Optimising Engineer Workflow

[linkfire12]

Hi guys, I'm delving into base building, and whilst I've had a lot of success automating it, one thing that always remains a consistent issue is automating engineers.

At first I wanted everyone to have the engineering job at the bottom of their work list, so if they finish up their tasks, they will help pitch in with larger projects.

An issue I am having is inventory management, multiple engineers grab resources, one delivers, and the rest leave it in their inventory, refusing to empty it back out, and get stuck in an "Aimless" goal because they don't have room for new resources and construction.

What is the optimal solution for this? Should I only have one engineer? The reason I had multiple is I like divvying up skill stats for roleplay purposes, and only one worker seems extremely inefficient.
Should I organise it so there is an auto haul command to every single container below engineer? That seems incredibly tedious and unwieldy, especially with my group getting quite large. Plus oftentimes the containers are full since I have a mining and mineral refinement workflow set up that quickly replaces used materials.

Are their any other smart tips or strategies for workflow optimisation for the colony in general?

[happy]

this is not rimworld, there is no need to optimize base thingies, as long as it works, you're fine, relax.

I'm no authority, but I find it convenient to have 2-3 dedicated engineers, that way I know who's inventory to check when things do not go as planned.
sometimes you do not have the appropriate containers for stuff, and dedicated engineers are good stock carriers(electrical components, stuff like that)

[Lelo Mariin]

My 2 engineers are also my researchers and arent assigned to anything else. So after researching thy build and then drop off their remaining materials back in the storage
I dont mind them doing nothing after building/researching.

[linkfire12]

True there isn't any immediate Raccoon hordes or nuclear winters to watch out for. I'm mostly just trying to automate the base.

I suppose a handful of engineers is enough to make sure their inventories don't clog up. It certainly would be great if Kenshi had a Rimworld styled task order system, perhaps in 2.

[linkfire12]

Well I feel immensely silly, I had to tick "Ditch Items" in the AI menu, that solved the issue, excellent!

[Zee_]

Depending on where you build, it may be a good idea to have just 1 to 3 dedicated engineers. 1 or 2 highly skilled engineers can keep your gates standing while its being beaten on while a dozen low skilled engineers will have problems doing the same thing.

My 2 engineers are equipped with wooden packs and have engineer as their primary job, then they're set to run materials to various storage containers around the base to keep them busy when nothing needs to be repaired and I'm not constructing anything. That way my cooks keep cooking and farmers keep farming rather than running materials to storage half the time.

[Lelo Mariin]

If you put any task right after engineering (such as mining or cooking ) they will NOT ditch their construction items in their inventory.

Examples

1.
---
Medic
Engineering
Mining Iron Ore Vein
---
This will have them run to the mines immediatly after engineeing keeping their inventory full

2.
---
Medic
MIning Ore Vein
Engineering
---

Now they'll only build after the ore vein's storage is full

3
---
Medic
Research
Engineer
---
Research before building

4
---
Medic
Engineer
Research
---
Build first, research after

I prefer option 4 and dont put any tasks after.
they'll be my emergancy hauler or trade good sellers

[DeathOnRedBull]

Originally posted by linkfire12:

Well I feel immensely silly, I had to tick "Ditch Items" in the AI menu, that solved the issue, excellent!

The only problem with the 'ditch items' feature is that it then makes it impossible for your noobs to go around strength training with backpacks full of rocks while following others, for example. I've often thought it would be better if 'ditch items' was a toggle on individual characters.

[linkfire12]

Oh I have a solution for that actually, if you fill a traders backpack with iron (approximately 39-40 iron leaves your encumberance at around seventy percent at near full strength stats, which allows athletics training in tangent, you don't need any more weight than around 400-430 kilograms, maybe less depending on how fast you want your characters to move), then put it in your inventory instead of your backpack slot, characters won't take anything out of it.

It may be inefficient, but I usually give everyone two backpacks, one specifically for strength training.

[DeathOnRedBull]

Originally posted by linkfire12:

Oh I have a solution for that actually, if you fill a traders backpack with iron (approximately 39-40 iron leaves your encumberance at around seventy percent at near full strength stats, which allows athletics training in tangent, you don't need any more weight than around 400-430 kilograms, maybe less depending on how fast you want your characters to move), then put it in your inventory instead of your backpack slot, characters won't take anything out of it.

It may be inefficient, but I usually give everyone two backpacks, one specifically for strength training.

A-ha! Thanks - noted.

[Karina]

Engineer job should be at the very top for the most guys (except turret gunners). As soon as something availible to build (or repair)- all miners, farmers, crafters drop whatever they are doing and go do engineering. You can build things really fast that way.

[linkfire12]

Since discovering the Ditch Items AI function, most of the issues have been resolved (only occasionally there is an issue wherein storage is refilled too quickly by miners and craftsman before the engineers can dump spare materials back), I set up everyone in my colony except my farmers and chef with an engineer command below their main duty, and they have had very few issues.

For primary engineers, if they start another task before emptying their inventory, I find that isn't a problem, because if they are unable to complete it due to a full inventory, they will skip to ditching materials anyway, meaning it's almost entirely automated.

I mostly just feel silly starting this thread without noticing the option in the menu.