Hope we manage to do a bit of justice to Dwarf Fortress - definitely one I'm still learning, but thanks to people in chat who are answering my questions as we go through the game. Mainly intended for total beginners, as there's still a lot I'm learning beyond the first two or so hours of gameplay in most forts - feel free to leave any tips for what to do and I'll read through them - thanks!

“I’m not having fun, I just have a brain that enjoys this” best way to describe dwarf fortress

You've seen "ate without a table" but have you heard about "not enough chairs?" The new hotness

Probably my favourite Fort was called LoveMountain (I actually managed to get that in the randomised name generator), and it was a social experiment. 10 Dwarves were the soft-cap population (7 initial settlers, 3 migrants) with a hard cap of 200 - which I could only get to via multiple generations of children. The goal of the Fort was to create a multi-generational community, essentially. With the 10 starting Dwarves I managed to 'force' (via a bit of manipulation - locking two compatible Dwarves into a beautifully decorated room together for months on end so they formed a bond that often ended in romance since all they could do was "socialise"). Within a year I'd managed to create three couples who then got married - the remaining four were doomed to be single forever, unfortunately (I ended up with 6 male and 4 female dwarves, and one of the women was gay - yes, I used DFhack to check - and also one of the men was gay but the rest were straight). Within five years I had several children born into the Fort, and each Dwarf was treated with absolute luxury - big royal quality bedrooms, a magnificent dining room and tavern, a library where interested Dwarves were encouraged to write books (and they did - eventually) and read the many other books I bought from the traders. They were all also trained fighters, two months per year were dedicated purely to sparring and classes, and I had my Dwarves practice on the forges until they made wonderous quality armour and weapons. I gave the entire fort a two months holiday during the summer where they had zero duties to perform - just sing, dance, socialise and DRINK. The Fort slowly expanded to fit the new generation, never sprawling out like my usual Forts but rather being designed for a few dozen Dwarves at most to work during the months they weren't training or partying. Wealth in the fortress exploded with vast hoards of gold and silver inlaid with gemstones piled up in the treasury, and any food my Dwarves had a taste for would be imported if possible. A perfect life where every single Dwarf was some degree of happy, some in a state of constant bliss. Eventually after twenty years the younger generation matured and started to organically couple up too, and my initial goal was achieved - I had three definitive generations living here now. Main problem was convincing my Dwarves to discard their worn out clothing in exchange for master crafted silk garments - but after a lot of micromanagement I did that too. By year thirty the population had grown to almost 40 Dwarves. Artefacts were common - and due to my micromanagement of skills most of them were WEAPONS of all things. My little militia was equipped better then heroes of legend, and highly skilled to boot. Even if I was attacked I knew my fort would repel any invaders with ease. So I started digging downwards, deeper and deeper. I found *CANDY* and set up elaborate pumping systems to clear out lava to better mine it for ever better weapons and wealth. And then the first death happened. An accident. One of the Grandmothers of the fort fell into lava due to my own mistake and was gone forever - but her artefacts remained, burning forever under a sea of lava and completely out of reach or hope of ever being recovered, an eternal reminder of my failure. Her husband took it surprisingly well, an ancient Dwarf now reaching the end of his natural lifespan (about 130 years old!), merely being slightly sad for a while until his children, grand children and now great grandchildren comforted him (i.e. socialised in the tavern). I still have the vast family tree I created on paper in a notepad. It was getting very difficult keeping track of all of them, especially with who was related to who. I was rapidly approaching cousins marrying cousins as the only choice, with only three family branches to choose from - but I knew with selective arranged marriages I could keep it under control by forming distance branches that were only related three generations apart - which Dwarf Fortress doesn't record as being related at all (a limitation, but also a pretty realistic social commentary). I even managed to form a fourth branch with one of the now quite old single male original settlers marrying a much younger dwarf girl, though they only had two children compared to the massive eight or nine some of the other families were churning out. Eventually the Fort just... ended. Not because anything went wrong, but because a new version of the game came out with significant changes. So I retired the Fortress that had given me so much fulfilment and started fresh - though this time it was a more typical Fort. Love Mountain will always bring me a bit of joy when I remember it. A truly unique fort, a castle dug into the mountainside with essentially a family of royals living there.

I didn’t know dwarf fortress could be this graphically detailed! Always wanted to get into it. But it was like trying to read the matrix code.

"As we get further down we'll start to see, like you know um, metamorphic rocks and things like that. Very dense stuff. Amazing, right?" This line combined with the soft guitar music makes this sound like one of those old educational VHS tapes you'd see in school, I love it.

