Move "zone" functions to burrows
Why?
this is exactly what i thought: "move zone functions to burrows.... WHY should we do this?"
i am a quite new DF player and i dont realy see "the improvement when zone functions are in the burrow area", i see more complication... not improvement atm.
lets get to this in a bit... i just want to point out this other thing too:
The functions of zones will then be easier to use, while one hidden and therefore confusing feature of the interface is abolished.
here again, i dont see WHY zones are "confuseing" or even "hidden" (they are listed in the main function list with "i").
there are other functions that are more usefull then others in my opinion and are "hidden":
i.e. the "u" button (dwarf name list) is in my eyes WAY more usefull then the "j" button (job list).
-the "u" button list the dwarfs nicely by primary job type (i.e. wood cutter) and name and shows what they do currently too. so you can quickly find a dwarf you seek by name or by "primary job" (i.e. i want to know what my 4 miners do atm) and the zoom keys "c and v".
-the "j" button is in my opinion less usefull there... as it lists TOO all 30 bed construction jobs or all 50+ farm field tiles. good luck trying to find out what your 4 miner dwarfs do in that "job"list.
and the "u" button is not listed in the main functions menu.
but, as it is a different topic i wont even start with the usefullness of the "R" button.... (it could be improved alot... maybe i start another topic for that later)
back to zones:
i dont think they are "confuseing" either. maybe i just dont find them confuseing because i am a new DF player and i "learned playing with the current version".
let me list how i see "zones":
-1st we have "designations". in my eyes it is an area where "dwarfs can do XYZ here" (i.e. chop trees, dig a tunnel)
-2nd we have "zones". i would describe them as "restrict dwarfs to do XYZ here instead of elsewhere" (i.e. instead of fishing everywhere you allow them to fish in zone 1,2 and 3)
-3rd we have "burrows". in my opinion you select an "specific area for specific dwarfs to be and do whatever they do" (i.e. dwarf 1,2 and 3 are in this area and dwarf 4-7 there)
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if i want that my fishers fish in the 3 east lakes... i press "i", mark the 3 lakes with zones and select "fishing". and i am *done*.
if i would do that with burrows: i press "w", create a burrow, (select a color and symbol if i want. and maybe name it "eastern fishing areas"), mark the 3 lakes, somehow mark them as fishing zone... AND have to search and select my fishing dwarfs in a list, assign them to that zone, so they actually fish there.
so what "improvement" do we have?
-we have that zone named. (in my eyes these simple fishing zones DONT need names.)
-we have some color and symbol marking that zone. (yay... atleast i dont "need" this either. i know these 3 zones over there are fishing zones because they are at a lake. no need for a name or color).
and we had to do a few clicks more (i.e. first createing the actual burrow) and ALOT clicks more to assign the fishers to that zone.
after a while we want to remove one lake from the east and instead let them fish on 2 more lakes in the west. additionally we want one of the original fishers to use the fisherworkshop and dont fish atall... but we add 2 more new fishers.
the burrow version:
-remove the mark on one lake in the east.
-add marks on 2 lakes in the west.
-remove one fisher from the list.
-change the jobs of that fisher.
-add 2 more fisher to the list.
-change the jobs of the 2 new fishers.
the current zone method:
-remove the east fishing zone.
-add 2 new zones at the west lakes.
-change the job of that one old fisher.
-change the job of the 2 new fishers.
i dont know, but in my eyes the zone method is WAY less complicated then the burrow method and all the adding and removeing from that assign list.
and this is just the fishing example. imagine a water zone "burrow" where you have to assign dwarfs new to the list for each imigrant you get. where with zones you simply mark the water zone and are done with it. (no adding the whole population to the list and no adding new dwarfs all the time)
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so in my opinion zones are fine how they are and adding them to burrows would just complicate everything more (as you have to assign dwarfs too).
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on the other hand, there are ways to "improve the menus" of course.
when i have to add the "zone functions" somewhere else i would add them to "designations" and not to "burrows".
a simple "create zone" line in the designation screen, that when pressed just leads you to the current menu when you press "i".
but this would just add the steps to go through the designation menu each time. so why not just leave them like they are currently with the "i" hotkey?
there are far more important things to "fix" currently then the zones.--------------------------------------------------------------
its similar with stockpiles, i would just keep them like they are currently. (accessable with "p")
they are "ok" as they are currently.
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its a bit offtopic.... but i would agree that rooms (+ hospital) could be changed a bit. but thats offtopic, maybe i will create a new topic for that.
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to sum it up:
in my opinion moveing zones to burrows just adds more complicated steps (micromanageing and assigneing dwarfs all the time... if you realy want to do this just throw a burrow OVER zones.) and doesnt realy "improve the functions".