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Author Topic: Temporary Labor Enabling  (Read 674 times)

FearfulJesuit

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Temporary Labor Enabling
« on: December 21, 2014, 10:24:17 am »

Sorry for making another suggestion so soon, but since there's work being done on how dwarves handle their jobs, I thought it might be a good time to suggest it.

I recently needed to smooth some boulders on the surface of my fort, but didn't have any engravers, so I had my mechanic do it. But it took him forever, and by the time he got around to it I'd forgotten about him and that he had engraving enabled.

Would it be possible to enable a labor on a dwarf for a short period, so that the labor "expires" within, say, a week or a month?
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Taffer

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Re: Temporary Labor Enabling
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2014, 11:18:37 am »

They're working on removing designating labours entirely, or at least limiting them dramatically.

Quote from: Toady
We'd rather see the labor list removed entirely in many circumstances, depending on fortress citizen status, but that'll have to wait until starting scenarios are completed.
Quote from: Threetoe
Also, it's a hint where we're going with this, which is to get rid of VPL all together, eventually.
Quote from: Toady
Yeah, we would really like to restrict VPL possibly to a smaller number of dwarves that are actually the types of dwarves you would be ordering around like that.

I'm not certain about this change, honestly. I'm generally in favour of reducing gameplay complexity rather than adding to it, and this seems to be adding to a system that is going to be dramatically overhauled soon anyways. (And was already quite complex).

Perhaps this could be automated? Smoothing doesn't have quality levels anyways. A nicer solution (I think) to this issue would be to make smoothing have no attached skill, similar to the current change regarding constructions. Of course, this would make training engravers more difficult.
« Last Edit: December 21, 2014, 11:24:34 am by Taffer »
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Timeless Bob

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Re: Temporary Labor Enabling
« Reply #2 on: December 22, 2014, 05:53:14 am »

They're working on removing designating labours entirely, or at least limiting them dramatically.

Quote from: Toady
We'd rather see the labor list removed entirely in many circumstances, depending on fortress citizen status, but that'll have to wait until starting scenarios are completed.
Quote from: Threetoe
Also, it's a hint where we're going with this, which is to get rid of VPL all together, eventually.
Quote from: Toady
Yeah, we would really like to restrict VPL possibly to a smaller number of dwarves that are actually the types of dwarves you would be ordering around like that.

I'm not certain about this change, honestly. I'm generally in favour of reducing gameplay complexity rather than adding to it, and this seems to be adding to a system that is going to be dramatically overhauled soon anyways. (And was already quite complex).

Perhaps this could be automated? Smoothing doesn't have quality levels anyways. A nicer solution (I think) to this issue would be to make smoothing have no attached skill, similar to the current change regarding constructions. Of course, this would make training engravers more difficult.

Training engravers could easily be done by implementing slabs as engravable art in the craftsdwarf workshop.  'Engraved wax slabs' could even be remelted into 'Smooth wax slabs' in a Kitchen workshop or be used as an ingredient with some clay or plaster in a kiln to become an "engraved clay/plaster slab" (the wax is a mold). Such products would have similar usefulness as statues.

Smoothing, on the other hand, should really be just like construction and be able to be performed by anydwarf available to do so.  Who knows?  Perhaps given the choice, they'll actually clean stuff rather than smooth stuff...
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