Your First Fortress: A Dwarf Fortress Crash Course

[@kruggsmash]

Some notes, just because there's a whole bunch of new eyes on this video. -This is in no way a comprehensive tutorial. It's just enough to barely get you started. -When I made this video I only had maybe 15k subs and would get asked all the time about my tileset, that's why I included that segment. By no means do you have to add my tileset. -There are "secret commands" that aren't on the main in-game menu, but nothing you can't survive without when getting started. - Not all keyboards are the same! I realize this now. As for ones other than a standard qwerty english keyboard, I dunno what to tell ya! Sorry! If you reply to this comment, I might update this list or reply (if I have the time!)

[@sirKixen]

woah, I was watching this yesterday and just came back to watch it more this morning, crazy to see a comment on it so promptly after starting! Thanks for giving an overview of the basics

[@Baconninja-pm2xm]

yes please!

[@kruggsmash]

@@sirKixen Yeah, I figured it'd be best to clear some stuff up for those wondering. I really wanna give new folks a smooth intro to the game! Thanks for watching!

[@cheveu8632]

looks like I'm not the only one to get pulled to this video. I started it yesterday and am currently starting my first fortress right now x) Thanks for this crash course Kruggsmash :)

[@zack01598]

oh wow, how random that I stumble upon this video and you commented an hour ago XD. I'd love a comprehensive guide!

[@quinnlee-miller9792]

>Follows tutorial up until the woodcutting >Dwarves get tasked with chopping down trees and fishing >They refuse to do it and instead beat an alligator to death

[@DrunkPopTart4]

Classic df

[@CAMSLAYER13]

Did you bring an axe? Are you sure you set the base of the tree to be cut? You need to set a fishing area and build a fish cleaning station for fishing to work.

[@baskoning9896]

Ah, and when the axe is used to kill the gator, it wont be used to chop down trees anymore. (a few moments lator) dwarfs start dying

[@iluvbenadryl]

@j alligators are Just bigger fish

[@delet3999]

@@duduvenom Pretty late but you need someone with the wood cutter job

[@utes5532]

So this human fellow showed up at my first fort while I was still setting up, declaring he's going to kill everyone. He attacks one of my farmers, misses, the farmer punches him in the gut once and he starts running away pleading for mercy. I think I love this game already.

[@annikamaier2581]

"In fact, if we hit 'U'...." ow

[@jamestomlin5525]

Farmers don't fugg around

[@fluffy7358]

"Who are you?"

[@sadrakeyhany7612]

@@fluffy7358 is that an overgeared reference?

[@fluffy7358]

@@sadrakeyhany7612 I knew somebody would get it eventually!

[@Kinjry]

I remember my first successful fort. I don't remember what build it was. But my dorfs had built a mighty base, and worked years on a mighty magma forge. We had a Volcano nearby. A mighty celebration was held to celebrate the opening of the magma vents to power the magma forges. Turns out, my entire base was made of a flammable material. It did not end well.

[@Potato-pq5ez]

it was successful as long as you had *fun*

[@monst3rderek259]

@@Potato-pq5ez !!fun!!

[@juibumgeilheit]

Mass genocide xD

[@RolandTheJabberwocky]

Sounds like a story dwarf parents would tell their kids, with the moral being not to ignore what's in front of you.

[@hmeric7495]

dwarfs: we should make a magma forge! *makes the forge in a wood fortress* dwarfs: hooray we did it! now we have to extinguish this fire

[@Superschokokeks]

"And now, if we unpause, a siege is on march, webbing forgotten beasts are in the basement, our fort burns, every dwarf is insane, throwing tantrums and beating everything in sight. Just like that."

[@jamestomlin5525]

This is fine :)

[@novasolarius8763]

Not to worry, you can simply use glass and a single pickaxe to divert part of the molten fucking core of the planet to the outside. That will break the siege, which will let you flood your fortress to put out the fire and handle the beast. Dealing with insanity is slightly more involved. First, you will need a captured wizard, several elven prisoners, two copies of Neuroscience for Dummies and a cybernetics workshop...

[@unknownmusicguy8637]

Fun!

[@alexandernyberg8668]

@@novasolarius8763 My first instinct was to read that with the Bob Ross voice and it was hilarious

[@LAVATORR]

"Aw come on, how complicated can it be?" *game refuses to load due to the fact the power outlets in your home were installed on an odd-numbered year*

[@aa01blue38]

No joke, my game refused to load unless discord is open for some reason

[@fsmoura]

*_*refusing intensifies*_*

[@bacicinvatteneaca]

@@aa01blue38 what lmao

[@aa01blue38]

@@bacicinvatteneaca And then it got so bad my discord got corrupted and I had to reinstall it, no joke I feel like I've installed the game from the wrong website lmao

[@IgnoreMeImWrong]

@@aa01blue38 There's a website?

[@ziksy6460]

This is what the quarantine has led me to...watching a tutorial of the most complex game in the world despite never planning to play it

[@usgreth]

I find aurora 4x more complicated, but while that's interesting in its own way it misses the pure enjoyable insanity of dwarf fortress and cataclysm dda. I'd suggest watching cataclysm dda videos if you have run out of DF ones, and its somewhat easier to play too.

[@arizun8160]

@@usgreth ages ago but I personally always thought that cataclysm is easier only because the UI is 1000x better.

[@antipsychotic451]

@@arizun8160 True, a lot of DF's difficulty is really artificial and stems from the really poor UI. Toady one (main developer) has admitted that the UI is junk and needs re-doing, which they're working on in the Steam release.

[@dartme18]

That's what I'm doing, but I have no quarantine to blame!

[@pagodeiromaster3347]

@@antipsychotic451 honestly games are difficulties are always designed by its controls

[@harrylane4]

"don't be overwhelmed, just relax" Look, I like 'losing is fun' as much as the next guy, but this would be a much better slogan

[@tomhill3248]

Losing isn't even fun. It's the stories you tell afterwards that are fun, and even then only if your death is hilariously stupid.

[@gent9358]

@@tomhill3248 Some losing is just plain depressing.

[@tomhill3248]

@@gent9358 Losing can be depressing if you know it's your own fault. I try not to take games too seriously but it's sometimes hard to not be disappointed in myself.

