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[YetAnotherLurker]

I think it's actually dependent on the specific job they're trying to do. Notably, I believe hauling things, whether binned or not, to stockpiles is a one-item job, whereas storing items into a bin in the first place can grab multiple items. I know the only times I've spotted dwarves hauling a huge pile of items were when the items in question were something I actually had a binned stockpile for, crafts and bolts. In one case, I had my (specially selected, incredibly weak) hammerer grab a few dozen stacks of copper bolts and attempt to haul them all from my forges to the crossbow pillbox in the third cavern layer, some 50 z-levels below. I only noticed because he was so severely slowed that he'd get too hungry or thirsty to continue before making it halfway, and I noticed during a routine check of the Health screen.

[anewaname]

Question on hauling optimization;
I have observed many times that when a (craftsdwarf) workshop is very full of items and a stockpile with space and bins is readily available, dorfs generate a hauling job for every item individually, rather than sending one dorf WITH a bin to collect however many happen to fit in the bin.

Is it possible to stimulate smarter bin usage or is it just not part of the current hauling logic?

There are two sets of jobs being generated. The stockpile itself creates a separate "single item" hauling job for every empty square on it when there are no bins on the stockpile (you will see a mob of dwarfs each get one item when you create a new stockpile), and if there is a bin on that stockpile then it will create one job to gather a list of items and put them in that bin (you will see one dwarf wander off and collect many items and bring them to the bin). You can see this in the 'j'obs menu by looking for the "store item in Stockpile" and "store item in Bin" jobs, and then hitting 'j' again to see the details of that job (to see what items the job involves). That is the rough of it. The system is different than last version and may change again. :p

[dharthoorn]

ah, thanks anewaname for the job screen clarification.

I had many empty bins available (hundreds litterally). Perhaps the bins were full in the said target stockpile. I am sure I did have empty ones in my furniture/bin stockpile.
However, having empty bins *elsewhere* means squat if the furniture hauling job restocking the stockpile with a empty "fresh" bin is lower in priority than the item hauling workshop->stockpile.

I think that last part was my problem tbh. It would take a lot of micro to promote jobs to avoid that I guess. Well, the root cause again is having too much damn hauling backlog. It is just SO HARD for me to not to end up doing that. Any tips apart from the obvious?

[anewaname]

Besides the idea of shortening your hauling routes, if you assign 1 wheelbarrow to a stockpile that also has bins, it does not appear to interfere with filling the bins but will limit the individual item hauling jobs generated by the stockpile to 1. The means a higher ratio of hauling jobs generated by that stockpile are multi-item hauling jobs.

Edit: Another method that is good for clearing workshops.... Create a large binned stockpile set to 't'ake from links only. Create a one square stockpile with bins for the exact same items and set it to 'g'ive to the larger stockpile. They will put a bin on the one square stockpile (1 job), fill it (10 blocks or 50 mugs, all in 1 job) and then haul that full bin over to the larger stockpile  (1 job). To make this work smoothly you should not have a bin shortage (get a standing order to create bins when you drop below 10. It is also slow, but it is dwarf-labor efficient.

[dharthoorn]

Is there an easy way to find out which -if any- stockpiles have "reserved bins/barrels".

I may have plonked one down with maxed reserved bins through "careless keystroke phenomenon" I evidently seem to suffer from sometimes.

[Loci]

"Reserved" bins/barrels are global settings in the stockpile menu; they are not associated with any individual stockpile. "Reserved" containers will not be allowed in any stockpile; instead they will be kept available for workshop tasks that require a container (e.g. process plant to barrel, brew fruit, etc.). There are currently no workshop jobs that require a bin, so "reserved" bins are just wasted resources.

If you assigned a large number of bins to a stockpile that doesn't need bins, the more recent versions of the game are rather forgiving. Dwarves will bring one bin to the stockpile and, if it is never filled (e.g. because the stockpile doesn't accept binnable items), no more bins will be added.

[dharthoorn]

Thanks for the response Loci.

Ok, so I can neither see nor modify this global setting either. And there's no way to "block" massive amounts of bins because of a typo.
Well, that's good news. I seem to recall having done that on an earlier version iirc.

[anewaname]

The global setting is visible to you... click 'p' to to get to the stockpile creation screen, it is there and changed with the "/ * - +" keys. I often set the reserved barrels to 2 or 4 to help if I mess up things early on with booze production.

[dharthoorn]

Oh now I get it (finally). Even though the stockpile is new it's the cumulative total of reserved bins/barrels. Wow, that's really not obvious.

[Romeofalling]

My map started off with a large smattering of "brown recluse spider man webs," which I've spun into some average-value cloth.

I'm assuming that if they turn up as a hostile, traditional "imprison and taunt" methods will work. If one of these sentients happens to show up at my tavern, how can I turn them into a silk mill?

[Loci]

My map started off with a large smattering of "brown recluse spider man webs," which I've spun into some average-value cloth.

I'm assuming that if they turn up as a hostile, traditional "imprison and taunt" methods will work. If one of these sentients happens to show up at my tavern, how can I turn them into a silk mill?

You can't. Brown recluse spider men (and most other spiders) lack the can do interaction:material emission token to "spray webs". Theoretically, if you stick them in a room they might occasionally drop a web (like regular cave spiders), but production would be rather limited. It's also unlikely to be worth the effort, since plant cloth is considerably easier to produce and more valuable.

[armads]

Here's a question. I'm trying to set up an arena in my fortress, something I've done many times before. However, what I'd like to do is also set it up so that the spilled blood collects below the arena itself. My first thought was to do this by using floor grates, so that the liquid passes through the grates and drips below. However, you can't build a floor of floor grates without having them connected to anything solid, and if I have solid bits between them all, the blood will be wasted sitting on the floor tiles.

How can I go about ensuring that all that blood makes it into the cistern below?

[Loci]

How can I go about ensuring that all that blood makes it into the cistern below?

Blood in Dwarf Fortress is modeled as a contaminant, not a liquid, so blood cisterns are not possible.

However, you can't build a floor of floor grates without having them connected to anything solid, and if I have solid bits between them all, the blood will be wasted sitting on the floor tiles.

If you want a floor that liquid can flow down through you can build your floor grates on down-stair tiles, which provide support for the grates while still allowing downward flow.

[Goldbeard]

I've got my first fort with a volcano, so I'm attached, but it's in a hot biome with no river, aquifer or murky pools.  So no water, but there is rainfall.  Is there any way to capture that rainfall?  Haven't found the caverns yet, so dig deeper! is the backup plan, but I'm curious about the other.

[Putnam]

How can I go about ensuring that all that blood makes it into the cistern below?

Blood in Dwarf Fortress is modeled as a contaminant, not a liquid, so blood cisterns are not possible.

I am just about 100% sure that the question was how to make sure that blood contaminates a cistern below (so that the whole fort becomes vampires, for example).