Hauling AI

[milon]

It would be great if the colonists would haul things "between jobs" as appropriate when their hands are empty. 

For example, Jono is mining mineral and gets hungry.  Currently he just abandons the mining site, goes back to camp, eats, then resumes mining.  I'd love for him to carry back some metal with him (even part of the way) if the appropriate stock pile is en route to the meal source.

Another example is if I'm out of metal and Mindy is constructing a single power conduit. She'll traverse half the map if she has to, but she'll only grab 1 piece of metal. If the stockpile is near the construction site, she should grab all the metal she can, take it to the stockpile and then carry 1 metal to the power conduit blueprint.

[milon]

One more hauling suggestion (I knew I was forgetting something!).  Currently colonists determine what's nearest "as the crow flies".  I'd love them to determine what's nearest "as the colonist walks".

Example:  My hauler is standing at the back of the base, and on the other side of the wall is some silver.  There is silver right outside the front gate, but he walks past that and all the way out and around the base to get to the "closest" silver.  He then carries it all the way back around, into the base, and to the back if the stockpile (since that was "closer" than the front we he picked it up).

[Jestem]

@milon: I could have sworn that pathfinding was one of the major updates done in a recent patch, and thus the behaviour couldn't be seen assuming you have the most recent version....

[milon]

It may have been updated, but what I'm describing is from my experience with Alpha4f.  Unless mine is b0rked.