[@urt1202]

@@gent9358 The first fort that I lost in a sincere way (the other failed ones I just abandoned them because I realized how bad I managed things) was a kinda good one, I had already a well, I had good trade relations an a good amount of food, but winter reached and the river frozen, I didn't have enough barrels for water nor beer, and well... my dwarfs started getting dehydrated. Slowly each one of my dwarfs started dying while I desperately send anyone who could to dig nesr the river and found water (I knew that there was still water, because there was dump stone) when I finally found the water with my last dwarf, he didn't wanted to drink it because it was dirty, I tried to build a well but he passed out near the water. I chosen to stay until the end, and stay there until he finally died. The summer reached and the river started to melt, but the dwarf was still unconscious, and just died there, near the water of the river. To make things worst, he was the expedition leader. Also a dwarf from other of my fortress came there just to die. Yep, sometimes is just depressing

[@adamplentl5588]

D O N T P A N I C

[@BackTheNerd]

Holy Shit, I can now definitely see how Dwarf fortress would end up having a huge influence on both Rimworld and Minecraft.

[@jimpcl]

​@Dangerous Joy ah yes, depth that can be adjusted thanks to a deep, deep mod community.

[@liammcclish4291]

@@jimpcl While i do agree you can adjust the depth with mods, the built in features of DF like fluids wouldn't be possible in rimworld.

[@jairo8746]

@@liammcclish4291 Add thermodynamics, z levels and world building. Comparing DF to Rimworld is just shallow.

[@judegriffin1186]

Kind of sad to see that DF fans call Rimworld shallow, they're both fun and enjoyable, and cater to different audiences. Some people (Kind of like me) can get stressed with a game like DF due to the immense depth, and sometimes confusing menus upon menus. Rimworld is an awesome sci-fi game that I love playing more casually, and DF is an awesome fantasy game with more depth. Just let people enjoy games, guys :)

[@reeceshugrue6167]

@@judegriffin1186 Rimworld is a very fun game, but it lacks one of the core aspects I love about Dwarf Fortress: History. When the world is generated the game randomly places settlements across it's surface with their own generated leader. Beyond that the only story being made is your own(and isn't impacted by the outside world, just on an AI storyteller)... The world isn't evolving or changing(factions can't even attack/form settlements or change diplomacy with one another) in anyway. The world just feels stagnant and lifeless. That's just my opinion anyway. Nobody is stopping you from enjoying Rimworld though, we're just sharing our opinion on why we feel the way we do about the game. It's a great game and you should keep on playing it if you enjoy it.

[@patha111]

"In no time" means literally 200+ hours of gameplay

[@royceaxle5749]

What’s 200+ hours to a dwarf?

[@gozol9646]

Time is relative...

[@tmcentertainment855]

Yeah, no time. What are you talking about?

[@fsmoura]

What, do you have a life, or something?

[@ElvenSonic]

blink and you’ll miss it

[@ElNick09]

New player, I cannot emphasize this enough: listen to Kruggsmash. The real purpose is, as Kruggs says, to experience a story. Be warned: the way this happens is through the very element people new to the game often consider a flaw or bug; the dwarves aren't fully controllable. This isn't the type of game where you click a unit and click somewhere else and the little drone runs off unthinkingly to do your bidding. Dwarves are hard to control because they are AI's that 'think' for themselves. Once you get the hang of using the game's controls you are going to have to learn how to get inside the dwarves heads (sometimes individual by individual, other times just key dwarves) in order to build more advanced forts. Sure that makes executing your designs harder, but hang in there! Your reward for patience will be an endlessly varied experience where you observe the independent growth of a small AI society whose culture, drives, and story can by influenced by your will, but never truly controlled by it. This is the most beautiful aspect of the game because, without full control over the story, you yourself must become a participant in it. There is a give and take that evolves between player and the little AI's that populate this game. You want a fortress that has a warlike culture full of steely-eyed, bloodthirsty warriors and begin accordingly? Too bad. You wind up with dwarves who are mainly pacifists and are becoming increasingly depressed by the lack of artwork in their mountain home. So why did they chose to build that home smack-dab in the middle of a bloodthirsty goblin empire? How are they going to stay alive without exposing their delicate little souls to bloodshed? What is to be done about that expedition leader throwing a tantrum in the middle of the tavern in front of all his underlings? Well, there's your story. Its a story being written by you and your uncooperative little beard-bearers in equal measure. Finding that story, as Kruggs points out, is the real point of Dwarf Fortress.

[@kruggsmash]

Here we go! This guy knows what's up! Heed El Nick's words, New players!

[@bloodcrusader2701]

Kruggsmash or else you’ll get boatmurdered the saying geos “welcome to fucking boatmurdered hope you like miasima”

[@Grimmsborith1992]

Well i have only a few Problems that are propably to easy to figure out but i am new and havn't figured it out by now. Firstly: what the Hell have i in my Stockpile? If i make a pile and order that EVERYTHING shoukd be there, then were is the food and drinks, were are my clothes and my tools. All i can see is raw Materials like stone, logs, seedsacks, Barrels and their like. Second: where can i see what my dwarfs are wearing? Tools, Clothes, weapons. I want to provide new clothes, because i found flax and flaxseeds and successfully planted them and even made cloth put of it. But after i looked what my dwarfs are wearing i failed. Third: how do i build walls and bridges and gates and roofs? I can't find the option to build myself a building, that isn't carved into stone. I am going to google it if i don't find it until the weekend. Oh and fourth: how can i teach a dwarf a new profession? My Miner in another Ford is eager to work but i have more space than i need already... i want him to be Happy, but all he gets is depressed, because he can't work... would love him to be able to chisel everything nice and smooth on the contrary though ( because nobody can do that).

[@Grimmsborith1992]

@Dragon50275 a real massive thank you. You answered all my questions :D I just got another as i tried them out (to remember that stuff next time), it's: How can i tell a dwarf what clothes to wear? I would like to have my dwarf clothed a bit more uniform, so i know at least that. They wear proper clothes and not some leather-tong they snatched from that Goblin-thief we killed...

