Getting Started and Online Resources

If you're completely new to this whole Dwarf Fortress thing, it's basically an ASCII (text) simulation game where you're given control of seven dwarves with a caravan. You build up a fortress, craft hundreds (thousands?) of different items, develop one of dozens of different industries, trade with other civilizations, defend your fortress from sieges or creatures, and develop as much wealth as you can. There's no win condition, so you can keep playing until something bad happens and you lose. There's also an entirely different Adventure Mode where you control a single character like a traditional rpg which I haven't even touched yet.

To get started, there's a handy Lazy Newb Pack that includes the game, some utilities, and a few graphical tilesets. The Dwarf Fortress wiki (df.magmawiki.com) has an amazing Quickstart Guide that I followed to get started and learn all the basics. It took me several hours to get through, and is a great starting place. The official forums (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php) also are a nice place for information. Reading through some of the posts there has taught me how to do things I didn't even know were possible.