Storage 101: Sweep only?

[Anarchosyn]

I'm unsure what this setting means, so I've avoided using it. Seems the only way anything gets into a storage container is through sweeping, so the option to set the container "Sweep Only" seems redundant. Naturally, I dislike ignoring the potential of something, so could somebody enlighten me? 

[Risu]

That storage will only receive items marked for sweeping.
 

[Anarchosyn]

... Maybe I'm missing a fundamental. How else do things get into storage besides marking mined materials, for example, with a sweep indicator?

[Risu]

37 minutes ago, Anarchosyn said:

... Maybe I'm missing a fundamental. How else do things get into storage besides marking mined materials, for example, with a sweep indicator?

Marking items for sweeping is not a requirement. Dupes will deliver loose items to any storage that can accept the item if they have nothing with higher priority to do (and they have the Deliver job enabled). The purpose of sweeping is to force dupes to find a place to store that item.
 

[MidnightSteam]

I've ignored using it too. All my storages are set to Priorty 4 so before any of my Dupes go idle they'll pick up whatever is around them. I started facing a problem when I had my slime storage set to 9...Then they won't listen to me So I had to set it to sweep only.

 

Basically "Sweep only" is when you want them to pick it up now and only when you want them to pick it up.

[The Plum Gate]

I think a sweep only storage compactor won't have things stored in it that aren't specifically marked for sweeping. As in, sweeping is something you do via the UI or hotkeys. So when they're picking up things to store, they shouldn't end up in the compactor marked sweep only unless you've specifically told them to sweep it.

This leaves the dangling question of "whether they only deliver to the sweep only compactor or it they just deliver it to the nearest available compactor" up in the air.

[Risu]

1 minute ago, The Plum Gate said:

This leaves the dangling question of "whether they only deliver to the sweep only compactor or it they just deliver it to the nearest available compactor" up in the air.

Marking for sweep adds a chore to the item for the sweep job where it tries to find a storage for it. This doesn't remove the already existing deliver chore that storages have for delivering the item to the storage. The sweep flag plays no role in this chore.

So it comes down to who gets to the item first.
 

[Anarchosyn]

Ahh.. I see. In my games, I mark everything on the ground to sweep, and set my storage containers to handle specific goods, so I'm not sure it has relevance with my approach. Or, in other words, It seems to be an option that exists to accommodate a style which differers from my own, but I'm left wondering exactly what form that must take. 

Hmm.. anybody use this often? Seems like the kind of thing that won't make it through to the full retail release. 

[Risu]

21 minutes ago, Anarchosyn said:

Hmm.. anybody use this often? Seems like the kind of thing that won't make it through to the full retail release.

Mainly want it when dealing with stuff like ice and slime that need hauled when you want it hauled. Just so it gets moved in bulk and while you're watching it, so you can mop up water as it melts or just avoiding mass pollution happening all the time.
 

[MidnightSteam]

Yeah I prefer as little micro-managing as I can. I love my dupes because mine are smart; too many people complain about dumb dupes. Plus seeing all those red-sweep tags are just an eye-sore.

[Moggles]

Micromanaging storage can be useful.

I like to place one or two high priority sweep only compactors next to a construction project that I want to keep clean. Like an oxygen room, water tank or whatever.

Having the storage close by really helps the debris get cleared out rapidly after you've finished digging. I rarely use a central storage warehouse these days. I just make them as I need them.

I also micro them by using the dump the contents on the floor when they fill up strategy. You need sweep only settings to make that work.

[Anarchosyn]

45 minutes ago, Moggles said:

I also micro them by using the dump the contents on the floor when they fill up strategy. You need sweep only settings to make that work.

Quoi? 

Do elaborate.

[PhailRaptor]

18 minutes ago, Anarchosyn said:

Quoi? 

Do elaborate.

When items are stored in a Compactor, if you uncheck a given material in the acceptable options for that Compactor, those items will immediately be dropped on the floor again.  So after you've cleaned up after a mining operation, you can go through and sort what you've dug, 1 material at a time.

[Anarchosyn]

Ahh, I see. Yeah, I'm familiar with that. Wasn't aware it was a strategy, but the meaning is clearer now. 

 

Ok, well, I guess my question is answered. Still not sure when I'd want to use this, but I'll play around over the weekend now that I at least understand it's meaning better. 