[@Grimmsborith1992]

@Dragon50275 still a massive thanks to you :) thanks to you my newest fortress is now actually flourishing. No more Hungry and thirsty dwarfs, because i can finally do two farmers two miners and so und. A Bridge keeps enemys out of my bailey.

[@Nookrium]

Excellent tutorial, Kruggsmash! And yes, stay positive and patient is the best advice for newbie dwarves

[@kruggsmash]

Hey, thanks Nook! It means a lot:))

[@olivertv6175]

Cool to see Nook here :)

[@DrNo-wf8ws]

Yeah, it wasn’t until I took “it’s fun to die!” to heart that I finally “got” roguelikes; especially with DF.

[@exhorter7363]

Nook and kruggsmash in the same place *puts down the copper slicing knife*

[@God-ch8lq]

How can I get more dwarves

[@Tumoxa89]

I've been fascinated by this game for years, tried to pick it up couple of times but was quickly overwhelmed each time, maybe this will be my lucky try.

[@ninjacell2999]

How did it go

[@westpolch]

He's still figuring out the basics

[@TDGCmote]

Yeah, I really need to try this out

[@rumplstiltztinkerstein]

I started last couple of weeks. After faling like 10 forts and spending hours looking around at wiki. I'm making some decent, productive forts now yay. Still My military skills are trash. But Once you get the hang of the basics it's pretty awesome.

[@creeperizak8971]

Let yourself be overwhelmed

[@studmcmuffin8844]

My first fortress was going great, I had 80 dwarfs and a very stable environment. Unfortunately I neglected to defend my fortress in anyway and a group of like 10 goblins completely wiped me out. I've learned my lesson and hate goblins with passion.

[@reddragon8167]

Was just trying this out for my first time, and I've gotta say, I wasn't expecting my woodcutter to accidentally render herself unconscious while chopping down a tree while I was setting up a channel for my jungle base. I haven't even made a bed, or a door, or caught any food yet, and already I'm checking the wiki for info regarding first aid. I'm sure her horrendously mangled right upper leg is fiiiiiiine. She's very durable and not prone to getting sick, it says, so any infection will probably heal on its own while I figure out how to even make a base. Thanks, man!

[@kruggsmash]

Haha! A proper intro to DF I think! Welcome aboard buddy! I wish you the best of luck and i'm glad to have shown you around the place a bit!

[@jadeonidi6150]

"In fact, if we hit 'U'...." ow

[@jadeonidi6150]

also thank you so much for this tutorial, i've always wanted to learn how to play and this is extremely helpful

[@yuuhemi]

Ouch

[@whimsy5623]

By a brief cursory glance of this video, I can already tell that the Dwarf Fortress community hates aquifers more than any other organization.

[@danisiwa]

"A basic half-hour tutorial" "h a l f - h o u r t u t o r i a l" this gun be a good game

[@rumplstiltztinkerstein]

just this and a few hours playing with the wiki open in a second window will keep you going nicely

[@rumplstiltztinkerstein]

I'm currently succeeding at creating a 100 dwarf city inside a giant tower. Once I finish defences and building the infrastructure, I'm planning on starting to select a few "lucky" dwarves to defile temples and become vampires/werewolfs. The ones that turn into werewolves will be put down, but those who become vampires will never die of age lol. I hope enough dwaves survive the process to keep the fortress going lol. Vampires are pretty strong, from what I found.

[@robertnett9793]

@@tthung8668 For me it was the Honeystoker-Series :D I've watched Skullhorror first and then a few days after the long series including the 7(!) Introduction vids...

[@rumplstiltztinkerstein]

@@tthung8668 you need to have at least one battle axe in order to cut wood. Plus one dwarf can't have mining and woodcutting enabled at the same time. If you enable one, the other gets disabled. Also they won't cut wood if they have other labors as priority. I like to set one of the workers as woodcutter and give him a few simpler labors only, like herbalism so that he/she isn't busy with other things instead of gathering wood. I don't recommend making them woodcutters and farmers/cooks/crafters at the same time. On the other hand they need to craft at least something from time to time in order to not get stressed out due to the inability to build something interesting. There's no perfect way to organize your dwarves labors, but with time you will be able to address and prevent issues faster.

[@StrikaAmaru]

You think that's bad? DasTatic has a 79-video tutorial, in which he gets around to embark... at episode 9. kzbin.info/aero/PLGB6RkFB7ZmNbSUujzXbgNjJi_-WHTTTD

[@callowayplays2894]

i realize that this was three years ago so my comment is likely to be buried, but i wanted to say this was a great, informative, and very helpful tutorial. the game itself is so intimidating and the community’s embrace and likely exaggeration of its difficulty makes playing it a daunting task. but this video has inspired me to give it a go, knowing that when i download it, i’ll have the information here to help me get started. dwarf fortress looks like such a neat little game and i’m excited to see what stories will be created

[@user-fj5ul9ci7d]

Howd it go?

[@edstirling]

i was kinda hoping it was just 35 minutes of editing config files.

[@ButteredTimbers]

Facts

[@gemstonegynoid7475]

Most important init edits: show fluid amounts, show fps, autosave seasonal. All ya need to play with imo

[@tonyennis3008]

It can be, if you watch those sections over and over.

[@Pasakoye]

Before embarking, check for all 4 civs by pressing tab a few times. Also make sure you select a dwarven civ that has access to a wide area. Small/dying dwarven civs can have limited materials available when choosing to Prepare Carefully! Like no copper tools or iron anvils. If you have less than 15 dwarves you do not need an office for your manager. Make random dwarf your manager and start ordering up stuff like 7 beds 5 wood barrels 5 wood bins. Maybe also set up something like brew plant drinks 10 if product is less than 200. The mini map can be handy to keep up some times. Particularly in cold biomes, it will start flashing when snow/ice is about to melt. Animals that start on the map will hang around for a bit before usually leaving. When a new animal shows up, trapping it or killing it will cause another animal to show up. If a pack/herd of animals show up, trapping or killing one will usually force the others off the map sooner from what I've seen. I'd dig one layer lower than any trees. Chopping down a tree with a room below it will leave a hole where the trunk was. You will have to build a floor over the hole. Once you have a carpenter shop, I'd make a wood corkscrew, wood pipe section, wood block. Assemble a pump near a murky pool and pump it into a place to store the newly created fresh water. This is mainly for areas without a brook/stream. You can do this with an ocean's saltwater too, just make sure the fresh water is protected from contact with saltwater. Enable refuse hauling from outside o-r-o. This will let your civilians gather the corpse of anything your military has killed outside. To prevent fishermen from fishing immediately when arriving at the fort, create a zone for fishing then enable zone only fishing order using o-z-f. Now you can deactivate the zone with a. The dwarves will stop fishing and when you need fish just reactivate the zone and they will continue. Have 1-2 dedicated herbalist only, as once they get high skills they will gather more from each plant and be faster at it. Be prepared to make lots of barrels and bags for seeds though as they will fill your stockpiles with food pretty fast.

