Food in inventory, eating on ground

[Grenadier33]

Is there any way to prevent pawns from eating food in their inventory, or a way to increase the maximum distance they have to be from a table to do so?  I'm getting lots of negative thoughts from them just stopping whatever they're doing (or waking up), plopping down on the ground and eating their meal rather than go the 20 or 25 tiles to the table and chairs.

[_alphaBeta_]

No way for the end user AFAIK. Tynan increased it during testing already. You can try providing more tables and chairs closer or inside bedrooms. Personally I don't think they should eat their inventory meal while inside the home zone, or if they do, they should look further for a table. This feature seems to me that it was primarily for colonists when they're out on assignment away from the home zone.

[TLHeart]

They eat the meal they are carrying when the are hungry. If there is a table close, they will use it, otherwise they eat it off the ground. A negative 4, which is very easy to overcome, with space, comfort, beauty. This does make them more productive, as they don't have to walk to the food storage, pick up a meal, go to the table, eat, then resume work...

20 to 25 cells is a long distance when they are hungry.

[Mikhail Reign]

Yeah pretty much - as long as they can't eat the meal until the neg for being hungry is higher then -4 then it's still a instant mood gain. If someone was still on the verge of breaking you could then manually tell them to go eat that chocolate by the chair and table.

Couldn't you just 'people live here' up ya base by spreading around some tables and chairs, so ya pawns didn't have to eat their lunch of human meat and potatoes squatting in the hallway? 

[tgchaplain]

If there was a way to add small tables to their rooms, it wouldn't be so bad. I know there's mods out there that allow you to create module tables, but I hope there's a way to tweak this a bit. I like the idea of them going to eat at the closest table if they are in the home zone.

[Angiel]

u can always make a small fridge that contains only the meals u have, and next to it u make a table, u can put this in the lounge or how u call their free time room. u can make the stockpile critical so that they fill it up, instead of leaving it in the main fridge, or u can just remove the meals from the main fridge all together.

[TLHeart]

that won't change the fact that the colonists now carry a meal with them, and stop to eat it when they get hungry, where ever they are. A great addition, as they no longer spend time walking back to get a meal, eat, the walk back to work.  You will see a -4 for eating off the ground, but that is better than a -8 for hungry.

[Angiel]

so u mean they r caring a meal all the time on them? i didn't see that happening so far

[tgchaplain]

Yeah, it makes sense for them to eat when it's necessary, but for me I kinda like that everyone would wake up, go eat their meals together, and get their days going. A simple aesthetic thing, I'm sure I'll get used to it.

[TLHeart]

so u mean they r caring a meal all the time on them? i didn't see that happening so far

yes when there are meals available, they will pick one up and put it in their inventory, and then eat it later, when hungry... instead of having to walk back to base to get a meal.

[puddlejumper448]

that won't change the fact that the colonists now carry a meal with them, and stop to eat it when they get hungry, where ever they are. A great addition, as they no longer spend time walking back to get a meal, eat, the walk back to work.  You will see a -4 for eating off the ground, but that is better than a -8 for hungry.

A great addition for you maybe, but not for everyone, not everyone thinks the same way you do. I have no problem with the minuscule amount of productivity you lose, I do care about useless preventable negative mood benefits.

My base is very efficient. and it is my base. I don't want to play your base. That is what makes rimworld a great game, different options for different people. 

You literally said it yourself, different options for different people. All Tynan would have to do is add a slider for how far pawns look for tables. Changeable distance for table searching, and distance based sliders already exist in the game, surely it couldn't be too hard to implement. This way everyone's happy, we can all do it our own way

[TLHeart]

I don't find a 2 hour walk by my hunter a miniscule amount of time lost... or an hour walk by my miners... just to eat, and have a -8 for being hungry while making that walk.

Yes we have a radius restriction to get supplies for a production table....

A radius for eating that is set by the player for finding a table to eat at, would be an option. But also would not be as easy to code as the table radius were.

I would like to understand why you feel a -4 for a short period of time is a bad thing? And why is it useless?

[puddlejumper448]

I don't find a 2 hour walk by my hunter a miniscule amount of time lost... or an hour walk by my miners... just to eat, and have a -8 for being hungry while making that walk.

Yes we have a radius restriction to get supplies for a production table....

A radius for eating that is set by the player for finding a table to eat at, would be an option. But also would not be as easy to code as the table radius were.

I would like to understand why you feel a -4 for a short period of time is a bad thing? And why is it useless?

And I don't ever have hunters out that need to take the walk, and only very very rarely have miners out far enough for it to be more then a 10 minute walk. Just like I (technically you) said, different people different play-styles. In this case though, Tynan implemented something that benefits some play-styles (yours) and hinders others (mine, and in this thread at least, the majority). Why should we have to suffer (negligible suffering, but still suffering) a mood bonus because of a new feature that helps other people only? And its not even like sappers, some people (not me) dont like sappers because they hinder their playstyles, but all they have to do is alter their styles, not change completely. We get a -4 punishment unless we completely change.

If radius isn't as easy as it seems to me (I'll wait for Tynan's answer on that, if he gives one) than at least give us the option to not let them pack meals. I had a full play through and needed the meal inventory slot once, one time the whole play though, because that's the way I play, while I got the -4 at least 10 times, if not more

[TLHeart]

And I don't ever have hunters out that need to take the walk, and only very very rarely have miners out far enough for it to be more then a 10 minute walk. Just like I (technically you) said, different people different play-styles. In this case though, Tynan implemented something that benefits some play-styles (yours) and hinders others (mine, and in this thread at least, the majority). Why should we have to suffer (negligible suffering, but still suffering) a mood bonus because of a new feature that helps other people only? And its not even like sappers, some people (not me) dont like sappers because they hinder their playstyles, but all they have to do is alter their styles, not change completely. We get a -4 punishment unless we completely change.

If radius isn't as easy as it seems to me (I'll wait for Tynan's answer on that, if he gives one) than at least give us the option to not let them pack meals. I had a full play through and needed the meal inventory slot once, one time the whole play though, because that's the way I play, while I got the -4 at least 10 times, if not more

As you just said, you have the choice to modify your play style, only slightly, as you expect those who don't like the sappers to do. It is no more of a change than you expect those who hate the sappers to do.

So a -4 for eating actually affects your colonists mood? That is just one very small part of the mood calculation.  Or is it you just don't like seeing negative numbers?

[puddlejumper448]

As you just said, you have the choice to modify your play style, only slightly, as you expect those who don't like the sappers to do. It is no more of a change than you expect those who hate the sappers to do.

So a -4 for eating actually affects your colonists mood? That is just one very small part of the mood calculation.  Or is it you just don't like seeing negative numbers?

I would absolutely love for you to give me some ideas on how I can slightly modify my play-style to solve this. Should I put 5+ tables around my base so they will eat at one, not only wasting plenty of resources (4 extra tables and chairs at each one being 80 per set up, or 320 wasted resources) and also lose my bonuses when my colonists decide to relax socially at different tables, still punishing us just to make it a little more convenient for you. Thats the only way I can see, no thanks.

Does -4 affect my colony? not really. Can it affect Any colony after a raid or during a psychic wave, yes, it very well could be the difference maker in those events.