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[Nameless One]

I have a stone stockpile set up near my Masonry Workshop on the -2 level. However, my Masons are going down many levels to get newly mined stone. Is there a way to change this behaviour?

[twilightdusk]

Are they going for stone that's several z-levels down, but closer on the x-y plane than the stockpile? If so, that's why they're going for it, the decision making for materials goes by birds eye path ignoring z-levels, so dwarves will prefer a stone that's 20 z-levels directly below them in the caverns and 9001 steps away to a stockpile that's 5 steps away on the same z-level. Usual workaround is to make their stockpile directly above or below their workshop with stairs to access it.

[slothen]

Are they going for stone that's several z-levels down, but closer on the x-y plane than the stockpile? If so, that's why they're going for it, the decision making for materials goes by birds eye path ignoring z-levels, so dwarves will prefer a stone that's 20 z-levels directly below them in the caverns and 9001 steps away to a stockpile that's 5 steps away on the same z-level. Usual workaround is to make their stockpile directly above or below their workshop with stairs to access it.

It seems to be this way, and that's kind of messed up.  If the game is going to use distance instead of pathfinding (good idea IMO) there is still no reason to ignore Z-levels.  It doesn't make the distance calculation any more difficult for the computer, and it often makes a difference in the efficiency of your masons.

[Quietust]

I'm pretty sure it does take the Z-distance into account, but it's the same as X or Y-distance (i.e. a stone 9 Z-levels down is considered closer than one that's 10 tiles away on the other side of the room) so you don't notice it.

[Magentawolf]

I'm pretty sure it does take the Z-distance into account, but it's the same as X or Y-distance (i.e. a stone 9 Z-levels down is considered closer than one that's 10 tiles away on the other side of the room) so you don't notice it.

If a workshop is built in the middle of a large, mined-out room, my craftdwarves tend to carve out a slowly-expanding square around themselves, and on every Z-level below them that's been mined. This happens even if the stairs to said Z-level are logically too far away.

[Gzalzi]

Yes, the Dwarves always seem to go for what is directly closest to them without reguard for what the path to get to that item is like. Just this morning I had a mason doing work outside my Fortress (just started) and he went all the way in to someone's bedroom to get a rock when there were dozens on the path to get there.