[@kruggsmash]

Good tips here, folks! Come take a look if you're just learning the ropes!

[@davidbeppler3032]

Shit Krugg those are good tips and I have been playing for years. Thanks Pasakoye!

[@ballag1166]

Kruggsmash you should pin this comment or heart it so its up top!

[@jimstanley_49]

"Make random dwarf your manager and start ordering up stuff like 7 beds 5 wood barrels 5 wood bins. Maybe also set up something like brew plant drinks 10 if product is less than 200." So much this. Every video on DF I've watched make a big deal about DF Hack, and the production queuing system is a major part of it. After a while, I decided to eschew DF Hack for a bit and see what I could do. Lo and behold! The Manager, who it seems is only pointed out in other tutorials because the fortress "needs one" is a full-blown production queue! The interface is a bit fiddly (you _do_ realize this is Dwarf Fortress, right?), but it's very powerful.

[@MrAntice]

@@jimstanley_49 DF hack can manage the production que? didn't know that. I only use the hacks for seeing extra z levels and the occational stonesense session when I want to see a proper 3d render of the fort. that being said, i do like using dwarf therapist to manage my workers. It's just more convenient than having to go from page to page and write stuff down to map out who's good at what work.

[@maximumeffort7096]

Dwarf Fortress is like riding a bike. Once you get enough things down, you can build a fortress without even thinking.

[@kruggsmash]

It's crazy isn't it? There's so much to learn, but when you do you can pick it up anytime!

[@gorgiascae5682]

Guess I skipped the part in bike riding where you built a dwarf fortress

[@EliosMoonElios]

I'm pretty sure once we learn to ride we doesn't keep falling again and again and again...

[@KubinWielki]

To be more specific, playing Dwarf Fortress vs riding a bike analogy goes more like this: - You learn how to ride a bike. - You enjoy it for a while. - Your bike's chain falls off and you slam face-first into a wall. - Thinking "well, happens" you set the chain back and resume riding the bike. - Your bike's seat somehow grows spikes. You didn't know it can do that. - You put some cushion on the seat and resume riding the bike. - Your bike's pedals spin uncontrollably with enormous force, slamming into your shins. OUCH! You didn't know it can do that. - You wear some shin protection and resume riding the bike. - You're really getting into biking, so you're enhancing your bike a little with some better components. - The components were made of TNT and explode. You didn't know they can do that. - You install new components, making sure they're safe, and resume riding the bike. - In your search for better components, you learn about the absolute best kind, called AD-4M 4N-T1 N-3. You set out to the store and buy some of those. You're happy. - On your way out, a hundred thugs, for some reason dressed as clowns, jump you and absolutely destroy your bike. You didn't know they can do that. - You build a new bike. This time a little better, as you're a little wiser and a little more cautious.

[@XenobladeNerd]

KubinWielki I like that little allusion to the Circus

[@ComradeCorwin]

I'm not technically new to DF, but I'm also not very experienced and I haven't played in a long while. I needed a refresher and this was excellent. The animated avatar was great at keeping my attention where it needed to be, the music fit perfectly, the slabs were wonderful for clarifying, and the over all instructions were simple, yet thorough. I would love to see more guides like this from you. As you mentioned, others have made plenty of how-to's, but none of them have been this easy to watch. I was surprised 35 minutes had passed!

[@johnesco]

"How to start playing DF" videos on KZbin seem to average half an hour or more... not sure I have this level of dedication to gaming.

[@gutzimmumdo4910]

if this is a game then chess is a game, and go, and other booring tasks that are just memorization and unfun.

[@kcrtxbw.4349]

It feels like the controls are actually designed to keep you from playing the game, instead if helping you. There might be even a fun game behing it, but its all so clunky and slow and frustrating... Tried it twice, never got into it.

[@RobRobb13]

About 2 weeks from Steam version release and it's STILL RELEVANT! I can't wait to start playing DF again. Kruggsmash, the OG Dwarfather!

[@terrymadipuddy6217]

Not gonna lie. I know how to play df, but this is the best tutorial I have seen for this game

[@kruggsmash]

Thanks, buddy! God, does that mean a lot :)

[@jinxedly823]

"This fortress will do just fine" @ "Note: This fortress is actual garbage"

[@kruggsmash]

:p

[@sieg-sandrodeshannon3035]

Man, even though I already know how to play this game, I'm going to watch this video just because it's Kruggsmash.

[@kruggsmash]

You rock, m'buddy :)

[@JeroenDoes]

you can never "know how to play" this game, Only how to fail at a later date.

[@MiguelAbd]

We all, my friend.

[@kyokyoniizukyo7171]

Kruggsmash Thank you Krugg, you are amazing...

[@hallsofangband3956]

JetDoes eh, not really. You could have a sealed off fortress that could last as long as you want but that’s just boring.

[@MagicalMaster]

I remember one of my early forts. A were-Hare snuck in and created an infection spiral as the bitey bugger kept infecting people before being torn to bits then those bit bit more people and then it just kept going. I think it was labelled as lost when the last survivor transformed and buggered off to armok know's where.

[@jdroo]

Dwarf Fortress is like the TempleOS of videogames.

[@TheAnalatheist]

Glow in the dark CIA kobolds

[@labrandom8612]

Or microsoft Excel

[@sir_ladykiller1803]

Based

[@pabloqp7929]

**based**

[@yurifairy2969]

idk, templeOS is an incredibly impressive piece of software, but DF is much more competent as a game than templeOS is as an operating system.

