Show the current task list for colonists?

[Shabazza]

Is it possible to show the current task list of a colonist via some developer function?
I'm really curious how those guys do actuall order tasks like for example when they build stuff.
I often don't understand why things I ordered earlier than others get completed later and why some things get priorized albeit
being ordered while earlier build tasks are still open.
Especially when there is no shortage of material, colonists still fulfill those tasks in a seemingly random order.
And it bugs me somehow to not understand this somewhat erratic behavior.

[KreVor]

Here's what I've noticed:

There are (or at least has to be) time ticks when your colonists (pawns) make decisions.  At least at the beginning of each hour to find our what you've decided they should do each hour (Anything, Joy, Work or Sleep), but also at the completion of each task that they do (hauling, chopping trees, planting crops) that don't take a full hour or even stretch our for more than an hour.  At this time, they first check to see what your priorities for them are (the ones you set to 1) and look at those from left to right, and proceeding down the ladder of importance.  Once they hit a task that CAN be done, they tend to do the one closest to them (but not always) at the time of the decision.  For instance, building walls.  You've mapped out a complete structure with doors and walls, flooring and lighting, temperature control and bedding.  It'll be a masterpiece....once completed.  But you told all of your people that Building was a 2 priority with Growing as a number 1...because daddy's got to eat, right?  So, they would MUCH rather (according to your priorities, remember) go harvest and plant those potato plants on the far side of the map than to build the palace that's right in front of them.  And they'll spend their time going all the way across the map to do just that, only to discover that it's now supper time before they get there, and then walk all the way back to pick up a meal and eat it and then go to sleep because it's the end of the day....right?  Seems random, but it's not once you realize the controls and the colonial decision making process.  It's also affected by availability of materials.  That improvised turret out there doesn't get built....because you have them building all of those solar panels and batteries much closer to the base.  Or their not digging the tunnels and steel because you have them dealing with the animals FIRST.

Of course, there's no "right way" to set the priorities, because every colony is different.  There's no "right way" to set the priorities and then forget about them either.  You only have a limited number of people and just SOO much needs to get done...usually by the same person.  So when you want them to dig for the next few days before getting to the animals, you have to adjust the priorities.

Also, of course, you can't have any of your people do anything that you don't have the supplies for.  You have to settle for the huts before you get to the palace.  Just like they have priorities, you have to set your own.

So, if you really want them to build that building over there prior to the one going up over here, you best wait to laydown the plans until that one over there is completed.  The game IS about colony management after all.   So...manage.

Except for those damn firestorms...

[Shabazza]

I also figured out what you explained. It's clear to me how priorities work.
But some things are still weird.
For example, they always priorze removing something over building something.
If I ordered a complete building to be beuilt and then order a door to be removed, they will always remove that door almost immediately.
This makes actually sense, because this way you get back material to build that new stuff.
But it's still some deviation from the normal behavior you would expect. (to make things of the same priority level in commanded order for example).
Another example: I often see colonists building e.g. a geothermal generator that's pretty remote on the map instead of building that 4-tiles long wall at my base
that was ordered earlier, even if there is enough material for both.
Those are the weird things I don't understand.

[Fluffy (l2032)]

You're on the right track; what you don't see is that there's another layer of priorities that you can't (normally) change.

Jobs are handed out by workgivers (e.g. clear cell, carry materials, build frame, build building for construction), which are grouped into the worktypes (cooking, construction, etc.). The priorities of workgivers are defined in XML files and are always colony-wide.

The defaults often make sense, but are sometimes annoying (e.g. each worktable has its own workgiver, in modded games with multiple tables this may mean that the table with the recipe you need right now is at the bottom of the list, and always done last).

My Enhanced Tabs mod adds an option of 'detailed priorities' to the work screen that gives a screen where you can view and reorder the priorities of both worktypes and workgivers. Still colony-wide, and the workgivers were never really intended to be viewed directly in game so their names may be mangled, but it's better than nothing (also make sure to hover over workgivers for the tooltip with the internally used name - for core and most mods this is a decent description of what work(table) it's linked to - e.g. DoBillsElectronicsBench).

[Shabazza]

It's not so much that I want to mess with those internal priorities.
It's more about understanding them.
But maybe it'll actually help to play with your mod to fiddle with this experimentally.

But I still would like to see a job list in this game to be able to know what my guys are "thinking" when they do stuff in a seemingly weird order
and where my commands get placed in this queue ect...