Venturing Without Anything in Dwarf Fortress

[@burnin8able]

"send raiders here and only burning winds will carry their ashes back" is probably one of the most hardcore lines I've ever heard.

[@JustDontDie]

I was definitely a little too proud of it.

[@Dadmos]

@@JustDontDie It was a glorious line. 10/10, love your work.

[@phearedphantom]

Especially to elves

[@ericwallach5286]

I love how you weave your mistakes into the storyline, like about the bone crossbow being repurposed into a crafts dwarf shop. How creative!

[@JustDontDie]

Mistakes? I've never once made a mistake in my entire life.

[@rohan0724]

Giant chipmunks and squirrels are no joke, had a war dog run up to one trying to defend a merchant and the giant red squirrel first combat prompt rippped the dogs throat out and sent the part sailing

[@JustDontDie]

Yeah, I thought that the way the army handled giant bears meant that giant chipmunks wouldn't be a problem, but I was very very wrong.

[@fleshwebber1757]

3 of my first forts were wiped by a singular giant hamster because the tutorial option kept putting me in untamed savagery.

[@romulusnuma116]

I love the story that they became the bandits

[@JustDontDie]

What? They're good honest Dwarves! It's everyone else that's bad enough that they HAVE to do it. Jeez. Bandits? Hah. You've been spending too much time with those Elves.

[@SpaghettiEnterprises]

This was really really good. You nailed the pacing and the storytelling. Very engaging 30 mins of my life

[@bobhonkhonk9843]

Continue this fortress! Episode 2!

[@JustDontDie]

Thanks, but I don't think it's too likely. Raiding the Elves would mostly be waiting a month for each off screen battle while making more gear at home and hunkering up whenever they came to counterraid with not much variety. There's a reason I cut through nearly a year in a minute close to the end.

[@ssgoko88]

​@@JustDontDie new fortress! Episode 2

[@younggriff4703]

Fortress 2! Fortress 2! Fortress 2!

[@RocketChickArt1]

I basically love the fact that you made relatively the most effective dwarf Bandit Fortress

[@JustDontDie]

*innocent whistling intensifies*

[@rottenroadkill3311]

This was so fun to watch! I love your use of imagination to tell the story!

[@TheBearOfSpades]

This was great! Especially since by the end I was on the elves side! Great story-telling.

[@JustDontDie]

You were on the Elf's side??? How dare you???

[@petezarole]

Love the dwarf fortress content, my favorite kind of game to do these with because of how many units you can get out there with. Makes you feel like a real general

[@РусланКукиль-е7ь]

What chaos! Absolutely everything is so on the edge! And the way you justify it is so hilarious! I enjoyed this so much!

[@jacobotstot2021]

Nice. I have been looking forward to another one of these.

[@ovrsurge4689]

I'm interested to see the results of this. Nobody knows who forged the first dwarven pickaxe or felled the first tree. But the arcane knowledge they used to do so has been lost to time. All tools owe their existence to these progenitors, as there is no way to create those tools without already having those tools available.

[@simoncollins2574]

Wow this was amazing. You have a gift for making these stories come to life, I'm more excited than ever for your next video.

[@esper6119]

"It turns out they make a ton of noise even when no-one's around to hear it!" lmaoooooo god, and them becoming Evil™ was so good the paranoia? delicious.

[@TanToRza]

What a chad. Didn’t even give your dwarfs ambushing or something to make their raiding go better to be able to steal decent stuff from raids. The absolute cheek of this man.

[@TheRenofox]

Dwarf Fortress makes for amazing stories indeed. Excellent video!

[@TheNickman007]

Your Dwarf Fortress videos are excellent, I'm subscribing

[@ZombieKilla786]

I love your dwarf fortress videos so much!! Please keep up the amazing work :)

[@Momplestiltskin]

So happy I found this channel! Super underrated, but I think you'll go far. The editing is spot on, the commentary is entertaining, and you're really damn good at all the games you play.