[@Toxic9813]

Newest artifact from Kruggsmash: This is a ☼Dwarf Fortress Tutorial☼ All craftdwarfship is of the highest quality. It menaces with spikes of colored pencil. On the item is an image of a dwarf. The Dwarf is pointing.

[@kruggsmash]

Ha! I love it! Thanks for watching, Tox!

[@linkmariokirby7373]

On the item is an image of a gamer. The gamer is cowering. On the item is an image of !!Fun!!. The !!Fun!! is laughing.

[@JesterWhoHelps]

i had no intention of playing dwarf fortress but this video is so relaxing and well made it sucked me in until it convinced me to play. Great video, great youtuber, subbed

[@kruggsmash]

Oh man! That's great to hear! Welcome aboard the channel AND to DF! You rock, buddy! Good luck :)

[@oz_jones]

Remember, losing is !!fun!!. Welcome on board, my fellow Urist.

[@JesterWhoHelps]

Just an update, Im a huge fan now of DF and I never miss a single one of your videos. I play all the time, I love how it fosters a place of imagination and story-telling, beautiful game. Thanks so much for properly introducing me into this game and to this community.

[@bloodyhell8201]

​@@JesterWhoHelps Holy shit it's b u l d i n n

[@chickensforthechickengod9337]

Good old dwarf fortress needs a 30 minute tutorial just to start 5:00 nice rhyme btw

[@kruggsmash]

And this BARELY scratches the surface! Thanks! I realized the rhyme in editing and I almost re-recorded it b/c it felt silly...but w/e

[@theelf3251]

@@kruggsmash will you be making more tutorials like this one?

[@auldcrow1461]

@@theelf3251 I hope he does, great info

[@shadden_x]

Your soothing voice actually worked on calming my rage induced nerves for this game. Thanks

[@coffin7904]

it's been an hour and im fifteen minutes in to the tutorial, but after like 10 years of giving up on learning this you gave me a new lease on my fortress. I appreciate the tutorial, concise, allowing the player to learn, and articulate. I appreciate you bud, keep up the good work.

[@ashter5000]

Man this is great, when I first started the only beginner guides were like 3 hours long, this is a good succinct guide I'd have been happy to have. Damn you and your lack of time travel abilities krugg!

[@kruggsmash]

Right? I remember having to go through a great many videos to learn just the basics! I figured i'd really try to cram all the most basic stuff into a single video to try to help speed up the whole process. I'll have to wait to hear from someone who actually learned to play using this video to be sure if it worked or not, though :p

[@luizbertoncini]

This is the best DF tutorial i've seen, i would love to see a continuation

[@kruggsmash]

Thanks, buddy boy! I hadn't thought of doing another, but maybe one day? Guess we'll see. Sorry, L.K.

[@Rautakello]

The start of a new fort is always exciting. The food setup is always the trickiest one for me so I usually bring a very specific set of animals with me, despite it being a little bit boring. I always bring chickens, a rooster and a breeding pair of pigs as my starter food supply. Chickens, because the constant stream of eggs allow me a nice buffer until the fort is firmly established and I can barter for cheese and other luxuries. The pigs, because they don't need a pasture and are happy to eat the grubs and table scraps that can be found INSIDE the fort, where its nice and safe. Nothing worse than putting your farm animals outside and then one of those early werebeast attacks that seem INEVITABLE shows up and kills everything.

[@kruggsmash]

Hey, whatever works says I! I like pigs as a food animal for SURE. In DF and otherwise :)

[@TheLordboki]

I always get a flock of sheep (4 ewes and 1 ram). Expensive, but I can take care of them. Meat, bones, milk, cheese and wool. Rams also give horns. I avoid cats as much as possible. A habit from the old days.

[@Rautakello]

I tried the Masterwork mod a while back. It lets you play as all sorts of other races that don't exist in the vanilla game, like orcs. I was so excited to try them out since the orcs got to raid other civs, since this was before the military update. I saw they had dire wolves/giant wolves as a embarking animal you could purchase and was immediately on board. *"Giant wolves awwww yeah this gonna be good. I'm gonna raid everyone!"* I thought. Thought the wolves would be like dogs, but turns out wolves are a bit more... Unstable. The two that I had bought fought and nearly killed each other, followed by killing the buzzards that served as chickens for the orcs. I never got any wolf pups and my shortlived orc fort ended when 90% of the population became bedridden after a swarm of giant poison snakes attacked. *I went back to my pigs and chickens, defeated...*

[@davidbeppler3032]

Hjalmar Rambles sounds like a successful game to me! :)

[@angelthecake7440]

Hjalmar Rambles yeah, I think the early werebeast attack is programmed in, and not randomly generated like the rest of the game

[@PlaySavi]

I'm so glad I found this video, because it brought me to your channel. Your excellent, story-rich, entertaining channel! I have always liked the idea of DF but been daunted by the learning curve of it. Your tutorial helped A LOT! I am really hoping you make a couple more videos in this teaching style, because I still get hopelessly overwhelmed by the game. I absolutely love the way you tell the story of a fort instead of just showing how you play it -- but perhaps you can do a more detailed mini series that breaks down the actual play? Regardless, thank you for all the great content and the many hours of entertainment.

[@davidh8271]

Man, all the little bits of art, and helpful tips. I've been playing DF for years, so it's not like I need the tutorial myself, but it's so exceedingly well put together! Really great, seriously.

[@sirrobincompany]

THANK YOU! One of if not the best beginner tutorial I've found. Wish I had this back in the day when I first started playing.

[@kruggsmash]

You liked it? Good! So glad to hear it, buddy! I was hoping people could find it useful. It's hard to see what DF looks like through the newbie's eyes b/c i've been playing it for so long :P

[@ZyrTheMachineGodOfWar]

Man, KZbin did me a solid by recommending this video to me, I really fuckin love your style and you got genuine talent on making content, and the effort you put into it if phenomenal straight up, your channel is truly a gem within the DF community, you're great dude

[@kruggsmash]

Jeez, guy..that means a lot, m'buddy. Thanks for giving my video a chance, I really do appreciate it!

