Dwarf Fortress beginner tips: 8 things you should know before starting

Dwarf Fortress This might be the most complex and difficult game you can play. It’s got less of a learning curve and more of a learning cliff. You’re in charge of everything and there’s a never-ending stream of things that need your attention.

This Dwarf Fortress beginner’s guide will help you start your way up that cliff.

Learn to love the phrase “losing is fun”

You can’t win. Dwarf Fortress — no end screen, no real goal. There’s the ostensible aim of becoming a mountainhome — a capital — but the game doesn’t really end there. This means that every fortress built will fail. Maybe it’ll fall to an enemy attack or your own managerial mistakes or maybe you’ll just get bored with it.

There’s a phrase that’s been adopted by the Dwarf Fortress community: “Losing is fun.” The new Steam version includes a tutorial and healthy help menu, but your first several fortresses are still going to fail. There are many ways to fail.

Photo: Bay 12 Games/Kitfox Games by Polygon

We’ve described Dwarf Fortress As chaotic as it can be. That’s where a lot of that “losing is fun” comes from. In the screenshot above, the fortress failed because, every time I chopped down a tree, a flock of giant wrens would murder whoever did the chopping — along with any pets they could reach. Within minutes, everyone was gone.

It’s fun to discover (or create) exciting new ways of failing. Dwarf Fortress. Accept that.

Locate, locate, locaiton

Once you’ve created a world, you’ll need to pick an embark location. This is where you’ll build your new fortress home. This guide will provide more details on how to build your first fortress. But here’s what you need to know: No aquifers, no trees and minimum soil.

Photo: Bay 12 Games/Kitfox Games by Polygon

Aquifers, which are underground water deposit that slowly flood fortresses, are difficult to manage. For building furniture or constructing workshops, trees provide lumber. You can plant crops to grow in soil.

Don’t dig too much at once

When it’s finally time to start digging your fortress with the Digging Orders menu (m), don’t stretch your miner(s) too thin. It’s easy to get carried away and start drawing your entire base right away. That’s counterproductive, though, since it’s going to take a long time for your miners to work, and they’ll leave chunks unfinished if you give them too many options for where to dig next. You should instead work small, with a specific purpose. Then wait until the miners finish.

And remember that it’s faster to dig through dirt and loam than it is to dig through rock.

Don’t go overboard on hallways

You can make your rooms any size you want and your hallways can be as wide as you like, but digging takes time, so it’s pointless to make things bigger than they really need to be.

Only one block is required for hallways. Your dwarves can pass over or through any structures or furniture, and they don’t run into each other, so you don’t have to worry much about traffic jams.

For your benefit, assign Administrators and Nobles

There’s a lot to keep track of while you’re trying to keep your fortress functioning. You can easily assign dwarves administrative positions to make your life easier. You’ll do this in the Noblest and most important administratorsMenu (n)

Photo: Bay 12 Games/Kitfox Games by Polygon

You can also assign jobs here ManagerWork orders can be handled BookkeeperKeep track of all your resources. Eventually, the Manager and the Bookkeeper will need offices — a room with a door and a chair — but you don’t have to worry about it right away.

Make sure to use warnings when deciding what you should do next

You will see alerts or warnings in the upper-left corner. You’ll get news about the weather and births here, but you’ll also get reports about jobs that can’t be finished for whatever reason.

Photo: Bay 12 Games/Kitfox Games by Polygon

You’ll get warnings if you don’t have materials. See the screenshot above, for example — the fortress has run out of plants to turn into alcohol. You’ll also get warnings about not having barrels to store alcohol in or warnings about running out of building materials.

These warnings can help you plan your next move. If you’re out of plants, farm or gather some more. If you’re out of materials, expand your mines or chop down more trees. You can create a work order to get specific items, such as barrels and blocks.

Relatively, keep your dwarfs happy

Generally speaking, your first handful of fortresses probably won’t last long enough for your dwarves’ happiness to become a real issue. That said, there are some pretty simple things that’ll keep them happy longer.

Photo: Bay 12 Games/Kitfox Games by Polygon

Click on the dwarf to check their Thoughts. You can look out for negativities to find what you can do. You can get there by using the CitizensMenü with the u.

Here are some possible causes of unhappy mood and solutions.

• In a Carpenter shop, you can make beds. You can place them in any room that has four walls or doors. This room will be used as a bedroom area.
• You can place chairs or tables, made at a Carpenter workshop or Stoneworker workshop, in the Meeting Area Zone so that they have somewhere to rest. Also, make sure your Meeting Area is inside or underground — dwarves don’t like getting caught in the rain.
• Collect and farm different plants — dwarves get bored drinking and eating the same thing every day.

It’s fun to lose.

This is the point Dwarf FortressSometimes, failure is often in creative and new ways. Don’t think of a collapsed fortress as a failure. Consider it a fun experience. Every fortress is a chance to learn something new — something you should’ve done earlier, something you shouldn’t have done, or something to prepare better for next time.