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That one should probably be changed to read "complained about being drafted". I believe "not having a proper room" is the complaint issued when they sleep in a bed which isn't resized to be completely enclosed by walls or doors.
[ September 27, 2006: Message edited by: Maximus ]
Once we get stockpile specialization, I'm sure we'll be able to dump specific rock types next to the craftsdwarf's workshop (and limestone by the smelters). I just posted a bunch of thoughts on that subject in a different thread.
For the time being, you can keep them from stopping when they run out of one type by queueing up "make dark" and "make light", both set on repeat.
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This means that every stockpile would need to have its own bins, since every stockpile is potentially different in some small way. And maybe that's not a bad thing, but I don't see a way around it if it's going to be customized beyond the bin types.
I think that's the right approach. As it stands, I avoid building bins because they like to spontaneously become "bar/block" bins 300 squares away from my furnaces.
I think the way to keep stockpiles from hogging up bins is to make it so that bins not on stockpiles get deallocated as storage. If a bin is not on a stockpile, its items aren't either -- so they'd get moved to a stockpile. Once the bin is empty again, it can be claimed by any stockpile.
This approach would also allow players to deliberately empty a bin, which would finally address the "masterpiece bins" trade issue. It would work best if "stockpile resizing" were also implemented, as discussed earlier in this thread, to keep stockpiles from becoming piecemeal.
MeatBomb's suggestion of specifying how many bins a stockpile could use is probably too specific -- but I think it'd be useful for stockpiles to have a toggle: "use bins/barrels" or not.
Specialization is (or should be) optional, anyway: by default, new stockpiles should be set to "all subtypes/materials". This is a difference from the current behavior of weapon racks. If public storage of weapons in privately-owned racks is disabled in the code, then I imagine weapon racks could be changed to "all" by default as well.
If the stockpile code works by keeping track of a list of squares that belong to each stockpile, it ought to be possible to define (or resize) stockpiles of any shape, even non-contiguous. I think the current drag-the-cursor designator works fine: while in the stockpile's Resize mode, there should be an 'a'dd to stockpile and 'x' unselect; any area selected while 'a'dding would just be added to that stockpile's list of "owned" squares.
If the objection to weapon racks is that they have to be built instead of just designated, then I think that's not a problem here -- it's just their specialization code (allow/disallow) that we'd like to see added to the stockpiles. Or is are there problems with that allow/disallow interface?
Merging stockpiles would certainly be nice. You bring up some good points about the difficulty of achieving this, especially as stockpiles grow more specialized. I think maybe the answer to that is not merging stockpiles, but directly expanding them, something like how rooms are expanded now. (Although choosing the size/shape should continue to work like stockpiles do instead of that diamond-shaped room sizer).
For the time being, when I want a (single, not piecemeal) expanded stockpile, I clear the old ones and create a new one over them. This does wipe out "take from" settings, although the "take from" behavior is still pretty unpredictable. I expect stockpile specialization to greatly boost its usefulness (move all the limestone here; replenish the metalsmiths' drink barrel here).
It's just that some of the "basic types" of stockpiles aren't basic enough, so I did suggest changes where the groupings could be improved. Bar/block is the biggest weirdo: it contains metal, stone, glass, fuel, and ash products. Those are all materials I produce and process in separate locations. So they ought to be split out into their own groups so we don't have to deselect everything but metal; everything but ash, potash, and pearlash; everthing but stone; etc., every time we want a bar or block stockpile.
"Just like armor stands" -- well, armor stands are already a rather specific grouping (a good and sensible one). Armor stands serve as a good model because they are restricted to a very practical group of related objects. If they were "armor and cheese stands" I think you'd agree that a little re-grouping would be in order. I'm attempting to identify which existing groups have a stray bit of cheese in them.
Storage items (bin, barrel, etc.) still need some work in general, but I'm not pressing for those changes at this time. I don't want them in my furniture stockpiles, however, because then food and bars start getting transported to the barrels and bins in my furniture stockpile. Until players can control the placement and use of storage items better, I actually don't want any "storage item" stockpiles at all. That way they'll only be hauled directly to whichever stockpile they actually get used in.
I actually did a survey of all the items in the game to create the above list of suggested stockpiles. Nearly all objects in the game do group together pretty logically. The "miscellaneous" stockpile was a catch-all, although there is still a high degree of commonality: with the exception of anvils, they are all point-defense or mechanism related. Anvils have a completely unique use in the game -- I guess the most practial, if not logical, group for them is in the Bar stockpile.
It may seem like I'm proposing a terribly terribly complicated thing when "just make it like weapon racks" is in order. I'm claiming that there are a few details that, if addressed, would make everything work very nicely -- like weapon racks.
Finally, I had some further thoughts about what I wrote about the "Mining" stockpile. A "clear area" designation is really what's needed, but if "clear area" were added, that would finally make the Mining stockpile useful. So I now think it should stay -- although rough gems should be added to it (if they aren't already) so as to cover all mining byproducts.
[ September 25, 2006: Message edited by: Maximus ]