[@nicolasmartinez4337]

Im watching this on a cold, windy night, in my toasty blanket. Your commentary is so good!

[@kruggsmash]

A good night for DF! Glad you liked this thing, dude :))

@@kruggsmash press K on your self

[@jasongrimes4131]

Just found out about you. Have tried to "get into" DF since its inception. Have watched countless videos on the subject. Never clicked. Your video here is probably the best chance I have of following along and ever playing this. Huge compliment! Also, in general, your review/teaching style is reminiscent of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. Another huge compliment from my perspective..

[@kruggsmash]

Hey hey! Well i'm certainly glad to have been able to guide you safely into the world of DF! It can be daunting but it REALLY isn't all that bad once you take your first couple of steps! It pays to be kind! Be the change you want to see in the world and all, right?

[@RikusLategan]

This is the best DF tutorial I have seen thus far. Short, concise, and much better than having to watch hour-long Twitch streams just to learn the basics. I hope the upcoming steam release will inspire you to make more.

[@slugpee]

I watched this video a couple days ago. So I tried playing, and I'm absolutely hooked. This game is so amazing and this tutorial helped me so much. Plus you have the best tile pack ever. I wouldn't understand the game without the pack.

[@mossy3565]

What a pleasant, slow and helpful intro for a series. Anywhere else this would be 'OH ARE YOU SUUUUUUURE YOU WANNA PLAY WELL THIS GAME? WELL LET'S UNCOVER THE SECRETS AND TURN YOU INTO ALPHA GAMERS BE SURE TO SUBSCRI-' Like, this is just some dude's passion being shared. It's oldschool, and its sweet, and I wish more gaming content was like that

[@Buchnerd_Souly]

that's a beautiful DF video. I like how you put in your drawn pictures! thank you :)

[@kruggsmash]

Hey, thanks pal! It means a lot :)

[@yiffydeyiff2979]

not gonna lie, i don't think i would've understood any of this without the little hand-drawn dwarf buddies. they're like, amazing.

[@wj11jam78]

When I was ~8 years old, I found PaulsoresJr's minecraft tutorials for the first time. Today, I felt a feeling which I haven't felt in ten years. This dwarf fortress tutorial pulled me right back to when I first watched those minecraft tutorial videos. I genuinely teared up from it. Gonna show this game to my best friend and try figure it out with him.

[@richardbudgell7507]

I love how you have animated so much for this adds so much charm I might just load up this game and try it out my damned self, FOR KARL!

[@richardbudgell7507]

ALLEIGHT LOVES LEME GIVE YE AN UPDATE, started a fortress got about fifteen bastards then got fuckered by some rather rouge boars they were slaughtered. ILL BE NEEDIN MORE PRACTICE!

[@gamesux420]

So dwarf fortress is like having one of those ant farms but more advanced Edit: Tried to get into it a couple times and its been well worth it. I dont know how most stuff works but ive already made some experiences, mostly that caused my fortress to fail, but experiences nonetheless.

[@kosmicgr]

Are my eyes deceiving me? Is that the Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead launcher on your desktop? *puts the video quality to 1080p* Yes it is! I found this video really charming. I might watch it again if I ever want to get started in this game.

[@kruggsmash]

It might well be! Glad you liked it, m'buddy :))

[@greybayles7955]

honestly these games kinda go hand in hand. Theyre both ridiculously expansive ASCII sandboxes and theyre genuinely the only two games i can think of that have that sheer amount of content and freedom.

[@reltsnie]

what an excellent tutorial, it's also funny remembering how alien it used to look when I first started - that drawing showing the z-levels is brilliant

[@gharju]

this video helped me a lot when i first tried getting into dwarf fortress a few years ago! this week i started binge watching your videos in chronological order and i just finished watching monsterkiller! i love your stuff!

[@warywolf1729]

I've found that playing a bit of Adventure mode has helped me to get a feel for the mechanics and the general UI again. Particularly that now I can play around a little with building and crafting. Admittedly I'm mostly just exploring the new world that has gotten summoned up by Armok. Hopefully I can create a nice little pool of useful characters once I start a full on Fort. Although most have ended up crippled or dead.

[@kruggsmash]

Hey that makes sense. It might be easier to control a single unit before taking on a whole fortress of the bastards, eh? I like your thinking!

[@SarujinieUras]

I never truly understood military training, equipment, and combat until I played a few hours of Adventure mode. Now I build my barracks/military in such a way that would be perfect for training an Adventurer later and it works wonders for my military as well!

[@OfficialEpicPixel]

@@kruggsmash I'm sorry to hijack this like this, but what guide should I look into after being done with this video? Does anyone know?

[@kruggsmash]

@@OfficialEpicPixel No worries, m'dude! Ummm, well honestly I dunno. All the other tutorials use mods and junk. I don't really now any good vanilla ones> If that's not a concern you should check out birdybot plays games here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y4LHZayviap8mbs Good luck!

[@Priyo866]

This is adorable, helpful and amazing at the same time. Thank you so much!

[@kruggsmash]

Hey thank YOU for watching!

[@At1u5]

Hey dude thanks for the tutorial! Now I can really get into this game, or at least try.

[@kruggsmash]

I hope it helps, m'dude :)

[@commanderboreal1343]

Remember: Loosing is FUN!

[@nightelflevel5062]

Just remember that the wiki is your friend. During my first fortress I probably was reading the wiki more than playing the game, I of course didn't have this video though so lets hope that you have to do less. Have fun learning the game! If you really get lost and feel like quitting the lazy newb pack is a great resource. I personally can't play without it but maybe you will be stronger willed than me.

[@Reboot153]

I got up to the part where you started going through the menus to create the furniture for a room and nope'd-out. I think I'll stick with RimWorld for now. I mean, just with all the depth that goes into the game in the world creation process is amazing and I absolutely love the detail that's involved but it's like trying to eat the most delicious meal in the world through a coffee stirring straw. It just makes the whole process unnecessarily difficult. Kudos for making this video! The animations and drawings that went with the game play and your narration were great. I just dont think that this game will ever be for me simply because of the UI.

