(TL/DR at the bottom)
What I'm looking for from this change is precisely three seemingly extremely small changes that build off each other:
1. Allow for 0x of an item to be stored, essentially giving chests 'memory' that an item was in there. Memorized items are always allowed in a given storage container regardless of Chest Settings, so a container could have everything X'ed out and items could still be placed into it if they match. Memory only occurs for each individual slot, so if say you wanted two stacks of Ore in the chest with no Ores allowed elsewhere in the chest you would have to have two different stacks of Ore (which can easily be accomplished by splitting one or half the stack off, or memorizing one slot, moving the ore over, and memorizing that slot if you only have a single Ore). Having 0x of a memorized item shows a grayed-out version of the item with a 0 on the item stack amount.
This could pretty easily be restricted to the Guild Chest* (special circumstance) and Advanced Chest (54 slots, costing 20 Hexolite 20 Carbon Fiber 2 Computer), which would allow for it to be more important in terms of actual gameplay than simply placing two instances of a Refined Metal Chest (40x2=80 slots, costing only 10x Refined Ingot 20x Hardwood 20x Nail).
Use V (or otherwise your current Chest Settings option button) to remember an item that you're currently hovering over. CTRL+V to remember all items currently in the chest and SHIFT+V to forget an item. CTRL+SHIFT+V to forget all items.
2. Allow for memorized items to have a 'Fill Quantity' where if there are fewer than N items in a chest, move or create the relevant items given other chests or work stations available, so long as they don't interfere with other chests' own Fill Quantities. This can also be used in the Cold Food Box. If the materials for a given item are available and no more items can be moved, an Advanced or Ancient tier Assembly Line / Workbench / Kitchen / Furnace will automatically 'request' the materials for those items, or as many as possible if the quantity is not enough. This can be toggled in that station's Menu, to ensure that the player can always have at least one available if they so wish. No priority is given for any item in this system, it's first come, first serve. Quantity can be set by pressing C (or your Quick Stack button) on any item or memorized slot in an Advanced Chest or Guild Chest*. The Fill Quantity is shown by changing the slot's number to x/n, or for a concrete example 0/300 if you set your Fill Quantity to 300 and have 0 of that item. Players would need to have a Fill Quantity for every single item in a build tree that meets or exceeds the recipe quantity for the next item in the tree in order to turn every raw material into the final product. If the number is less than the fill quantity, it is red-tinted.
3. If the player has an Ancient Monitoring Stand, it can change the priority of Pals when an item is requested. Specifically, if an item needs Ore, Pals can go and mine Ore until it reaches the fill quantity if an Ore Mining Site is in the base, for example. This is done by temporarily giving available (w/o a current fixed assignment) Pals a fixed assignment to a task, then letting them go when the quantity is met. The Ancient Monitoring Stand prioritizes discrepancy between expected and actual amounts above all else, so if something is missing 101 and another is missing 100 it will assign Pals to the 101 over the 100. If there are no available sources for an item, it will be ignored- if a recipe does not have every ingredient, or a mining/logging site is missing, nothing will be set. The Ancient Monitoring Stand can also set all Material Synthesizers to whatever it needs if the synthesizer is unassigned.
For the example of always having 10x AI Core, most players will simply build from the bottom up, and will typically request something like Ore x100, Quartz x100, Coal x100, Sulfur x100, Hexolite Quartz x100, Chromite x100, Soralite x100, Crude Oil x100, Venom Gland x100, Flame Organ x100, Electric Organ x100, Ancient Civilization Core x100 (has no guaranteed non-player sources, so can't effectively be filled without player interaction). If a player sets the amount too high, though, they might find that Pals will neglect some stations in favor of others. If you ask for 9999 Ore and 100 Hexolite Quartz, a Pal might just give 9999 Ore before giving a single Hexolite Quartz.
Then, they'll have some amount of each of the ingredients formed from those items, typically something smaller like 25x or even the exact amount needed. In the case of Carbon Fiber specifically, they might go with only 2 Carbon Fiber, as that's the amount needed at any given time for an AI Core. They might also just go with 30 as that's the amount needed for the highest Carbon Fiber sink in the game, the Sniper Module II.
*The Guild Chest seems way too powerful for its current unlock position by being able to store perishables indefinitely and storing items throughout all bases, while simultaneously feeling way too weak due to not being able to transport food into food boxes effectively, and I recommend that it be merged with the Advanced Chest, changed to a Guild Link, and allows for all Advanced Chests within all bases to optionally 'talk to' workstations and the Item Retrieval Machine within any base. Existing items within a Guild Chest could be taken out, but no more could be added in with this change. This also solves the issue of foodstuffs within the Guild Chest losing their timers, allowing players to circumvent the entire spoilage system. This would also necessitate the the Guild Chest be unlocked at the same time as the Advanced Chest, that being Level 59. This part is not necessary, so is within this note instead. The Guild Chest could also stay as-is in terms of item storage, have a more complex recipe and later unlock (existing ones stay even though locked) and wouldn't be expandable without Advanced Chests.
TL/DR:
1. Allow Advanced Chests have 0x of an item and remember it & a desired amount that the player wants that chest to have.
2. Allow Advanced Chests and the Cold Food Box to request items from other chests or work stations based on the desired amount and merge the Guild Chest will all Advanced Chests in a base.
3. Allow the Ancient Monitoring Stand to change Pals' priority (give them a temporary fixed assignment) when an item is requested, + give it control over unassigned Material Synthesizers.
*The Guild Chest is a bit op and should probably be unlocked later, but is also too weak for certain uses.
