quote:
Originally posted by Lord Snow:
<STRONG>Lo all, i'm quite new to DF.
Thus i have encountered several problems and would like to suggest improvements:</STRONG>
Newbie suggestions are often the best because they give the developer a way to learn what's needed to make the game more approachable for more players. The problem with "old-timers" is that they'reused to whatever's already in place and forget how hard it was to learn or that it can be done much better if re-thought. This is nowhere more true than with DF.
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<STRONG>When building and/or selecting workshops: add a key that directly opens a description of the workshop:
What it does, what it needs to do this, what dwarf skills are needed for a dwarf to jump into this workshop and start working.
</STRONG>Given how complex the required skills for some workshop's production options are, this would indeed be helpful. "Want to make a chain? Remember, that uses the Metalcrafter, not the Metalsmithing, skill." Yeah, old-timers have this memorized and have also read
the wiki page on forges, but it's missing in-game data like this that makes DF so hard to get into. I read comments on other forums from people who try DF and get frustrated, try it again, get frustrated, etc.. Not the sort of advertising this Artifact-quality game deserves!
Now, it's well-known (among game vets) that Toady's top priority is to add feature-rich coolness, not burn time polishing what will very likely get changed some more anyway. My comments do not question this basic choice - I personally believe it to be at least 75% right - but it's worth underlining that it does have costs, and it does have consequences.
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<STRONG>Add a Center for Complaints, possibly as Job for Mayors or some other guy. This should add a List of Wishes (+ the x2, 3, whatever) to the Status/Stocks/Whatever it is Menu that opens up with z.
(i.e. dwarves are running low on shoes or there are no more leather armors for new recruits...)
</STRONG>Another major bit of missing in-game data are notices about dwarves who need intervention. They might be starving behind a locked door, angry because their clothes are rotting off, going into battle naked because of some mix-up in equipping, about to go berserk or melancholy, being chased by a tiger ... but, because there's no "problems" interface, you have to check everywhere and everyone every time. So, also agreed with this or something like this.
Tools that already exist you may find at least somewhat helpful are the blinking arrows that denote dwarven hunger, etc., especially when combined with the new 'h'otkey interface that allows you to jump to anywhere on the map with a single keypress.
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<STRONG>If there are multiple Tables lined up, and one has a dining room assigned: copy the room for all tables within range, but display it as ONE dining room/meeting hall/whatever. Same for Sculpture Gardens, Barracks...
</STRONG>Don't quite understand this. In general, you don't want to be overlapping dining rooms, gardens, barracks, or most other designated rooms. But, if you do choose too, then you may have a good reason (such as packing nobles into a smaller space) to not want the game to do any combining.
DF's interface may perhaps be imperfect but it does gives you a LOT of control. This is one example.
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<STRONG>Add set-construction for Cl. (trousers, 2x boots, 2x gloves, vest, hood, cloak, mittens, shirt)
</STRONG>Certainly, clothing for more than a few dwarves simply involves too many individual items.
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<STRONG>Auto-Clear Stockpiles of anything that doesn't belong in there. I'm fed up with my Gemcutter running over the whole map twice to fetch just one rough gem, cut it, repeat because my gem stockpile is cluttered with rocks. I even set rock stockpiles close to Masonry and Craftworkshops, but my dwarves keep picking up the stones closest to the shops, NOT those that fill up piles they dont belong into.
</STRONG>Agreed with this. Dwarves already auto-clear space for new workshops and I think having them also auto-clear stockpiles in a similar way (same behavior, but done after the stockpile is set up/built, not before) would be helpful. At present, my preferred solution is to dump the offending rock into a dump ('i' interface, mark as dump).
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<STRONG>There is a Record Keeper. Please make him record unemployed dwarves and the time they spent without job. This would make it easier for people to determine wether a dwarf that has no job doesnt ever get to work or just ran out of wood a second ago.
Alternative: Keep records about when which dwarf came into the fort - and add a way to sort dwarves by how long they've been here.
It's hell to sit at the border and try to filter all immigrating dwarves to make them do something useful.
</STRONG>Yes, it IS a PITA. Check out
Efficient gameplay wiki page, especially the link to
Dwarf Foreman. Managing dwarf labor permissions is something you just don't want to use the in-game interface to do - and, happily, you don't have to!
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<STRONG>(this is possibly included in the developement sheet in a way)
Allow setting dwarves to work in workshops, and others to deliver goods to them so the guys i expect to work dont keep running about uselessly while others never do any work.
</STRONG>Getting dwarves to work reliably in workshops does take a fair bit of experimentation. I personally believe that, once you start using Dwarf Foreman and do a little testing, you'll find this part of the game much more approachable. Try getting one industry at a time working (start with food and drink).
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<STRONG>Add "resize room" to Stockpiles.
</STRONG>This'd wouldn't hurt, sure, but it's simple enough (by DF standards, anyway) to delete and re-designate a stockpile. Note also the very handy "custom" option for stockpiles; if you want to make several stockpiles of a special type, that's the quickest way. There HAS been a lot of work done on interface, and (even as we hope for more) we should express appreciation for what's already available.
[ January 27, 2008: Message edited by: Fedor ]
Author
Topic: Few Suggestions by a Newbie (Read 1316 times)