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[sofakng]

I have a whole bunch of newbie questions...

1) What do flashing question marks mean? (I've seen red question marks on the dwarfs, and blue on animals [?])

2) On the wagon, what does the circle with an arrow coming out of the top-right mean?  Also, what does the division symbol mean?

3) Do idle dwarf help carry stuff automatically?  I only have one axe and one woodcutting dwarf, but I thought I just saw my carpenter dwarf carrying a log to my wood pile.

4) How can I tell if a dwarf is eating, etc?  I use the "U" screen to see the jobs but it seems like it says "No Job" if a dwarf is really just taking a break from work (eg. eating)

5) How do workshops operate?  For example, lets say I select "Build Throne".  Does that require a "Stone Block" to be built first?  If so, what will it do if I don't have any stone blocks built?

6) Do I need a finished goods pile?  What happens if I don't have one?

7) Can I tell dwarves directly what to do?  ...or must I remove ALL jobs from the dwarf?  (eg. hit 'V', select dwarf, hit 'P', then hit 'L')

Sorry for so many questions!

[TheOtherHorseman]

1) From what I've seen, question marks are the equivalent of "thinking".

2) The former is a bag, the latter I forget.

3) Yes.

4) When they're eating, their job will be set to eat. Likewise with drink or sleep.

5) That's how they work. Thrones require raw, normal stone, though. Blocks are used for buildings, and bridges/roads if you want to get fancy.

6) Without a stockpile, the relevant stuff will sit in the workshop that made it. This will make the workshop cluttered (CLT) and drastically reduce output.

7) Dwarves are independent, often leading to their death from wild animals, vicious enemies, floods, and a righteously furious me. If you absolutely want them to do a specific job and nothing else, you have to cancel all other jobs if it isn't being done. Remember to turn them back on later if you don't want the dwarf to be a one-trick pony.

[RPB]

The blinking symbols on the wagon represent the items that are stored there. The circle with the arrow is a bag (of seed), the division symbol is a barrel (it makes more sense once your dwarves move the barrel out of the wagon--the barrel's background is brown with the black division symbol on it, but it doesn't show up against the wagon).

[sofakng]

Thanks for all of the replies!

Another question:

Can I fit four thrones along-side a table if the table is near a wall?

For example:

code:

========
= C
=CTC
= C 
========
= is a wall
C is a chair (eg. throne)
T is a table

In my diagram above, will the left-side chair (eg. throne) be accessible?

Along those lines, can dwarves walk through objects like beds?  ...or do I need to leave "walkways" around beds and other objects so the dwarves can walk around them?

[RPB]

Yes, you can set up chairs/thrones like that, but dwarves won't like having to share table space (although it's better than having no chairs/tables at all).

[sofakng]

Ugh.  So I should build one table/chair for each dwarf?

Can they at least share a dining room or do they want to eat in their own rooms?

Also, how do I know which objects dwarves can walk through?

For example:

code:

======
=CT
=CT
=CT
=CT
=======
= is a wall
C is a chair (eg. throne)
T is a table

In the above example the tables seem to block out all of the chairs.  Now I realize that's a stupid design, but would it work?  (eg. how would I know if the dwarves can walk through the tables to get to the chairs?)

[gimlet]

Normal dwarves will share a dining room, nobles want their own.  Chairs/tables are walkable-through in my experience.  I think most things, except statues, wells?, and the blocking bits of shops, can be walked over.  Doesn't *seem* to be a speed penalty, but I couldn't tell.

[The_Hawk]

quote:Originally posted by sofakng:
<STRONG>4) How can I tell if a dwarf is eating, etc?  I use the "U" screen to see the jobs but it seems like it says "No Job" if a dwarf is really just taking a break from work (eg. eating)</STRONG>

Incidentally, the best way to determine whether dwarves are *really* doing nothing seems to be the "Idlers" thing in the lower right corner.  Some dwarves (specifically any standing military you might have, and children, and of course nobles) are listed as having "No Job" but aren't considered "Idle".

[FunkyWaltDogg]

For the regular dwarves, you don't necessarily have to have one table and chair per dwarf, just one per dwarf eating at one time.  Two tables and two chairs is enough for your initial group.