[@JustDontDie]

Thanks so much for the kind words! ♥

[@mhmed8798]

My monkey brain can't stop watching your Dwarf Fortress vids. The vid are concise but also have length, it makes for a very stimulating experience.

[@JustDontDie]

Nyehehehe, the subliminal messaging is wo- I mean glad to hear you like 'em!

[@WolfsdenxD]

Peak content. Would love to see a continuation.

[@JustDontDie]

Thanks, but I don't think it's too likely. Raiding the Elves would mostly be waiting a month for each off screen battle while making more gear at home and hunkering up whenever they came to counterraid with not much variety. There's a reason I cut through nearly a year in a minute close to the end.

[@aeonsummoner]

I found your channel recently through these DF story vids and love what you're doing

[@madhijz-spacewhale240]

dwarf fortress really is a game for people who can take everything in stride and you are clearly such a person

[@JustDontDie]

It's a lot of fun to play, and it makes for these wonderful stories of coincidences. Bringing the pick back on time, finding an anvil right before the liaison came, making a crown right after the liaison came the next year.

[@DimosasQuest]

Nice video as always. Keep up the great work!

[@idontknowandidontcare4603]

Very good video. Keep it up, and i feel you will make it big - this is exactly the kind of content dwarf fortress players are starving for!

[@JustDontDie]

Thanks! These have taken my channel off. It's what I'd want to watch, so it's what I make =)

[@Knetterkoekje]

What an amazing well build video and fun idea! Super execution!

[@vurel9422]

Just found your channel today, great video and overall good content. Earned yourself a sub and hopefully many more in the future. Keep up the good work bud

[@JustDontDie]

Thanks so much!

[@zachchristiansen]

Hot damn, this was amazing! Top-shelf stuff, JDD.

[@JustDontDie]

Thanks!

[@SuperCosmicSpaceMagnet]

I really love the way you weave a narrative into the emergent gameplay. It's wonderful storytelling - thank you!

[@quinnwasson2399]

Excellent dorfing, would dorf again!

[@StodaGryph]

This was gloriously entertaining, thanks for making it!

[@PureStealth]

The giant chipmunk ended up scarier than I expected lol

[@JustDontDie]

Saaaame. In the original footage, I laughed real hard when I first saw the lone giant chipmunk. Then I watched the footage back and saw what caused over 20 of the deaths.

[@goreobsessed2308]

Going off how big giant creatures are it might as well be a bear

[@shiso7237]

Loving the challenge, the naration, keep it up !

[@Ultrevolous]

Great video man. Hilarious. Expertly done.

[@thecaveofthedead]

Killer fortress. Loved this challenge.

[@kylebowles9820]

Love all the jet stuff, it's my favorite! And microcline too

[@JustDontDie]

Jet, quartzite, and microcline are my favorites! The colors are just so striking. It's one of many things I love about the steam version over the old ASCII one.

[@herbertpocket8855]

Oh man the tree falling joke made me chuckle

[@JustDontDie]

I'm always happy when a joke is juuuuust dumb enough for me to consider deleting it for being too dumb.

[@cloud1973]

This sounds and looks super awesome

[@madeline99awfulradiatorlove]

really enjoying discovering ur channel!! ♥ absolutely brightened my day

[@JustDontDie]

Thanks so much! I'm glad you like it that much!

[@dominicmanester8125]

Nice idea for a 1-shot fort and the magma was a good way to finish it off.

[@JustDontDie]

Thanks! It ended up taking more than 2.5 years to fully get the moat/magma instead of just going to war, but it was a much better finish and allowed for some real fun stuff.

[@joewalker4710]

always looking forwards to these vids

[@FirstLast-gx7fj]

Does the old trick of using the wagon wood to make a training axe to fell more trees not work anymore?

[@JustDontDie]

I thought training axes didn't work for that, but it's been 10+ years since I tried and I didn't even think to try again... Whoops. Oh well, I think it made for a better story this way.

