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[Mel_Vixen]

Do all trees grow the same way?

To answer that question let me quote the devlog:

I've been working with one set of rules for growing them so far, but I'll be expanding the parameters and pictures soon (for pines, saguaros, tower caps, etc).

So toady uses a rule based approach. By Rules basicly stuff like "Grow 2 tiles in hight before branching" or "Do symetrical branching" is meant thus it sets the growth behavior. This is mixed with a bit of randomness and variances to get greater variety while still getting similiar trees. Its a bit like our DNA or the current creature Makeup which determines how our basic form (Bipedal, 2legs, 2arms, a head and a beard) looks while variances/randomness determine individual aspects. For a tree that might be in which direction he/she/it branches (yes trees have genders). Also the outside influences might play a role, like where you can get light, space for root growth, previous damage etc. Since atm there is only one "set of Rules" you get only one basic "tree-form".

I have a followup question thought for toady: I love how you do this, it gives us nice dense forrests if done right but i wonder if you include the Physical aspects in your growth algorithm. Given that you have only one set of Rules (atm) i could imagine that respecting stuff like the Tensile and compressive Strength or the solid density of the different wood-materials makes still a difference in the outcome (for example if certain breaking points are reached).

[Lordinquisitor]

Pretty excited about the trees, altough i was sceptical at first- Cause, you know, this makes the issue of all creatures taking up exactly one tile much more noticeable. (Let`s hope that we see multi-tile creatures soon, then. )

Anyway- it seems like we will now also be able to build treehouses for our dwarves. Sounds elvish, but you know, i`m sure there can be a dwarfy approach to it, too.

Which brings up my question- Will Climbing be enabled in Fortress mode? And will there be critters that live in the trees, aside from elves?

[Cruxador]

Pretty cool. I hope the elf trees are bigger though - you can hardly fit even an elf house in the biggest of these. They're still good to hollow out for dwarven watchtowers, though.

[misko27]

Loving the trees so far.

When you say which branches are safe to climb on and which aren't does this take size into account?

Cheers Japa! Much easier to look at them in general through the DFMA interface.

Pretty cool. I hope the elf trees are bigger though - you can hardly fit even an elf house in the biggest of these. They're still good to hollow out for dwarven watchtowers, though.

To buld off of this:
Will Building be able to be constructed on Trees at all, if so, what building under what circumstances.

[thvaz]

How will you balance the wood industry now that we have bigger trees?

[misko27]

I wonder how much lumber trees will give when chopped down now.

How will you balance the wood industry now that we have bigger trees?

MIND READER.

[Kappas]

.

[nighzmarquls]

I wonder how much lumber trees will give when chopped down now.

How will you balance the wood industry now that we have bigger trees?

MIND READER.

Presumably by increasing growth times for trees to more realistic time scales.

That in addition to the increased size needed for 'tree farming' will probably mostly resolve itself.

The striking realization I just had however is that if tree 'felling' as in cutting of the trunk heart  (and thus having the tree fall) is now the definition of 'tree cutting' then we now have a peaceful option for harvesting wood that should not upset elf diplomats.

Mull on that friend, there is a way to satisfy their demands to not cut down trees and still have a decent wood based industry.

[thvaz]

I wonder how much lumber trees will give when chopped down now.

How will you balance the wood industry now that we have bigger trees?

MIND READER.

Presumably by increasing growth times for trees to more realistic time scales.

That in addition to the increased size needed for 'tree farming' will probably mostly resolve itself.

The striking realization I just had however is that if tree 'felling' as in cutting of the trunk heart  (and thus having the tree fall) is now the definition of 'tree cutting' then we now have a peaceful option for harvesting wood that should not upset elf diplomats.

Mull on that friend, there is a way to satisfy their demands to not cut down trees and still have a decent wood based industry.

Indeed there are many ways it could be done, but I think only Toady knows how it will be.

[Legorara]

Two words:

Forest
Fires

Do we know anything about this?  Maybe someone who is more eloquent could green text a question.  I'm not confident enough with my first post.

[Cruxador]

How will you balance the wood industry now that we have bigger trees?

Perhaps kitchen, distillation etc could require fuel?

That one's definitely a suggestion question.

Two words:

Forest
Fires

Do we know anything about this?  Maybe someone who is more eloquent could green text a question.  I'm not confident enough with my first post.

I don't imagine they'll be all that different. Just the stuff that burns will be branches and leaves at an elevated level rather than just the grass and shrubs at ground level.
Although it would be interesting to hear what fire does to the trunks. The simplest thing would be to give the parts that fire touches a "burnt" modifier, and otherwise leave things unchanged. But then what? Does that tree yield charcoal instead of lumber? I suppose that would work fine.

[Torchy]

How will you balance the wood industry now that we have bigger trees?

Perhaps kitchen, distillation etc could require fuel?

That one's definitely a suggestion question.

Two words:

Forest
Fires

Do we know anything about this?  Maybe someone who is more eloquent could green text a question.  I'm not confident enough with my first post.

I don't imagine they'll be all that different. Just the stuff that burns will be branches and leaves at an elevated level rather than just the grass and shrubs at ground level.
Although it would be interesting to hear what fire does to the trunks. The simplest thing would be to give the parts that fire touches a "burnt" modifier, and otherwise leave things unchanged. But then what? Does that tree yield charcoal instead of lumber? I suppose that would work fine.

As of now, unless something's changed, fire doesn't affect trees *at all*. I don't think magma does, either, but I'm not as sure about that.
The only time I've ever seen a tree burn is lighting one up manually in Adventure mode. They don't seem to catch, even if a Dragon sprays down the whole world around them.

[Kappas]

How will you balance the wood industry now that we have bigger trees?

Perhaps kitchen, distillation etc could require fuel?

That one's definitely a suggestion question.

Allrigth, pal, I fix it. :)

[Urist McDepravity]

Vattic's trees were visually a bit better, IMHO.

I'm really curious how woodcutting will work with these new trees. Maybe we will finally get boards in addition to 'blocks'.

[DG]

It wasn't until the advent of multi-tile trees that the dwarven wood industry took a quantum leap forward in production efficiency as siegedwarves found new applications for their skills. Predictably, relations with elven nations crashed to a new low. The picture below documents one of the first trials of what became known as "long line" tree-felling.

- excerpt from A Brief History of Dwarf Fortress (abridged version)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

How cute is the ballista!?