What I'm looking for from this change is precisely three seemingly extremely small changes that build off each other:
1. Allow for 0x of an item to be stored, essentially giving chests 'memory' that an item was in there. Memorized items are always allowed in a given storage container regardless of Chest Settings, so a container could have everything X'ed out and items could still be placed into it if they match. Memory only occurs for each individual slot, so if say you wanted two stacks of Ore in the chest with no Ores allowed elsewhere in the chest you would have to have two different stacks of Ore (which can easily be accomplished by splitting one or half the stack off, or memorizing one slot, moving the ore over, and memorizing that slot if you only have a single Ore). Having 0x of a memorized item shows a grayed-out version of the item with a 0 on the item stack amount.
This could pretty easily be restricted to the Guild Chest* (special circumstance) and Advanced Chest (54 slots, costing 20 Hexolite 20 Carbon Fiber 2 Computer), which would allow for it to be more important in terms of actual gameplay than simply placing two instances of a Refined Metal Chest (40x2=80 slots, costing only 10x Refined Ingot 20x Hardwood 20x Nail).
Use V (or otherwise your current Chest Settings option button) to remember an item that you're currently hovering over. CTRL+V to remember all items currently in the chest and SHIFT+V to forget an item. CTRL+SHIFT+V to forget all items.
2. Allow for memorized items to have a 'Fill Quantity' where if there are fewer than N items in a chest, move or create the relevant items given other chests or work stations available, so long as they don't interfere with other chests' own Fill Quantities. This can also be used in the Cold Food Box. If the materials for a given item are available and no more items can be moved, an Advanced or Ancient tier Assembly Line / Workbench / Kitchen / Furnace will automatically 'request' the materials for those items, or as many as possible if the quantity is not enough. This can be toggled in that station's Menu, to ensure that the player can always have at least one available if they so wish. No priority is given for any item in this system, it's first come, first serve. Quantity can be set by pressing C (or your Quick Stack button) on any item or memorized slot in an Advanced Chest or Guild Chest*. The Fill Quantity is shown by changing the slot's number to x/n, or for a concrete example 0/300 if you set your Fill Quantity to 300 and have 0 of that item. Players would need to have a Fill Quantity for every single item in a build tree that meets or exceeds the recipe quantity for the next item in the tree in order to turn every raw material into the final product. If the number is less than the fill quantity, it is red-tinted.
3. If the player has an Ancient Monitoring Stand, it can change the priority of Pals when an item is requested. Specifically, if an item needs Ore, Pals can go and mine Ore until it reaches the fill quantity if an Ore Mining Site is in the base, for example. This is done by temporarily giving available (w/o a current fixed assignment) Pals a fixed assignment to a task, then letting them go when the quantity is met. The Ancient Monitoring Stand prioritizes discrepancy between expected and actual amounts above all else, so if something is missing 101 and another is missing 100 it will assign Pals to the 101 over the 100. If there are no available sources for an item, it will be ignored- if a recipe does not have every ingredient, or a mining/logging site is missing, nothing will be set. The Ancient Monitoring Stand can also set all Material Synthesizers to whatever it needs if the synthesizer is unassigned.
For the example of always having 10x AI Core, most players will simply build from the bottom up, and will typically request something like Ore x100, Quartz x100, Coal x100, Sulfur x100, Hexolite Quartz x100, Chromite x100, Soralite x100, Crude Oil x100, Venom Gland x100, Flame Organ x100, Electric Organ x100, Ancient Civilization Core x100 (has no guaranteed non-player sources, so can't effectively be filled without player interaction). If a player sets the amount too high, though, they might find that Pals will neglect some stations in favor of others. If you ask for 9999 Ore and 100 Hexolite Quartz, a Pal might just give 9999 Ore before giving a single Hexolite Quartz.
Then, they'll have some amount of each of the ingredients formed from those items, typically something smaller like 25x or even the exact amount needed. In the case of Carbon Fiber specifically, they might go with only 2 Carbon Fiber, as that's the amount needed at any given time for an AI Core. They might also just go with 30 as that's the amount needed for the highest Carbon Fiber sink in the game, the Sniper Module II.
*The Guild Chest seems way too powerful for its current unlock position by being able to store perishables indefinitely and storing items throughout all bases, while simultaneously feeling way too weak due to not being able to transport food into food boxes effectively, and I recommend that it be merged with the Advanced Chest, changed to a Guild Link, and allows for all Advanced Chests within all bases to optionally 'talk to' workstations and the Item Retrieval Machine within any base. Existing items within a Guild Chest could be taken out, but no more could be added in with this change. This also solves the issue of foodstuffs within the Guild Chest losing their timers, allowing players to circumvent the entire spoilage system. This would also necessitate the the Guild Chest be unlocked at the same time as the Advanced Chest, that being Level 59. This part is not necessary, so is within this note instead. The Guild Chest could also stay as-is in terms of item storage, have a more complex recipe and later unlock (existing ones stay even though locked) and wouldn't be expandable without Advanced Chests.
TL/DR:
1. Allow Advanced Chests have 0x of an item and remember it & a desired amount that the player wants that chest to have.
2. Allow Advanced Chests and the Cold Food Box to request items from other chests or work stations based on the desired amount and merge the Guild Chest will all Advanced Chests in a base.
3. Allow the Ancient Monitoring Stand to change Pals' priority (give them a temporary fixed assignment) when an item is requested, + give it control over unassigned Material Synthesizers.
*The Guild Chest is a bit op and should probably be unlocked later, but is also too weak for certain uses.
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