Once you break through a cavern layer, the fungus spores get released to all the exposed underground soil above them which automatically starts growing dwarven crops in case you lose all your plump helmets to restart your farm and there's no trade caravan that sells them.

i cant play dwarf fortress with out thinking about lord of the rings when gimli makes the "And they called it a mine" quote i love that scene

I'm watching the non-symmetrical stockpile area just not get fixed for about 20 minutes, rolling around on the floor vomiting & crying but he just won't fix it. Great stream so far!

"All our offices look the same because we work in cubicles. We work for The Man." My brother in Abbathor, *YOU* are The Man.

Your delivery keeps me coming back again and again. "Now we're flying with a Raven. What a wonderful game this is." D E D

One very important tip for new expeditions. He mentioned that he ran out of mushroom seeds even though he is brewing them. When you brew mushrooms, you get the seeds, but if you cook mushrooms, you lose the seeds. So I recommend opening the kitchen section and unselecting "plump helmets" from the cook ingredient list.

"I have the guys in the chat who've played about 2000 hours and they still learning about the game" is the most DF sentence i've ever heard.

@51:30 Being a dwarf isn't about the beard on your face, it's about the beard on your heart

Of all the people I was hyped to see Dwarf Fortress videos from, you are definitely at the top! Thank you for this blessed video!!!

Hey, so I dunno if this comes up later in the video but the reason that your earlier fortress ran out of seeds is probably that your food stockpile filled up, making it impossible to harvest your plants, which then rot and die without giving off seeds. A simple solution to have a custom stockpile near each farm dedicated to the plant(s) that are farmed in that plot. Also a good idea to have another stockpile for the plant's seeds, so your planters don't have to run far to fetch them.

Just makes me want Z-Levels in Rimworld too. I want to build the Glitterworld tower of my dreams. I love how you can have a single-floor tall hallway open up into a Cathedral of Stone in DF.

For those wondering, Nookrium, as mentioned at the start of this video has a new Steam Version tutorial/beginner's guide up. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/sKuka5pzztGsqnU.html

Digging straight down is actually perfectly fine if you start it off with a "U-Bend" (like in toilet plumbing) entrance with a floor hatch on the way back up. Basically you make a stairway first go down a few layers, then over one, then back up one (but not all the way to the surface again) as your fort entrance. Then make all your other expansions behind that entrance, including digging back up slightly to a soil layer for farming. This is because it allows you to make a floor hatch on the way back up, which can't be destroyed by building destroys, since they can't destroy things in a layer above them, only the same layer or if they're standing on the floor hatch. This works anywhere whenever you don't embark right next to a mountain, and it's a great way to get secure from the most things (including flyers) immediately and with few resources. Just make sure you get your wagon items under a roof and behind a door or hatch as soon as possible to prevent decay and wildlife stealing things.

My tip, wider passageways! Takes more fluid to flood, better visibility of the traffic situation, and fighting in a 1x1 hallway can be a bit rough.

So glad you got this released. Going to be watching you play through whilst I try and learn alongside!

Oh god, this is it gentlemen. The very essence of content, the very heart of the valley. Ambi + Dwarf Fortress is the way.

in case someone is in the mood for music Brothers of the mine rejoice! Swing, swing, swing with me Raise your pick and raise your voice! Sing, sing, sing with me Down and down into the deep Who knows what we'll find beneath? Diamonds, rubies, gold and more Hidden in the mountain store Born underground, suckled from a teat of stone Raised in the dark, the safety of our mountain home Skin made of iron, steel in our bones To dig and dig makes us free Come on brothers sing with me! I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole Diggy, diggy hole, diggy, diggy hole I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole Diggy, diggy hole, digging a hole The sunlight will not reach this low Deep, deep in the mine Never seen the blue moon glow Dwarves won't fly so high Fill a glass and down some mead! Stuff your bellies at the feast! Stumble home and fall asleep Dreaming in our mountain keep Born underground, grown inside a rocky womb The earth is our cradle; the mountain shall become our tomb Face us on the battlefield; you will meet your doom We do not fear what lies beneath We can never dig too deep I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole Diggy, diggy hole, diggy, diggy hole I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole Diggy, diggy hole, digging a hole I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole Diggy, diggy hole, diggy, diggy hole I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole Diggy, diggy hole, digging a hole Born underground, suckled from a teat of stone Raised in the dark, the safety of our mountain home Skin made of iron, steel in our bones To dig and dig makes us free Come on brothers sing with me! I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole Diggy, diggy hole, diggy, diggy hole I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole Diggy, diggy hole, digging a hole I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole Diggy, diggy hole, diggy, diggy hole I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole Diggy, diggy hole, digging a hole...

