Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[thistleknot]

how do you guys manage labors efficiently. yes, i do use dwarf therapist. im asking for strategies that help alleviate mass reassignments between migration waves/deaths.

[AutomataKittay]

I don't have any tips for therapist user, since I don't use it. But I do have a few methods I use interchangably!

Use squad as an index in a way to check for any missing/unassigned laborers, even easier with squad rename option! (Leave them deactivated and without uniform assignment )
Nickname the dwarf's name or labor with Type and Number.
Use redundancy, always have at least two dwarves for any jobs, so if one dies, then you have some time to assign another one before it get noticible. More important in long running fortress, but useful if you leave hauling jobs on important dwarves.

As for migration. I usually just have a room on surface, next or under the trading depot, where I locks migrants up to examine, label and set.
Fishdwarves are the worst, always check them before they decide that it'd be fun to fish, next worst is hunters, they at least can spike something with a bolt.
Sometimes I just process them as they comes in without rooming them when the fortress isn't too established or I'm playing with low pop caps.

Most of the all, either have patience, or play with low pop cap. It's not too difficult to get a fully functional specialist fortress running at around 40ish adult dwarf, though military might not be the best.

I'm not sure those are helpful with what I see of therapist

[muzzz]

There's a setting somewhere (in one of the init files, I think) that controls what jobs migrants start with. I always set this to 'no jobs', as I was spending way too much time disabling things on migrants. Now, when a migrant wave comes in, I only check for dwarfs with a useful, above-average skill. Other than that, I assign jobs as I need workers.

I don't think you can really prevent reassigning when dwarfs die. You could have surplus workers, of course. But that's merely moving the problem around instead of fixing it, and creates its own issues (notably XP spread).

[Bloodyharbinger]

Of my 200 dwarfs 85 are military. I have at least one of every profession if not two (cloth, clothes making). Some lazyroyal nobles. This leaves just enough for hauling. Everyone else gets to mason up for mega works.

[thistleknot]

i have an elaborate system that assins best dwarf for the job based on attribuyes, skills, and traits. the problem is. when new dwarfs arrive i have to re assess everyone.  what i wish i could do is just unassign some labors from my 1st 7, give a few to the next wave.


therapist shouldnt make a difference. it just makes analyzing dwarfs easier

i also find assignig jobs to workshop to laborers ratios difficult

[Blue_Dwarf]

I organize labors by waves, for me it's the most convenient use of Dwarf Therapist interface, because it lets you deal with migrants more easily. Earlier waves get most of the labors assigned, later waves are only assigned a labor if they have a high skill level at something I can't train easily (like weaponsmith).

Then I switch to "Has nickname" sorting. The dwarves that were assigned a labor also receive a matching nickname. Everyone without a nickname is a hauler/herbalist/mason, and a military candidate. That also helps identifying the profession of Urist McIveNeverHeardOf when he creates a masterpiece.

This splits the list of dwarves in two and prevents most important artisans from dying horribly at the wrong moment.

[AutomataKittay]

i have an elaborate system that assins best dwarf for the job based on attribuyes, skills, and traits. the problem is. when new dwarfs arrive i have to re assess everyone.  what i wish i could do is just unassign some labors from my 1st 7, give a few to the next wave.

therapist shouldnt make a difference. it just makes analyzing dwarfs easier

Have you given a thought to a form of 'encoding' system for custom name to make it easier to figure out the best specialist, and job code for custom profession name of those that's been given non-hauling work?

[thistleknot]

i have an elaborate system that assins best dwarf for the job based on attribuyes, skills, and traits. the problem is. when new dwarfs arrive i have to re assess everyone.  what i wish i could do is just unassign some labors from my 1st 7, give a few to the next wave.

therapist shouldnt make a difference. it just makes analyzing dwarfs easier

Have you given a thought to a form of 'encoding' system for custom name to make it easier to figure out the best specialist, and job code for custom profession name of those that's been given non-hauling work?

yes, helps for burrows

i think what i would like to do is just add to the number of current dwarfs assigned to a labor each wave and not reassign anyone already assigned.

[kuki]

Since I started using custom classes in Therapist, I no longer mind terribly reassigning a few people, or assigning a new migrant wave.  When the first big migrant wave comes, I unassign ALL my old specialists and redistribute labors amongst the entire pool. Use an empty custom class and shift-select and it's only four clicks to unassign everyone.

It takes a little time to set up the classes, but once you've got a set you like, it can reduce the time you spend in therapist by 80-90%, and it takes out most of the mental effort/tediousclicking effort involved in mass assigning/reassigning labors.

-I just re-read the thread and caught that you assign every dwarf based on attributes, wow. No, there is no way to make that not be painful

[thistleknot]

splinterz branch alleviates the time to take attributes and traits into account

[thiosk]

I use it too. Splinters is great.

When a wave comes, I turn off hunting and fishing, then turn off major crafting- smithing, for example.
The I look at the dwarves and put them in exp based jobs or military.  If a dwarf likes adamantane and breastplates, for example, he is trained as a smith.   Beds is a good one for carpenters, when I find a bed lover, he will replace my carpenter.

Everyone else has been getting the majority of the farming Labors, masonry, and hauling.
This strat doesn't automate the process, but I now dealmostly with blocks of dwarves and just a few individuals.

[kuki]

And now I am educated, and off I go to download Spliterz

[thistleknot]

I think it's worth noting, that now, I actually got up off my ass and coded the Labor Optimizer which Splinterz put into his latest version of DT.

[joeclark77]

I use paper and a pencil to list the various specialists I need, and remind myself who is assigned to each (and consequently which spaces are still blank).  Way too difficult and unlikely to work?  Sounds dwarfish to me.

[Sutremaine]

Generally I have a couple of specialists for skilled jobs, a gaggle of dwarves for the unskilled farming tasks, and minor skilled jobs (...waxworking) assigned to a farm gopher. Furnace Operating I class as a skilled task, because high skill makes batch meltings go much quicker. Also in general everyone has every kind of hauling turned on except the broker. Miners and woodcutters sometimes get stone or wood hauling turned off, because those things are produced far from their eventual destinations and I'd rather have them make stuff than move it. Sometimes Engraving is activated on everyone when I have a mass smoothing job, but that's usually skilled because of the major speed boost increased skill gives.

I play with a low popcap, so I have few enough migrant waves that a job assignment is often for life.