[@carlossouzaamorim]

"It's not about the wood, it's about sending a message!"

[@davood123]

"disgusting non alcoholic water"

[@JustDontDie]

Ugh, it's just the worst. Can you believe smelly humans drink that stuff every day?

[@jacobthehollow]

Another great challenge video

[@amberblyledge7859]

Dang. Less than 3 minutes in and I'm loving this.

[@zaubergurke5468]

^Loved the video, the dirty leaf lovers can get it. Damned Knifeears, not an ounce of honor in their bones! Thats why we didnt use their bones for the helmets. I actually plan to do something similar and open up a volcano to transform the surrounding swamplands into an obsidian filled wasteland. Leaving a mark on the world, you know.

[@Graknorke]

I can forgive war crimes but I draw the line at disrespecting rodents, giant or otherwise

[@lemongambit]

A bit late on this, but your trash chutes could work if you make two groups of trash chutes each with a pressure plate that triggers if you go to the opposite area. If you enter chute area 1, it triggers the chutes in area 2 and visa versa. When area 1 fills up, they'll need to deliver trash to area 2, which triggers area 1 to empty as area 2 fills up only to emptied when they have to go back to area 1.

[@JustDontDie]

Ooh, that's a god idea, thanks!

[@beanofknowledge2125]

Is it really a Dwarf Fortress fortification if it doesn't take more Dwarven Lives than those of invaders?

[@JustDontDie]

I didn't want to mention it, but I kept track as best I could while watching the footage back. And really, they should have raided the pump stack for vengeance and not the Elves...

[@Burnrate]

I saw that guy fly into the magma at 26:56, almost made it to battle!

[@madmarshman]

Wow what a fun fort, ive played DF for several years, but never used pump stacks, always looked like a ball ache, but this video makes them look like they're worth the trouble..👍

[@JustDontDie]

Oh, don't let the editing fool you. They absolutely are a pain in the neck, but they do let you do some sick stuff. Just be prepared to go back every minute to start the next for an hour and a half or so. Very rewarding once they're all done though!

[@TheJackHood]

This was an amazing video!

[@DobryDrug]

that's was a delightful and inspiring tale

[@icycrusader1947]

May Arstruk rest in peace. A true hero.

[@kuznetsov9471]

I love how Goblins seem very much uninterested in causing trouble and cutebolds just stealing shit as a usual occurrence. :p

[@JustDontDie]

They know what's good for 'em

[@VonGalactic]

This is a masterpiece! Amazing vid

[@tomeryud]

awesome video!!!

[@alexanderolschewski5439]

Looking forward for the next dwarf fortress video :)

[@JustDontDie]

Thanks! I've started recording and am about a year in. Should be out in a few weeks =)

[@matthewsanchez7953]

"Fire can smell fear." -Jdd

[@brilliantarrow4125]

This video makes me want a series where the goal is complete domination over the continent. A campaign where the only end is one where only dwarves remain standing (and of course cementing the fortress as the true moutainhome.)

[@JustDontDie]

That'd be a great ending, but it'd take a while and be super repetitive. Especially because seiging enemies happens off screen. There'd be years and years of 'We raided 4 settlements and beat back a counter raid'

[@Skeithalot]

Great content.

[@grayaj23]

This is a great video.

[@MisterPe1985]

Great video! How do you set all this.. ''nothing'' equipment to start? Want to try it too!

[@JustDontDie]

For a custom start, you choose to prepare your adventure manually, choose no skills, then get rid of all items in .

[@dkSilo]

"Turns out they make a ton of noise, even if no-one is around to hear it." -Just Don't Die 2023 [concerning falling trees]

[@JustDontDie]

It spooked me during recording. I cut out most of it, but it was like a solid 5-6 minutes of the sound spam going off as every tree on the map burned.

[@crafty_badger]

Another elgi trick - forcing davi to drink water. That's a grudgin'!

