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[Nate McCloud]

For some reason, even though I've made a stone stockpile ~right next~ to a Mason's Workshop that only holds one type of stone, but dwarves who use that workshop insist on traveling much farther to grab some other kind of stone to use rather than just use what's right next to them. So my question is this: How do I restrict the kinds of materials used in a particular workshop without confining a dwarf to a burrow?

[smariot]

I believe the dwarfs will grab whatever is closest to them that satisfies their needs; so he'll normally use the stones near the workshop, except when he first begins, since he might not be anywhere near said workshop at the time.

In conclusion... I think the only alternative to burrows is to lock the doors to the workshop until he's done his work.

[BigJake]

Lock him in and drop the materials, some food and some booze in.  Let 'im out when he's done if he did a decent job.

[Aramco]

They will go for the closest stone, and a z-level up or down has the same deciding weight as across one tile. Even if the nearest staircase is across the map.

[Nate McCloud]

I guess the only way to do it, then, is to lock doors or assign the mason to the burrow, if they go after the materials closest to them at the time, rather than the materials closest to the workshop, because I checked very carefully, and there is ~absolutely~ no material closer to the workshop than the stockpile with the chosen stone, z-levels also considered. Thanks.

[JAFANZ]

have you checked the stone isn't set to "Economic"? preventing it from being used for purposes other than those specified?

[greycat]

They will go for the closest stone, and a z-level up or down has the same deciding weight as across one tile. Even if the nearest staircase is across the map.

Actually, I think Z levels have 0 deciding weight.  Near as I can tell, a stone that's directly under the center of the mason's workshop, 25 levels straight down, has a "distance" of 0 and is preferred over the quantum stockpile of dumped-and-reclaimed stone 2 steps away on the same Z level.

I also vote "lock the door".

[Starver]

Mostly I currently use burrows to prioritise digging (allocate one of my two diggers to a burrow spanning the currently priority excavation, to guarantee at least some work is put into digging the much-needed watertank/whatever), rather than at a workshop (or workshop and stockpile) level, but I always try to make a single-tile food-only stockpile and a single-tile booze-only stockpile within that burrow.

Although I know I should probably just have a 'satellite cafeteria' in a burrow of its own that I can also allocate as an extra burrow (and if I ever do multi-burrows for a single dwarf, I also include a transitional burrow, although I'm sure that's not necessary) which means that I don't have to mess about creating and destroying a temporary food'n'booze-store for each and every new workface burrow I create, at least in the same rough area.  A slightly larger satellite area (or have a 'restock' dwarf given burrow restrictions to keep a current satellite area speed-restocked from the main store) could also deal with any engravers or builders that are similarly enburrowed after the digging has finished, as well as serving the next priority-dig zone.


So, with a material-specific workshop (perhaps more important than with a digging zone, as that gets finished and the dwarf released, wheareas workshops can be perpetual) coinsider food.  Could also be done with a door-bolting method, but needs more micromanagement


I've set up a "hall of masons" before now.  A whole row of masonic workshops along a corridor.  5x5 rooms with centrally placed masonry workshop (usually each made of a block of a different stone) and the 16 surrounding space as rock/block storage (dedicated to the very same rock/block type).  But I've usually just stacked the olivine workshop heavily with block-making jobs to guarantee the number of olivine blocks I want to use in CurrentProject(TM) whenever that's necessary, and when there's no particular job on spammed block-making across the whole set and then let them shuffle the blocks around (indeed, build an stock-define a new workshop area if a new material has been enblocked....) so I haven't really tried any lock-in methods for a long time (40D era, on a particular megaproject).  But one of them with an integrated cafeteria space and appropriately defined burrows would be one way to go.

[Nate McCloud]

Actually, I think it is true that a dwarf will choose whatever material is closest to them when they choose to start working on the product. A dwarf who is already at the workshop will only use the chosen material, but if (s)he goes off to do something else, then decides to go back to work, (s)he will grab the material closest to him/her (which likely won't be the desired material) and get to work.

[Pukako]

I've noticed that dwarves will travel as far as they humanly (dwarvenly?) can to get rocks.  40 Z-levels down, my mason turns up to take a just-mined rock when there's a field of them beside him.  A few forts ago I needed magma-resistant floodgates, and despite making a 5x5 stockpile of rocks next to him, it was only after 10 floodgates from the newest mined layer that he actually made one.

If anyone can work out the reasons or ideas behind their selection, I'd love to know.  Must look at creating a lockable room for them one day/...

[Aramco]

I've noticed that dwarves will travel as far as they humanly (dwarvenly?) can to get rocks.  40 Z-levels down, my mason turns up to take a just-mined rock when there's a field of them beside him.  A few forts ago I needed magma-resistant floodgates, and despite making a 5x5 stockpile of rocks next to him, it was only after 10 floodgates from the newest mined layer that he actually made one.

If anyone can work out the reasons or ideas behind their selection, I'd love to know.  Must look at creating a lockable room for them one day/...

Maybe they like fresh rock better...?

[FleshForge]

Yeah seems pretty clear to me that selection of raw rock used for workshop tasks has nothing to do with the distance from the workshop, as opposed to things like wall building or other construction which obviously do.  Based on how it behaves, it does seem fairly likely that rocks are selected in order of "freshness".