[goboking]

1 hour ago, Anarchosyn said:

Hmm.. anybody use this often? Seems like the kind of thing that won't make it through to the full retail release. 

I heavily utilize it.  I have a storage compactor set at a very high priority for slime, polluted dirt, rot piles, and bleach stone.  This is isolated and doesn't use sweep only because I don't want these products off gassing in my base.  I have an individual storage compactors for each material and these are priority 2 with sweep only.  If these are full the leftovers are placed in a priority 1 sweep only compactor with is regular dumped on the ground for hatches to eat.  Using this system keeps my base clean, my materials organized, and ensures my dupes don't waste time running to the far reaches of the map just to pick up a few chunks of igneous rock I'll never have a use for.

[manu_x32]

2 hours ago, Anarchosyn said:

Hmm.. anybody use this often? Seems like the kind of thing that won't make it through to the full retail release. 

I also mainly use sweep only compactors, to fully control what goes where and when. When I'm digging portions of the map outside the base, I don't want them to bring the infected ores inside, so this is one reason for doing that, especially early game when you don't yet have ore scrubbers...

[Anarchosyn]

1 minute ago, manu_x32 said:

I also mainly use sweep only compactors, to fully control what goes where and when. When I'm digging portions of the map outside the base, I don't want them to bring the infected ores inside, so this is one reason for doing that, especially early game when you don't yet have ore scrubbers...

See, and this is where I grow confused. 

 

If I go into the jobs menu, and deselect all checks, I would expect the duplicants to just idle. I haven't tested this, but I find it bizarre to consider any inherent actions beyond an assigned job. So, naturally, I thought sweep was the selection for "pick this item up," and anything without an explicit sweep wouldn't be picked up. I gather this was a misconception (again, as odd as that seems to my sensibilities). 

So, sweep only -- to me -- is the less selective mode. To fully control what goes where, I ignore Sweep Only, and set the items I desire explicitly in the lower checkboxes. 

Does Sweep Only actually offer selection settings? I have to check that when back on Steam (posting from work). 

 

[manu_x32]

1 minute ago, Anarchosyn said:

See, and this is where I grow confused. 

 

If I go into the jobs menu, and deselect all checks, I would expect the duplicants to just idle. I haven't tested this, but I find it bizarre to consider any inherent actions beyond an assigned job. So, naturally, I thought sweep was the selection for "pick this item up," and anything without an explicit sweep wouldn't be picked up. I gather this was a misconception (again, as odd as that seems to my sensibilities). 

So, sweep only -- to me -- is the less selective mode. To fully control what goes where, I ignore Sweep Only, and set the items I desire explicitly in the lower checkboxes. 

Does Sweep Only actually offer selection settings? I have to check that when back on Steam (posting from work). 

 

Sweep only is just an additional functionality on top of the existing compactor functionality, so yes selection of which material go in it is still valid while in sweep only mode. Not the most intuitive UI maybe because it sits in the same tree as the selection of materials, but it is a very useful feature.

[goboking]

4 minutes ago, Anarchosyn said:

To fully control what goes where, I ignore Sweep Only, and set the items I desire explicitly in the lower checkboxes. 

You do both.  You select which items you want to place in a given storage compactor then you choose whether you want your dupes to deliver all of that material or if you want them to only deliver that material that you've specifically instructed them to sweep up.  So if you've got two storage compactors set to accept sandstone and set the first of them (A) to sweep and the second (B) not sweep only then your dupes will pick up and place sandstone in B on their own but they won't place any in A unless you explicitly tell them to sweep sandstone.  You can further control what goes where with priority settings on your storage compactors.

[Moggles]

Dumping the contents and refilling also saves a lot of map space in the long run.

I think it makes sense in the context of the game too. It's a storage compactor. It compacts 20,000kg of material together. Dumping the contents is like giving it an output to expel the compacted material.

[Townkill]

Sweep only is a great tool for ensuring dupes deliver to the closest compactor instead of whichever one was built first(or however they select it)  Whenever im doing projects far away from base and want to clean up i use sweep only compactors set to p5(my normal compactors are p4).  Particularly when im digging at the top of the map, it makes more sense to compactor the materials up there and then drop it down the ladder