Vanilla needs better storage management

[VX #2]

I know there are mods out there that fix this issue, but I do think that the base game itself needs to have some improvement regarding item storage.

There is literally only one storage furniture which is the shelf.

Even then it doesn't do much and doesn't even allow you to stack more items in it.

Storing items can get messy really fast mid to late game and just dropping them on the floor inside your storage room looks really ugly.

[glass zebra]

Originally posted by 123:

There was no strawman or anything. I really feel that you guys take those discussions literally personal. If somebody has another opinion, different playstyle or view on a thing does not mean your opinion, your playstyle or view is less valid. Having another opinion is not a personal attack... I know its 2021 and all but my gosh people... Its a gaming board.

That the whole point though. I keep repeating that the storage in game works and you can want something different and it's okay, but would make it a deeper system -> mods. I never said you are a bad person for wanting something else than I do. That just doens't mean that the game needs to change. I am sorry if I came off aggressive here. I also never meant the statues stuff as a something you should always do, just as a possible way of doing things.
Offtopic:
Small sculptures are good to level, since they have a lot of work for their material input, which also makes them more valuable per material. I think they are also nicer on the weight per value if I remember correctly, so good for trading in general.
Large sculptures occupy the same space but are basically "the double" in most regards, so nice for using.
Grand sculptures are basically x4 of the large ones in most regards, but better on the work spend. Though since of their size, they are harder to puzzle around obviously. They are also nice to make good use of that one inspiration.
In general small->large->grand is most value->least work per material and beauty. I basically never use anything but large and wood. I sell the ones I don't need and every single trader in the game wants them and pays well. They are a heavy (often 15+) mood buff early in the game and good money later.
/offtopic

[Markus Reese]

Originally posted by schnappkatze:

I never really had a problem with the storage. The positive thing about the warehouses and dropping everything on the floor is, that you can see very quickly what and how many items of any given thing you have.

I really don't see it as a core mechanic that would need improvement, as it absolutely doesn't break the game. It is something that imposes a certain difficulty (storing e.g. a lot of weapons from raiders takes storage, so you have an incentive to smelt or sell them), but nothing more. I never use the storage mod btw., I have no problem dealing with this in the vanilla intended way.

What do you have in mind to "fix" it? Would a storage shelf that can store the double amount of a normal shelf be the improvement you want?

Most common issue on storage is just area. Shelves have a purpose, just limited. Most common mod I have heard about is one where shelving lets stuff be stacked higher.

I suspect this isnt in game because people would carpet areas in shelving. Warehousing does look nice, but resource expensive with out any benefits and less spacially effective.

Usually shelving is used for small quantity organizing like weapons and apparel. I use shelves to line up and sort my armor so I can tell pawns (manually) to equip it all without having to hunt around for where it all is.

[VX #2]

Storage has potential to be tied to progression as well.

Such learning to craft better one through research and even grant a rare good one through quest or ancient tomb raiding.

And just make it like crafting table or biopod sculptor that it requires empty space on the front so people don't carpet their storage room with it.

[glass zebra]

Originally posted by VX #2:

Storage has potential to be tied to progression as well.

Such learning to craft better one through research and even grant a rare good one through quest or ancient tomb raiding.

And just make it like crafting table or biopod sculptor that it requires empty space on the front so people don't carpet their storage room with it.

That's all fair and good and sounds interesting, yet that is another argument for: put depth into something basic. How you describe it sounds like a good way a mod could do it, same as that (I think still popular?) farming mod goes more into detail and gives options and advanced recipes etc. Sounds fine if you wanna have more focus in that regard.

[whatamidoing]

Even Dwarf Fortress has a barely more complicated storage system than this game. Bins and barrels, but they're pretty much just for reaching the equivalent stack sizes of what we have in Rimworld. Items still go on the floor.

[AmesNFire]

Originally posted by whatamidoing:

Even Dwarf Fortress has a barely more complicated storage system than this game. Bins and barrels, but they're pretty much just for reaching the equivalent stack sizes of what we have in Rimworld. Items still go on the floor.

Ultimately storage is just hard to get right in a way that is simple and pleases everyone from a top-down base-building perspective.

[pauloandrade224]

Originally posted by 123:

Yes, I know. LWM is in it's original state too powerfull for my taste and it is not updated atm.

I think its fine cause i use smaller map size due to my crappy pc and every square counts plus then my colonists are much more efficient as well

[ichifish]

Originally posted by pauloandrade224:

Originally posted by 123:

Yes, I know. LWM is in it's original state too powerfull for my taste and it is not updated atm.

I think its fine cause i use smaller map size due to my crappy pc and every square counts plus then my colonists are much more efficient as well

If you’re worried about performance, then you might not want to use LWM’s Deep Storage. My understanding - haven’t been able to see this myslef, though - is that more storage zones impact performance and modded storage is allowing you to cram more zones into smaller spaces. Perhaps more knowledgeable players can verify?

[ichifish]

Personally I do think the game would benefit from more storage options simply because some players like a neat and tidy base and lack of options can increase micro (for some play styles; feel free to NOT share your “if you play the game exactly as I do there aren’t any problems” nonsense). It’s also a little immersion-breaking breaking to be unable to store hats.

