When you build something that requires material, the last material used should be on the top of the list.
So if you're trying to make a nice blue tower composed of microcline, you don't have to search through the list of assorted rocks, wood, and metal bars until you find it; and repeat that for as many walls/floors as you're building.
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I spent an inordinate amount of time building Mountain-Banners. When I was done, my left wrist hurt. Stretching exercises (closed fist down; spread hand up; don't overstrain or twist) sorted the potential tendon issues out, but I've sworn off any serious outdoor building until the interface is improved.
During the dull periods of placing my share of thirteen thousand blocks one-by-one, I thought rather earnestly about how I wanted DF to behave like.
1) Placing floors, and possibly also walls and fortifications, might benefit from using the road-building interface (this idea has been suggested many times before). I'm not very fond of the road-building interface, but it's miles better than the current construction interface. I consider this idea "optional"-we can obtain a decent solution without it, it would make construction-placing more abstract (which may or may not be a good thing) and greatly reduce the need for micromanaging to handle corners (this is probably a good thing).
2) As suggested above (and elsewhere), the list of building materials has to behave differently than it does now. More specifically, if we don't find a way to reduce the number of keystrokes required to place a construction, then the interface has to at least be macro-friendly. The interface should:
- List the last-used material on the top.
- Allow the user to type in a material name to select that material (this is critical for macros).
- Let the user type a single "Repeat" key to place the same kind of construction, using the same kind of material, as the previous construction in the selected grid.
When this or any sort of equivalent happens, I look forward to getting started on my next grandiose project! :)
[ April 18, 2008: Message edited by: Fedor ]
Sure, it would be less useful as a means of rock-removal, but there are far better ways of dealing with excess stone anyways. This is supposed to help out the architects and builders, not the garbage disposal crew.
Dwarves desperately need some way of making grand and imposing aboveground structures with speed and efficiency, not the massive amount of resources and time put into making a single shack. And, if the bridgebuilding system is implemented, we may actually be able to have enough materials (with a few clusters of magnetite and a magma vent handy) to make an iron fortress. This must happen.
Granted Fedor includes the same concept (and I take it on honor it was always a part of it) but the added complexity actually hurts it.
Having the display show the last used stone first (and I'd extend this to all such displays as a matter of ease) is something that Toady could do quickly, instead of retasking him from what HE wants to do towards what WE want him to do. Win-Win situation.
We must always make every effort to not subvert the artist's will when we make suggestions.
And, thinking about it, I don't know which of the suggestions would be the easier to put in.