I love Dwarf Fortress to death. I’ve been playing it for a couple of years now.
As to how to get started - the Dwarf Fortress Wiki is a good place to start. It seems to be down right now (3 AM CST), but it should be back up soon. There’s a good page on entitled Your First Fortress.
To get yourself going, I suggest doing what I did - set small goals for each new fortress. It’s easier to have small goals that will teach you how the game works. Examples:
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Have a hunter, get used to killing wild game and producing meat and leather from a butcher’s shop and tanner’s shop
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Have a craftsdwarf, make x number of stone, wood and bone crafts before the dwarven caravan arrives in the autumn. Trade these crafts for food.
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Create x bedrooms. Furnish each with a bed and a cabinet.
…etc.
It really does become second nature. The pseudo-ASCII graphics are a bit of a hurdle for most, but you say you’re a NetHack fan so this shouldn’t be a big deal.
For getting past the setup - just pick a standard loadout and stick with it. This will speed things up. My standard loadout:
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I pick a site with a river and plenty of trees. Always “Temperate” or “Cold”.
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My dwarves:
2 Miners
1 Carpenter/Woodcutter
1 Mason/Mechanic/Architect
1 “Leader” - give skills in organization, appraisal, negotiation, persuasion
1 Butcher/Tanner
1 Herbalist/Grower
- My gear:
Remove one axe (really one need one dwarf chopping wood in the beginning)
Remove anvil (easy to get one from traders later)
Take 2 of all common animals (dog, cat, horse, cow, sometimes muskox) - this way they can breed
Take at least 5 of all seeds (plump helmet, pig tail, cave wheat, dimple cup, rock nut)
Take 1 of every “meat” that costs 2 - you get a free barrel for every unique kind of meat
Take minimum 30-40 of every type of alcohol (Wine, Rum, Beer, Ale)
Finish out the points with a cheap food (usually a 2-cost meat)
If you want to see the map I’m still working on, Here it is at the Dwarf Fortress Map Archive. I particularly like the bedroom layout (got the fractal design from the Dwarf Fortress forums)
Good luck! Stick with it, I promise this game is fantastic.