AI evolution and suggestions for DUPE's behavior

[FuzzyFaceLynx]

We all wish these duplicants, or DUPE's as i like to call them, were smarter but hey that's part of the charm on the game. However I'm going to list off a number of actions that have issues where a DUPE is either performing these actions repetitively or what could be considered insanely. While dealing with a DUPE's stupidity is part of the game for sure some things they do could be made less random or inefficient.

Issue #1. Often times if you happen to have a water source available and you drain it or change its path DUPE's will gather just 1k worth of water that is left on the ground to deposit it in an algae terrarium or food musher and keep doing it back and forth when a larger source is less than two blocks away.

Fix #1.  No water gathering from sources with 1k or less, and/or consecutive gathering of water, even from separate tiles, till it reaches a DUPE's carry capacity or deposit locations capacity. This needs to be a straight change because of the possibility to completely halt the production of even the best designed station and since water is extremely precious.

Issue #2 When a cycle ends Dupe's head to their cots, but half a second later wake up to go to the bathroom and get an interrupted sleep schedule.

Issue #3 DUPE's tend to walk half way across the station just to find out they are hungry or need to go to the bathroom and end up walking all the way back.

Issue #4 DUPE's end up getting stuck on the same projects topping off constructs that are set at a higher priorty but ignoring lower priority stations.

Issue #5 A DUPE that has a high building skill but no cooking skill will end up on the food musher while the DUPE with high cooking will end up operating the manual generator and the tinkerer DUPE ends up researching.

 

Fix/Feature #2, 3, 4, 5

Create a behavioral school construct that can be researched. This furniture acts like a medical chair where you can assign a DUPE and increase their learning or train supplementary skills that don't necessarily make them smarter but let your direct their behaviors more. I.e. assign one of your DUPE's to the chair and while they are assigned you can set them to either focus on learning only(they only get up to eat, use the bathroom and sleep) or they can get up to deal with projects above a certain priority that you set(including stress chair).

Each DUPE has a supplementary skill cap based on their current skill score(every 5 stats(aside from learning) gives them a Skill slot while learning gives them a skill slot for every 2 points. 

Skill ideas for individual DUPE's

Assignage: The skill lets you dictate an area that the DUPE can work and move(however if no food, toilets, or cots are in the area it will put a small stress penalty when they have to leave the area for those needs).

Organizized(anyone know this reference): DUPE's can grab more than one type of resource when transporting them(possibly with multiple ranks).

Single Minded: DUPE's can be assigned focus on a single set of constructs. i.e. DUPE #1 is set to harvest any planters while DUPE #2 is set to cook whenever ingredients for the cooking station are available based on just those priority's but will do other activities based on overall priority if none are available.

To Do List: DUPE's will activate certain need stations based on the time of the day. (a DUPE that is almost full bladder and if they would wake up in the middle of their sleep they instead head to the bathroom before bed, same functionality for food.

What's a sleep schedule?: The DUPE with this skill is able to be directed to sleep at an alternative time on the cycle rotation and can work through the night and sleep during the day.

Global Skill ideas.

Global skills can be learned based on your research advances, you earn global "skill points" by selecting a secondary research path that has a much slower research speed than the standard research, and you can only have a max number of skill points that is dictated by all your DUPES total Stat points.

You aren't doing it right: DUPE's will now try to do jobs that coincide with their stats, and if a DUPE sees someone else doing a job they could do better they will switch activities with each other. i.e. Dupe #1 has tinkering 5 and is going to a cooking station but passes by DUPE #2 using a manual generator with 0 tinkering will swap places and  DUPE #2 will continue on to the cooking station.

Shop Vac: Mopped water can now be stored in containers for usage in constructs.

Production Line: DUPES can now be ordered to move to a location and pick up something and then move to another location and complete any jobs in that area with what they have in their inventory. (digging and deconstruction can be done as well but only when sent to a location with nothing in their hands)

If anyone has any good skill ideas please post them below and I'll add them to this post with your name.

 

 

 

TD:LR

Research a construct for duplicants that lets us train them like children with skills that make them slightly smarter but not too smart.