Bay 12 Games Forum

I was wondering if there are any plans to improve the dwarf management options built into the game?  As it stands managing 200 dwarfs without a tool/hack like dwarf therapist is near impossible.  I would consider this a top priority as it's one of the most basic elements of the game, and currently one of the most difficult to use IMHO.

Using Linux I've never tried dwarf therapist.  I don't know how to make it work on Linux; if anyone has instructions they can post or link to I would appreciate it.  Admittedly I haven't had much desire to even try it, as I read it causes bugs and will often crash the game.  What is the current state of dwarf therapist on Linux?

I think it would be great if the game used SQLite (for example) to output some of the most frequently hacked game data.  Every few game cycles DF could sync the internal game state and the database.  The database would be comparatively slow I think, but not noticeably slow; a typical query usually takes a few milliseconds at most.  This would provide a robust and easy way for external tools to alter the game state.  As a novice programmer, I expect it would require a single global connection to the database and then a single query every few seconds to sync up any changes.  Being a transactional database there's no need to worry about data corruption when multiple sources try to edit the same data.  SQLite focuses on being lightweight (who would have guessed?) and easy to use; it's in the public domain, it's free, and there's no license to worry about, so no need to expose the source code.  Of course, Toady probably knows all this already.

EDIT:  To the mods: perhaps this topic should be moved to a more appropriate forum?

This is my first post:  After admiring DF from afar for so long I finally learned to play, and it wasn't too difficult to learn enough to begin enjoying myself.  There's lots I don't know, but I know enough to have fun for the first year or two and then try again with new tips I have learned.

My main difficulty right now is the clunky interface for managing Dwarf labor preferences.  I'm using version 0.31.08.  The best I can come up with is to visit the unit list and pick one of the Dwarfs with no job at random, figuring if they have no job now, they probably need something additional to do.  I also try to give a custom name to any Dwarf I do manage closely so I can tell which Dwarfs I've reviewed and which I haven't quickly.  With all this, there is still a lot of key pressing going on, and I've come to hate the arrival of migrants as it means I have to spend the next 5 minutes reviewing their jobs and stats.

How can I better manage my labor preferences?

I'm using Linux so many of the hacks/utilities are not available.  Also, much of what I read has been from posts that are months and years old, and I never know how accurate they are in light of recent changes.

Thanks.