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[AmberMac]

O.K, So before i start playing the game, Can anyone tell me what some of the symbols do, And how i control my little dwarfs, And so on, Im very new to this type of gaming, But im used to micromanaging, I used to play the sims and so on. XD Ive already loaded a world, But im yet to step into it without the fear of dieing, Or getting invaded by goblins.

[martinuzz]

I suggest you read the wiki: www.dwarffortresswiki.net

It has a nice tutorial and will answer a lot of your questions.
Don't worry... A lot of people read the wiki first.  

If you have any more specific questions you encounter when playing the game, the community here will gladly help out.

[AmberMac]

Thank you for your fast reply,  And thanks for pointing me to wiki, I didnt know about that, Ty!

[Name Lips]

You cannot control the dwarves directly. You can issue orders, and watch your dwarves carry them out to the best of their ability. But they have a certain amount of free will - they will run from danger, stop working to eat/drink/sleep, occasionally attend month-long parties, or go on break when you really, really need them to work.

I assume you've managed to create a world and embark to a location with a party of dwarves. Good.

The first thing you'll want to do is figure out how to dig tunnels and rooms underground. Scroll around your map using the arrow keys until you find what looks like a cliff face. There will be black (unrevealed) stone on the inside. Hit the [d] button to bring up the designate menu, and hit [d] again to make sure you have the "mine" option selected. You will have a curser on the screen that you can control with the arrow keys. Hit enter to mark the starting point for digging, move the curser, and hit enter again to mark the ending point for digging. Some squares should highlight. As long as at least one highlighted stone is accessible to a dwarf with the "Mining" activity turned on, and a mining pick is available, you will have started to delve your first fortress.

Once you've figured out how to get your miners going and dig rooms and corridors, we can teach you more. But that's really the first and most important lesson for newbies.

[AmberMac]

I will update you on when im finished digging out a good place, Thanks alot for that bit of info too! =D

[martinuzz]

... And just in case you happened to embark on a flat piece of land without cliffs:

You can dig a staircase down. Since this is a bit tricky at first for most new players, I'll just explain it now.
First, hit (d)esignate. But now, do not hit (d) again to mine, but hit (j):dig down staircase.
designate your stairs by pressing <return>. You will see a blinking cursor indicating one edge of the area to be designated. You can now size it. Make it a nice wide stairs, let's say 3x3.
now press space to let time pass, and watch your miners dig out the stairs.

Finished? No.
You have only dug one half of the stairs.
No, press (> ) to shift the game view one z-level down.
You will see exactly where you have dug out the stairs.
Now, press (d)esignate again, and press (u): dig up stairs.
designate the 3x3 area below your upper half of the stairs.
Unpause, and see how your stairs are completed.
You now have acces to the first lower level!

Have fun!

[ May 25, 2008: Message edited by: martinuzz ]

[AmberMac]

Uhm, I started in a heavily wooded forest, And heavy vegitation, With calm wilderness, And now all the cougars are attacking my people! Please help, I dont know what to do,   I got it on pause atm

[Solara]

How many cougars are we talking here? I don't usually see more than one at a time, but animals do generate a lot of interruption messages, so it may not be as bad as you think. It would be best to simply avoid the cougar until you get more dwarves, but if that's not possible try the following:

I assume you have at least one axe? Draft your woodcutter into the military and set him to harass dangerous wildlife. Then assign him some war dogs if you've got them, station him near the cougar and hope he wins. (I usually give my woodcutter a point in wrestling and in axe-fighting just for this reason, I'm not sure how well yours will do without that...in fact if you started with the default two axes you might want to put your next most expendable dwarf in the same squad, just make sure to tell him to fight with axes first)

Here's the wiki page on the military if it helps: http://www.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Military

[ May 25, 2008: Message edited by: Solara ]