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Author Topic: Is it possible to get by without wood?  (Read 1808 times)

johnny_cat

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Is it possible to get by without wood?
« on: August 04, 2010, 10:32:50 pm »

I'm on a very sparsely forested map and at this particular stage of my fortress, I cannot afford to use wood to make fertilizer/fuel/furniture. I've found a vein of bituminous coal.

My wood stockpiles are running fairly low, but I need to keep churning out barrels or my dwarves will start getting pissy about having to drink from the well and we'll eventually run out of seeds.

I just don't like having to rely on wood considering how much of a limited resource it is. Can I make coke from bituminous coal using the coal as the fuel?
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o_O[WTFace]

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Re: Is it possible to get by without wood?
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2010, 10:36:21 pm »

Yes, but you need to make one charcoal piece first to start smelting coal and after that you can just use the coke you produce.  Or you can dig for the magma and set up a smelting operation with magma workshops. 
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johnny_cat

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Re: Is it possible to get by without wood?
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2010, 10:44:39 pm »

Yes, but you need to make one charcoal piece first to start smelting coal and after that you can just use the coke you produce.  Or you can dig for the magma and set up a smelting operation with magma workshops.

Thank you. I was hoping that would be the answer. Than my problem is that I don't have enough furnace operators.
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monkeyfetus

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Re: Is it possible to get by without wood?
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2010, 11:14:54 pm »

Note that you can make bins and barrels out of metal, if the economics of your fort are such that metal and fuel are less valuable than wood. They're heavier, so they might take slightly longer to haul, but they're also more resistant to vermin, unless that changed with the material rewrite.
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duckInferno

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Re: Is it possible to get by without wood?
« Reply #4 on: August 04, 2010, 11:23:59 pm »

The only things you need wood for are Beds and windmills/waterwheels (which you shouldn't have massive demand for).  Everything else can be made with metal bars or stone (though note that while bins/barrels/etc take only one metal bar, it's apparently a bug... it's meant to cost 3 bars.  so that might hit you in the nads in the future).

Finally, if you're low on wood, caravans will automatically arrive with lots of it to trade. 
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NW_Kohaku

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Re: Is it possible to get by without wood?
« Reply #5 on: August 04, 2010, 11:30:09 pm »

Of course, there's always modding...

There have been numerous mods that make beds out of alternate materials, and there's nothing that's really cheating about making a stone bed that requires a pig tail mattress and animal pelt blanket if you happen to have much more of those than wood.
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Re: Is it possible to get by without wood?
« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2010, 11:40:25 pm »

Anyone can be made into a furnace operator, especially spare craftsdwarves. The skill just improves the speed.
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Nibble

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Re: Is it possible to get by without wood?
« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2010, 03:40:18 am »

Why not just dig down to the caverns and harvest underground trees?
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Astramancer

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Re: Is it possible to get by without wood?
« Reply #8 on: August 05, 2010, 04:33:39 am »

Also, try using the Reserve Barrels option in the stockpile menu (where you place stockpiles, rather than 'q'ing on a stockpile).

This will reserve the number of barrels you specify for tasks which specifically use barrels (i.e. Brew Drink) as opposed to food/seed storage.  It will make your food stockpiles less condensed (until you make more barrels) but you won't run out of barrels for your booze.

It's not the perfect solution to your problem, but it's a solution, and one you can implement immediately without any additional outlay of labor or raw materials.
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vogonpoet

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Re: Is it possible to get by without wood?
« Reply #9 on: August 05, 2010, 05:44:08 am »

Why not just dig down to the caverns and harvest underground trees magma?

Clearly more correct
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Africa

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Re: Is it possible to get by without wood?
« Reply #10 on: August 05, 2010, 05:55:41 am »

You can't make barrels, beds, buckets, crutches or splints out of magma, but yes, do both.
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Hyndis

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Re: Is it possible to get by without wood?
« Reply #11 on: August 05, 2010, 05:59:58 am »

Why not just dig down to the caverns and harvest underground trees magma?

Clearly more correct

Elves also get offended by chopping down tower caps. Thus, you can clearcut underground forests and piss off the elves, breaking your agreement with them to not cut down trees. This may provoke them enough to lay siege to your fortress.

Therefore, a lush forest is a good thing!

To clearcut.  :D
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Urist Imiknorris

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Re: Is it possible to get by without wood?
« Reply #12 on: August 05, 2010, 06:19:17 am »

Forests and seas are very good things indeed. And both can be used against elves.
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Miko19

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Re: Is it possible to get by without wood?
« Reply #13 on: August 05, 2010, 06:26:54 am »

Of course, there's always modding...

There have been numerous mods that make beds out of alternate materials, and there's nothing that's really cheating about making a stone bed that requires a pig tail mattress and animal pelt blanket if you happen to have much more of those than wood.
You maybe have a manual for making beds from metal and stones? :P
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thijser

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Re: Is it possible to get by without wood?
« Reply #14 on: August 05, 2010, 07:04:03 am »

Of course, there's always modding...

There have been numerous mods that make beds out of alternate materials, and there's nothing that's really cheating about making a stone bed that requires a pig tail mattress and animal pelt blanket if you happen to have much more of those than wood.
You maybe have a manual for making beds from metal and stones? :P

I don't have a manual but this is what google yielded http://www.google.nl/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=stone+bed&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=jahaTLT6ItGVOMyx-LgP&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQsAQwAA&biw=995&bih=642
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