[Toma]

Wow, first time I see this game (and thread) Will download that asap as it seems to be right up my alley ;)

Have fun!
Some controls i missed for the first hours:

Ctrl+mousewheel to zoom
"," + "." to turn the camera
"r" to rotate items while placing them in buildmode

[cametall]

Played the demo, bought the game, starved all my gnomes to death :(

I committed gnome genocide because of this thread.

[Toma]

Played the demo, bought the game, starved all my gnomes to death :( I committed gnome genocide because of this thread.

Hey, its you who pulled the trigger/withheld the food, not us :p

There are actually 2 very easy ways of getting food.
- Either Right click -> Agriculture -> Forage on apple trees or strawberrie bushes on the map (which there are usually more than enough of).
- Or designate a Farm by Right click -> Agriculture -> Farm and then choosing the strawberries to be farmed. If that farm is big enough (8x8?) it will easily last you a while without you needing to do anything. Be aware though, that you need a gnome with the "farming" skill. You have from from the start, but if that gnome dies or you have more gnomes that need to be fed, you need to give another gnome the agriculture skill by doing this:
- Click population on the top of the screen
- Click status, and click a dwarf that continuosly idles or is only hauling stuff
- Click the profession tab, and then check the agriculture box

[cametall]

Hey, its you who pulled the trigger/withheld the food, not us :p There are actually 2 very easy ways of getting food. - Either Right click -> Agriculture -> Forage on apple trees or strawberrie bushes on the map (which there are usually more than enough of). - Or designate a Farm by Right click -> Agriculture -> Farm and then choosing the strawberries to be farmed. If that farm is big enough (8x8?) it will easily last you a while without you needing to do anything. Be aware though, that you need a gnome with the "farming" skill. You have from from the start, but if that gnome dies or you have more gnomes that need to be fed, you need to give another gnome the agriculture skill by doing this: - Click population on the top of the screen - Click status, and click a dwarf that continuosly idles or is only hauling stuff - Click the profession tab, and then check the agriculture box

I was foraging, and had what seemed a good supply of food and drink.

I think what happened was I had too many "jobs" queued up and the gnomes prioritized those over foraging. I had some gnomes forage but they didn't collect and store whatever dropped on the ground (the food/drink stores were completely dry at that time).

I'm guessing that is what happened. I had a lot of jobs queued up and no dwarves designated as agriculture.

Thanks for the help!

[Toma]

I was foraging, and had what seemed a good supply of food and drink. I think what happened was I had too many "jobs" queued up and the gnomes prioritized those over foraging. I had some gnomes forage but they didn't collect and store whatever dropped on the ground (the food/drink stores were completely dry at that time). I'm guessing that is what happened. I had a lot of jobs queued up and no dwarves designated as agriculture. Thanks for the help!

If something is really critical (meaning missing food or drinks), its a VERY good idea to have one gnome dedicated to only one job (either agriculture for food or brewing for drink, and unchecking all his other professions). I needed way more booze and set a dwarf to not doing anything except brewing, which worked out for me. Some workshops/tasks also have a priority setting, that might do the trick too.

Glad to help :) I hate making people feel bad for the purchases they made due to my recommendation, which is why I try to help out as much as I can. Good luck with your next try!

[Toma]

Some new impressions from my fortress:

First of all:


Meh, had more dwarfs dying. Now down to 16 again. However, I finally managed to lock my fortress up completely, leading to goblins now dying of thirst outside of my fortress, HA!
However, I didnt even notice that there are now Dirt golems intruding my fortress from below. No gnome got harmed yet, but apparently they spawn without light, so I really should get some more torches produced.

