v0.34:Clutter

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xTATTEREDx  · +FINE+  · *SUPERIOR*  · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡  · ☼MASTERWORK☼

Workshops will get cluttered when they become full of goods that are not hauled away to stockpiles. A workshop that is cluttered will display (CLT) when viewed via the q or t menus. t, "View Items in Buildings," will show you what items are cluttering the workshop.

Dwarves working in cluttered workshops will work more slowly: even the lowest level of clutter (CLT) doubles the time a workshop task takes. Each successive level of clutter increases the multiplier by one, so tasks performed in a completely cluttered workshop will take ten times as long.

Clutter levels

The amount of clutter generated by a single item is determined by its volume. All items generate a maximum of 1200 units of clutter.

Levels of Clutter

(CLT)	90000 units	: 2x slower
(CLT)	120000 units	: 3x slower
(CLT)	150000 units	: 4x slower
(CLT)	180000 units	: 5x slower
(CLT)	210000 units	: 6x slower
(CLT)	240000 units	: 7x slower
(CLT)	270000 units	: 8x slower
*CLT*	300000 units	: 9x slower
☼CLT☼	330000 units	: 10x slower

Occurrence

During normal play, it is unlikely to ever observe workshop clutter outside of the butcher's shop - even slabs and statues, the largest finished goods, will only clutter a mason's workshop to the first level once there are 15 of them inside and waiting for storage.

Remedy

To remedy clutter, be sure to have enough stockpile space of the appropriate kind (using bins will increase stockpile efficiency), and employ enough dwarves with the appropriate hauling jobs (food/furniture/item/refuse/etc.) to get rid of the junk. The dwarf working at the workshop could also have the relevant hauling job enabled, pausing from time to time to move around goods. In case of inexperienced cooks, order only one or two meals at a time, and check clutter before issuing new orders. An alternate clutter control method is to build new workshops, optionally destroying the old ones (from the q or t menu).

Benefits

There is one upside to clutter, depending on your viewpoint and playstyle. As a workshop's production is slowed, so is their consumption of raw materials and their output if there is little demand. If there is sudden spike of demand, the workshop is easily uncluttered and can work at full speed. The benefit of this is that tasks can be left in repeat mode with no supervision and will not produce much unwanted extras or consume more resources than needed.

A still, for example, can eventually get to the rate where dwarves consume booze at same speed as the cluttered workshops produce it.

Wood furnaces similarly will eventually be brought to a point where they produce fuel at same rate as other workshops consume it.

If stockpiles are used with this method, they must all be kept completely full, so that the workshop remains cluttered. Your stockpile will become a sort of buffer to compensate for large spikes in demand. The larger your booze stockpile is, the larger of a spike in demand it can compensate for when say a tantrum spiral erupts.

Bugs

• Individual body parts from large animals (like an elephant's tusk) can instantly clutter a workshop. ^Bug:1489
• Large stacks of bones from large animals can instantly clutter a bone-carver's workshop. ^Bug:231
• Cooking with eggs creates extreme kitchen clutter. ^Bug:3994

Production Equilibrium

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The unique dwarven economic system, which has been called 'confusing' at best and 'insane' at worst by most other species, has at least one benefit. The fact that items are rarely moved from where they were made until needed leads to much clutter around workshops. As the clutter builds and makes it more difficult to move around the workshop, production slows more and more. If demand suddenly spikes, the clutter is removed and production rises again. Some scientists see this as an instinctual supply and demand device. Others see it as dumb luck.

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Furnaces	Glass furnace (Magma) · Kiln (Magma) · Smelter (Magma) · Wood furnace
Related articles	Clutter · Kennel · Shop · Trade depot