Looking good guys!
Unfortunately my programming skills are confined to PHP/SQL etc. However, i do have one small thing to offer. I humbly present:
DWARF THERAPIST THERAPIST: HOW TO MANAGE WITHOUT DWARF THERAPISTYes, it really is possible! Before i knew about DT, i had a fort with well over 200 dwarves using this method!Step 1 - Deal with every new migrant
immediately - that is, the moment they hit the map, you're already pressing "v". In fact, you're so fast, your cursor is already hovering over the very tile they entered on (so you don't lose track of them).
Step 2 - Assign them a
permanent job (military career counts as a "job"
), based on a) how many people are doing that job already and b) what they're good at, and then
never touch them again! Avoid the temptation to make that recently arrived grand master woodcrafter into a woodworker when you already have 7 others doing it, and not a tree left on the map. Sorry Urist McElfShapedIncenseHolder, now you're a miner. Hope you like black lung!
Step 3 - Use profession nicknames to keep track of their job - assign it the moment you decide what their job is, and then assign them the labours that belong to that job. Try not to have too many different job types (bonus points if most of the labours are in the same category for easy shift+enter enabling), and make sure your workers will have plenty to do. Don't worry if their skills lie elsewhere, they will get good at their new job in time. The less other jobs they have, the better they will get - you can use this concept to control quality of goods, eg. if you want really good beds, have your carpenters doing little else other than carpentry. Don't do this too much though, or your workers will spend lots of time idle. Which brings me to the final step:
Step 4 - Priorite ease-of-use over dwarvenly efficiency. Setup your custom professions so the less important ones have some light hauling assignments on the side to keep them busy in the slower seasons, and only take as many carpenters as you have carpentry workshops. Forget about the quality of trade goods and give your crafters plenty of jobs to keep them busy. Make a "hauling" custom profession if you don't want your real workers distracted, and if your haulers are ever idle, pat them on the back and give them the rest of the day off! If you
absolutely have to, you can, in theory, go through the units list and one by one toggle more jobs on for them when they don't have anything else to do, but the more of them you have, the more tedius this will become, and you're often better off just leaving them idle for a few minutes, and taking that as a sign that you don't need any more of that particular job type.
Edit:
Step 5 - You can basically consider each siege/ambush/etc a potential "negative migrant wave" - that is, you may lose dwarves, and have to assign replacements. Try not to be too much of a perfectionist - assign one or two replacements if you absolutely have to, and then wait for more migrant waves. Remember, the key is to do as little tweaking as possible.
By following these
four five simple steps you can have a functional, sort-of efficient dwarven workforce, with as little as
30 seconds of micromanagement per migrant!
Congratulations! Now you're free to spend all your time reading combat logs and engraving descriptions, and designing elaborate elf-melting devices.