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[dwarf_reform]

Before I begin, I'm mostly a noob when it comes to DF so far.. Here are the things that strike me as needing some reform! (There may be various mods and utilities that bypass or even correct these problems, but I don't know them, and also you may be able to do some of these things in-game already, and I just don't know how..)

Can you equip soldiers with the exact equipment/armor you want them to have, or order a specific soldier to combat a specific foe?

Can you force your trader to drop everything and report to the depot?? I've had traders leave before my dwarf can even report.

I'd like more pinpoint control for everything.. Telling the cook exactly what food to cook, what leather to tan, which animals to butcher in which order.

I dig a channel to run some water to my dwarves, but have to wait for them to dig free all the mining designations I've made beforehand?? Or I have to remove all mining designation except the channel work to get them to focus?

I just feel like I'm telling them to do something and hoping hard that they'll respond in a somewhat timely manner...

I know you can have your fort organizer guy make priority tasks.. but they don't seem to get handled very much faster.

I also think threshing and pulp treating, grind wheels etc need simplified, also the procedure to install a working well. Tanning and butchering should happen in the same shop.. All cloth-work (threshing/processing/dying/actually making clothes) could be handled in one shop, and minus confusion.

I WANT MORE CONTROL! Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

Is this so wrong?

[Lord Dullard]

Most of what you're saying has been suggested, in many shapes and forms, in many other threads. Do some research before you post in here; if it's been said in here, usually there's no point in saying it again.

However, I'll go over a couple of specifics:

I also think threshing and pulp treating, grind wheels etc need simplified, also the procedure to install a working well. Tanning and butchering should happen in the same shop.. All cloth-work (threshing/processing/dying/actually making clothes) could be handled in one shop, and minus confusion.

This is a horrible idea, IMHO. I for one enjoy building up more complex production chains, and I hope Toady adds MORE in the future.

I dig a channel to run some water to my dwarves, but have to wait for them to dig free all the mining designations I've made beforehand?? Or I have to remove all mining designation except the channel work to get them to focus?

The latter. Why would a dwarf consider a channel more important than mining something out? They're both mining tasks. The computer can't think for you, it just carries out your orders.

Can you force your trader to drop everything and report to the depot?? I've had traders leave before my dwarf can even report.

Turn off all his labor options. If he's sleeping, partying, or otherwise doing something you have no control over, go to the Trade Depot and select 'anyone can trade' if you're afraid the caravan will leave too soon.

[praguepride]

Before I begin, I'm mostly a noob when it comes to DF so far.. Here are the things that strike me as needing some reform! (There may be various mods and utilities that bypass or even correct these problems, but I don't know them, and also you may be able to do some of these things in-game already, and I just don't know how..)

Can you equip soldiers with the exact equipment/armor you want them to have, or order a specific soldier to combat a specific foe?

You can micromanage it. Make stockpiles very specific, or only have 1-dwarf squads and direct the dwarf you want to use towards the foe you want him to fight. Not 100% accurate but it works.

Can you force your trader to drop everything and report to the depot?? I've had traders leave before my dwarf can even report.

As mentioned before, turn off all job tasks. Trading at the depot has one of the lowest job priorities. Even lower then hauling.

I'd like more pinpoint control for everything.. Telling the cook exactly what food to cook, what leather to tan, which animals to butcher in which order.

Micromanagement again. You can do it currently, it's just a pain. Go to your kitchen and turn off everything but the foods you want to use. Make specific stockpiles and lock/unlock them when you want the items within to be used.

I dig a channel to run some water to my dwarves, but have to wait for them to dig free all the mining designations I've made beforehand?? Or I have to remove all mining designation except the channel work to get them to focus?

I just feel like I'm telling them to do something and hoping hard that they'll respond in a somewhat timely manner...

How's the computer supposed to know what your priorities are? If you only designate the jobs that are currently highest priority then the dwarves can only choose to do what you want them to do. If you queue of 100's of jobs, don't be upset when the dwarves choose their own order to do things.

I know you can have your fort organizer guy make priority tasks.. but they don't seem to get handled very much faster.

