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Author Topic: How do I encourage idle dwarves to carry buckets?  (Read 556 times)

Saber Cherry

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How do I encourage idle dwarves to carry buckets?
« on: September 04, 2010, 06:39:05 pm »

I'm trying to muddy some ground to farm, but I never get more than about 1 dwarf at a time carrying a bucket (there are 6 buckets).  Because there is some distance between the hole and the brook, evaporation is preventing the water from spreading more than about a 3x3 square, at the rate it is coming in.  But even when I have 5 dwarves idle, they just...  idle, rather than help.

Is there some labor I need to enable to get them to carry buckets of water?
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bowie

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Re: How do I encourage idle dwarves to carry buckets?
« Reply #1 on: September 04, 2010, 06:45:28 pm »

each pit/pond zone designation only generates one job. If you have 6 buckets try creating 6 separate pit/pond zones
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Saber Cherry

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Re: How do I encourage idle dwarves to carry buckets?
« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2010, 06:47:49 pm »

Ahhh, thanks.
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FleshForge

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Re: How do I encourage idle dwarves to carry buckets?
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2010, 07:06:24 pm »

Having a lot of extra buckets speeds this up, since they're a little sloppy about where they put a bucket down between jobs.  I really wish this was handled as a designation, e.g. instead of "dig these designated tiles" you might be able to just select an area of tiles to be irrigated.
ed: you know what, I'm going to suggest that.
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Shoku

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Re: How do I encourage idle dwarves to carry buckets?
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2010, 08:40:22 pm »

If you've got the walkable area you could remove the pond zone over the tiles that were already irrigated to eventually muddy them all anyway.
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Saber Cherry

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Re: How do I encourage idle dwarves to carry buckets?
« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2010, 09:19:11 pm »

Having a lot of extra buckets speeds this up, since they're a little sloppy about where they put a bucket down between jobs.  I really wish this was handled as a designation, e.g. instead of "dig these designated tiles" you might be able to just select an area of tiles to be irrigated.
ed: you know what, I'm going to suggest that.

That would work a lot better, agreed.  It's tough for newbies starting out to figure out how to irrigate...  which is why, in 40d, I always ensured my embark had soil.  Now that you have to irrigate soil, I feel like a newbie again :)  But the process is really needlessly complex and tedious compared to what you would really do in a real world where physics dictates that you must pour water on the floor before you can grow things.  I live in a 2-story house and have a lot of house plants, and not once have I channeled through the upper floor to water them.

If you've got the walkable area you could remove the pond zone over the tiles that were already irrigated to eventually muddy them all anyway.

I'm sort of trying to fill a 9x20 room with 1/7 water to completely muddy it, rather than doing it one tile at a time.  But if it turns out that my bucket brigade cannot keep up with evaporation, then I'll have to take your approach.
« Last Edit: September 04, 2010, 09:21:29 pm by Saber Cherry »
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FleshForge

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Re: How do I encourage idle dwarves to carry buckets?
« Reply #6 on: September 04, 2010, 10:28:48 pm »

Even once you know how it's done, it doesn't get easier or more fun, it's just tedious and fiddly, it should be as straightforward as designating a bunch of tiles to be mined or a bunch of items to be dumped.
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candylord

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Re: How do I encourage idle dwarves to carry buckets?
« Reply #7 on: September 05, 2010, 01:03:26 am »

tbh, I found the buckets and water method way too slow for my liking
I just ended setting up my farm next to my water source and then digging through :P
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