[@ettostill2891]

You really motivates me to give DF another try, via this video and also via your other forts. Your way of dedramatizing and planning things like "I don't know if it'll work at all, so let's try" is really comforting for newbies. :)

[@Macho_Fantastico]

Tried to get into this game so many times. This is easily one of the best tutorials but I still find myself hitting a wall. You hear all these amazing stories about DF but I always feel like I can never reach that point.

[@ryandavidson2502]

2 year old comment so idk if you kept with the game and learned more or quit. But hell I'll still comment, all you need to do is when you hit a wall and can't figure out how to do something. Google, trust me it will either bring up the wiki with the answer you're looking for a forum with somebody else already asking and got answers. There really is no game like DF

[@barrelbox]

You sound so friendly, holy heck. You have a voice of non-profit educational channel

[@kruggsmash]

Ha! Thanks dude!

[@DaFro112]

Hey! You did it! Exited to learn a bit more on how to do this stuff

[@kruggsmash]

I hope it's useful, dude! It's pretty basic but should get you started :)

[@applegump]

Just stumbled upon this channel after hearing about Dwarf Fortress. I love what Kruggsmash has made so far and I can't wait to learn more to start playing! Thank you!

[@kruggsmash]

Hey good luck to you, dude! Just stick with it and you'll get it eventually! Thanks for watching :)

[@mikethewizard7378]

This is how you teach someone new to a difficult niche how to get past the 'wall'. Dark Souls has a similar issue in that the accessibility is limited to those who can get past the seemingly insurmountable amount of information to understand. At least at first it is daunting. But I bet you made the game far more approachable for a lot of folks Krurggsmash. Thanks man.

[@burtybumside7172]

I would love english subs/captions on this as I'm deaf and really struggle without subs

[@seaalon138]

I'm not sure if you came back to see this, but they're here!

[@erayve456]

nah not really.. the whole video doesnt have Captions..

[@seaalon138]

@@erayve456 Yes it does? You just probably turned them off in your KZbin settings

[@erayve456]

​@@seaalon138 well for me it stops at 3:30

[@giin97]

7:30 "avoid purple areas, they're !FUN!" FTFY

[@LordOfTheWailord]

Been trying to finish up the steel clutches playthrough again. It's 5am and I haven't slept yet. But I guess one more can't hurt.....

[@kruggsmash]

Ha! It's 6:26 am here and I still haven't slept! Who needs it! Also, thanks for watching, m'buddy :))

[@TheButterlord]

I do wish kruggsmash did this as a series as his voice and delivery are so soothing that it pairs well with learning the game. This tutorial helped a lot and sometimes I like to go back to this video just cause of how peaceful it is

[@segridhelmsman]

Went and got a drink, and made soup, still hasn't finished, so I'm typing this now. Great tutorial so far! I've been wanting to get into this game for a while based off of friend recommendations, but there didn't seem to be any modern tutorial vids. I check back a few months later, and I find this! Awesome!

[@kruggsmash]

Ha! Well I certainly hope it helps you out, m'guy! Honestly, I didn't feel very confident while making this (Just b/c there are sooooo many things to know while playing) But I think I hit most of the nails on the head!Good luck to you if you DO hope to continue!

[@BirdyBotPlaysGames]

Love it Krugg! Thanks for making this! It's beautifully made!

[@kruggsmash]

Thank ya kindly, B.B. You rock ( il};c{o }

[@0ay357]

Ознакомившись с содержанием данного канала, не перестаю поражаться качеством материала и его подачи зрителю. Формат коротких сюжетов, описывающих те или иные игровые возможности, а вместе с тем, замечательное их аудиосопровождение и арты, превращают плоский мир ASCII-графики и множеств меню, в красочные фентези истории. Я как начинающий игрок, который освоил лишь не многое из всего того, что предлагают братья Адамс в df, с появлением в моей жизни этого канала, могу наглядно оценить всю грандиозность этой видеоигры. ЧЕРТ, Я ПРОСТО В ВОСТОРГЕ. Эхем, в общем огромная благодарность братьям Адамс, сообществу df и автору этого канала, конечно. Ну, а теперь к сути... Author, make more tutorial videos for new players, plz.

[@hose509]

Hey Krugg, you totally need to do another version of this for the steam version, just going over the more colony build side rather than UI!

[@Gabriel-du9rg]

We need more of these! It's a great tutorial, not just "download starter pack", your explanation was great!

[@Alias_Reign]

Looks really interesting, so much depth and detail. Kenshi bought me to dwarf fortress and after watching for 23 minutes it's probably the best game I'll never play. All while still respecting its beauty.

[@webberdontstarve7017]

>Try to hunt animals >Find only badgers >Hunt them down >1 of your Dwarves die >cry.

[@stoneapollyon8313]

The badger was a fearsome foe

[@DoctorDeadderth]

*notices C:DDA launcher* Sooo... Cataclysm:DDA when? :D

[@kruggsmash]

In the works (kinda)

[@mothtolias]

@@kruggsmash ah!!!! that's super exciting to hear, I'd love to see a cdda series in your style!

[@pr7342]

Man, with your role playing and story telling abilities, the skies the limit. I believe you could make Tetris into an epic journey. C:DDA could be really fun for the channel; the games are usually short so not too much commitment..

[@The_Sock_]

@@kruggsmash :DDDDDD

[@spookywizard1265]

hey Kruggsmash, you should look into caves of qud because its a really fun game but mostly i really want to see your take on drawing the land, no one seems to be drawing that game and its sad.

[@brothgurlegion4229]

Thank you for this friend. Also your the one that brought me to this.

[@d.townzen1337]

2 years on and this is still one of the best tutorials and refreshers for dwarf fortress out there. Also in my opinion the best dwarf fortress channel out there.

[@DaKussh]

I've tried bout 3 times in the past 6 years to get into DF and failed miserably, but thanks to you and your awesome videos my interest was reinvigorated more than ever before, keep up the excellent work!!! Thank you

[@kruggsmash]

Wow that really is something! Glad This tutorial could help ya out, Dak!

[@fenderbender2197]

The dwarf fortress wiki is an excellent resource as well and can definitely soothe frustrations from time to time .