Secondly, I found a nice "view". If you build your fortress on the edge of a map, you get a vertical slice of your fortress + all the stuff build below:


And wow, really good timing, goblins now send stronger armored people to bug my villagers... Considering each normal goblin killed at least one of my gnomes, I dont want to consider what those guys might be able to do:

[TeegsD]

I've always wanted to get in DF but the steep learning curve and my short attention span on new games meant that I just never touched it after the first couple tries. This looks a lot more friendlier to get into while still keeping me interested. Must buy asap

[Toma]

I've always wanted to get in DF but the steep learning curve and my short attention span on new games meant that I just never touched it after the first couple tries. This looks a lot more friendlier to get into while still keeping me interested. Must buy asap

Read the last part of the OP for a general idea how to navigate the game. The linked wiki "tutorial" page, gives you a rather good idea on which areas to focus on at first too. And happy digging :)

Oh and dont be afraid to ask stuff, trying to reply as fast as I can about any issues someone might have.

[TeegsD]

Read the last part of the OP for a general idea how to navigate the game. The linked wiki "tutorial" page, gives you a rather good idea on which areas to focus on at first too. And happy digging :)

Yup was reading up on that and will definitely keep it open on one screen when i start off. BTW, downloading the demo and I've never heard of this Desura website before. Is it new?

[Toma]

Yup was reading up on that and will definitely keep it open on one screen when i start off. BTW, downloading the demo and I've never heard of this Desura website before. Is it new?

They've been around a few years now. They have a "slight" recognition problem with the big brother Steam (they are not affiliated) living next door, though. People (me included) simply dont even realize what happens on there. Its rather well known as a good platform for Indie games, though.

[TeegsD]

They've been around a few years now. They have a "slight" recognition problem with the big brother Steam living next door, though. People (me included) simply dont even realize what happens on there. Its rather well known as a good platform for Indie games, though.

Ah, had never heard of them but now that I have the client, I'll have no problem supporting them.

[Flambe]

Welp tried the demo and bought the Alpha, had fun =)

[Toma]

This game really needs an ingame help for the controls.

Magic trick number 1: Press F

Turns this:

into this:

This way you have lower walls for better oversight over the actual room contents.

Magic trick number 2: Press E

Omits all the stone you havent mined yet. How ridiculously cool does that look, like seriously.

[rezuth]

Weird to only support Windows, this is a game that would thrive on Linux and OS X.

[cametall]

Should my farmers also be haulers? I would think yes, but they seem to prioritize moving dirt from mining over picking up the strawberries they foraged.

[Toma]

Should my farmers also be haulers? I would think yes, but they seem to prioritize moving dirt from mining over picking up the strawberries they foraged.

You have a stockpile that will take food? And that stockpile isnt full? Try right clicking that stockpile and set the priority to 1.

[cametall]

You have a stockpile that will take food? And that stockpile isnt full? Try right clicking that stockpile and set the priority to 1.

Changing the priority got em going. Thanks Toma!

Edit: Why do some crafting stations turn red? Right now my Sawmill station has a red block around it.

[Toma]

Changing the priority got em going. Thanks Toma! Edit: Why do some crafting stations turn red? Right now my Sawmill station has a red block around it.

Those can be green (everything is working fine), yellow (not being used right now), or red (which indicates that something SHOULD be done, but isnt).

There could be various reasons for that:
- Either there isnt enough space in any stockpile for the resulting output (the most likely reason) -> Create a new stockpile for the goods created
- The goods NEEDED to create the item are missing -> Get more of the goods that workshop needs -> Fell more trees
- There is no gnome for the task -> Click the population thread, then your individual gnomes to check which skills they have active, one needs to have the Wood working skills for that.

[Toma]

Bah, that took me way longer than it probably should have (1:30h+):

[Tiktaalik]

Why is it that I can create a task to build a stone cutter workshop, but no one builds it?

[Toma]

Why is it that I can create a task to build a stone cutter workshop, but no one builds it?

Either you are missing someone with the Building skill, or (more likely) you are missing the material needed to build it. Not sure what the Stone workshop exactly needs, try building another one without placing it. That way you can check which materials were needed, probably stone and wood planks or something. You probably either need to dig out more stones or fell more trees and make them into planks.

