As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been playing a lot of Craft the World of late, and it is pretty damn awesome. Anyway, In order to help you on your way through those first, early steps of your Dwarf civilisation I thought that I would write those little beginner hints and tips that I’ve figured out. Simple things that you may not know that will help you on your way to becoming a Craft the World aficionado.
Craft the World Hints and Tips
1. Digging and Backfilling
One of the first things to get to grips with is working with the land, you need to get used to building and digging out the land. Digging is easy; simply click on the land you want to dig out. The land is in two levels the foreground and the background and by digging out one square, you will reveal the background layer which can then also be dug out, which is something you may wish to do especially if it has iron ore or coal.
Once you’ve dug out the back layer it will leave a gaping hole in your fortress. There are two ways to approach this. Either drag a lump of soil from your quick-bar to the back wall you want to dig out, and click, which will allow you to replace the back wall with the soil, or dig out the back wall and then backfill it by selecting soil in your quick bar and then clicking on the gap to backfill.
2. Keep your Dwarves Busy
Don’t let your dwarfs stand around being idle. An idle dwarf is no help to you, and you should always get idle dwarves to do something. Whether this is chopping down nearby trees or digging out stone. Maybe the entire fortress needs to be kitted out with wooden walls, well get your idol dwarves to do it. You can never have too much stuff as far as Craft the World is concerned.
3. Keep your Dwarves Rested
Almost in contradiction to the above hint, you must get to a point where your dwarves can rest as soon as possible. Make sure that you have a secure shelter, and by secure I mean a solid wall on all sides, with a hatched entrance, an idol within and one bed for every dwarf you own.
Even from the beginning attackers can start to sap your dwarfs’ health and you’re going to want somewhere where they can rest. You may start getting over-confident about your dwarfs abilities, but the attackers will soon start attacking in great numbers and you’re going to want somewhere to rest, and more importantly to hide.
4. Defence over Offence
If you have to choose how you are to spend your time and resources, choose to increase your defence over your ability to attack. Shiny swords and armour may sound like a good initial investment but a two square thick soil wall will probably keep you alive longer. There is no shame in hiding in Craft a World, fight on your own terms, and make sure there’s an impenetrable fortress to retreat to when things get back.
5. Create Natural Obstacles
The enemies that are attacking you can suffer from the hazards of the landscape as much as you do, so use it to your advantage. Create sheer cliff faces, deep pits filled with water, weird untraversable terrain, anything that’s going help you and hinder them. Just be careful yourself that you don’t succumb to your own traps, use tunnels and ladders to keep your dwarves moving around and your enemies stalled.
So there you have it. Five simple little Craft the World tips that will make sure your dwarves are as ready as they can be when they face the undead hordes or goblin raiding packs. If you need more information, there are loads of hints over at the Craft the World Steam Community page.
