At least he’s pretty based for someone in the niche of nerdy ass games. He said BLM during the 2020 protests and during the Palestinian protests in ‘21 he said Free Palestine, that US was backing an apartheid, and gave a bunch of resources to donate to Palestinians. Good guy and you should purchase his game because it’s pretty cool.
It kind of depends, if you don’t mind the older UI, lack of tutorial, and keyboard controls you should try it with Lazy Newb Pack, but if the lack of those things are what’s keeping you from enjoying the game then probably should cop it on steam if it goes on sale.
I’ve been playing DF on and off for about 4 years now and I still learn new stuff all the time lol. Imo the best way to learn is by making a series of concerted bursts of effort over a protracted period of time, that way knowledge builds up over time. Definitely don’t expect to learn everything right off the bat.
Start off by just surviving for several seasons, with only basic industries going -> retire fort, make new one -> survive for a year while exploring new industries -> retire fort… -> survive for several years while exploring new industries and defending against sieges , work your way down to caverns -> retire fort…-> explore caverns and make it to lava levels -> retire fort…-> try playing in new biome, etc