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[Roflcopter5000]

Abstract:
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Managing large construction projects is currently rather absurd. It requires intense micromanagement that distracts from other events that may be playing out in the fort, resulting in the player missing out on the larger story of his fort's progression. Simply pausing the game and designating is insufficient, as multi-stage projects must be often be actively monitored to prevent catastrophe.

I propose the ability to manage constructions and designations by assigning them to to the logical groupings of 'Projects' and 'Project Stages.' This allows you to manage Dwarven workflow, instead of attempting to manage Dwarven workers.

Projects would allow the player to declare incomplete designations and constructions as work items belonging to a Project, and the group these work items into Project Stages, which would then be executed in the sequence specified by the player.

In example, all work items in Stage 2 of Project X would stay 'suspended' until after all of the work items in Stage 1 of Project X were completed.


This capacity also has the benefit of more closely resembling the way societies work; IE, project plans and developments. I think this system would lead eventually to a fortress that grows a little more like a city would. (Perhaps this screen could require a 'Grand Architect' or a mayor, implying that your fortress is now less an outpost and more a city, and has need for these sorts or abstractions.)

I also feel that implementing this change would be relatively simple compared to many other alternate ideas I have seen presented before, as it would build off of the system we already have in place, rather than re-inventing any wheels.

In summation, this would increase immersion, decrease unnecessary micromanagement, and be relatively simple to implement while satisfying a large portion of the player-base.





Changes Required to existing DF code/concepts:
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- The ability to 'suspend' designations, similar to how one 'suspends' incomplete construction items. The player could have an option in the designation menu for 'un/suspend designation.' It may be difficult to represent this state visually. Perhaps with a color, and/or blinking.

- The addition of one menu and associated sidebar menu.

- A bit code that checked upon labor completion for designations and constructions to see if the designation / construction was a part of a 'project stage,' and then, if there were any more work items left in said project stage. Assuming both are true, all work items in the next project stage are changed to be no longer suspended.

- A slight change in how construction designation works. In order for this system to actually work, players must be able to define constructions that are not yet 'build-able.' It would then be up to the labor getting assigned to a dwarf to run the check to see if it could be built. Assuming it wasn't, default behavior should be to suspend construction.





Detailed Menu Map and Feature Description:
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      + 'Projects' have their own sidebar, similar to the hauling sidebar, in which you can 'make a new project,' 'suspend,' 'cancel,' or 'Edit Project.'
         > Make New Project: As it sounds.
         > Suspend Project: Suspends all work items on the active stage of a project.
         > Cancel: Cancels all work items that are associated with this project, removing designations or incomplete constructions, and deleting the project.
         > Remove Project: Simply removes the project. Any incomplete work items are still suspended / not suspended.
         > Edit Project: Opens Edit Project Sub Menu
            + 'Edit Project' has options that allow you to interact with your project as a whole, and introduces 'project stages.' In addition to the hot-keys that let you select options, you also have a selection bar that is move-able
            with the '+' and '-' keys, similar to the sidebar which you use to assign labors to dwarves. This bar selects which 'stage' of a project you are currently interacting with.
               > Assign Color: Assigns a color to your project. Work items associated with the project now appear as that color when viewing the projects sidebar.
               > Rename Project: As it sounds
               > Add New Project Stage: Creates an additional stage. Stages are not named, they have incremental numerical values.
               > Define Stage: Gives you a cursor that lets you draw a box around incomplete designations or constructions to add them to the selected project stage.
               > Subtract from Stage: Gives you cursor, similar to above, does the opposite, removing work items form the project stage.
               > Clear Stage: Renders stage empty of work items. If left cleared, the stage is effectively skipped.
      
      

[Revanchist]

I personally like the idea, although it's ultimately not up to us. On a side-note; was there any mention of this in the goals? It seems like something that would be of benefit for those that want it.

[GreatWyrmGold]

This sounds fairly reasonable, but I'm having trouble connecting it with megaprojects.

[Putnam]

This sounds fairly reasonable, but I'm having trouble connecting it with megaprojects.

Think of making a pyramid: the first stage is the base, and the second stage (the Z-level above, natch) can't start until that first one is done.

[GreatWyrmGold]

This sounds fairly reasonable, but I'm having trouble connecting it with megaprojects.

Think of making a pyramid: the first stage is the base, and the second stage (the Z-level above, natch) can't start until that first one is done.

I thought it was talking about jobs.
Sounds reasonable, especially if you can save some sort of template. For instance: Project Pyramid--15×15 floor surrounded by walls with an up staircase in the middle, pick 287 things to build it with. Next floor, pick 225 things to build that with, and so on and so forth.