Bay 12 Games Forum

Really awesome job Squamous!
You might as well start a wiki if it doesn't already exist, given the wealth of information available

Item descriptions! We Dark Souls now!

As a player, do you like having tons of items thrown your way without any explanation? Unless you have a 6th sense, the answer should be negative.
This is just common sense to want to learn more about the fantasy world you're in.
And no one asked for a wall of text, a simple one-liner is usually enough for most items.

@Vordak: Lol!

So based on the consensus of feedback it seems like the prominent concerns are the office software vibe and the lack of tool tips.

How about something like this? (Right side)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Remove the borders and add parchment or something like stone as a background for the different sections.

That's a really good mockup, nice job! It takes the good base of the new UI a step further.
Tooltips would be amazing for a lot of players who are getting started. If we could avoid having to alt/tab constantly in order to visit the wiki, because nothing is really explained in the game, it would make a huge difference. Improve the flow, dpesn't force you out of the game to obtain essential knowledge that should be available inside the game.

I also like that the player's inventory is more distinguishable from the available items. In the steam page screenshots, you can't really tell the difference without the tiny text at the top.

Hello,
I'm not a modder myself but I'm curious about modding possibilities. Anyone knows if the Toady is planning to make more of the hardcoded data accessible to modders for the steam version?
Basically giving full control to modders

Hey, tried to use Dwarf Therapist, looks like it's crashing when reading dwarves. I guess it's expected because of the custom content?

Can you provide informations related to industries?
Is it normal that all workshops are the same as Vanilla?
I read that characters don't need to eat, is that true for all races?
Why are similar items (same name) listed multiple times in the workshops?
What can I do with pipe ore? It's not listed anywhere in the forge.

A short tutorial explaining how to get started would help greatly beginners like me.

I'm just working on multiple projects of which the Long Night is just one.

Tried your latest mods, I stick to Long Night, this one stands out the most in term of settings, it's obvious when you start the game.
The others are more subtle, you probably need to play longer to really feel the difference.

By the way, where did you get those soundtracks?

Just started the game, is that intended that your units can't have specialization if you chose to embark carefully?

I love the efforts made with the mood. The tileset, the music...
Loving the desolated atmosphere, it's pretty unique.

Are you planning to expand the mod or keep improving things?

(also coming from Kruggs)

EDIT: Found on the DFFD page "This mod also comes with a pre-built advanced worldgen world to serve as an example how how to make similar ones that align with the setting (the main rule is to remove all supernatural phenomena)."
Well, there's no pre-built world in the package.
And how can I remove those supernatural phenomenas? Which ones specifically? It's hard to get a picture from this very short sentence.

Quote from: Yakefa on July 13, 2020, 11:24:53 am

- Lack of guidance early game. The game is overwhelming for a player starting in 2020. The amount of hidden information for a new player, most of you who have been playing the game for years and saw the game growing progressively can't really fathom how difficult it can be for a new player to get into the game.

Not to be sarcastic or anything but the game has always been this way.  If there is a person who ever found this game easy to get started with I have yet to meet that person.  Some of this is unavoidable because of actually complex game mechanics that interact in not easily predictable ways, and I don't think this kind of thing needs to be "fixed" because it isn't broken, but stuff like bins not working and not being able to figure out why dwarves don't do jobs, related to obscure mechanics, probably should be.

In reference to the title of this topic, the goal here is not to debate whether it is possible to succeed or not in DF as a complete beginner, but how to improve the first-time experience of new players.
It is not broken, it is simply non-existent. Does it mean we shouldn't consider adding in-game tutorials? The game has always been this way and that's also one of the reasons why it's always been a niche game. Rimworld has come in the meantime, and it's a pretty good reference for UI and controls.
 
In Rimworld, there is a tutorial mission that explains all the basics and how to survive your first winter, but still lets you figure out the rest. Tooltips, pop up message, glowing UI/arrows, help understanding the UI better when playing this tutorial mission. The game takes the player hand through the early stages of the game and afterwards, it's gone.
For DF, it might need more than one single tutorial because it's difficult to encompass all areas in one go.