[Toma]

I am probably looking through the forums suggestions part to find some interesting ones that I would personally look forward to. Just because.

I was also thinking what kind of 3d buildings one could create. The Gaf sign was an obvious one, but some buildings that actually would fit into the map would be nice. I was thinking of a well filled with water or Pyramids. Something like that.

[Toma]

Another control addition I just noticed:

By pressing ctrl and then 1-9 you can bookmark positions in your fortress. Pressing a number without holding ctrl will jump to the corresponding position. My fortress is now spread across 25 levels or something, so immediately jumping to the levels my workshops are on without searching them is really nice.

[EdibleExplosives]

Just downloaded the demo and don't have a clue what I'm doing. I think I'll read the wiki first.

[fifasnipe2224]

I got this game about 2 weeks ago and fell in love with it right away. For quite sometime I was have been looking for a DF like game but with a better UI and graphics. Towns did not sit well with me... but Gnomoria filled that hole. Most def worth the $8.00. Once I get home I will upload some images of my new fortress. (BTW I bought it off of BMT Micro and have no regrets)

[Toma]

Just downloaded the demo and don't have a clue what I'm doing. I think I'll read the wiki first.

Stated it multiple times, but check the "How do I play" part in the OP for a general description on how to navigate and the linked wiki for some early game goals to work for.

You could also take a look at some tutorial/lets play videos:
Rather unappealingly made Tutorial vids, that do a good job of explaining all the controls
Less a tutorial but more entertaining to watch.

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

The biggest learning curve for me on the demo has been getting them to mine the way I want. I was trying to get a big pit with ramps leading down into it and all of the floors removed but somehow a bunch of my gnomes got stuck and starved. : (

Still, it seems fun and challenging, but I think I need to keep things a little more simple.

[Toma]

I got this game about 2 weeks ago and fell in love with it right away. For quite sometime I was have been looking for a DF like game but with a better UI and graphics. Towns did not sit well with me... but Gnomoria filled that hole. Most def worth the $8.00. Once I get home I will upload some images of my new fortress. (BTW I bought it off of BMT Micro and have no regrets)

Yeah, bought it off BMTMicro too for getting the game updates 2 days earlier than on Desura. However, those guys are rather fast with blocking your download links if you use them on more than 1 PC or even if you try downloading it frequently from one PC. Not that big of an issue since you can just share your installer with your other PC, but I just wanted to mention that downloading from multiple PC's will lead to trouble.

[Toma]

The biggest learning curve for me on the demo has been getting them to mine the way I want. I was trying to get a big pit with ramps leading down into it and all of the floors removed but somehow a bunch of my gnomes got stuck and starved. : ( Still, it seems fun and challenging, but I think I need to keep things a little more simple.

Yeah, start off with easy stuff. Meaning digging straight into a mountain, also explained in the OP. The next step up would probably be properly using stairs/ramps to dig deeper and then after that building stuff in the air to get used to the usage and necessity of floors.

By a pit with ramps leading down into it, you mean something like this, right?


I'll write you up a quick tutorial how you can do that. Will take me a few minutes though. In the meantime try digging safe paths ;p

[EdibleExplosives]

Stated it multiple times, but check the "How do I play" part in the OP for a general description on how to navigate and the linked wiki for some early game goals to work for. You could also take a look at some tutorial/lets play videos: Rather unappealingly made Tutorial vids, that do a good job of explaining all the controls Less a tutorial but more entertaining to watch.

Thanks, I'll watch those videos first. I've wanted to play Dwarf Fortress for ages but the UI always put me off, which doesn't seem to be as much of an issue in this game.

