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[Fodao]

I'm not sure what's going on here.  My dwarves are all running off on Store Item in Stockpile orders and I can't figure out why.

I have a fortress built about 1/4 of the map from a chasm.  I have a network of aquaducts with a drain mined to the chasm.  This was the first instance of the problem.  I fixed it by installing a floodgate at the end of the drain and closing it as well as a door at the end of the maintenence access mine to the chasm.

Well there was another underground fortress clear across the map.  I knew about it for a while (a dragon caught my eye on the creature list) and the thing is completely full of antmen, but didn't give it any thought.  All of a sudden, at about year 1.5, one of my dwarves was struck down by the dragon.  Huh?

I looked at the creature list and 1/2 my dwarves were in or on their way to this dungeon with Store Item in Stockpile orders.  What on earth are they after?  I've lost 3 of my 10 dwarves, two vet hunting dogs, a pet puppy and horse to this dragon.

I put up path restrictions to no avail.  I'm about to install a hatch on the access point (hopefully the only one) and I've currently mined into the 1st level of this dungeon from the ground level, created an aquaduct just short of a nearby creek, and as soon as I get them all out (I'm going to enlist them all and set a station point - is there a better way to get them all out?) I'm going to turn the whole place into a huge underground reservoir.

So long story short: how on earth can I figure out what my dwarves are trying to stockpile, and how can I keep them out of places I don't want them to go, short of hatching up entrances?

[Jhyn]

Using the (j)ob list could give you an advice. Go on one of the "store item" job and use the "zoom" option (or something approaching). You will zoom on the item generating the job.

[Fodao]

That's genius; thanks!  They were all trying to put antman bodies in a refuse pile.

Follow up question: is there a way I can prevent this from happening?  I'm lucky this time - the area in question has a chokepoint that I can hatch up and lock the door.

[Jhyn]

I also have a dragon on my map and worried about kamikaze workers. Nobody never ventured there, though, regardless the numerous bodies all over the place, even with the option "gather refuse from outdoor" activated. I keep an eye open. The best (and longest) solution is to forbid all those bodies.

[Moogie]

Find the area to which they're all running to grab items, and do a mass Forbid on several screen-widths of floor (D->F). You may have to do this if more creatures or dwarves die, to prevent their items also being claimed by the suicidal lemmings. :]

[Deon]

Or just switch the outer refuse hauling off.

[Fodao]

Thanks Moogie - I didn't know you could do whole areas - I thought I had to go into the look mode and do it one-by-one.

Deon - does "outer" mean outside my own fortress or outside in general?  These corpses were in another fortress/dungeon clear across the map.  I suppose I can test it myself in a less risky scenario...

[Jay]

Outside means any tile marked as outside when you view it with (k).

[Ipsnicerous]

I am experiencing this same problem, but with items from a goblin fortress. I am in a map with a goblin fortress and my dwarves keep wandering off to loot items from goblin corpses within the other fort. I have blanketed their entire fort and surrounding regions with restricted traffic zones and forbid every item I find in the area. The problem is that new goblins keep dying for some reason and dropping more (narrow iron helm) and the like that my dwarves want to go pick up. I still want my dwarves to pick up the equipment from goblins slain right outside of my fortress, but do no want them wandering into the restricted zone on suicide missions. I'm also not sure if armor will count as refuse from outside so I don't know if disabling refuse collection will work.

Is there anything I can do to solve this problem?

[zagibu]

Nothing besides isolating the two fortresses completely, by digging a channel across the whole map or building walls or just installing a door at the goblin fortress and locking it. They will ALWAYS run and pick up items that get dropped on inside tiles, there is no order to forbid that.
Also, restricted traffic zones only make the calculated way longer, so that a way around a restricted traffic zone seems to be shorter than directly through it (at least in the brains of the little dudes). If a job target is INSIDE a restricted traffic zone, the zone will do nothing, as the shortest way to the target will obviously lead through the zone anyway.

[ May 26, 2008: Message edited by: zagibu ]

[Name Lips]

quote:Originally posted by Ipsnicerous:
<STRONG>I am experiencing this same problem, but with items from a goblin fortress. I am in a map with a goblin fortress and my dwarves keep wandering off to loot items from goblin corpses within the other fort. I have blanketed their entire fort and surrounding regions with restricted traffic zones and forbid every item I find in the area. The problem is that new goblins keep dying for some reason and dropping more (narrow iron helm) and the like that my dwarves want to go pick up. I still want my dwarves to pick up the equipment from goblins slain right outside of my fortress, but do no want them wandering into the restricted zone on suicide missions. I'm also not sure if armor will count as refuse from outside so I don't know if disabling refuse collection will work.

Is there anything I can do to solve this problem?</STRONG>

Restricted zones are useless - that is to say, they're useless for preventing a dwarf from going that way. When a dwarf is trying to find a path, he'll go around a restricted zone if at all possible. But if there's no other route to where he wants to go, or if the item he wants is inside it, he'll gladly march right into it. They're used for traffic control - to herd traffic away from certain areas. For instance, if you want dwarves to stop stomping through your food storage, and instead take the long way around, you would set the food storage as restricted. They'll still go in there to get their food when they're hungry, though.

There really should be a way to absolutely forbid dwarves from going into a certain area, but as far as I know there isn't one yet. Except to build massive walls and locked doors all over the entire map.

[Jhoosier]

I had the same problem...goblin fortress nearby means the little idiots go running out everytime something dies.  The only good thing about the fortress is they kill the ambushes that start off on that side of the map.  The downside is that I have to hunt down every goblin corpse and forbid it.

I wish there were an easier way to designate forbidden areas.  Will they still run across forbidden areas if it's the only way to get to the item?  It'd be nice to make it stronger, so it acted like a channel for pathfinding purposes where the task would be cancelled due to lack of access, like installing a door is when it's separated by a channel.

[martinuzz]

quote:Originally posted by Deon:
<STRONG>Or just switch the outer refuse hauling off.</STRONG>

That works for goblin corpses, but not for antmen corpses. Their cave is also inside..