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[Lexx]

About how many idlers do you guys have at any given time? My fortress has 83 dwarves, but nearly always 30 to 40 idlers until I have my miners mine out a new area and they have a bunch of stone to haul. Sometimes I get worried about the booze to work ratio.

I dont start getting idle workers till Im nearing the 200 mark. And that's only because by then I will have a few weapon and armorsmiths and a few medical dwarfs that purely do those labors and nothing else. Everyone else does their job unless a noble. Which spend their time spreading happy thoughts talking to the workforce.

*crackwhip* Back to work you plebs!

[stormyseasons]

At the most, about 40 or so when a new migrant wave comes in and I'm too distracted to assign labours. Or to get Dwarf Therapist and use That to assign labours.... After a caravan trade is concluded, idlers drop to 0 while everyone hauls stuff...

[612DwarfAvenue]

Very few in the early game, but later on it's usually around 1/2 to 2/3 of the population. Efficient, my forts are not.

On the plus side, plenty of people to haul lots of stuff at once.

[Kay12]

I've learned not to worry about efficiency too much.

1. There's always too much food. You can easily spare some for the poor unemployed ones.
2. You don't really need to produce lots of anything. Except food/booze, but plump helmets have a notorious growth rate.
3. Most enemies fall victim to simple traps, so a big military isn't needed either.

[612DwarfAvenue]

I've learned not to worry about efficiency too much.

1. There's always too much food. You can easily spare some for the poor unemployed ones.
2. You don't really need to produce lots of anything. Except food/booze, but plump helmets have a notorious growth rate.
3. Most enemies fall victim to simple traps, so a big military isn't needed either.

Exactly.

[jc6036]

I was just checking to make sure I wasnt doing anything wrong. I thought I had an abnormally high amount, but it is average. It just didnt feel right having 30 dwarves lazing about while my legendary stonecrafters are pumping out masterwork rock pots.

[Kay12]

I was just checking to make sure I wasnt doing anything wrong. I thought I had an abnormally high amount, but it is average. It just didnt feel right having 30 dwarves lazing about while my legendary stonecrafters are pumping out masterwork rock pots.

If you want to employ lots of people, try building something above ground, and assign many of the idlers to the task needed. Constructions like walls and floors need no skill at all to function properly. I'm currently doming the surface areas of my fortress this way.

[jc6036]

I already have a two layer deep bridge defense wall, and a roof across my main entrance that has my initials in bauxite and kaolinite. . . .Ive got my cavern defenses set up. . . Time to start a mega project!

[612DwarfAvenue]

Yeah, masses of idlers means masses of workers to dump or build stuff so your more dedicated workers don't have to.

[Psieye]

Yeah I usually start a simple tower project once I run out of things to mass-dump to keep the idlers busy. I might feel like micromanaging the jobs a bit (e.g. more or less glass, more or less statues from various industries, etc etc) to keep the idle count low, but usually the main time when I get lots of idlers is when I'm under siege. Nowadays, everyone who would be an idler during those times is a marksdwarf.

[simonthedwarf]

Is there any trick to stop happiness from decreasing while still being idle?

I don't think happiness goes down while being idle... what do you mean by this?

really? Cause Dwarf therapist (the liar?) says something about "-1" for not having a job. I've been micro-managing my forts like a crazy dum dum to make sure everybody is working, all the time.

My dorfs also tend to get stuck on the roof and die of thirst while building floors. and for some reason I cannot build walls on top of floors. How am I supposed to make several levels?

[Proxiee]

in my fort, if you idle, your drafted

[stormyseasons]

My dorfs also tend to get stuck on the roof and die of thirst while building floors. and for some reason I cannot build walls on top of floors. How am I supposed to make several levels?

Use scaffolding of up/down stairs that you'll tear down later. And plan your layout so you don't have to tear up the floor just to build walls. Or just have plenty of spare masons to make adjustments on your constructions as you please.

[Lectorog]

Currently, I have a little over 80 dwarves. Half the time, 70-80% of them are idle; the other half I've given various hauling orders and have no idlers. I don't worry about idlers much, for reasons already stated.

really? Cause Dwarf therapist (the liar?) says something about "-1" for not having a job. I've been micro-managing my forts like a crazy dum dum to make sure everybody is working, all the time.

My dorfs also tend to get stuck on the roof and die of thirst while building floors. and for some reason I cannot build walls on top of floors. How am I supposed to make several levels?

I'm pretty sure dwarves don't mind being idle. They usually enjoy work, giving them one happy though, but I've never seen one complain about being idle. Not sure what the -1 is for; I've noticed it too.

Don't build walls on top of floors; build walls on top of walls. Walls have a floor above them - their top is a floor. You can build floors on top of walls, but most of the time you won't want to. Constructed floors block walls from being constructed. Walls can be built over open space, as long as they're connected to something, so there'd never be a need to have a floor down first.

If your dwarves are getting stuck on the roof, either build scaffolding or organize better building orders: First In Last Out, and all that.

[UristMcHuman]

Actually, it's Last-In-First-Out.