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[Strangething]

A new thread for a new year! Bentgirder is my tool for getting new players into Dwarf Fortress quickly. There are two parts, a saved game that lets a new player skip finding a location, and a tutorial to walk the player through the first steps of navigating the interface and building a fortress.

It works great with the Lazy Newb Pack. Just run the save updater once you unzip Bentgirder.

I'm always looking for feedback, so let me know what you think.

Bentgirder tutorial on Magmawiki.
Bentgirder save on DFFD.

Much thanks to everyone who contributed to the tutorial, even if it was just to ask a question: Zaerosz, Box, Kwieland, Used, Ryun, Quietust, and all the anonymous editors, too.

[martinuzz]

Nice, looks like you put quite a bit of work into that

I haven't completely finished reading it, but so far I have only a few little comments:

Under "you have struck gypsum!"
change: There is also some useful lignite nearby, a fuel for your forge
to: There is also some useful lignite nearby, which is an ore of coke, a fuel for your smelter and forge

Under activity zones: for a pond, you don't need the 3x3 zone. A 1x1 zone will suffice. For garbage dumping however, the zone must cover both the open space and a walkable spot.
Also, perhaps be a bit more explicit in warning a new player that only 1/7 water evaporates, so they should keep watch of the filling process.

Under What's in a name: add sarcophagus/coffin

For lesson 8:
Having a woodcutter double as an axedwarf will be a difficult example for a new player, the way their uniform works now. If you want to outfit the axedwarf, you will need to turn off his woodcutting labor, or it will override all equipment setting, and cause him to drop the axe when he is activated with a (s)quad order.


I'll happily read on, and see if I can help you out some more with polishing this nice wiki tutorial you made.

EDIT: done
It looks good for the rest. I believe you have written the guide for a 'bugless' version of DF. Some things you teach the new player won't exactly work as they should (think soap, plaster powder, the economy), but I think that's okay. Those bugs will be squashed sooner or later anyways.

[Strangething]

It looks good for the rest. I believe you have written the guide for a 'bugless' version of DF. Some things you teach the new player won't exactly work as they should (think soap, plaster powder, the economy), but I think that's okay. Those bugs will be squashed sooner or later anyways.

That's exactly right. The tutorial is version-agnostic, as much as possible. I started the project in June, when there was a new version every week or so. So I tried to describe the way things are "supposed" to work, rather than the way they do at the moment.

[Strangething]

Now you can get Bentgirder packaged with the Lazy Newb Pack. Just make sure you update your saved games to get the right graphics set.

http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=3636

[Xgamer4]

Please tell me there's a dwarf named "Bender" in Bentgirder. Please.

More on-topic, while I haven't checked it out, this sounds like a great idea. A version-agnostic tutorial has both pros and cons "Why doesn't this do what it should?" can be just as bad as "I don't get it...", but as long as that's noted somewhere it shouldn't be too big of an issue.

[j0nas]

Very nice work, seems like a great way to get started with DF!

[Quietust]

For garbage dumping however, the zone must cover both the open space and a walkable spot.

This is not true - garbage dump zones must be placed over walkable tiles, but if the zone is adjacent to open space, then the item will be tossed over the edge instead of dropped on the floor.

[Strangething]

I forget to mention it here, but I fixed most of the problems that martinuzz mentioned. Thanks martinuzz!

Please tell me there's a dwarf named "Bender" in Bentgirder. Please.

More on-topic, while I haven't checked it out, this sounds like a great idea. A version-agnostic tutorial has both pros and cons "Why doesn't this do what it should?" can be just as bad as "I don't get it...", but as long as that's noted somewhere it shouldn't be too big of an issue.

Ah, someone finally guessed what inspired the name. I was on a serious Futurama kick when I started this project.

I've been careful to note where glitches will derail the tutorial. If I had gone into more detail with military matters, I would have run into more. I try to link to more specialized guides for the complicated stuff.

Very nice work, seems like a great way to get started with DF!

Thanks!

[Thundercraft]

I made a Lazy Newb package with Bentgirder region file already installed.  Let me know if there's any problems with it.

http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=3636

...is the savegame still from 31.16 or whatever? Or did you re-embark and generate?
Because there are severe gameplay bugs and glitches going from 31.16 to 31.18

Yeah, it's the same old save. How bad are those bugs?

I should generate a new world and a new embark location every few versions. Then I'd need to update the tutorial to be location-agnostic. Right now it mentions the location of metal deposits and such. I could give my starting seven nicknames that would stay the same from version to version.

If only I had the time.

The warning on the front page states: "If you have a savegame that is from v0.31.16 or earlier,
do NOT update it to v0.31.18 or newer, doing so will break your save!" 

I took this to mean that I couldn't bring my 31.16 saves into 31.18.  Am I wrong?

Thanks for getting the new version out!  As a lazy newb I really appreciate it.

Could you go into some detail on why you can't update DF 31.16 saves?  Are there any work arounds?  Or point me in the direction of what's causing the problem to see if I can manually get around it? 

My current fort is in 31.16 and I'd really like to move it up to 31.18.

I don't know the details. I'm copying the warning over from Phoebus' thread. I assume save compatibility has been broken, meaning no, you really shouldn't move your save files over.
Edit: Actually it probably means you CAN copy your saves over, but only if you NEVER RUN THE SAVE-GAME UPDATER or it will break the saves! (also meaning you can't change/update graphics for it)

[sigh] Isn't updating the raws in your Bentgirder save the same thing as running a save-game updater?

I looked on DFFD, but all I could find was your "updated" 31.18 version and a similar version preinstalled with the Lazy Newb Pack. The original 31.16 version is missing...

Please tell me you still have a copy of the 31.16 version that you can upload to DFFD...

[Strangething]

[sigh] Isn't updating the raws in your Bentgirder save the same thing as running a save-game updater?

I looked on DFFD, but all I could find was your "updated" 31.18 version and a similar version preinstalled with the Lazy Newb Pack. The original 31.16 version is missing...

Please tell me you still have a copy of the 31.16 version that you can upload to DFFD...

Sadly, I didn't hang onto the old versions. The world was actually generated in 31.05 so it is pretty old. If I had the time, I'd re-do the save from scratch, and fix the tutorial to match.

If someone wants to make and maintain a new Bentgirder save, they have my blessing.

[iHustleu]

Didn't read anything on this thread, just posting this; forgive my laziness. Tried your thing. I put the data folder in the Directory with the other DF files, started it up, same old dwarf fortress. No tutorial or pre-existing save. Is the file corrupted or did I do something wrong?

[zombie urist]

Bentgirder does probably does not work with the newest version of dwarf fortress.

[Putnam]

There have been two save-compatibility breaking updates since 2011, so yeah, it doesn't.

[iHustleu]

Alright thanks, guess ill stick with reading/video tutorials til i can figure this shit out.

[Ghills]

We really need another tutorial fort for .34.  But until that gets made, following a community fort from the start might help.  I learned a lot that way, including about what not to do.      There are several new community forts in the subforum: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?board=14.0