Light Aquafiers are a good source of water that doesn't freeze over during winter, and you can fish from it. To dig through damp stone, just assign it to dig a stairway a second time in the same place and it'll go through with the task. Then dig around the stairway, and quickly build a wall all the way around the stairway to block the perpetual flooding.

“It appears if you do not have a door, you cannot place a door. Very exciting, Quite amazing.”

One glaring benefit of dwarf fortress over rim world is digging into the mountain is required and not punished like the bugs in RimWorld.

The original game was so hard to learn the UI. I spent the whole time learning the keyboard and reading tool tips. Spent a few days like that and stopped. I’m glad they made this version. Now it’s a lot more accessible to more ppl!

Every time I hear dwarf fortress I think back to the Sseth review and have a good laugh. When I lived in Philadelphia there was a place where there didn't flavored beers and I had a blackberry one that was delicious it was almost dangerous

seriously the best game ever made. playing it badly isn't annoying, it's the point, and the old players absolutely love all of the fresh meat on the menu

Are you planning on doing some of your scripted story form videos with this game? That would be gold.

I learned to play Dwarf Fortress almost 12 years ago during a period of unemployment and almost terminal boredom. It's amazing seeing this game reach a whole new audience. Fluid Dynamics can cause incredible feats of Dwarven engineering and lead to lots of Fun.

Oh, fuck yes! After 18 years in development, hopefully it will have been worth the wait.

Just wait until you figure out screw pumps and water pressurization. There's nothing quite like hosing down a crowd of incoming goblins, knocking them off a bridge into the water reservoir that you're pumping from.

I feel like DF is a goldmine for philosophical ramblings.

I really enjoy the way you approach things. Your delivery and demeanor are so calm and ponderous and your vocabulary is very interesting and unique. I like to listen to your VODs like podcasts while doing things

thank YOU for being such a fun watch, love dorf fort and i watch everyone i enjoy viewing when they play it, im glad i could be of help looking forward to other streams :)

I've loved Rimworld for a good few years now but always found Dwarf Fortress too inaccessible, so I'm really glad to see the full release that seems to be a little more accessible, and to see you playing it now so I can get a good look at it. Great stuff as always!

Its fun so far, though with an odd learning curve - the UI is different, the hotkeys are different, some of the mechanics are... different. Will take some adjusting to. But the game itself is wonderful. In a way I almost feel like I did myself a disservice getting so used to the original version - I keep finding myself tapping b, control-c, w and wondering what the hell I just did (rather then build a constructed wall).

The seed issue: Work orders> Labor> Kitchen > Disabling the Cooking icon next to Plump Helmets Things made at a Still gives back seeds, but not Kitchens, so making Meals with your mushrooms can easily destroy your food production. Also seeds take up an entire tile unless you have bags which hold 100 seeds of one type each, and barrels can hold many bags.

I was so excited to hear that this game dropped. I was overjoyed to see that you posted a VOD of your playtime

I don't think I've watched any VODs with you but this is something that I needed to see.

So glad you're playing this finally. I tried on two separate occasions, couldn't get the hang of it but I'm super excited to watch you play! I had no idea Steam released it with a graphic update. I'll maybe give it a 3rd try!

what really helped me get a hold of how DF functions, is to understand it as a civ builder. it really is a lot like rimworld, except, instead of the focus being on an individual level between each one of your colonists, it takes on overbearing standpoint on the civ you run as a whole, and how efficient, effective, and happily you can run your newfound colony. anyways, time to watch the video! i love watching beginner perspective's on dwarf fortress because they ALWAYS teach me something new, and i'm more than glad to give you the +1 like. thank you

Sweet thanks for drawing attention to the game. I've always liked this game and wish it had more updates

I love how AA is so afraid to offend people. I know he was a teacher in his past life and it's so cute.

Thank you for playing ❤

Perfect, just in time for bed! Thanks AA

welp, it's pretty clear which game is getting the next labor of love award

Thanks again for the raid man.

I have been so excited for this series

This is awesome! I’m so glad you’re playing this game and I can’t wait to see what you do with adventure mode, whenever that comes out :) I love the challenges your characters have faced in other videos and wow, does an adventurer have challenges 😂

All of the attributes you read off about the individual dwarf are actually parts of the simulation. They affect the way each individual resolves challenges, frustrations and conflicts. It's all transparent to the player and behind the scenes. To get a good sense of how deep the simulation is, look for the story about a patch day many years ago when players suddenly found vomit all over their fortresses and then discovered that all the cats were dead. I can't do it justice, so I won't spoil the story. I can see how it might look like fluff, but afaik everything in the character sheet for dwarfs (and elves, and humans, and animals, and demons and werebeasts, etc.) are all active parts of the sim.

