Bay 12 Games Forum

Dwarf Fortress => DF Suggestions => Topic started by: Urist McSober on October 16, 2020, 01:30:35 pm

Title: Pickaxe borrowing
Post by: Urist McSober on October 16, 2020, 01:30:35 pm
I often find miners doing non-mining activities, but they keep dragging around their picks. They could toss the pickaxes in a box somewhere when they stop mining for a while, allowing other dwarves to use their picks.
We don't have to have a separate bed for every dwarf, so why do we need a separate pickaxe for every dwarf?
You would of course be able to assign specific picks to a specific dwarf, but doing so would be optional.
Of course, a miner might get attached to a certain pickaxe, most likely one with a name, and separating the two would cause unhappy thoughts.
This could have the effect of making dwarves mine faster with picks that they are more attached to.

Also, trying to borrow a pickaxe from it's dwarf would result in that dwarf getting angry at the offender, possibly causing pickaxe-related infighting. Seems like a dwarfish thing for them to do.
Title: Re: Pickaxe borrowing
Post by: Uthimienure on October 16, 2020, 02:01:54 pm
I find that putting miners in an active military squad with no uniform allows them to work normally as miners, but they don't keep their picks all the time. Of course, they have to go find a pick when they have a mining job to do.  It might be worth a try to see if that's a workaround you like.
Title: Re: Pickaxe borrowing
Post by: Urist McSober on October 16, 2020, 02:07:09 pm
I find that putting miners in an active military squad with no uniform allows them to work normally as miners, but they don't keep their picks all the time. Of course, they have to go find a pick when they have a mining job to do.  It might be worth a try to see if that's a workaround you like.
That's actually a great idea. Thanks!