The manager off of the [j] -> [m] menu can increase priorities.

I also think threshing and pulp treating, grind wheels etc need simplified, also the procedure to install a working well. Tanning and butchering should happen in the same shop.. All cloth-work (threshing/processing/dying/actually making clothes) could be handled in one shop, and minus confusion.

It's all seperated so that you CAN have the option to micromanage it, so that only certain dyes go on certain threads. If it was all contained in one shop you'd have even less control.

I WANT MORE CONTROL! Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

Is this so wrong?

More control = more work. Just relax and watch things unfold. It helps to think of yourself less as a player and more as a helpful observer. At least it works for me as I scream at my dwarves to NOT march happily through the rings of fire.

[dwarf_reform]

I don't know the exact methods to handle these things, so I'm creating meaning as this goes.

Instead of multiple squads and micro-stockpiling to direct a soldier to the best weaponry, would an "equip" function be tough to add? Or a directed attack command instead of canceling the soldiers normal (perhaps intricate!) patrol route and making him a new one that hopefully collides him with a foe (his sworn enemy!).

Why is trading low on the priority list?! Shouldn't it become your trader's top priority the moment all flagged trade goods are delivered to the depot? It would take ages to unflag every job task your trader has active, then trade, then remember all his skills when you have to RE-flag him afterwards, every time a caravan shows up :\

The latter. Why would a dwarf consider a channel more important than mining something out? They're both mining tasks. The computer can't think for you, it just carries out your orders.

I suppose I shouldn't design my fortress in large intricate chunks :| Since mining designations are laid down separately, would it be hard to track each one as an individual job with the ability to suspend and reactivate the work?

I don't mind being the helpful observer, but I want to slam the Hand of God down when I need to, also When I have trained guards and made them armor and weapons and facilities, I want them to be effective! I'm not so sure about iffy new patrol routes and tiny stockpiles versus a bit of control.

I'm not saying these ideas should be implemented to the main game, exactly, but I'd break my mouse in the rush to download the mod that implemented these changes

I'd also like to see the ability to control (possess) a single dwarf/guard during Fortress play (much like Dungeon Keeper, just more texty). Then you could possess the squad leader and make sure they intercept.
Perhaps turn-based strategy combat! :>
And a zoom function! (to study chair/table/coffer/bed/chest/cabinet/chair icons)

I'll stop now :|

[AncientEnemy]

while i'm against over-simplification, some of these are good ideas and have alot of support (see eternal suggestions).

trading definitely should be one of the highest priority tasks, especially since it's one of the only time-sensitive ones.

being able to directly order specific items from a workshop would be a definite plus, like a kitchen would have the orders 'prepare x meal, prepare y meal, prepare specific ingredients' and have a submenu not unlike building a weapon trap where you picked exactly which items to use. same for other workshops, so you could 'build a bauxite flute' instead of 'build stone instruments'.

priorities on mining jobs would be a definite plus, you aught to be able to lay out a big mining job but still be able to get small specific mining tasks done without waiting for the entire uberproject to finish or canceling it and re-designating.

remember, just because there's currently workarounds for clumsy management doesn't mean that's the only way you should be able to accomplish that task. imagine if you wanted to build an iron spear and you just had to queue up 'build iron weapons' and hope for the best. there are better ways

[Lord Dullard]

Again: A lot of the stuff you're suggesting has already been suggested. A LOT. See that 'search' function up there? Use it, it's your friend.

Meanwhile, you need to have patience. Learn to use the commands available to you. You say you want your squads to be effective? Well - mine are. I can DECIMATE pretty much anything the vanilla game throws at me. It's a matter of learning to use what you have.

Please keep in mind this is an extremely complex, on-going piece of work (the game, that is). Toady/Tarn has been kind enough to give us a forum to suggest things that might be useful to the final product, but I suspect a lot of what ends up being suggested he already plans on implementing at some point - in fact, probably 90% of what you've requested falls under that category. But it takes time.

In addition to searching, please check the dev page. There's a LOT planned already.. probably a lot more than you'd imagine.