AI Improvements (hauling, work areas, distant jobs)

[Playbahnosh]

I know I'm probably not breaking any new ground here, I just like to scratch down few ideas based on my experience that might improve the game significantly.

My main concern is about distant jobs that really become a problem on large maps. For example I defeat a pirate gang who shelled my base from the other side of the map. I claim their stuff and send my colonists to dismantle it and bring back the resources. What happens next is an exercise in frustration, watching my colonists making the long trek across the entire map, each dismantling one piece of sandbag, and immediately turning around to head back to the base to haul a piece of stone or whatnot. This way it takes many days and 90% of their time is wasted with touring back and forth. I think a check could be implemented for the colonists to prioritize work in their immediate surroundings based on travel time and length of the job. A sort of "if i came this far, I might as well make myself useful around here before heading back". Dismantling a sandbag takes almost no time at all, so at most it would need one guy to make the trek, dismantle all the stuff in the area and THEN head back. It would save a LOT of time and effort.

The same goes for hauling jobs. I see it all the time, where colonists go all the way to the opposite side of the map to do something (like dismantle a sandbag, cut a tree, etc) and head back to base empty-handed while there are tons of stuff lying around in that area waiting to be hauled back already. A check could be implemented so the colonists first looks around their area and near their path home for things to haul. They are making the trek anyway, so might as well bring some stuff home while they are at it, right? As for hauling stackable items, I see there is already a check to pick up more of the same item in their immediate area, but that area needs to a LOT larger. I see many colonists make long journeys to pick up a piece of steel for example, and while they could carry more, once they start their journey home, they disregard every piece of steel on the way, even if its lying directly (or near) in their path and they could easily make the few steps of detour to collect it. I think the area check for haulable things should be way larger based on the colonists distance to the base/stockpile, so they accomplish more with less time.