Why Aren't My Colonists Doing Anything?

Riddle78 · September 09, 2015, 06:33:01 PM

I really hate my first post on the forums to be something like this (Hi,by the way!),but I'm getting frustrated to the point of considering throwing my computer out the fifth floor window. The short version is this; My colonists absolutely refuse to do anything of their own volition,excepting eating and sleeping.

I believe this is to do with the "Joy" rating (I took a rather long sabbatical from RimWorld,as an FYI...). However,it gets REALLY annoying when,before,I've noticed some colonists simply going for a stroll to find some Joy,or do some cloudgazing,and now,they refuse to do anything except sit like a lump on a log. What's even MORE frustrating is that they refuse to use any horseshoe pegs or chessboards I set up under any circumstances,and I have no way of telling them to use them.

If Joy isn't the issue,then I have no blinking clue as to what's causing them to sit with their thumbs up their nethers. Whenever the game starts,I always set up a tiered order of operations for tasks,so it's not a priority issue... Unless my usual priority setup is now making the task AI have a brain haemorrhage,when it didn't in earlier builds.

Both vanilla and modded this is happening; Any ideas as to why this is happening? And do you have any fixes or solutions?

TLHeart · September 09, 2015, 06:47:10 PM

Sounds like you set up some restrictions wrong. Either the time table, or the allowed areas, or both. Very hard to say from your description.

Riddle78 · September 09, 2015, 06:55:59 PM

I keep the area restrictions set to default,which seem to be "Everywhere". As for the timetable,I don't even touch it. All I modify as far as management is concerned is task priorities.

TLHeart · September 09, 2015, 07:05:10 PM

do the default auto job priorities and see if it is they way you are setting them up. Otherwise, without a game file, or some screen shots, I have no idea.

Riddle78 · September 09, 2015, 10:51:26 PM

Just mucked with the timetable. That was the issue,silly me. Joy-deprived colonists will default to doing nothing at all,given the choice. However,even during designated "Joy" time,they still do nothing,even when they have means to entertain themselves; They refuse to play horseshoes or chess,nor do they seem inclined to meditate,go for a walk,or cloudgaze. My joy periods are set for two hours at the start of the day,two hours at the end of the day,and an hour at midday. Do they need more time?

Cimanyd · September 09, 2015, 10:59:08 PM

That doesn't sound right. If they're set to Joy, they should do joy stuff until their joy bar is at max, then go back to work. If they're on Anything, they should do work, unless joy-deprived, when they'll do joy stuff (but not to max). I think. If they're joy-deprived, not set to Work, and not going to do joy stuff to raise joy, something's wrong.

Riddle78 · September 09, 2015, 11:03:42 PM

It's how it is,sadly,both vanilla and with mods. No idea why this is. However,it does mean that,from where I'm standing,joy facilities and boosters are complete wastes of resources,and puts me on a permanent,slow spiral towards total insanity for my colonists.

SpaceDrunk · September 09, 2015, 11:25:15 PM

There have been bugs with colonists not doing anything when they should be even back before joy was introduced, and I've certainly had that happen a few times myself in the past (though not in the current version yet). Sometimes they just snap out of it themselves and go back to doing stuff, but I also found that reloading a save or restarting the game occasionally helped.

zandadoum · September 10, 2015, 02:57:51 AM

how's the health on those colonists? maybe brain damage and/or dementia?

what happens if you set the timetable to only work and sleep?

akiceabear · September 10, 2015, 05:20:01 AM

Check your area restrictions, I've made this mistake a few times after raids.

milon · September 10, 2015, 07:34:47 AM

Upload your world & colony saves. I don't think we can help diagnose further without being hands-on.

Riddle78 · September 10, 2015, 09:40:17 AM

Quote from: zandadoum on September 10, 2015, 02:57:51 AM
how's the health on those colonists? maybe brain damage and/or dementia?

what happens if you set the timetable to only work and sleep?

Quote from: akiceabear on September 10, 2015, 05:20:01 AM
Check your area restrictions, I've made this mistake a few times after raids.

As in noted above,if you've bothered to read,I've set aside three joy periods in the day; Two hours at either end after and before sleep for two hours each,and a one hour joy period in the midday. Please,read the current page before you embarrass yourself by doing something like this in the future.

However,what I didn't mention was the health of my colonists,which isn't a factor; A perfectly clean bill of health. No injuries,no scars,and certainly no mental conditions.

Quote from: milon on September 10, 2015, 07:34:47 AM
Upload your world & colony saves. I don't think we can help diagnose further without being hands-on.

How would I locate and then subsequently upload my saves?

Riddle78 · September 10, 2015, 10:38:16 AM

Alright,one final update,since I put this thing to bed,effing finally.

Apparently,in vanilla,colonists WOULD entertain themselves,albiet inconsistently. I started disabling mods one-by-one as a diagnostic measure,and I am loathe to uninstall mods,and found the one causing the issue. Consider this a PSA; The Miscellaneous Vanilla Tweaks Mod (Unrelated to the CCL addon),among other things,kicks colonist AI,at least regarding joy,squarely in the knackers with a bladed boot. I downloaded it on recommendation from a mod author,and although it didn't trigger the anti-crash failsafe,it still broke the game. Wait 'till it gets updated,if you wanna use it.

Sorry for the false alarm and misinformation,people! Poor investigation procedures on my part!