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[quarague]

I played a lot in 47xx and previous versions and in general used a policy that almost any task can only be done by the specific dwarfs I allowed for that task. This could be easily achieved by choosing in the options that dwarfs should only be allowed to do work that they are qualified for. When new immigrants arrived I assigned them whatever tasks I thought they should be doing.

In 50xx the standard option is that all dwarfs can do all tasks so for example the moment the masonry workshop is ready and has a task the miner will stop mining and do some masonry. I can manually create a new work detail for masonry and then set it to 'only selected dwarfs can do that' and only assign the mason. This does exactly what I want but I have to do this manually for every single task. I also have to type the name masonry for the work details because otherwise I will have 50 works details named work detail 1 to 50 and no easy way to see which is which.

There must be a better way to do this? I also assume that work details do not carry over from one fort to the next, so if I have to do this manually I would have to redo this for every fort?

I would also like to have a few tasks (for example hauling) that are 'everyone except the selected dwarfs can do that'. Is there a way to set that or do I have to assign all dwarfs that should be doing the task?

[Salmeuk]

I played a lot in 47xx and previous versions and in general used a policy that almost any task can only be done by the specific dwarfs I allowed for that task.

that uh gameplay style was essentially dismissed by the developers in favor of less specific control. no, I don't agree with that decision. it was mentioned in one or two blog posts during the year-long development cycle so I'm not surprised people have missed the announcement.

can manually create a new work detail for masonry and then set it to 'only selected dwarfs can do that' and only assign the mason. This does exactly what I want but I have to do this manually for every single task. I also have to type the name masonry for the work details because otherwise I will have 50 works details named work detail 1 to 50 and no easy way to see which is which.

well, DON'T do it this way because it will drive you insane.

my advice is to assign specific dwarves to specific workshops for the majority of your 'only one dwarf does this' situations. Then all you need to do is keep your workshops organized, or otherwise marked, and this allows for a similar playstyle as before.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

extra micromanagement? GET USED TO IT, APPARENTLY

Of course, there will be gaps here and there in certain labors, and for those situations the work details do an alright job, though they are fiddly.

secondly, you could install Dwarf Therapist which is now working for premium. the underlying labor assignment still exists in the game but is not accessible to the players. yeah it makes me ? ? ?  as well.

I find that, for the most part, highly skilled dwarves tend to perform their appropriate tasks, but only about %60-70 of the time.... and so you end up with a lot of wasted labor and materials when the noob carpenter gets a hold of the workshop.

The Premium U.I. Gave, and the Premium U.I. Hath Taken Away.

[mikekchar]

Although I *like* the new way things work, I agree with Salmeuk.  Assign dwarfs to individual workshops.  A workshop is 3x3.  It takes almost no space.  Put it in a 5x5 room and make the rest of the tiles a feeder stockpile for the workshop.  Super efficient.

The advantage is that you can add some general workshops that anyone can use and set up monthly jobs to build stuff.  This lets your other dwarfs have "hobbies" that aren't their main job.  So if you have a miner or thresher who is sad that they aren't doing crafts, it gives them something to day when they aren't doing their main job.  It also allows you to link stockpiles for resources that you don't mind wasting.  You can sort your cloth into quality levels and all the crap cloth can be used to sew images on crap clothing, for example.

I disagree that this is micro-management, though.  Yes, it's upfront work to set up, but once it's set up it's done.  You get to a point where "This dwarf is my main weapon smith".  You sort out your stockpiles so that the steel is going to that workshop.  You assign your legendary weaponsmith to the workshop.  You add work orders specifically for that workshop.  You never have to change anything again.  You want to get an apprentice going with copper?  It's easy to do.  You want to invite amateurs to bash out some crap to sell to the caravan while they level up?  It's easy to do.  It's way more flexible and it's not really any more work than going into the labor of the dwarf and selecting it.

I appreciate that some people prefer the old system and I can understand that, but I think the new system is arguably better.  I can see the argument that if you were using DT previously and like that spreadsheet approach, then the old system obviously is better.  But if you were using vanilla only (as I was), the new system is better in almost every way.

[quarague]

Thanks for the tips, assigning dwarfs to workshops seems to be the way to go. Although the way I understand I can only assign one dwarf to a workshop, so if in a bigger fortress I want 3 carpenters I would have to build 3 workshops and then the work order would be spread among all 3 thus forcing all 3 to do part of it. In the old system, if one of the 3 was currently busy sorting out their socks in the meeting hall the other 2 could just do all of it. I guess at that point efficiency is usually not an issue anymore so that is probably not too much of a problem.

[gchristopher]

I played a lot in 47xx and previous versions and in general used a policy that almost any task can only be done by the specific dwarfs I allowed for that task.

that uh gameplay style was essentially dismissed by the developers in favor of less specific control. no, I don't agree with that decision. it was mentioned in one or two blog posts during the year-long development cycle so I'm not surprised people have missed the announcement.

Wow, I missed that. Thank you for calling that one out!

This is particularly awful from a Strange Mood management perspective. One critical feature of labor assignments was to manage which and how many dwarves have each moodable skill. A key step in immigrant management is to get their max level into a task that provides a useful strange mood (Masonry, especially, for artifact doors and gates, plus furniture that transform defense against building destroyers.)

I'm glad to hear that Dwarf Therapist provides a workaround for that being missing in the UI, because a key part of Strange Mood management is NOT allowing dwarves to gain experience in the wrong skills. Especially those few critical dwarves that prefer doors, hatches, or floodgates must not gain a top skill that doesn't produce those items.

I guess this isn't that big a loss, because I didn't consider the base game really playable without DT before, anyway.

[Bumber]

Although I *like* the new way things work, I agree with Salmeuk.  Assign dwarfs to individual workshops.  A workshop is 3x3.  It takes almost no space.  Put it in a 5x5 room and make the rest of the tiles a feeder stockpile for the workshop.  Super efficient.

That's potentially a lot of feeder stockpiles to set up. If you run low on whatever material, they're possibly going to have to grab it from another feeder stockpile (or job cancel.)

The annoying part for me, though, is that I divide my craftsdwarf's workshops into stone/wood/bone/paper/etc, and I assign conditional work orders to the specific workshops instead of globally so that the job doesn't end up at the wrong workshop. Having a workshop and work order per dwarf isn't practical. With the ability to filter by skill missing, I just don't let low skill dwarves practice the labor at all (for risk that my high skill ones are temporarily occupied.)

This is particularly awful from a Strange Mood management perspective. One critical feature of labor assignments was to manage which and how many dwarves have each moodable skill. A key step in immigrant management is to get their max level into a task that provides a useful strange mood (Masonry, especially, for artifact doors and gates, plus furniture that transform defense against building destroyers.)

Consider setting up the relevant guild halls and opening them to all dwarves. They'll raise the skill rapidly once you get a few dwarves of high skill.

[Blue_Dwarf]

You only need to set up a few critical skills, if you don't want to bother with all skills. Carpentry, metalsmithing, a few other moodable skills is all you need. The rest can be on "anyone can do this".