Print

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

[Micro102]

I've noticed that with an update since the last time I played, dwarves now take containers (barrels/bags) to go pick up the seed instead of taking the seeds to the bags. This leads to "cannot plant seed" message spam and slower then desired planting. Does anyone have a work around to this? I've made it so that no barrels are used in the seed stockpile, but it's just not enough. Still a bunch of message spam and delayed planting.

Are there any ways to deal with this?

[fortydayweekend]

Fewer farmers helps - there are fewer jobs called and so they're more likely to have seeds. If you have 5 or 10 farmers they'll all be trying to plant the same things at the same time. Maybe turn off every labor except farming and food hauling.

Also seed stockpiles closer to the plots.

I have 2 dedicated farmers in my 150-dwarf fort with lots of textile industry plants and basically never get seed cancellation messages.

[Micro102]

Wait.... 2 dwarves can manage to plant enough food for 150 dwarves?

[fortydayweekend]

I don't let dwarves eat plants, but yep, 2 dwarves can easily produce enough booze and thread for 150 dwarves. I even use wine as an ingredient in cooking.

After a few years the original founding farmer is legendary and the other is nearly there. They do nothing other than farm and haul food.

[greycat]

I've made it so that no barrels are used in the seed stockpile, but it's just not enough. Still a bunch of message spam and delayed planting.

Once you reach seed equilibrium, it should be OK.  You'll probably end up with 2 or more bags of each seed, so when a hauler grabs one bag to gather up seeds in the dining room, still, etc. the other bag should still be there for planting.  The cancellation spam should become pretty scarce (but never entirely gone).

[slothen]

Are there any ways to deal with this?

Yes.  Its pretty straightforward IMO.  Designate two stockpiles, only for seeds.  Disable barrels on both.  Lets call them A and B.  A is where seeds from stills, querns, millstones, and farmer's workshops will be collected.  By default, A will have "take from anywhere."  You can put this near food processing or near your farms.  Then put seed stockpile B near you farm plots.  Set B to "take only from links."  Then have B take from A.  This is all the setup you need.

Its also helpful to have between 1-3 farmers only.  Dedicated farmers get higher skill faster, which results in larger stacks of food quicker, which also results in easier/faster processing.  Set only farmers to harvest.

[krenshala]

Myself, I've had very good luck with a 6 tile seed stockpile that uses bags/barrels, but only takes from links, and a second 3 to 6 tile stockpile that does not allow barrels, but takes from anywhere.  Positioned right next to the farms/still and my three dedicated farmers almost never get "can't find the seeds" cancellation spam.  When I do, its almost always because two farmers tried to plant using seeds from the same barrel.

[MDFification]

Wait.... 2 dwarves can manage to plant enough food for 150 dwarves?

With good skill levels in Grower? Yes. Yes they can. Leveling grower increases the speed at which they plant and the number of plants in the stack grown from the seed, meaning that good growers really, really aren't the garbagedwarves people seem to think they are.

A good way to level grower would be to turn off All Dwarves Harvest - switch it to Only Farmers Harvest. That way, a few dedicated
farmers get all the precious grower experience that would otherwise be spent on the entire fortress. If they're hauling to an adjacent stockpile that other dwarves haul from, you'll still have a decent harvesting speed and plants shouldn't rot in the fields. Burrowing your farmers so they don't wander away from the fields/their quarters/secure areas is highly necessary though, because if they die/get maimed and you don't notice you'll lose the entire crop for no good reason since nobody will bother to pick it up.

Fertilizer is also a good way to increase crop yield and get precious, precious experience. Make sure to store your potash close to the actual farm, though - don't want those farmers walking long distances when they should be growing/harvesting.