[@Orillion123456]

I have so far only played a bit of adventure mode. Am I understanding correctly that the hotkeys are different from adventure mode? There, you press lowercase L to look around, and press shift/ctrl and numpad to navigate up and down. I mean I like that, unlike adventure mode, you actually get to SEE your controls on-screen. That's very helpful. But it is kind of odd that they're not the same in both modes (at least for camera controls).

[@danielz.9817]

I miss VenomBlood :(

[@kruggsmash]

That makes two of us!

[@evyunov]

Three of us. :c

[@Leverquin]

Евгений Вьюнов four? flour.

[@skudzer1985]

Did he died?

[@kazamthwizard54]

skudzer1985 No the series ended

[@sarphog]

Shift + period & comma not working? If you're using foreign keyboards (I'm using a Norwegian one), changing the elevation requires you to press > and

[@angelfan16]

It's 2020. And this game has guided me into being able to play Dwarf Fortress 2 years later! Thank you! It's really the best and most concise video I've found.

[@LeonardoDavincha-oz7gt]

Greatest Tutorial Ever. Never knew that hitting that S would be so effective. Luckilly im starting to play in good ways. Way before i would get killed in like the 2nd week of the playthrough. Thankyaw man

[@loszhor]

Congratulations! You made a intimidating, byzantine game tutorial interesting to watch!

[@SirBrittanicvs]

I am legit surprised this game is still getting updated. It is the most immensely magical game I've ever attempted to play. Even fucking around not really knowing how to play yielded a ridiculous scenario.

[@user-ze7hp2jf5x]

Hey Kruggsmash, did you play SS13? i heard that the games have some similarities, also I more would want to know how to get DF on linux 32bit with all the things.

[@kruggsmash]

I have not but it certainly seems interesting! "with all the things"? Wat chu mean?

[@user-ze7hp2jf5x]

well there is a less demand for a linux df on a 32bit system, less updates, no lazy newb pack and most of the helpful guides are for the 64bit system as well as the occuring problem with libpng that does not run df, so each download I need to edit the ./df or df.exe and add some pre_loads too it, to the resolution and directly calling the 32lib so the game could run as well as changing the images from init.txt to .bmp, its quite a long process if you do not operate linux on a day to day basis, but my laptop is a small Eee asus machine that had came with a win7 OS while running it like a troublesome child on crack which is why I changed it to Debian so I could run the laptop faster.

[@macgeek21]

@@user-ze7hp2jf5x debian has prebuilt versions of df. sudo apt install dwarf fortress.

[@saganaki_1]

at first i searched "Dwarf Fortress tutorial" out of boredom (after knowing how steep the learning curve are) but your voice are just soothing and nice to listen to!

[@MichaelMykFreelava]

I've distantly wanted to learn how to play Dwarf Fortress for probably a decade now. Found your channel about a week ago, and finally downloaded it. Your videos really make this game shine. Now I just need to figure out what to do after following along with this video, lol.

[@wisedylan]

Kruggsmash gets ME in the mood. ;) Ya bearded bastard.

[@kruggsmash]

Ha! Good!....wait..to play DF, right?.....Hrm, well w/e, good!

[@KainusGulch]

I started with LazyNoob pack and haven't stopped. I like how much easier it is, and the tileset options are easy to apply.

[@kruggsmash]

A lot of people have! It seems to be highly regarded. I started out vanilla and I don't mind it at all :p

[@HanTheNah]

I like raiding elves at the start (I'm a true dwarf) and stealing their cool animals!

[@kruggsmash]

Good way to start off!

[@sammerthanyou]

This is the video that got me into this game. I lost a fort to a forgotten beast, another to goblins and another because I tried to fancy-up my water supply and ended up getting rid of it entirely and dehydrating my entire population to death. Thanks for all the fun.

[@mr_girr3488]

Thank you for your tutorial! the background music as well as your voice kept me calm whenever i got overwhelmed, plus the fact that you went step by step helped me learn the patterns!

[@hachnslay]

12:30 - or just pressing "". generally shift and "something" does not take different keyboard layouts into consideration.

[@Verganon]

The Hardy Tongs, ey? Sounds like a very hipster version of the Rough Lovers. *insert Kappa here* I like this tutorial. Not to full of information but just enough to make it feel like I am already able to play. Also very well structured and not all over the place. Before this one, I thought Nookriums tutorial was the best one for starting off, but for the "pure" experience without other programms like dwarf therapy etc. this was the best to understand. Looking forward for the advanced stuff! (Maybe just maybe you want to do more... as a side project? please? ^^

[@kruggsmash]

Glad ya liked it, Verg! It's very hard to tell what could be important for a new player to learn and what I should leave out. It was rough trying to decide! Hrmm, I dunno about advanced tutorials. I MIIIIGHT take a stab at em' at SOME point, but I guess we'll see, eh? Sorry, buddy :p

[@Verganon]

@Kruggsmash | The only thing I really found missing was how to dig downstairs, even though controls are always on screen so it's not that bad. Otherwise, I feel very well equiped after watching this :-) And yeah, I am pretty aware, you wouldn't do more tutorials for just one person. But maybe there are a few more in the comments, who would love to see more. So the masses MIIIIGHT win at SOME point..? But I guess we'll see. hehe ^^ But thanks again for this very very beginner-friendly video! :D

[@ok0then]

I know it's not your regular Content but I would love to you see try ingnomia. It's free on steam and as of now it if definitely on its way to be a more user friendly dwarf fortress. Not a deep (not yet anyway) but i wonder what a ventran dwarf herder like yourself thinks about it so. Even if you have to use dirty gnomes to do it... At least they ain't elves

[@kruggsmash]

Hey, I guess y'never know! I might take a lookit it eventually :))

[@JerseyParagon]

Hell Yeah!

[@Nick-pc4in]

This is so much more helpful than the walkthrough on the Wiki, since it shows you/explains how to do things rather than demand they all be done in a certain order. Thank you very much!

[@kruggsmash]

Well that's certainly good to hear! I just remember it being soooooo darn difficult when I first started the game and tried my best to get the main points out there in a clear and timely fashion. it's not perfect for sure, but it's something!

[@PotatoGodzilla]

I haven't played this game for like 5 years this video helped me remember the keys and how to play! Thanks dude!