First World Problems (Large colony issues)

[DarkThug]

I believe the easiest and most immediate solution to this problem is let manually prioritize overwrite an occupied task. (I meant the one when you right click it not the one in overview screen)

The issue we have so far is that we can't put out the fire or mine a rock beside that colonist because that task is already assigned to another colonist on the other side of map so we can't prioritize it. If we can do that, all problem will be solved. You will want to optimize Job allocation AI in the long run but for now players will be able to micromanaging their way out of crisis.

[Stickle]

I believe the easiest and most immediate solution to this problem is let manually prioritize overwrite an occupied task. (I meant the one when you right click it not the one in overview screen)

The issue we have so far is that we can't put out the fire or mine a rock beside that colonist because that task is already assigned to another colonist on the other side of map so we can't prioritize it. If we can do that, all problem will be solved. You will want to optimize Job allocation AI in the long run but for now players will be able to micromanaging their way out of crisis.

I'd like to second this. Maybe change the wording so it's clear that there's already a colonist assigned to the task, but let us re-assign that task to someone else without first finding the colonist who already has it and enlisting them.

[Icehawk78]

An alternative would be to allow multiple colonists to be assigned to the same task. While there may be some drawbacks, it seems like it would be better to have all hands on deck fighting a fire, even if it's just 3 tiles long, and just let multiple people work on it simultaneously (this could theoretically also work for mining/building, though I'm not sure about that.

For building walls and smoothing floors, however, I've noticed with huge colonies that those jobs tend to get done extremely quickly, as well as mining operations which (this is key) have a large surface area. This allows multiple colonists to all path to the mining area, and someone is almost always close by when new areas are revealed.

[Lechai]

Yeah, paving is super fast...

[Snarky_Muffalo]

I find that when I have a lot of colonists who start becoming idle, the best thing to do is just start arresting people.  You can give a warden something to do and then you have backups in case of losses.  As long as the warden feeds and talks to them, they don't get too bummed.  I don't mind ended up with the giant prison colony.

Otherwise they wander around and get themselves killed.

[Produno]

Otherwise they wander around and get themselves killed.

Yeah its no wonder these idiots spaceship blew up!!

[ShadowDragon8685]

Yeah its no wonder these idiots spaceship blew up!!

A relatively small number of these idiots were from the spaceship in the first place, and probably none of them were the actual spacers who flew it. They were passengers in cryo.

[Produno]

A relatively small number of these idiots were from the spaceship in the first place, and probably none of them were the actual spacers who flew it. They were passengers in cryo.

lol, theirs always someone 

[linkxsc]

Actually I thought I would note. That this is actually a large problem within Dwarf Fortress as well with task assignment.
The major difference in the games is that usually in DF there are only a few people set to mining/treecutting/building, and those are the only "spatially driven" tasks. Usually the majority of your people are farming(relatively quick anyways), or crafting something, just moving back and forth between stockpiles.

Even DF doesn't allow for multiple units to work on a particular task

[killerx243]

Then wouldn't it be best to setup specific tasks to a pool of colonists along with the zones? Like Gnomoria where you can make job profiles (each profile is a list of jobs they're allowed to do and could even have the current priority system) and give one to a colonist. In the beginning defense is an "all hands on deck" situation but when a colony is more developed you would setup a couple of profiles that have guards with some basic tasks assigned to them. Groups would also be beneficial with a group select function so you wouldn't need to find all your best defenders during a raid.