Urist McPlayer cancels Doing Important Stuff: Playing Dwarf Fortress

[Failure McFailFace]

If you guys don't know what Dwarf Fortress is, here's a summary from TvTropes:

The game has two modes: Fortress mode (affectionately termed "Dwarf Mode" by the fans), which plays like a dizzyingly complex hybrid of Dungeon Keeper and The Sims, if all your little people were manic-depressive alcoholics; and the rougher, less-polished Adventure mode, which plays like a very freeform roguelike. Both modes have no way to win, but hundreds of ways to lose, and thus, Losing is Fun. If you intend to play this game, keep that in mind.

Link to the game

I was playing it last night and I have run into a problem where there's no food. I need a restart

[commandercool]

Every time I've ever tried to play Dwarf Fortress I ran into a UI snag in the first hour and just lost immediately. Last time I couldn't figure out how to use buckets (despite A LOT if looking) so I couldn't grow crops. I'm usually willing to be patient and learn games, but I always felt like Dwarf Fortress was trying my patience to an unfair degree.

[Failure McFailFace]

Every time I've ever tried to play Dwarf Fortress I ran into a UI snag in the first hour and just lost immediately. Last time I couldn't figure out how to use buckets (despite A LOT if looking) so I couldn't grow crops. I'm usually willing to be patient and learn games, but I always felt like Dwarf Fortress was trying my patience to an unfair degree.

You don't need buckets to grow crops. You just need some form of dirt, and seeds.

1. Mine an area for the farm
2. Press [ b ] to go to the building screen, [ p ] for a farm plot
3. Place down the plot using [Enter/Return]. You must specify a pair of opposite corners since it's a rectangle.
4. press [ q ] and hover over the farm. You should see a menu that say what crops to plant.
5. Press [ a ] for spring crops. [ + ] and [ - ] to select the crop, [ Enter / Return ] to set it
6. Press [ b ] for summer, [ c ] for fall, and [ d ] for winter. Repeat the crop selection process
7. A planter dwarf should come down and plant the crop of the season. He (should) automatically harvest when the crops are ready.

Ideally, you should have irrigation for your farm, but this is the early game and you don't need it right now.

EDIT: Interesting. [ + ] makes a square bullet, even in the [t t] tags.

[commandercool]

I think I was trying to grow mushrooms because of the particulars of the area I settled in and I needed to cover an interior room's floor in mud. I don't remember exactly, but I remember I couldn't figure it out.

[draganuv15]

I remember in high school I had friends who were into Drawf Fortress. Tried to pick it up myself and my dwarves decided it would be a good idea to have a field trip during some Red Mist.

Haven't really played the game since then but for anyone wanting to know how games typically go if you do advance pretty far (and an example of a succession game) Boatmurdered is a classic.

[Failure McFailFace]

So last night I played a bunch. Right now, I'm trying to get a dormitory ready, since the dwarves are getting annoyed that they're sleeping on the floor.

They also want chairs. I need a dining room, too.

[Failure McFailFace]

I think I was trying to grow mushrooms because of the particulars of the area I settled in and I needed to cover an interior room's floor in mud. I don't remember exactly, but I remember I couldn't figure it out.

You need to flood the room with water, then empty it.

I would recommend draining a small pond on the surface into your farm, then emptying it into a little "tank" for the dwarves to use.
If drying mechanics are in the game, this would backfire very quickly.

[Raikaria]

I think the furthest I ever got with DF was ~80 population. I've got a stronger PC now however. That said; I'd hover ~80 for a while and then die due to !!FUN!!; usually traps or trained animals failing to keep enemies away. Or some intricate trap I made failing and getting my Urists drowned.

I also hope they fixed that military bug where military dorfs will not register as going off duty unless you actually remove them from the squad altogether despite allocating times when they are off duty.

For those who don't know; being on duty for a long time makes unhappy thoughts that get worse to a high cap. However; removing a Dorf who's good at fighting from the military also gives them a big unhappy thought while simultaneously keeping the previous one. Which tends to make them go on murderous rampages. And they are trained miliaty dorfs with weapons and armor.

As you can probably guess from the military issue and my initial statement; I mainly used traps and trained animals to defend my fort. At one point I even had a trained War Elephant. Except that thing died to a Forgotten Beast; although not without putting up a fight, enough that the beast bled out soon after.

[Moogs Parfait]

I'm pretty decent at this game, getting to 300 dwarves a few times before my forts died of boredom.

I checked out the starter pack recently which comes with a ton of popular  utility apps added on. I will probably make time to really play again when the inn and tavern release happens.  I'd like to be part of a succession fort but committing to do it properly is something I've struggled with

[NekoNekoRex]

You guys are going about this way wrong. I'm an old veteran of the game, and you guys don't even know where to start (or at least make a proper OP)

First of all, if you had read any farther into TV Tropes, you'd know that Dwarf Fortress has a HUGE learning curve. The fans even lampshade it:
.
You have to be aware that Dwarf Fortress is the most complex and detailed simulation game ever created... and it's still in beta. In fact, the creator of the game doesn't plan to have the game at 1.0 for at least 18 more years.

Second, don't link directly to the game if you're trying to get newbies into it. Link to where you can get the newbie utility pack so that you guys can actually play the game. Don't forget to use Dwarf Therapist, you'll absolutely need it if you get more then 30 dwarves because the UI for manipulating jobs is hilariously bad. And you'll want to change their jobs. A lot.

Speaking of which, don't forget to link to the bloody wiki. You WILL need the wiki. Like, don't take that graph above as a joke. You'll need a wiki. You'll need the Beginner's guide on the wiki. You'll want a reference guide to important concepts, You'll want the wiki for everything, because it's a complex as fuck game and you're not gonna last a year in the game without it.

Finally, don't forget to mention that Dwarf Fortresss is a FREE GAME on the internet, and the developer is entirely supported by donations. If you like Dwarf Fortress at all, or at least like the community, or at least like reading the hilariously disasterous Succession Games (each word is a link, last one is to our very own succession game by Totaku, although imageshack has made it somewhat unreadable), then you should consider supporting the game by donating to The Toady One.

[Raikaria]

You have to be aware that Dwarf Fortress is the most complex and detailed simulation game ever created... and it's still in beta pre-alpha. In fact, the creator of the game doesn't plan to have the game at 1.0 for at least 18 more years.

Fixed.