Dwarf Fortress play notes.

DwarfFortressPlayNotes.md

Overview - Dwarf Fortress Play Notes

Notes for Dwarf Fortress, reminders of some things I tend to forget.

We play with Vanilla! It lacks the sound effect and Dwarf Therapist but is otherwise most integrated, feels natural, and had little distraction.

Git Dwarf Fortress Play Notes.

General Indexed Notes

• (Setup) Necessary Configurations (Vanilla Edition)
  • Fullscreen mode: Change data/init/init.txt - [WINDOWED:PROMPT], [FULLSCREENX:1536] and [FULLSCREENY:864]. On Laptop with 150% zooming level we might need to manually adjust resolution as shown here.
  • A ridiculously hard to read blue text: Change data/init/colors.txt - [BLUE_R:32], [BLUE_G:80] and [BLUE_B:64]; [LBLUE_R:64], [LBLUE_G:127] and [LBLUE_B:258].

• (Todo) Possible Things to Do/Try
  1. Mechanism

Quick Keyboard Reminders

Hotkeys are case sensitive!

Navigation

• Up/Down/Left/Right: Move
• F1: (Default) Go to embark site
• > and < (Shift+, or Shift+.): Change view layer; Going one layer up/down
• k: Inspect
• ESC: Cancel whatever operation, go back to the root menu

Gameplay

• Space: Continue/Pause

Menus

• H (Shift+h): Show hotkeys

Common Actions/How To

How to Check Available Woods

z-Stock, it's called "Logs".

How to Create Dining Hall

Put a table somehwere, use q to create a room. You might place a food stockpile nearby.

How to Establish a Trading Depot

Trading Depot is a building, so you build it: bD. Usual wood/stone materials will do fine.

How to Expand Stockpiles (Preserve Name and Identity)

You can't do that in vanilla DF. Just replace and build a new one. But notice you can use q to change stockpile (preferences) settings.

How to Export Map

In ESC menu you can export local map at current Z level.

How to Find All Established Stockpiles?

Stockpiles are considered rooms - use R-z to view them.

How to Find Location of An Item (e.g. a bed, an axe)?

z-Stock-Enter-Search-Tab-z: Status-Stock-Select-View.

How to Find Location of an Location (Pending)

Use l key we can browse locations - but where are those?

How to Fish (Pending)

Use i to do a fishing zone.

Does fishing require a fishing rod?

How to (View) Follow a Unit

Use uzf to follow a unit.

How to Grow Food

b-p to build (plot), umkh to resize while building, q to see available crops. To remove/deconstruct, hover and use q-x

(Issue) u is for viewing units, so it's not working after construction - you must resize the farmplot when you are building it.

How to Make a Manager

n to set role; b-c to make chair; q on chair to make office.

How to Make Clothes

How to Move the Embark Truck to a Different Location

How to Name Activity Zone

Just use the same key for creating it: i then Ctrl-N. Notice for stockpiles, use t then Ctrl+N.

To view zones, use R.

How to Remove Building/Construction (Non-Designation)

Use q-x.

How to Reset F1 to Embark Site

We can use u-v-F1 to assignment F1-F12 to units, thus overriding default F1 for embarking site - the question is, how do we set it back?

Currently I don't know a way to jump directly to the embark site, but you can always do: H-F1-z to change hotkeys.

How to See Date/Time

Use z; You can't see time. When you see annoucements a you can also see time.

How to Setup Bedrooms

q over bed, r create room.

How to Tame Mountain Goats

LFR

(Setup) Basic Actions

• u-z-g-b or v-b: View available labours; u-z-p set new labours.
  • jobs like mining, wood cutting and hunting requires tools; And other jobs may require workshop (such jobs are designated by workshops directly) or facilities.

(Setup) Basic Survival

• (Season) You can't get water from ice without magma. So do in a fort before winter hits dig out something like 3x3 and channel a few layers down (2 - 5) and designate it as a pond and fill it with water. if you have buckets and idle dwarfs they will fill it up. Then setup a well and poof, you'll have a water source available over winter time. (Can dwarfs drink directly from such ponds?)

(Setup) Basic Play Guides

• Map Generation: Choose a small map if just for fun; It's much quicker.
• Embarking:
• First things to do:
  1. Create stockpiles for various functions: wood, food, furniture.
  2. Assign basic activity zones: fishing, meeting, hospital, pasture.
  3. Creating basic livable fortress: bedrooms, office, inn/dinning hall.
• Several other things to do:
  1. Tame animals
  2. Establish trading depot
• Activities are assigned either through designation, zone/room, building, or jobs. The key is to become familiar with what you can do, and how (through what interface) - and maybe practice a lot🤣.

(Dwarf Fortress, configuration) Colors

Replace Colors.txt

[BLACK_R:21]
[BLACK_G:19]
[BLACK_B:15]
[BLUE_R:45]
[BLUE_G:90]
[BLUE_B:160]
[GREEN_R:80]
[GREEN_G:135]
[GREEN_B:20]
[CYAN_R:25]
[CYAN_G:140]
[CYAN_B:140]
[RED_R:160]
[RED_G:20]
[RED_B:10]
[MAGENTA_R:135]
[MAGENTA_G:60]
[MAGENTA_B:130]
[BROWN_R:150]
[BROWN_G:75]
[BROWN_B:55]
[LGRAY_R:178]
[LGRAY_G:175]
[LGRAY_B:172]
[DGRAY_R:116]
[DGRAY_G:110]
[DGRAY_B:113]
[LBLUE_R:105]
[LBLUE_G:135]
[LBLUE_B:225]
[LGREEN_R:125]
[LGREEN_G:185]
[LGREEN_B:55]
[LCYAN_R:60]
[LCYAN_G:205]
[LCYAN_B:190]
[LRED_R:220]
[LRED_G:50]
[LRED_B:20]
[LMAGENTA_R:190]
[LMAGENTA_G:110]
[LMAGENTA_B:185]
[YELLOW_R:230]
[YELLOW_G:170]
[YELLOW_B:30]
[WHITE_R:232]
[WHITE_G:227]
[WHITE_B:232]

FAQ

What's the Difference Between Refuse Stockpile and Garbage Dump zone?

Refuse is for biowastes; Garbage dump is for d-b-d (when an area is marked this way, things are dumped to Garbage dump).

What's the Difference Between (activity) Zone, Location, and Room (bedroom, dining room, library)?

What's the difference between bedroom and hospital?

What's the difference between dining room and meeting hall?

Locations are more for attracting travellers.

Where to Start/How to Review when Entering a Saved/Map or to Continue a Session?

First we want to get a big picture of what is already going on.

Use i to view available zones.