As far as I’ve seen since 1.0 the devs aren’t really interested in these kinds of updates, instead focusing more on balancing combat (like mortars and nerfing the meat shield in 1.3) and the DLCs.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by VX #2:

I know there are mods out there that fix this issue, but I do think that the base game itself needs to have some improvement regarding item storage.

There is literally only one storage furniture which is the shelf.

Even then it doesn't do much and doesn't even allow you to stack more items in it.

Storing items can get messy really fast mid to late game and just dropping them on the floor inside your storage room looks really ugly.

The only storage mechanic that could really do with some upgrading/updating involves items that can have Quality/Wear levels. (Clothing, Weapons) Everything else is pretty good, IMO. They can't stack in vanilla.

How to fix?

I know there's a "Wardrobe" mod, but after seeing quite a few bugs/conflicts with it I decided not to use it a long time ago. (Not that it's bad at all, just the vocal minority who have had issues/conflicts.)

I'd like to see both a "Closet" (Wardrobe) and a "Weapon Rack" that had a pop-out menu/window (Just for the visual, a list is fine too) with nine or five (respectively) storage spaces in them that could hold individual items that can not be stacked due to Quality/Wear variables. They'd accept only their pre-designated classes of items, too. Both could also have "Beauty" for a nice extra touch.

An "Arming Stand" (Can't remember the Old World term for it) would be nice for a single complete set of armor with an accompanying visual display.

(Materials - Four raw, one basic component, construction required would be the same as a typical workbench. Expensive, but worth it.)

That's it. For the rest of storage-related madness, I'm fine with current conventions. It's clothing and weapons that bug me the most.

[Robepriority]

Here's my crackpot theory: the low stack sizes and clunky stockpiles are intentional.
Raid difficulty scales on wealth - easy storage means that it's actually fairly difficult to tell if you have a massive wealth spike before a breacher raid kicks your teeth in.

If you have to stockpile all the raw resources that you just leave sitting there, it's a very concious and unconfortable decision that nudges you to process or sell/gift those raw materials.

[ᖇIᑎ]

Originally posted by LadyInquist:

Here's my crackpot theory: the low stack sizes and clunky stockpiles are intentional.
Raid difficulty scales on wealth - easy storage means that it's actually fairly difficult to tell if you have a massive wealth spike before a breacher raid kicks your teeth in.

If you have to stockpile all the raw resources that you just leave sitting there, it's a very concious and unconfortable decision that nudges you to process or sell/gift those raw materials.

This makes sense. In my vanilla saves, a larger stockpile is an indication that I need to sell and get rid of things if I want to keep wealth down.

I don't like to keep my main storage bigger than the trade beacon range. The only other storages I keep are for food and medicine.

The only reason I ever found that the trade beacon range size for a stockpile wasn't big enough, was when I started a modded game with mods that added items. In vanilla, the trade beacon size stockpile was more than enough storage space for my colony.

But, then, I also don't needlessly hoard things in vanilla as I do in modded.

[eMYNOCK]

I am not sure if it was mentioned... if it was i haven't noticed it.


One "problem" that was mentioned throughout the Topic was beauty and working in an ugly environmet.

Well, i won't try to convince anyone to use this solution but for me it works very well to place 2 shelves per raw item close to my work benches and leave the rest in its warehouse... separated via a wall and doors.

Means, the shelves prevent the material on them from being ugly while only some haulers carry stuff from the warehouse to said shelves when there is room on them.

Bonus effect... if those shelves are good or better quality... they even add to the beauty value by just being there.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by ichifish:

If you’re worried about performance, then you might not want to use LWM’s Deep Storage. My understanding - haven’t been able to see this myslef, though - is that more storage zones impact performance and modded storage is allowing you to cram more zones into smaller spaces. Perhaps more knowledgeable players can verify?

Stockpile searching can most definitely have a big impact on performance.

For myself, I have not seen what I could identify as storage-related performance hits for many different stockpiles, but what I call "many different" is probably what some players could consider a small number of stockpiles. :)

With a large number of different items, though, i think I've experienced some performance hits due to that alone.

In any case - Stockpile Searching is a known factor regarding performance issues.

(It's worth noting that I don't know of a game with this many different types of stockpiled items that doesn't or wouldn't have similar issues with searching/indexing those for some AI actor's use.)

[jerrypocalypse]

Originally posted by 123:

Originally posted by schnappkatze:

You almost seem to argue in bad faith here, or are seriously lacking in knowledge about how these systems work. A large wooden sculpture like you describe has a beauty of 100, not 50. It uses more material but has the same size as the smaller one, and the size limitations are what you were using for your argument, so you should have taken the large sculpture as an example.

But I obviously didnt take the large one into account. Even with the large one it is not efficient to invest so much work into a sculpture with 100 beauty. You would need around 1 sculpture per 10 squares of storage just to negate the effect. I dont know about you guys but my colony rarely has the time to produce so much art and put it in the crafting room and not in bedrooms, rec room, temple etc. where it counts more.

This is actually the purpose of the vanilla storage shelves. The shelves neutralize the negative beauty effect of the items on them. They also remove the "saw a corpse" moodlet if corpses are stored on them.