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Yes, they would make good additions to the worlds of DF

81 (90%)

No, they are abominations that should never appear in DF

1 (1.1%)

I don't care about trees

4 (4.4%)

I don't care about DF

4 (4.4%)

Total Members Voted: 90

[sphr]

Well multi-tile trees should be easier than multi-tile creatures, because trees don't have to do much pathfinding.

The difference is much more, in fact, I'll say that there are no direct relations at all

The giant trees I am talking about here are not actual entities (as in identifiable by the DF program at the moment as a tree).  In fact, for a fast implementation, all it takes is just some new "woody" material (stone type, not log) and the world/map gen to generate the trees as a part of the terrain.  (Disregarding tree dynamics like root sucking water, leaves sprouting etc).  It is not a revolution as per say, but just a sort of smart reuse of existing features.  E.g. imagine a magma pipe, turned all to solid woody material and moved halfway out of the ground, then have some sideway branches generated near the top.  From there, they just become part of the terrain. No rocket science at all.

All I have to say, aside from the fact these trees would be pretty cool, is that sphr's recent comment was frighteningly long.

Comes from decreased frequency and batch processing.  If you take the average length per person replied, it's not that bad. most of those are quotes anyway... (tries to look innocent)

These are already planned I am pretty sure, but it might be a long time before you see them.  I remember in one of the many FOTF threads I once asked about this, and Toady himself said that he would like to eventually have giant z-level spanning trees with walkable branches, etc. and Elves building cities amongst them.  IIRC.

Indeed, then I shall try not to say much more.  But it COULD be a means of bumping priorities for such features.  Esp when doing naive analysis, (details cannot be known since I don't know how Toady programmed his stuff), the basic stuff for implementing a working form of giant trees is already in place, disregarding some possibly new dynamics (e.g. allowing un"mined" walls of "woody" material to burst into flames and spread to nearby un"mined" tiles, which could be something not handled yet, or I could be wrong) The only thing that needs to be programmed is the map generation part which is atm, not user-moddable.

[MaxMan]

Really now? 61 votes for yes? I though this was dwarf fortress, not... elf... fortress..? (ooo nice comeback max) and it's planned too?

Well anyway I'm not going to complain even though I'm one of the only 3 people who voted that I didn't care for trees, It's not like it could hurt DF but I still beleive there are other issues than giant trees.

[NinjaE8825]

I though this was dwarf fortress, not... elf... fortress..? (ooo nice comeback max) and it's planned too?

How are you going to burn down the elven palace if the elves don't build palaces?

[LegoLord]

I though this was dwarf fortress, not... elf... fortress..? (ooo nice comeback max) and it's planned too?

How are you going to burn down the elven palace if the elves don't build palaces?

Exactly!  Plus, trees as they are suck for fuel.  We need bigger trees.

[sweitx]

I though this was dwarf fortress, not... elf... fortress..? (ooo nice comeback max) and it's planned too?

How are you going to burn down the elven palace if the elves don't build palaces?

Burn down elven palance?  That's sound... undwarvenly.
The dwarven way is to replace the base of the tree with magma safe materials, trapping all elves inside.
Then build a scaffolding to the top of the tree, and build a magma pump tower to reach there.  Add a water pump tower to the same level.
Then cut a hole on top of the tree, then pour magma into it, and after filling 1 floor, turn it off and switch to water.
Alternate repeatedly, until the interior of the tree is now completely obsidian, with elves in it.
THEN you carve away the tree itself, and marvel at the cast model of the annhiliated elven palace.

[Lord Darkstar]

Do elves need to hollow out trees though? It doesn't seem to be in line with their philosophy to rape forests just to make buildings. Such a tree would certainly rot, die and collapse without handwaving like to magic so they're not even worth considering as a build option for other races.

Tents and treehouses seem more likely. Not that I'd mind seeing trees be a bit bigger and meaningful.

As long as they don't "ring" a tree (cut a ring into a tree all the way around the trunk), it will survive. A tree is alive near the surface of its bark. It's interior is dead. So elves would just need an entrance and a few air holes to live in their trees.

Elves should get along with trees and wood just like dwarves get along with earth and stone.

The challenge for elves would be farm space. I expect that they'd need magic such as having a "druid" periodically cast "bless plants" or "make plant food and water" over their airborne crop growth platforms, or a small soil improvement in the code so they could dig up soil from the ground and move it by bucket to a designated area which could then have "farm" built on it.

Since elf caravans show up with everything made of wood, it is apparent that elf craftsmen can do much more with wood than anyone else. They also probably have "magic" to spead up plant growth (so they can grow more trees or grow their big trees in the fashion they want--- for instance, having a branch spread out to give them more natural floor space.

[Lord Darkstar]

We can always just "add" a new tree that elves use specifically to live in, that could be carved out and lived in without "technically" harming nature. But normal trees keep their circulatory systems inside their bark so a tree can still be hollowed out and living to an extent, I'd imagine the tree to have possible smoothed branches so they could be stood on, but they wouldn't have any sort of order to them, considering killing off the branches of a tree and its leaves is like cutting off a fish's gills (sorta) I wouldn't expect elves to make any sort of carvings or contructions on or from the tree.

But if all the elves are in trees then theres no challenge to slaughtering them anymore, All I have to do is hit G select the tree and watch them fry. (not in any seriousness obviously)

Elf house trees, if they are "mega" trees like the sequoya redwoods, would be immune to any non-magical fire. The sequoya actually need fire to grow new trees. (They don't drop their seeds until they sense a fire has passed through the area.)

Smalll "mega" trees might burn, but only while they are small and still effectively young saplings.

How are you going to burn down the elven palace if the elves don't build palaces?

Burn down elven palance?  That's sound... undwarvenly.
The dwarven way is to replace the base of the tree with magma safe materials, trapping all elves inside.
Then build a scaffolding to the top of the tree, and build a magma pump tower to reach there.  Add a water pump tower to the same level.
Then cut a hole on top of the tree, then pour magma into it, and after filling 1 floor, turn it off and switch to water.
Alternate repeatedly, until the interior of the tree is now completely obsidian, with elves in it.
THEN you carve away the tree itself, and marvel at the cast model of the annhiliated elven palace.

Wow! That is definately a project worthy of dwarven effort!