I’ve been thinking of the different ways the proposed transfer of workshops to zones (much like hospitals). I think this was mentioned in a podcast or future of the fortress.
[Item Placement]
Instead of just a “kitchen” you would designate a kitchen zone, then fill it with the appropriate items (I’d say a table or two, a bin, and a vat/barrel at bare minimum). You could possible add twice the amount of items and this would allow two dwarves to work in the zone instead of just one. There should also be a “free space” counter that works similarly to a taverns “dance floor”. The larger the free space, the more items it could hold before getting cluttered.
This next one may complicate things a bit but I think it would be a nice touch; when dwarves need to do a certain task, they use different items place on the zone. Say they’re cooking a meal, they use the table for meats/vegi, then they move over to the barrel if there is also powders/liquids in the reaction. Or for smithing a sword, they could start by standing near the coals/furnace (heating the metal) then move over to the anvil (shaping) then over to a vat/barrel of water (cooling) and then to a millstone (just for flavor) to sharpen the blade. These stages could be specified in the raws with a token to tell the dwarf what item they should be adjacent to like:
[STAGE:1:ITEM:ITEM_TOOL_BARREL]
[Tool use and Durability]
Tools such as the Boning knife, or carving fork aren’t really used, with the exception of angry citizens in adv mode. I want these to be implemented in fort mode as required reagents in reactions. For a kitchen, you would need slicing/boning/butcher knives when cooking meat, slicing when cooking vegi, and ladles when cooking with liquids (unsure about powders). Forges could require an anvil, tongs, a hammer, a firesafe barrel (for the hot coals) another barrel of any material (for the water) and perhaps a bellows or bin for the ingots. With tools implemented the hospital could also use a cleaver, bone saw, sewing needles, or mallet (for reshaping bones when broken or for diagnosis) the tools required could be specified in the raws as needed (i.e. only needing a ladle when liquids are being cooked/ if cooking a roast, you should need a carving fork)
As of right now, things such as pickaxes are indestructible (unless used in combat) no matter what material it’s made from. A copper pixaxe would probably break within the year, while a steel one might last for over a decade or more. This would incentivize using high quality materials and good smithies when making what would be normally unchanged by quality or material. I’d personally like it if tools slowly wore away (the time this takes could be calculated via item properties) including things like anvils and chains (causing mechanical malfunction if using poorly made items or with soft/brittle materials)
I know some of you are thinking “but if I use a steel knife, it shouldn’t break from cutting meat”
True, but even the hardest knives chip or dull overtime. If you’re using well made tools, they will need to be replaced far less often. Things with perfect values like adamantine or modded metals would last nearly forever.
I’d love to hear your suggestions or ways this could be reasonable implemented