Question about compactors

[Lali-Lop]

Could someone explain to me what exactly the priority of a compactor does?  My best guess is that it prioritizes where things are delivered/taken, but does proximity also factor into it?  For example, if I have a compactor right next to a dupe, will they take from / deliver to that one or run across the map to the one with higher priority?

[heckubis]

its priority to the box order.

range is only a calculation if more than 1 storage compactor is set to the same storage and priority.

sweep boxes on 1 will sweep with any sweep action priority but will be the last place dupes put the stuff if more storage boxes are set to other contents the dupes will still sweep but sort to the higher priority boxes first

[hpongledd]

for delivering the ones with higher priority get served first. For construction theoretically the nearset one should be used. Although i also oberserved how the will run across the map to use debris which lays around....

[Sasza22]

The priority controls which compactor gets loaded first. If you change a compactor to higher priority they will actually unload a lower priority compactor and load the stuff to the higher priority one. It also controls the priority of dupes picking up the stuff from the ground unless it`s set to sweep only.

The priority of the sweep task controls the priority an item gets picked up then it gets loaded to a the highest priority cmpactor that can accept it.

17 minutes ago, hpongledd said:

Although i also oberserved how the will run across the map to use debris which lays around....

There seems to be a bug currently making dupes ignore the stuff in compactors and instead run around the map picking up stuff for construction.

[Lali-Lop]

1 hour ago, Sasza22 said:

If you change a compactor to higher priority they will actually unload a lower priority compactor and load the stuff to the higher priority one.

Interesting.  Does this priority also affect deliver errands the same way?  Could this be an effective way to make them prioritize using one resource over another, e.g. regolith instead of sand?  (Regolith compactors being set high and sand compactors low.) Because I have previously been locking my sand in with my glassmaker to prevent them from taking it for other things, but that also means they can't deliver any new sand there.

1 hour ago, Sasza22 said:

It also controls the priority of dupes picking up the stuff from the ground unless it`s set to sweep only.

I don't understand how the "sweep only" setting would affect anything.  Unless you mean it as a way to control exactly what is being swept?

[geniusthemaster]

sweep only means that unless you manually mark it to be swept it will never be filled by anything other than manually marked (k) objects

this could be usefull if you set the priority higher (say 6) and dont want dupes to fill it from other prefilled compactors

[hpongledd]

1 hour ago, Lali-Lop said:

I don't understand how the "sweep only" setting would affect anything.  Unless you mean it as a way to control exactly what is being swept?

Yes, dont forget to disable storage priority

[Sasza22]

17 hours ago, Lali-Lop said:

Does this priority also affect deliver errands the same way?  Could this be an effective way to make them prioritize using one resource over another, e.g. regolith instead of sand?

I think it only affects storage errands. I haven`t noticed them emptying compactors based on priority. Well technically the lowest priority ones get emptied first since even if they use stuff from the high priority one it will get reloaded back from the lower ones.

If i wanted them to use regolith instead of sand i`d just put a regolith compactor closer. But then again there`s that bug that makes them use stuff from the ground before picking it from compactors so i`m not sure if it`ll work before they fix it.

17 hours ago, Lali-Lop said:

I don't understand how the "sweep only" setting would affect anything

Dupes pick stuff from the ground to store it in the compactor based on the compactor priority. With sweep only marked they only pick stuff you manually mark. The manual mark tool has it`s own priority attached that overrides the compactor priority. So this way you can assign a priority 9 sweep task for something on the ground and it can get put into a compactor set to priority 1 if there`s no other available.

[SharraShimada]

Its relativly simple.

3 compactors

prio 4 5 and 6.

6 will be adressed above everything else with prio 5, even building (does not apply to dupes with a building job, because job-prio is higher)

5 will be adressed in normal order along with other prio 5 jobs

4 will only be adressed when nothing else is to do (dupe idle) or from dupes with sweeping-job-prio

So far for compactors in the same area.

 

If you have similar compactors in different areas, the "hey here is a task for you, little bored dupe" rules applys.

The task involves the position of the material, and the position of the dupe.

If the dupe is called from the material-sweeping command, he will pick up the object, and deliver to the next compactor availlable.

If the tastk is called from the compactor (You have to obey! Bring me stuff!), dupes may stand in front of a valid compactor, picking up stuff next to it, and deliver it across the whole map. This may also apply if the far away compactor has the same prio as the one the dupe stands in front of, because thats not the compactor given the command.

 

With that in mind, its easy to arrange material delivery, by setting the right prioritys for compactors and dupes.