds 😭

[@shodan2002]

Building a roof is one thing I still don’t know how to do if I made something inside a cave or outside

[@clinodev]

*looks at list* Just ten?

[@BlindiRL]

lol

[@korosaki13]

Commenting for youtube to be pleased

[@nyxetera]

I like that he didn't suggest gelding or anything, just kill the puppies I guess.

[@TakoWeiss]

I dont understand the point of rocks what you mean

[@ok-xn4nv]

Oh. So that's why my children are all depressed.

[@ValdVincent]

Do children get good moodlets from doing chores, or is it something you can just turn off and forget about. Since I like most people have a fort big enough not to worry about laborers.

[@BlindiRL]

They do it's the chores don't involve moving bodies around

[@ValdVincent]

@@BlindiRL Okay, so kids love doing their chores, dwarfs sure are strange.

[@LinkedSnake]

Yuck, even if it is convenient for water pressure, diagonal corridors always rustle my jimmies, I can't stand them in my forts, I'll never be able to do this.

[@spencersullivan4447]

0:50 have to disagree with you there. i consistently have my animals get stuck up fruit trees when my dwarves are harvesting them

[@rattlesalad4472]

Caging animals doesn't require pause the game instead butchering the pup

[@phearedphantom]

#1 goes from confusing to i got this then to wth just happened and back to confusing. Then after a year or so of playing you can call youself familiar with the game 😂

[@mogyui2902]

I would love to see an indepth cooking explanation, from farm to food. I always run out of seeds

[@thelimatheou]

Turkeys. Turkeys are the secret. Renewable meat & leather.

[@tymurgubayev4840]

dfhack needs in addition to `ban-cooking seeds` a `ban-chores ...`

[@ErmineViolinist]

Not too clickbaity, nice video. Eat the puppies, it will increase your frame rate.

[@sebastianucero7535]

loosing is fuUUUUnnnnNNN

[@captainmaim]

losing is FUN!

[@catlovingtrio]

"Eat the puppies." Said like a true Chinese person.

[@markholdgate]

Haha don't talk about diagonal water on the subreddit. Those kooks will tell you it is cheating by exploiting a glitch.

[@BlindiRL]

That's fine

[@arthurbarros5189]

Don't let them know how many leggings and giant axe blades I have been melting.

[@CarterMassey]

You sound like Griffin Johnson the armchair historian

[@kfirpopilis4846]

I ate my new puppy and Hogwarts Legacy still runs like shit on my 10 years old laptop

[@Mel-mu8ox]

Best ClickBait I've ever watched XD love the dry humour, but unfortunately I don't have any dogs for puppy pies :( Will kittens suffice ????

[@lysso5442]

first hopefully

[@thomasmacmanus9913]

Children never should do chores but ok if you can filter the jobs that is a bit more realistic because they are all pioneers and the children there had chores to be sure!

[@TonyTheTerrible]

as someone that hasnt played yet about half of these seemed not relevant to a new player

[@mrosskne]

the free version also has graphics. stop being dishonest.

[@BlindiRL]

I'm not being dishonest lol.

[@mrosskne]

@@BlindiRL yes you are. don't argue.

[@blackrasputin3356]

wtf are you talking about? I'm constantly having to deal with both animals and dwarves getting stuck in trees. Or finding starved corpses up in the branches later on.

[@Kwisatz-Chaderach]

Nice.