Tutorial dropped me at a place that had weird sludge raining from the sky. But the trees kept it off *most* of the ground xD

so awesome to see you play this!

Im extrodinarily excited to watch how you learn

So absolutely soothing. Suuuuper enjoyable. I essentially had it playing in the background so I technically only caught glimpses tabbing over occasionally, yet I’m totally thankful that you have the vod available. Great voice, and tone, and cadence. You seem to be a pro but I do hope you’ll take care with your voice all the same. I assume my throat would be on a gurney heading to the morgue if I talked this long!

First time player myself, and I get a strong space station 13 semblance from the game. Hell I have to pause so often to read what some of my dwarfs are doing, or wondering why there are 100 rotten salmon stacked ontop of eachother on the same tile. Its quite fun.

Yay! Can't wait for the full series. I was overwhelmed by the ascii graphics cause it was hard to discern between different things

An over 2 hour video of dwarf fortress? *TIS A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!*

I am so happy that one of my favorite youtubers has started streaming one of my favorite games :D Strike the earth ambiguousamphibian!

The game is so satisfying to watch. Please bring more content from him.

Don't undesignated temporarily, change it to blueprint mode. Less hustle and you won't forget what you planned.

As a new person to Dwarf Fortress, literally found out about it when it released is that it reminds me of RimWorld and Caves of Qud if they had a baby. (Or however you say it.) I do know that Dwarf Fortress came out first though but y'know

"Dwarf Fortress is such a square-y game, and I really do love squares." It's important to love yourself! Not finished your video yet, but excited to see a long form video from you; to see more of this game; and your thoughts on it. Haven't picked up the game yet, b/c I'm allowing friends the opportunity to get it for me for Christmas, but I'm vibrating with excitement for the day I get to play it.

I knew you were going to do SOMETHING with this release, can't wait to watch literally everything you put out for this game.

Love all the videos, content, and overall amphibian making the videos. Keep up the great job man!

These two guys are so dedicated to their game. This game is so intricate. Imagine each NPC being AI Agent powered! Next level.

Thank you so much man, I can actually learn how to play the game from this

The controls and UI being simplified has lowered the barrier for entry by about 70% 😂

When I saw this get released on Steam, immediately was looking forward to seeing you play! Hope you're doing good AA ♥

7:41 - I love that crew. Would be a great crossover

Having a fort that goes horribly wrong is like the main appeal of dwarf fortress

Ever since I found your channel I have been waiting for this moment, thank you so much 👍

I want to play this game so much. Had this wishlisted since it was on steam.

you have to specify plump helmets as something that is not cooked, from the kitchen tab. cooking them destroys the seeds

bro please extend and do this as a full series!!!

Looking forward to part 2!

Love Nookrium, he deserves so much more attention. I got into Ymir because of him and ClanHawkins’ vids on it, and I think Kenshi too. He’s also just an extremely genuine and sweet guy ❤

hey just stumbled across your channel after buying dwarf fortress and i gotta say i really like your videos! this was exactly what i was looking for to kinda learn the ropes a little bit while i try not to get all my dwarfs killed.

"Don't be cowardly, confidently make mistakes!" such an underrated quote

Can’t believe this is finally out! I might have to pick this up one day.

I'm excited to try this soon

Watching this as my job is just shoving me into a corner except for every 2 hours when I need to grab water samples. . . This will keep me busy

also the wikipedia is an important source of not only gameplay mechanic explanations, but also ideas. lots of things to do to play the game

I'll say this because it was mentioned, whoever designed, coded, and set up the UI for crusader kings 3 were geniuses and they obviously played 4X and strategy games their entire career because it is THE most new and old player friendly UI literally being able to make pop up menus from pop up menus, no tabs or extra clicking required. I was never more confident in recommending friends play the game and one of them HATES 4X games, they put more hours into it than me after they got into it. Will forever recommend that game it's a masterpiece. Edit: his broker is a vampire no doubt. Good liar, and generally good at most social tasks. Make him stand under running water for a minute and see how he feels!

That you for that quote in the description. Pay tribute to da legend

you can also learn a lot from Kruggsmash because he changes things up a lot and builds around map features and themes, builds around types of traps or challenges.

I love watch people learn dwarf fortress for the first time. It's not a learning curve, it's a learning cliff

Started a new fort on a woodland bordering a desert due to the abundance of gold and steel making materials. I haven't made it to winter or finished digging shelter when a herd of giant camels came through, killed all my animals and mutilated all of my dwarves. They're currently all bleeding out crawling to the beds with multiple broken bones. This game is FUN.

