Dwarf Fortress Prepare Carefully Guide (2024)

FAQs

Why is Dwarf Fortress so difficult? ›

Dwarf fortress is difficult for two reasons 1: Unintuitive interface. It takes some time just to learn how to do basic things and find the information you need. 2: Complexity. Once you know every possible command you can give you need to figure out what to do.

Dig out the reservoir where you want to store the water. From the reservoir, dig a tunnel up to your water source, but leave one space of earth to prevent water from flooding in and killing your dwarf. Connect the door/floodgate to a lever, and make sure any dwarves stuck in the tunnel are safely evicted.

Be aware that food that is not properly stored in a stockpile rots quite fast. Rotting is the worst possible fate for a masterfully prepared meal.

Since there is no way to win, it only ends when the entire colony is defeated by the various possible threats, or the player decides to abandon or retire the fortress.

You start the game in paused mode, and you should begin by surveying your surroundings. Dwarves naturally only feel comfortable underground, but it's wise to look for a strategically located place for the entrance to your fortress – it should be easily defensible as well as have water and trees nearby.

It basically only gets hard if you settle on tough biomes like evil, savage or cold or with necromancers but even that can be easily managed once you know how to deal with it. Or if you are unlucky you could have some early random dragon or demon visitor or cave inhabitants you can't deal with in your embark.

Firstly, new players should not embark, or start a fortress, on any site that has a heavy underground aquifer. Dwarves don't swim and won't go in water, so if your fortress is flooded, that's pretty much game over. Light aquifers are okay, but you'll have to be vigilant about spaces filling up with water.

Floor grates do not block fishing or taking water directly from a water source, nor do they block collecting sand or clay, though they do prevent wells from working if between the well and the water.

Why is the well dry in Dwarf Fortress? ›

If there is something obstructing the well, or there is not enough water, it will display "dry". While in use by a dwarf, you can see the well's rope and bucket travel across z-levels.

Flour is more valuable than a raw mill-able crop, meaning prepared meals made with flour will have a higher value.

Pigs are great animals due to their potential to feed the fortress; with pigs, dwarves have a good supply of meat, milk, and leather.

Brewing (Still) will retain the Seeds from the used plants. Cooking destroys the Seeds of any plant.

The UI in Dwarf Fortress is completely indefensible. Even when you do understand how to play the game it's a kludge. Let alone the fact that AN ASCII GAME CAN BRING AN 8 CORE DESKTOP TO A CRAWL.

If you've played Rimworld or similar, you'll get comfortable after 4-10 hours depending on your learning speed. If you haven't, it may take significantly longer, but I'd say no more than an hour of videos should get you started.

“Dwarf Fortress” is a game that's garnered a reputation for being hard. However, it's not that the features themselves are that hard to understand; it's more a matter of the game's quirky design.