I feel blind compared to Rimworld.

[Skadar]

This is probably a 'tough luck' problem, but I definitely feel less in tune with my dwarves and the state of supplies, etc. compared to Rimworld.

I don't know what time of day it is... the temp... or why these 6 additional dwarves seem to have moved into my fort. Where did they come from? Who are they? Are they mine to control?

I can't tell at a glance if I HAVE things. Do I have something to drink? I see a wine barrel, but I'm not clear if anything is in it. I have a farm plot planted with mushrooms, but i can't see if they are growing... or if the plot is just bare.

I made furniture, which is apparently sitting IN the workshop, because my stockpile is full, but i can't see it.

This lack of at a glance status awareness is going to really frustrate me, i know it. Though i am a noob, and may be missing something obvious.

[Supernoxus]

There is no time of day (at least in fortress mode). Temperature exists, but I think the game just straight up doesn't tell you. You usually realize how cold it is once the water above ground freezes or it begins to snow. Underground, it usually stays pretty much the same temperature anyway.
Every now and then you get migrants. In the classic version, you would get an alert that pauses your game. You are totally right that in the steam version, it is not explained well enough. You just get an easily miss-able alert and then suddenly there are more dwarfs. But yeah, they are yours. They come from your civ. And if your civ runs out of dwarfs, no more will come. But that rarely ever happens unless you pick a dying origin civ.

If you want to know what things you have, get a bookkeeper noble. He documents your stock. Though I find that bookkeepers are usually too slow. Still, it can give you a better overview. While you are at it, also make dedicated stockpiles for food and drink so that you have a better view of how much stuff you actually have. If you click on objects, you can see what is inside of them. That includes your farms and workshops. You click on a farm you can see that there are tons of seeds planted inside of it. Though in this regard you are also right: You should see that something has been planted already just from looking at it. This is important information!

The main thing that frustrates me personally is not knowing the main needs of my dwarfs. It's easy when I can look through 6 different personality sheets and see what needs they have. But once you have like 200 dwarfs, it gets difficult/tedious to have a general overview of what you should do to keep them happy.

In any way, you are not missing anything obvious. This stuff is actually just badly designed. Perhaps even intentional. But I doubt it.

[Etalus]

Well, maybe you've seen this maybe you haven't, but are you using bookkeepers and managers? If not, go to the bottom left of your screen and click on the 'Crown' button. This will open up your Nobility menu and allow you set a book keeper and a manager. Note you will need to create an office for each of them, which you can set up using a chair/throne.

Book keeper will give you accurate count of your items, and a manager will allow you to set work orders instead of directly assigning tasks at a workshop. The work order menu is accessible by pressing "o" .

[michaelvipperman]

A lot of that is definitely room for improvement in the UI. You've got to remember this game never even had a UI before and this UI hasn't hardly been playtested yet. It'll improve. There's actually way more information available than in Rimworld but it's not all organised in a way that's super obvious. As your skill improves you'll become more familiar with it, and before long, mods should fill some of these gaps in core game functionality, which will also be gradually improved.

[Leo]

I think it is something that comes with time. The info you are looking for is there but not presented the same way with Rimworld does it. Coming back to DF I have had to relearn or remember how to check stocks or read announcements that Rimworld presents in a "better" way.
For example the mushroom plot, if you click on it and it has seeds in its inventory then that ♥♥♥♥ is planted. The graphic doesn't change until the seeds are grown and ready to be harvested.

[The Trashman]

Originally posted by Skadar:

This is probably a 'tough luck' problem, but I definitely feel less in tune with my dwarves and the state of supplies, etc. compared to Rimworld.

I don't know what time of day it is... the temp... or why these 6 additional dwarves seem to have moved into my fort. Where did they come from? Who are they? Are they mine to control?

I can't tell at a glance if I HAVE things. Do I have something to drink? I see a wine barrel, but I'm not clear if anything is in it. I have a farm plot planted with mushrooms, but i can't see if they are growing... or if the plot is just bare.

I made furniture, which is apparently sitting IN the workshop, because my stockpile is full, but i can't see it.

This lack of at a glance status awareness is going to really frustrate me, i know it. Though i am a noob, and may be missing something obvious.

I think this is a fundamental difference between DF and RW. RW gives you much more control over what's happenimg and what your pawns do, while the dwarves in DF are more their own creatures.

A bookkeeper will help with seeing a more accurate count, but this game is definitely more hands off than others

[Diarmuhnd]

Originally posted by Skadar:

...
This lack of at a glance status awareness is going to really frustrate me, i know it. Though i am a noob, and may be missing something obvious.

You need enough custom stockpiles to get all your stuff sorted. You also need managers, once you have Dwarfs overseeing these roles for you fortress you have many lists you can look at. You'll even need to build them offices so they have a place to work and keep records. But if you have no one keeping records how can you have any lists to look at?

You can read all your Dwarf's info tabs for likes, dislikes and etc. The most important thing you can read in those info tabs when you click on a Dwarf is what is making them unhappy and what needs have not been met for each one.

Only advice I can give you if you don't want to discover all this on your own is to watch all the tutorials so you can know learn all of this.

And yeah, crops do grow, and they have these cute little sprites before a Dwarf comes running over and rips it out of the ground to turn into booze, or throw into storage if you haven't built a still.

Welp good luck, try to have fun. And keep in mind that Dwarfs are just as ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ crazy
as everyone else.

Strike the earth.

[Deerlobe]

Completely agree, I have a lot of time on Rimworld and trying Dwarf Fortress for the first time has been a challenging and interesting experience. The lack of readability you are talking about is undoubtedly my biggest complaint with Dwarf Fortress. The game is so open ended and has incredible depth but it is exhausting to learn and interpret sometimes ie: trade menus, inventory. I thought Rimworld's trade hud was a pain in the ass...

[Dagmar]

Bookkeepers and managers should additionally have other labors (like carrying junk around) turned off so they've got more time to deal with the responsibilities of counting beans and managing work orders. Thankfully the new GUI gives us an easier way to see if they're keeping on top of things, but it's not like there's a shortage of dwarves for these two positions after the first group or two of migrants shows up. I usually assign a manager from the first wave, and a bookkeeper from the second wave.

[Phyroks]

Some things do feel like they took step backwards now that they UI has to be mouse usable :|
Hopefully dwarf therapist will work on this in month or something, makes dwarfs so much easier to read by glance.
Remember to have book keeper in noble menu so you know at least somethings!

[Harlequin]

Originally posted by evildagmar:

Bookkeepers and managers should additionally have other labors (like carrying junk around) turned off so they've got more time to deal with the responsibilities of counting beans and managing work orders. Thankfully the new GUI gives us an easier way to see if they're keeping on top of things, but it's not like there's a shortage of dwarves for these two positions after the first group or two of migrants shows up. I usually assign a manager from the first wave, and a bookkeeper from the second wave.

If the bookkeeper works the same way it did originally you can set them up and they'll update the stocks for a long time, but then it's functionally perfect forever and they can keep doing other jobs.