[@JustDontDie]

An unforgivable crime.

[@zulu1775r]

This is a really good video good job keep it up you got my sub :)

[@Danila438]

28:05 yeah, yeah of course it's intentional

[@JustDontDie]

*innocent whistling intensifies*

[@PZMaTTy]

When your storytelling skills surpass your gaming skills XD haha cool video, very fun idea

[@youngboi3739]

14:47 if not Friend , then why friend-shaped?

[@JustDontDie]

Everything is friend shaped if you're stupid and/or ambitious enough.

[@timothymclean]

0:07: Huh? You can just turn the starting wagon into a training axe and-oh, that was fixed in 2016. Well, I look forward to seeing how you plan to overcome that initial hurdle! 3:40: ...so, the purpose of this challenge _isn't_ to start with nothing and claw your way up to the basics, but to just play Dwarf Fortress without building a fortress?

[@JustDontDie]

? I build a fortress. But accepting immigrants with tools would break the challenge.

[@walli6388]

Awesome vid!

[@wolfen26]

I'd think that upon his burial they made Wereroot an honorary dwarf and Protector of the Forge.

[@Scourge24]

"...and no anvil means no smithing." That part makes sense, but why is everything on fire?!

[@Burnrate]

Is it not possible to create macros in the steam version of DF? That would be great to run one to place all those pumps. Just record the hotkeys and hit repeat a hundred times

[@shivurr9714]

Giant bears, known for guzzling down entire fortress stocks worth of alcohol willingly joined them because the dwarves sat at with it slowly nudging mugs to it, atleast, thats what im going with

[@MaxYoung-Maxinfet]

I kind of want to use that flame wave you demonstrated as a defense mechanism, maybe fill a mine cart with magma and launch it into the woods when enemies come lol.

[@JustDontDie]

It's a very effective one time use thing haha

[@alessiochemeri2059]

This fortress way of life remind me of Ghino di Tacco, the bandit barone on radicofani

[@HansLemurson]

If you're short on building material, a log can be cut into 4 wood blocks by a carpenter. (if you're willing to risk permanently transforming some of your scarce starting wood)

[@JustDontDie]

I considered it, but I didn't really need to have more workshops at once anyways and wanted to have 3 wood for a bed, bucket, and coke ASAP.

[@HansLemurson]

@@JustDontDie Fair enough.

[@swampoger]

would love to see a follow up, great video

[@JustDontDie]

Thanks, but I don't think it's too likely. Raiding the Elves would mostly be waiting a month for each off screen battle while making more gear at home and hunkering up whenever they came to counterraid with not much variety. There's a reason I cut through nearly a year in a minute close to the end.

[@seize2581]

This was absolutely epic ! My fortresses are so uninteresting compared to this :D

[@JustDontDie]

Pffft. I find that making a challenge + working towards a goal helps make things interesting. Limitations are the key to imagination and all that.

[@pixelatedgrass7528]

great vid!

[@MrMoodyKSA]

Im a beginner df player here and it would sound very fun to play this game like this. Can you make a simple video on how did you set up your embark caravan and what did u bring and what settings did u use for dwarves

[@JustDontDie]

The setup is fairly straight forward. When you design your own expedition, don't give any of your dwarves any skills, then get rid off all items and animals in the expedition tab. Make sure you settle near other settlements you can raid.

[@nightchicken3517]

This dude is starting with nothing and getting further than I can bring all the goods a dwarf shall ever need. Maybe I should rethink my fortress priorities, or maybe it's the elves' fault.

[@jj12343211]

'They killed one of ours.' And they took that personally So personally the entire continent would burn in their flames of retribution.

[@JustDontDie]

How's the saying go? An eye for the opposite of an iota?

[@roxterat]

A nice way to narrate it.

[@Sara3346]

The fact that DWARVES creatures of stone areso reliant on WOOD of all things is something....I always thought was either a poigniant reminder of how dependant we are on each other...or a major oversight in game design.

