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[Impaler[WrG]]

Currently DF has two very different mechanics in place, one for making workshops which are almost all 3x3 pre-defined objects and another that lets flexible sized 'rooms' be created from a piece of furniture that has been placed.  I find the room system to be more interesting as the player has far more freedom in shaping and sizing while introducing the valuation system which is fun to experiment with trying to constantly 'out do your self'.  In the interests of simplicity (in terms of the number of systems that must be learned to play the game) I propose that the workshops be defined in the same manor, from a piece of furniture and then requiring several additional items to complete.  A minimum number of tiles could be required for each shop and this could vary more then it currently dose as we break out of the everything is square mentality.  Any floor space above the minimum contributes to additional capacity for the workshop meaning it can hold more before becoming cluttered.  In addition if the room encompasses more then one of the defining pieces of furniture and the player can supply the additional components in multiples and space is sufficient a workshop can be defined as a double/triple etc etc workshop and will be able to hold that many dwarfs simultaneously working on multiple items of the single build queue.

I've brainstormed a few additional furniture pieces that would be necessary to implement this, in general I'd try to keep the number to a minimum and re-use existing items as much as possible.  Here they are listed by the defining furniture.

Millstone/Quern - (I don't really see the point of making Millstones and Querns being different, I see them as interchangeable)
Mill, Quern, Jeweler, (Potter if ever implemented, also needs Oven)

Oven - The oven must be made of stone and might be built on sight rather then being placed as furniture:
Kitchen (also needs Table), Wood Furnace, Smelter, Glass Furnace, Kiln, Forge, Ashery,  (Potter if ever implemented, also needs Millstone)

Table - Defines many workshops as its fairly generic and used in practically everything:
Kitchen (also needs Oven), Alchemist (also needs Chest), Butcher, Clothier (also needs Cabinet), Leather works, Crafts Dwarf (needs 2 tables), Alchemist (also needs Chest)

Loom - A specialty wood only furniture piece used only for you guessed it the Loom

Frame - A frame is just set of wood or metal pieces of various sizes and shapes that allow other things to be set at right angles and joined together or worked upon, you will need to bring this with you in the wagon like you must bring an anvil because its made at the carpenters shop but it would be cheap! :  Carpenter, Bowyer, Tanner, Siege Workshop (needs 2 Frames), Mechanic

Cabinet - Normally stores cloths so is used to store finished clothing from Clothier (also needs table)

Bag - Normally used in processing Plants to Bags hence defines a Farmers workshop

Chest - Used to store the various vials that the Alchemist uses (also needs table)

Cage - Used to hold Animals hence defines a Kennel (needs 3 Cages)

In addition to these furniture items their would likely be a usual sets of buckets, barrels, Anvils, Vials and generic building materials currently needed to create the buildings, I've merely focused on the key furnitures.  In fact and I'd be in favor of increasing the amount of these non-furniture items necessary to create the workshop along with some more workshop specific tools which need  to be brought on the wagon or traded for (but again like the frame they should be CHEAP not god-awful expensive like the Anvil).  For example a "Saw" being used to make the Carpenters shop as well.

[i2amroy]

That would be pretty cool. Another thing that might be done is to set it so that workshops are upgradable. For example, you could make a table at a carpenters shop as long as you had a saw, but to make a bed you would need a saw and some other item, like a lathe.

[Joseph Miles]

Also, better workshops either making items faster or better quality

[i2amroy]

The multiple idea is pretty cool, I mean, why have one dwarf making tables in a workshop when you could have two? This new workshop type would require walking about as a dwarf made something, also, so if two or more dwarves were working in the same workshop, then they would get in each other's way if the workshop was arranged badly.

[Slitherrr]

To simplify this, and because many workshops currently only take one stone (or block, or whatever) to make, perhaps workshops should just have a "create room" designation added, the way that other furniture has.  That way, a mason's workshop could be built the usual way, for instance, but then a very large super-workshop could be designated from that.

[penguinofhonor]

I think there would be extra, optional items to upgrade workshops further.

Crafting Tools
Upgrades the Carpenter's workshop, Mason's workshop, Crafting Workshop, and Metalsmith's Forge.
They would be made from a Chest and some metal or stone to make the tools out of.

The Cabinet would upgrade the kitchen, and possibly allow larger meals to be made.

I think that the Oven would need to be two tiles, one of which could be built on a channel for magma power. Possibly you would need extra materials to make a magma oven.

