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[Cub]

Hello there,

i need some space to unfold my creativity, i must have a proper surface to work on and the surface needs to be reshaped. but unfortunately trees and such limit the space massively. cutting them would take too long and too many dwarfs would get lost.
Well. If there's a problem... pull the lever! so i did. it's quite handy to have a volcano close nearby. now lava flows around the trees but they don't burn? last time i played, several years ago, it was enough to incinerate one tile of grass to let the fire consume the whole map. now there is just a bit ash where the lava was and that's it. no spreading fire, no burning trees, ... is this a bug feature or am i doing something wrong?
btw, i can't pour lava from the top of the volcano, since there isn't much magma left. needed some obsidian and the drain for my obsidian farm is deep below my front door. there are just 5 layers of magma left in the volcano above the front door.

[PatrikLundell]

Trees often survive magma. Fire on the map usually don't remove trees, although a tree or two MIGHT get removed. Thus, even if you get a fire going it won't get rid of many, if any, trees. Most of the time a tree is affected by fire there's a bit of burning in the canopy, but the trunk remains and the tree continues to flourish. And when you DO get rid of trees each tree killed results in a cave-in message...

[Cub]

thank you for the answer. well, that sounds like you are trying to tell me that i will have some legendary woodcutters soon. at least i will have enough wood for some sieges then...

[PatrikLundell]

If you manage to set off a fire then, you'll get rid of the wood...

There are a few ways to stop junglification once you've removed the current crop of dwarf traps:
- Dirt roads destroy saplings. Thus, targeting them specifically or periodically furrow the surface can keep it clear.
- Paved roads and floors keep unsightly growth at bay.
- Stockpiles carrying nothing block sapling maturation underneath. When the stockpiles are removed, however, suppressed saplings can die/mature rapidly. I also suspect stockpile suppression does not help to reduce visual FPS slowdown due to herbs/saplings/grass.

[Bumber]

Trees often survive magma. Fire on the map usually don't remove trees, although a tree or two MIGHT get removed. Thus, even if you get a fire going it won't get rid of many, if any, trees. Most of the time a tree is affected by fire there's a bit of burning in the canopy, but the trunk remains and the tree continues to flourish. And when you DO get rid of trees each tree killed results in a cave-in message...

And the cave-ins tend to destroy ground tiles, leaving them as empty space (even if there's still a wall below.) Dragon/FB/titan/clown fire seems much more effective than magma for igniting trees.

I would recommend cutting down all the trees first, then starting a fire to get rid of the wood. You'll never manage to haul it all before more trees grow.

[Skorpion]

You'll never manage to haul it all before more trees grow.

Sounds like a challenge to me. Stockpile with wheelbarrows outside, link it to a wood furnace, burn the lot into charcoal or ash, give to another stockpile nearby that loads into a minecart that dumps it indoors.

[Bumber]

Sounds like a challenge to me. Stockpile with wheelbarrows outside, link it to a wood furnace, burn the lot into charcoal or ash, give to another stockpile nearby that loads into a minecart that dumps it indoors.

Most of the time is wasted just moving to the logs. They don't get multi-hauled, so each one summons a dwarf from the depths of your fortress, has them puke all the way to the log, puke towards the stockpile, then probably decide they've had enough of this shit and go back to the tavern to drink and socialize.

The fact that there are thousands of logs (on just a 3x3 embark), spread evenly across the entire surface, foils any efficient delivery scheme. You can focus on a single area at a time (burrows), but the rest of the map is going to be sprouting up trees in no time.

Maybe hundreds of wood furnaces, strewn about the surface, all working non-stop. You still have to handle all the byproducts, so you'll need a network of minecart tracks connecting all the furnaces. (Actually, you could probably just haul the wood at that point. Burrow a few dwarves near each tunnel entrance.) Then, sometime afterwards, you'll realize that QSPs don't really save you from the onslaught. So you designate the logs hidden, hoping maybe it'll help your FPS. Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn't...

[Killgoth]

Dump the logs into the volcano?

[Fleeting Frames]

At that point, might as well turn off "Dwarves gather wood" and dump the volcano into logs. There's a reason surface gets floored over by some overseers

[Bumber]

At that point, might as well turn off "Dwarves gather wood" and dump the volcano into logs. There's a reason surface gets floored over by some overseers

But instead of floors, it's magma held in by (clear glass) retaining walls. Brilliant.

Invaders? Flood the relevant path. Elven diplomat complaining about all those trees you cut down? Offer one of your surplus wooden items and give them all warm farewell.

[Cub]

I would recommend cutting down all the trees first, then starting a fire to get rid of the wood. You'll never manage to haul it all before more trees grow.

Sounds like a challenge to me. Stockpile with wheelbarrows outside, link it to a wood furnace, burn the lot into charcoal or ash, give to another stockpile nearby that loads into a minecart that dumps it indoors.

thanks, i made a plan. i just cut the trees and let about 50 dwarfs haul the wood to a dump right behind the entrance. then i just cut the regrowing trees. my miners are legendary, so it should work. with 20-50 ticks it will just take... a lot of time :/
well, i will start once that other tiny problem that appeared is solved. by tiny i mean titan. well, the elves sent some ambushes... which unfortunately followed their diplomat... who fell into a pit... as my drawbridge retracted. sorry. i just hope they will send some reinforcements which will take care of that problem. i would take care of the titan myself... but my crossbow dwarfs are legendary so i don't want to waste them for combat

btw, the wiki says that a volcano would refill... is that true? i can't see that...

[PatrikLundell]

Volcanos should refill. However, I believe I had a case where it didn't. A possible theory is that the level to which it refills lies below the level on embark, so you'd have to lower the level further for it to refill (up to that level). That's just an unsubstantiated speculation though.

[Thuellai]

One option for quickly clearing out the trees, at least, is the production of ballistas.  Obviously you'll want to be careful about when you fire them, but ballista bolts will splinter and disintegrate trees for you.  Doesn't do anything for the grass or bushes, but that's what roads and such are for.

[vjek]

This is why I limit my rainfall to 0 or 1 out of 100, where I want to embark.  There just too many trees.  Even with 2-3 rain, there so many trees, it's nuts.  I think the tree density is set way too high based on rainfall.  It should be adjusted so that the current tree density resulting from 20-25 rain should be the new tree density for 90-95 rain.
Down with trees!  

[PatrikLundell]

I don't think rainfall as such affects the number of trees at embark. As far as I've seen the number of trees is tied to the biome (which is influenced by the rainfall, of course), but I haven't seen any difference between max rainfall and min rainfall for a biome type except for the extreme 0-1 rainfall level. A rainfall of 3 (and occasionally with 5) seems to result in no saplings appearing, which means you have an initial low number of trees, cut those down to get a fairly good supply of wood, and then won't have to bother with cutting trees on the surface anymore.
Another strategy I've employed is to have all but one tile of the embark totally devoid of trees, with one tile providing trees. That strategy has backfired a couple of times when that single tile contained a single tree, though (although there were too many of them 5 years later). Aggressive paving/flooring can be used to take control of that tile, though.