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

Yeah, start off with easy stuff. Meaning digging straight into a mountain, also explained in the OP. The next step up would probably be properly using stairs/ramps to dig deeper and then after that building stuff in the air to get used to the usage and necessity of floors. By a pit with ramps leading down into it, you mean something like this, right? I'll write you up a quick tutorial how you can do that. Will take me a few minutes though. In the meantime try digging safe paths ;p

Yup that's exactly what I was trying to do, but I was trying to do it underground inside my fort. I'm just going to restart as I had only been playing for a half hour when my gnomes died, and was just getting used to controls.

[fifasnipe2224]

The UI is a huge leap forward but its still not great. People have been asking for hotkeys to this game since day one. But I have faith in RoboB0b.

[Toma]

The UI is a huge leap forward but its still not great. People have been asking for hotkeys to this game since day one. But I have faith in RoboB0b.

No doubt about it. I want hotkeys as well, it takes to long to click through all the options, although you can technically use the arrow keys for that too. Its even more bothersome than just using the mouse though as I cant operate the arrow keys AND the mouse with my right hand.

[Twinduct]

Been juggling towns and this for the last few days.
Fuck Goblins! They keep getting into my base :/
Even when I built a large wall around my base.

Btw is traps not inside the latest build? My 'mechanic' bit is greyed out, even when I've built everything I can :/

[fifasnipe2224]

Some simple controls that I can think off the top of my head.
Mouse wheel changes level
Mouse wheel plus cntrl for zoom
Space pause
Right click for actions
Left click to select
cntrl + (number) will book mark that screen. Simply hit the Number and you will be brought back to your bookmark

Also you can rotate the map, lower walls, see threw floors, quick save ect I changed all these keys. Simply go under options.

Few small tips: Focus on food an drinks early on, I seem to only get goblens and golems after my first wave of gnomads (interments), build stairs then remove them to delete the wall AND the floor above it, most efficient way of mining are parallel lines single rows spaced two rows apart, doors do nothing at the moment, torches (light) prevent golem spawns, to more value in your great hall = larger gnomad waves, no auto saves yet so quick save often, you can currently farm underground but this is a bug.

[Toma]

Yup that's exactly what I was trying to do, but I was trying to do it underground inside my fort. I'm just going to restart as I had only been playing for a half hour when my gnomes died, and was just getting used to controls.

Keep in mind that the biggest issue with such projects is that you need to make sure in a way where gnomes cant be trapped. Usually doing the work row by row or from the middle outwards does the trick.
If you do this underground make sure to mine out the area above it first of course.

Lets say you want to pit/ramp this area:


There are two options to do this:
- Either manually removing the floor tiles and then mining the actual dirt tiles from the level below (way too complicated and not needed for what we are trying to do)
- Or simply digging holes from the top, then adding ramps

If we dig holes from the top, we need to make sure that the gnomes won't end in a position where all 4 blocks around them are holed out, and they cant walk anywhere. We can do that by starting off digging holes in the middle squares


After that is done, the next ones around them:


until you have a huge pit:


Then its not a problem anymore to dig the ramps in the same manner, and your gnomes can start hauling the dirt away.


Shouldnt take too long either. That should take you about 5 minutes.

[Toma]

Been juggling towns and this for the last few days. Fuck Goblins! They keep getting into my base :/ Even when I built a large wall around my base. Btw is traps not inside the latest build? My 'mechanic' bit is greyed out, even when I've built everything I can :/

You need to research stuff like that first. Will take your tinker dwarf a while to research mechanical parts. Make sure you actually have a dwarf that has the skill to invent stuff.

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

Very nice. I'll have to try that when I get home from work. I am pretty sure for $8 I'm going to buy the alpha. It works like Minecraft right? I get access to all future features and the like?

[Toma]

Very nice. I'll have to try that when I get home from work. I am pretty sure for $8 I'm going to buy the alpha. It works like Minecraft right? I get access to all future features and the like?

Yep, the dev plans to support this game for quite a long time to come, and he seems like a nice and reasonable dude. I'd say its a good game investment.