The Kitchen would increase in efficiency if you gave it one unit of charcoal per season or a magma oven, because they would be able to cook things.

Also, the Frame that Impaler mentioned would be an optional add-on to the Metalsmith's forge to allow the creation of metal furniture. It would be an optional add-on to the Mason's workshop to increase the quality of stone furniture.

Maybe there could be some kitchen tools made the same way as crafting tools, which would be add-ons to the kitchen and farmer's workshop. Maybe if you added a millstone or quern, then you could have a combination farmer's workshop/mill.

Stills could be defined from barrels. They would benefit from more barrels, to a point.

[Jamuk]

I don't think having a cabinet or something like that should "upgrade" workshops. The advantage to storing food in a cabinet is that dwarves can keep a large number of items on 1 tile right next to the oven.  That way there is very little hauling involved in cooking and therefore it goes faster.  I would also rather not have any more required items than we already have.  Improvising is always possible, if you needed to you could chisel out an entire chair from a stump using a sharpened rock.  However, having a small quality bonus for having tools to help ease production would be nice.  A small unhappy thought due to difficulty in fulfilling orders could be present as well.  As long as you can recover from having your tools lost in a fortress, and are not forced into following a strict tech tree then I am fine with this idea.

The other problem would be hauling time.  A dwarf would have to retrieve each tool and bring it to the item, or retrieve the item and bring it to each tool.  Until improved hauling methods are implemented this may cause a lot of slowdown and lower frame rates from pathing.

[penguinofhonor]

I don't think having a cabinet or something like that should "upgrade" workshops.

Yeah, I don't really like upgrading either. By upgrading, I think they should just give a small quality/speed bonus.

The other problem would be hauling time.  A dwarf would have to retrieve each tool and bring it to the item, or retrieve the item and bring it to each tool.  Until improved hauling methods are implemented this may cause a lot of slowdown and lower frame rates from pathing.

I don't think they would actually have to go back and forth to and from tools. I think that the Tool Box item would just sit in the workshop, increasing quality/speed, and you'd have to use your imagination to pretend that they're using them.

[Puzzlemaker]

I like this idea, a lot.

A lotalotalotalot.

[Sean Mirrsen]

It's a good idea, but old. It's been suggested a few times, once by me even. Yeah, the general idea is to have workshops be designated from a starting piece of furniture, and then have objects added to them so that more complex tasks can be carried out, or more tasks can be carried out at the same time.

[Silverionmox]

I think that even the initial piece of furniture as a requirement to designate the room could be done without: just designate from a square. The advantage is that you can replace the central piece of furniture without removing the workshop for appr. two weeks.

[Duke 2.0]

 Possibility: Each "Feature" in a workshop creates a path between them, if they have related jobs. Say you have a 5x5 workshop designated. You have a table in the bottom-right corner, and a barrel full of fish is the lower-left. All the bottom tiles would either be Table, Barrel, or a path. All the unused space would be used as a stockpile, where finished goods and/or incoming resources are kept. You could even have a stockpile as part of the workshop, forcing the laborors to haul their stuff a short distance to make it easier for haulers to get to them.

 Although, there will eventually be a tech tree. I hope it will be small, but there needs to be one.

 Urist McManager: Hey you! Hauler! Make a sword out of this hunk of ore.
 Hauler: Uhhh...

 But the bare minimum tools would be rather easy to get.

[Puzzlemaker]

Just thinking about it, I can imagine how cool this could be.  Workshops would be an easy build-yaydone type thing, but would actually require work to get a good system with high quality stuff going, plus more specific types of workshops.

Like for a blacksmith, you would need an anvil for hammering on.  You would also need a place to heat the metal.  That's two furniture right there.  Now lets say you want to make a statue.  You would need a way to melt the metal, not just heat it up (Requiring a lava-proof material if you are using lava).  Then you would need a clay mold.  So you need a Kiln, then a couple of tables to carve the mold correctly.

Different things would require different tool sets, and you could specialize your workshops.

[Block]

This could also add more liveness to workshops. Instead of just standing still the dwarves could actually move between the different furnitures of the workshops as if working.

[Puzzlemaker]

This could also add more liveness to workshops. Instead of just standing still the dwarves could actually move between the different furnitures of the workshops as if working.

That, and multiple dwarves for a "Workshop" would be grand.  Especially where different skillsets are required.