Flowchart for new players. request

[Grendael (OP)]

Hi all.       

Does anyone play dwarf fortress? they have this really useful flowchart that someone made

From Caravan to Happy Dwarves : http: dwarffortresswiki. org/images/e/e6/FlowchartDF. png

This kinda gives you a goal for your first year in game and a little of what to do next, whilst leaving how and when up to you (well the when up to a point, it is a flowchart after all).       

It was an excellent learning tool for me and I am now having hours of FUN in DF.         

My request is either if such a chart exists (searches revealed nothing).         Failing that I would like to help create such a chart.         But as I found out about this game around a week ago I need some help.         And by that I basically need you all to provide the information I need.         Or even knock up a chart yourself if you have the time.       

I have read a large amount of the wiki and have even found the fiction to be particularly useful in this regard, but what would be cool is if people would bullet point in a semi-detailed way (a guide more than a walk through) important things to do in the first few years of in game time.       

So have a look at the link above and just bullet point some processes you use yourself in Aurora and hopefully we can make something good out of it.         I will take all the information you give, collate it into a chart iterate with you guys and you will have helped me and hopefully others get into this incredibly intriguing game.       

Regards
Grendael

I am afraid I am having issues with linking stuff http: imgur. com/A3jmI

[Grendael (OP)]

[Reserving this just in case it works out and I need the space]

[Erik L]

Well, the tutorials are outdated, but still a good place to start. Either here or the wiki.

Biggest issue for a flowchart would be the infinite variables that change in a cascade as time progresses. The same database game, one click of 5 days, and you've got differences.

Depending on your start (Is Sol surveyed?), survey your home system, start exploring neighboring systems, research (and there is no one True Path^TM there at all either), build your defenses/offenses/infrastructure.

[Grendael (OP)]

Yeah, of course, but there are things you can do, in a general sense: meet NPR are they friendly? do this sort of stuff are they hostile do this and build x,y, and z type of structures. 

I hear this game is much more complicated than DF (DF is mainly getting around the UI) but there must be similarities that can be flowchart-ified into something that gives a structure to play.  A concise flow of tasks to complete at the highest level of detail would certainly give a starting point to players like myself, however noncomprehensive it is.

Thanks for your input though over the next week, based on replies, I will cobble something together that can hopefully be expanded upon.

[Erik L]

Yeah, of course, but there are things you can do, in a general sense: meet NPR are they friendly? do this sort of stuff are they hostile do this and build x,y, and z type of structures. 

A lot of that all depends on player preference. Ideally, you'll have mobile units and emplacements or PDCs.

I hear this game is much more complicated than DF (DF is mainly getting around the UI) but there must be similarities that can be flowchart-ified into something that gives a structure to play.  A concise flow of tasks to complete at the highest level of detail would certainly give a starting point to players like myself, however noncomprehensive it is.

Thanks for your input though over the next week, based on replies, I will cobble something together that can hopefully be expanded upon.

Hmm... for me a flowchart would involve
1. research tech
2. design ships
3. build/convert shipyards
4. build ships
5. design new ships based on new tech gained while waiting for shipyards
6. convert yards
7. refit/build new ships
8. repeat from 5 ad nauseum.

In addition, survey new systems, exploit them with colonies or harvesters, build JG to facilitate commercial travel between secure systems, etc.

You do realize that almost everyone who will respond to this will give you different answers?

[Jorgen_CAB]

This certainly would be a good idea, you would perhaps need at least two versions. One for a Newtonian start and one for a Conventional start because these are radically different.

I mainly play with conventional start which give you much less to do in the first starting year. In a conventional start the first thing you usually do is look at your home world, laboratories and scientists. Based on what type of scientist you will decide a general strategy for the next few years and a way to go forward with that strategy.

You will need to look at your scientists and number of labs and decide when you need to build commercial and/or military naval yards to support the technology that you will develop. In the early stages of your civilization you need to be efficient with the resources you have and build up some form of defense that can actually do something.

If you, for example, don't have any propulsion scientists in a conventional start you know that you probably will need to stay with nuclear and/or nuclear pulse engines for quite some while.

If you are lucky and get a good construction scientist you will be able to quickly increase the productivity of Earth and can plan ahead accordingly.

I would say that  Propulsion and Construction technologies are the most important in the early game and if you don't have either you need to invest in building Academies ASAP. Academies are important even with these scientists but not as important without in my opinion.

Some input when starting a conventional start.

[Conscript Gary]

I think maybe doing it as a somewhat object/goal-based topdown thing would work.
Like, pretend it's a wiki, you've got a 'missile ship' article. First thing it has is links to the articles on fire controls, active sensors, missile design, engines, basic shipbuilding, and then the article itself talks about ways to put those together into a functional missile boat, assuming that you understand the requisite articles it linked.
The active sensor article would link to the article on research and would discuss how active sensors function and how techs feed into it. Missile design would link missile engine design and whatnot as prerequisites, and so on and so forth.
Once you've got those all lined up, you could set up 'progression level' articles that link to relevant articles, which link back to the articles needed to understand those concepts, and if the reader already understands a concept they don't have to dig deeper.

[Grendael (OP)]

Sounds good, I will sort something out at the weekend.  Hopefully I can actually try playing the game again too, been busy at work.

Thanks for the input chaps.

[Stardust]

* Assign leaders
* See what minerals are available on your home planet
* Start work towards geological and gravitational sensors
* Design civilian freighters, colony ships, and luxury liners
* Allocate a small percentage of industry to building up you industrial capacity

* Prioritize research and industry
* Colonize Mars to kick start civilian shipping
* Do a complete survey of your starting system for minerals and jump points
* Explore, explore, and explore
* Build automated mines and mass drivers and distribute them either with your own ships or by contracting the work out if available
* Make sure you have a steady supply of Duranium and Corundium so that you can make tons of automated mines and Sorium for fuel
* Train ground forces
* Keep an eye on your economy
* Figure out how to move beyond your home system

* Design and build some sort of fledgeling military, create task forces, and begin training
* Terraform Mars
* Secure valuable mineral resources and find even more