[fifasnipe2224]

I am so happy with this game and $8 was amazing. I played for over 8 hours (mostly play when im queing up a dota2 game) so its has been very worth the price. BUT I will be fair and state that I do not recall RoboB0b stating that this $8.00 give you the full game once it comes out. I could be wrong......

[Twinduct]

You need to research stuff like that first. Will take your tinker dwarf a while to research mechanical parts. make sure you actually have a dwarf that is has the skill to invent stuff.

Ah that makes sense. Though they haven't added in the tinker's content yet, considering there was no options for the workshop. Will try this again. Can't wait to retractable bridges to come along!

[Toma]

I am so happy with this game and $8 was amazing. I played for over 8 hours (mostly play when im queing up a dota2 game) so its has been very worth the price. BUT I will be fair and state that I do not recall RoboB0b stating that this $8.00 give you the full game once it comes out. I could be wrong......

Nah. Talked to him too, dont worry about that. Its the Terraria/Minecraft model. He might of course introduce DLC or something down the line, but he plans to support this game with free updates for a long time to come.

[SnakeswithLasers]

Will buy. Will buy. Will buy.
Gotta go home now to buy.

Also feeling compelled to donate to the actual DF guys (they don't get any of this money, right?).

[Toma]

Ah that makes sense. Though they haven't added in the tinker's content yet, considering there was no options for the workshop. Will try this again. Can't wait to retractable bridges to come along!

The tinker workshop doesnt need content :) The gnome responsible for it simply goes there to work and research stuff. It took me over a season to get my first results, but then you'll get a message like:


Those parts can then be build in the other mechanics/engineer workshops, while the tinker gnome continues to research the next mechanical parts.

[Dennis]

I keep reading it as Gonorrhea....

[fifasnipe2224]

Will buy. Will buy. Will buy. Gotta go home now to buy. Also feeling compelled to donate to the actual DF guys (they don't get any of this money, right?).

No they dont.

And Toma... can you find any writing from RoboB0b stating that these $8.00 will guarantee us the game after alpha into the full version? In all honesty I think he will and I am not worried about him screwing us over lol. Would be nice to see him say something publicly soon. Although I would not mind giving him more $ once the game is out.

[Toma]

No they dont. And Toma... can you find any writing from RoboB0b stating that these $8.00 will guarantee us the game after alpha into the full version? In all honesty I think he will and I am not worried about him screwing us over lol. Would be nice to see him say something publicly soon. Although I would not mind giving him more $ once the game is out.

I'll ask him about an "official" response and link you then. No problem.

Will buy. Will buy. Will buy. Gotta go home now to buy. Also feeling compelled to donate to the actual DF guys (they don't get any of this money, right?).

Yeah, as Fifa already said, they are not affiliated. I wanted to donate to the DF dude for YEARS now. Damnit. I really need to do that at some point.

[Toma]

Its no "official statement" and I link you when I have one, but here is the tidbit I think he would be fine with me sharing it, that we had in a personal conversation:

I believe someone buying into alpha now should get their money's worth right now, without factoring in any promises. That's why I went with alpha funding instead of something like Kickstarter. So partly for me, that goes with dropping the alpha tag at some point when the game is reasonably stable and polished. But for me that doesn't mean the game is finished. I'd like to continue with free updates as long as I could support it.

You dont need to believe me of course :p

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

Its no "official statement" and I link you when I have one, but here is the tidbit I think he would be fine with me sharing it, that we had in a personal conversation: You dont need to believe me of course :p

He sounds cool enough to deserve my $8 based on that statement alone. As a programmer myself I know how much time and effort goes into something that is downright simple, and when I factor that in $8 seems like an absurdly good value. Besides, you have a Spacechem avatar and that means you have amazing taste, so I must listen to you.

[Lonewolf_92]

Well popping in here without a GAF account will be a "tad" difficult. Or we'll need to wait a few months. But sure, that would be great. Always nice to talk directly to the person responsible. Hey RoboB0b! I hope I sold a few games with this thread! ;p

You sold at least one! :p