[@JustDontDie]

I definitely think it's so you can't just safely get everything on your own every map.

[@egan452]

Starting in an area with fire clay could be a good strat, but then again, making things easier is obviously not the point. Haven't watched past the start yet though; I'm excited to see where this goes.

[@JustDontDie]

I'd till need fuel, which would mean chopping trees or mining to lava. A volcano start would make it doable but probably too easy.

[@egan452]

You can build with fire clay without processing it into stoneware, you just need to build the kiln to set the gathering order. It's unique in that regard as far as I'm aware.

[@JustDontDie]

@@egan452 ooh I had no idea. That's neat, thanks for letting me know.

[@kirbycooper9496]

Fun fact: gorlaks are frjendly, and love making music. The game still treats them as any other monster tho lol

[@Kite403]

Can't beat the elven menace? Just set fire to the world!

[@DasIstGriff]

Wow, cool fort design! For some kind of challenge for a new videos I recommend you dying dwarf civilization in brutal world. Sometimes it is possible to generate a dwarven civilization with total less then 50 pop. So, nobody will come, no other dwarves will join your fort... Only this several dwarves and their kids..

[@JustDontDie]

Ooh, that is an interesting idea. Though it'd likely take too long to make a video of entirely their descendants, since it'd take decades of in game time.

[@DasIstGriff]

@@JustDontDie btw if you would try to make it, I would try pumping the number of civilizations way up and limiting the number of sites. By the way, the require playable civilization setting just tells the generator whether or not to reject any world that doesn't have dwarves. Hope, that would works.

[@ws128]

please continue this.

[@JustDontDie]

Thanks, but I don't think it's too likely. Raiding the Elves would mostly be waiting a month for each off screen battle while making more gear at home and hunkering up whenever they came to counterraid with not much variety. There's a reason I cut through nearly a year in a minute close to the end.

[@HansLemurson]

I am shocked, SHOCKED to hear these reports about banditry in the local area.

[@JustDontDie]

To think some creatures (Elves) would sink that low is... Wait, it's not shocking at all. They're Elves!

[@Ihnele]

Notice how the homeland liaison was a goblin?

[@SajeevaYoga1]

sick bro

[@itzaleaf405]

Dwarf fortress... a game I love to watch (your's specifically), but could NEVER play myself.

[@JustDontDie]

Super fair. It's got a steep learning curve and can be a bit finnicky, but the stories and roleplaying potential are second to none.

[@fchurca]

* If you need a good lorewise reason not to use the silver axe, silver is soft and doesn't keep an edge. Although for cutting it trees an axe is an axe is an axe, the material properties for metals are modelled in DF for weapons with silver making great mauls due to their density and poor swords, and you could use that IRL fact as an excuse. Same for picks, with copper and silver picks working great on stone but poorly on armoured foes. As an aside, in DF silver axes do little slashing damage but due to the weight of the axe head they deal blunt damage and behave as if they were excellent warhammers. * Regarding dumping, if you designate a dumping zone on the ground next to empty space, the dwarves will drop the dumpables into the empty space. You could do that with a two-Urist-tall shaft on top of unpressurized lava channelled diagonally or on your hatches.

[@JustDontDie]

I think, but don't quire remember, that there was also a copper one at that point. I should have gone with 'family heirlooms', but I thought I'd get more (but never got any more after the first 2) and thought the joke was funny enough to keep haha.

[@wessel7919]

I want more!!!!!

[@JustDontDie]

Good timing. Check the channel in ~13 hours :)

[@123HunterHead]

You could I just said the dwarf hid the axe so nobody knows. Or it's more like a heirloom

[@JustDontDie]

True, but after the first migrant wave brought 2 axes, I thought we'd be getting a ton of them, and hiding 80947198410 axes in a row would have been silly. Family heirloom was definitely the way to go with the two we got.