This program, unlike Dwarf Manager, is a serious contender for my one-and-only labor-management tool. Before I made the switch to Dwarf Therapist, I used Dwarf Foreman. Some of the layout and design choices made in that program may be valuable to you as well.
Here is a screenshot of Dwarf Foreman:
Requested Dwarf Therapist changes:
* A display of military skills, but not in the main window, as that would make it too wide for many people's monitors (inc. mine)
* Ability to narrow the side panels more (so all of the main screen can be shown at once on my monitor). The fact that virtually all of it shows makes this program a suitable replacement for Dwarf Foreman in a way that Dwarf Manager isn't.
* Ability to rewrite labor settings even without making any changes. If I change a dwarf's profession name from, say, "miner" to "hauler", Dwarf Foreman lets me immediately apply the "miner" labor settings to that dwarf.
* Less pastel and easier to see colors for active labors in the "group by nothing" display.
* Borders between job categories, as in Dwarf Foreman but not as bold, to prevent the eye wandering about. At present, Dwarf Therapist doesn't make it quite as easy to pick the right labor and dwarf as does Dwarf Foreman. But it's already pretty close and with some revisions will be better.
* Change the labor "Bowyer" to "Crossbow-making", "Armorsmithing" to "Armoring", "Gemcutting" to "Gem Cutting", "Gemsetting" to "Gem Setting", "BoneCarving," to "Bone Carving,", "GlassMaking" to "Glassmaking", "Soapmaking" to either "Soap Maker" (as in DF) or "Soap Making" (more in line with other labors), "LeatherWorking" to "Leatherworking". Possibly other changes.
* Consider revising the order of labors within each category. I find the order of labors within categories less easy to remember than that used by Dwarf Foreman, but I also like other parts of the ordering here more than in that program. Perhap adopt the following order of labors?
Mining;
Wood Cutting, Carpentry, Crossbow-making, Wood Burning, Potash making, Lye making, Soap making;
<masonry, etc. - no change>;
move animal category between food and fishing categories - see below;
Furnace Operating, Weaponsmithing, Armoring, Blacksmithing, Metalcrafting;
change jewelry category background color and make it a little more vivid and distinct, change names to "Gem Cutting", "Gem Setting";
Leatherworking, Woodcrafting, Stonecrafting, Bone Carving, Glassmaking, Weaving, Dyeing, Clothesmaking, Strand Extracting;
Farming, Cooking, Brewing, Farming Workshop, Milling, Butchery, Milking, Cheesemaking (avoid sticking wood burning etc. here, partly because they don't involve food and partly because the category would get too big);
Hunting, Trapping, Animal Training, Animal Care, Animal Dissection;
<fishing - no change>
<mechanics, etc. - no change>
Stone Hauling, Wood Hauling, Item Hauling, Food Hauling, Refuse Hauling, Furniture Hauling, Animal Hauling, Cleaning, Health Care, Burial;
Alchemy
* In the picture above, notice the horizontal lines separating groups of three dwarves or professions. They make it considerably easier to keep track of which dwarf's settings are getting changed.
* Change "Commit Pending Changes". That's coder jargon. Consider changing "Read Dwarves" and "Commit Pending Changes" to "Load from DF" and "Write to DF".
* Whenever I reload DF, I also have to reload Dwarf Therapist. This isn't the case for Dwarf Foreman - there, all I have to do is hit the "Load from DF" button.
With massive appreciation for your excellent work,
Fedor
Author
Topic: Dwarf Therapist (LATEST 0.5.7 7/13/10 see first post) (Read 621088 times)