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[xaritscin]

i know maybe this is a dumb question but, could we have more uses for the mouse?, i mean, things like in modern RTS, like selecting dwarfs with clicks or making a square and selecting a group of them. giving them direct orders or the like.

[stickadtroja]

direct orders? have you played the game?

[assasin]

I never use a mouse.

[JanusTwoface]

i know maybe this is a dumb question but, could we have more uses for the mouse?, i mean, things like in modern RTS, like selecting dwarfs with clicks or making a square and selecting a group of them. giving them direct orders or the like.

You really have two suggestions here:

Direct orders don't really fit with the game. Pretty much the entire point is that you don't have that. Instead you say what needs done and the dwarves' AIs manage the rest.

Better mouse support in general would be nice. A lot of that is part of a better user interface in general though. Both have been discussed rather extensively. Do a search for 'mouse support' in that search box in the top right to see what I mean. There are almost a hundred threads mentioning mouse support, some dating all of the way back to 2006...

I never use a mouse.

I generally don't either, but that's an effect of poor mouse support rather than a cause / supporting reason. Even if you wouldn't use better mouse support, that's really not a particularly good reason not to add it. Think of it like a gym--just because you personally may or may not use it, doesn't mean it isn't a good idea.

[Safe-Keeper]

Direct orders don't really fit with the game. Pretty much the entire point is that you don't have that. Instead you say what needs done and the dwarves' AIs manage the rest.

Except from the obvious fact that at least at this point, it simply doesn't work. Direct control has its downsides, but the way the AI works now, it's simply required. I'm so sick and tired of giving "critical orders" like pulling moat bridge levers, feeding bedridden patients, burying the dead, talking to caravan diplomats, bringing trade goods to depots, etc. and having them ignored because the dwarves would rather eat, sleep or carry leather earrings to Random Stockpile 9.

I would rather have direct control than having to spend minutes micromanaging dwarf jobs, locking doors and the like to get them to do what I want (the worst is when you have to have a lever pulled and you just about have to draft a dwarf, station him in the room, and then lock him in and disable all his jobs so that pulling the lever is the only thing he can do -- for then to remember what jobs he had afterwards and reactivate them all so he can go on working).

Seriously -- you may not think it "fits the game", but some sort of workaround is sorely needed. Either give me direct orders to let me designate "Critical" jobs, like "Closest dwarf to this lever pulls it. Now" or "drop your shit and start talking to the diplomat" or "FFS give those injured men water before even more of them thirst to death".

Mouse support and UI improvements are sorely needed, too, but we all know that already...

[JanusTwoface]

Personally, I think that the 'critical jobs' makes a lot more sense for how the rest of the game plays. You're a boss, not a god, so all you can ever do is say what needs to be done and hope that the dwarves get it in their head to actually do it. Sometimes dwarves may even ignore critical jobs--the same thing happens in the real world, sometimes one without a full overhead view of the situation may not think something is important as it is.

Really, a full job priority system would alleviate a lot of these concerns. Talking to a diplomat is time sensitive, so it should take priority for anyone assigned to diplomatic duties (by default, this should also be tweakable). Taking care of injured dwarves should take priority first for dwarves with caregiving enabled (with a potential fallback if there aren't any medical dwarves). Even better if you could prioritize other jobs, like mining or building orders, so dwarves don't undercut or trap one another. All of this is entirely doable, just not something that Toady has prioritized as of yet.

Although I guess this is getting a bit off the original topic. Still, there's a reason 'job priorities' stands at #8 on the eternal voting for what that means. It's got benefits all over the rest of the game.

Disclaimer: I haven't actually played DF in a few years now. I was addicted to it for months back in 2009, but between issues like the ones you are describing and problems with the interface, I just can't do it anymore. It takes too much to get a fort up and running. So I tend to take a more of what I wish DF was / what I hope it will be viewpoint rather than looking at how it actually works at the moment.

[xaritscin]

gonna agree with both partes, maybe we could add an 8th dorf, it would be our own character and the boss of the fortress, we could order him. we still would have the other dorfs working but you could use your dwarf for especific orders, i mean, we would control that dorf with the mouse.

the other would be, giving more mouse commands, for example, for military, just click and drag on a group of dorfs and you could set it as an squad. or taking a group of farmers and click on a plot, that plot would be worked by them only. things like you could use for organizing the dorfs jobs.

[xcorps]

I'm not really qualified to comment, but this:

I'm so sick and tired of giving "critical orders" like pulling moat bridge levers, feeding bedridden patients, burying the dead, talking to caravan diplomats, bringing trade goods to depots, etc. and having them ignored because the dwarves would rather eat, sleep or carry leather earrings to Random Stockpile 9.

is solved with proper warrens, right?

I mean, it only makes sense that a critical lever would be manned 24/7, doesn't it?

[assasin]

is solved with proper warrens, right?


I mean, it only makes sense that a critical lever would be manned 24/7, doesn't it?

That just sounds annoying to me. I'd definately prefer a bit of a general management overhaul where I can set shift times and a system that allows me to punish dwarves if they don't show up for work on time.