1 Million years dwarf fortress! MORE CONTENT

So, after bouncing off the base version multiple times, the steam version finally gave me the opportunity to create my own little catastrophe masquerading as a fort. I created a world, selected a site far away from all hostile encampments, with only a human settlement nearby, with good resources and struck the earth. The first two years went without any major problems, and I started to feel pretty confident in my abilities, untill an alarm showed up "The vile forces of darkness have arrived" Huh? Did some Gobbos really make the two weeks trip just to remind me I really should have remembered to create some form of military? Okay, don't panic, get everyone inside and raise the drawbridge, I have enough food for a while, I'll be fine. Dig out a barracks, appoint a commander, produce a few weapons, train a couple of Dorfs up. Let's see what the Gobbos actually brought with them. Thats not a Goblin. That is an undead human Archer. And he brought quite a few friends... Oh my... Well, don't matter, the basic plan is still sound. Over the next few months my Crossbowdorfs train themself by taking potshots from behind my fortifications while the undead hordes entertained themselfs by chasing around the local wildlife untill most of the surface was covered in blood, vomit and body parts of various woodland critters. Then the dwarven caravan showed up and one of the attending axedwarves basically solo'd the army that had my whole 40-Dwarf fort hunkered up behind their defenses for the better part of a year. Yay, freedom! Ok, but seriously, where did those guys come from? Check the world map. The only settlement half a days march away is this human... tower... Oh my... That could be a problem. Back to my fort, produce bolts! Create defensive positions! Find out why my indoor farms aren't working! Rush out to the trade depot to buy seeds before the caravan leaves! Set training orders for my squad! Where is my squad? My squad is gone! It received orders to raid the necromancer tower and got themselves captured! Vile forces of darkness have arrived! ... Oh... My... Back into the burrow, you know the drill. And this time I even got all the livestock inside. But between the last siege and the missed harvests food is short, so lets eat some of the cows. The cows then file a formal complaint against their position in the food chain by having their skeletal remains headbutt my butcher and chief medical dorf into a nearby wall, breaking his spine and bruising the fat. It kind of detoriated from there, as all my remaining food was guarded by the butchered bovines, and my desperate attempt of just impressing everyone into the military and just rushing them went slightly less than stellar. While we did manage to put the cow skeletons back down, the smell of death and the screams of the dying filling the hallways around the kitchen/dining area put a bit of a damper on the mood of the survivors, which they tended to express first by refusing to prepare any more meals, and shortly thereafter by violently murdering their soon-to-be-ex-survivors. So, as soon as adventure mode is being released, I'll gonna take a look at this fort haunted by violent skeletons and pissed off ghosts some years down the road. My second fort sank into a swamp. I don't wanna talk about it. My third fort is actually doing pretty well, was just elevated to a barony and my military trains by bullying an etchin I keep in a hole in the basement, and I kinda can't wait to see what will go catastrophically wrong this time

Tip for beginners: Cooking seed-bearing plants, such as plump helmets, destroys the seeds. Cooking seeds directly, also destroys the seeds. Disable cooking seeds. Disable cooking of seed-bearing plants. Otherwise you will run out of seeds.

Most of my pain in this game is managing happiness and figuring out what to do next after the very basic setup. Only time I’ve had a fortress ending event is when weregecko’s started popping up

I wasn't prepared for the SOI reference in the description lol!

I saw this just released on steam and I wondered how quick you'd pump out a vod on it. Didn't take very long.

I have a problem with "loser fort" dying is not losing - dying (at least interestingly) is playing the game. one might even say "dying is FUN!" i have a few hundred hours in the game (so still a newb). But so far this is everything i thought and AA playthrough would be. i have been waiting for the release, not just to get a prettied-up version of the game, but also just to watch AA play it. Time for coffee, AA, and DF!

I like the way you say everything. Cazadoon is one of many words your voice says well

So happy you made this! not cuz of the game, but for t he content, i love listening to your videos in the background, you have such relaxing voice, and knowing you, you talk alot during ur rimworld videos, so this will be a treat!

You think dwarfs would only carve themselves? Oh you need to check out the descriptions of the carvings. You may see the occasional carving relating to your fort, but you'll also get everything from random musical instruments to abstract symbology to carvings relating to historical figures (which could be a goblin who overthrew a dwarven king and is now the king of your civilization, or a random dude distantly related to someone in your fort from ages ago who's only interesting act was being killed by a giant owl man or some shit). Dwarven art can get very wild.

this game is insane I love it