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[Jusman]

Is there something in the world_gen file that you can change to reduce the number of z-levels your world has?
Also if I set it to only have one cave layer, which cave would it be danger-wise?

[NecroRebel]

There are the "levels above layer (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)" parameters and the "levels above ground" parameters that, if reduced, would reduce the number of z-levels. They do have minimums, however, and aren't strict limits. They appear to be minimums rather than maximums, so if you set them all to the minimum you still might have a hundred or more z-levels on very steep maps.

If you set cavern numbers to 1, the sole cavern will be a combination of caverns 1 and 2, IIRC. If set to 2, the top one will be a combination of 1 and 2 and the bottom will be a combination of 2 and 3.

[Jusman]

Yeah I just tested it out, I set them all to 1 (three of them were already set to 1), but I still had 111 layers... do you know any other ways to reduce the number of layers?

[NecroRebel]

Embark on flatlands near oceans. Flat areas tend to have fewer z-levels. So do places where the absolute elevation is low, meaning near oceans. Smaller embarks will also help, because they'll get fewer slopes but also because they'll not go towards higher elevations as much. If you eliminate the lowest layer entirely that'll also help, though you of course won't have the lowest layer in that case.

[Jusman]

Ah I didn't know you could remove layers entirely, I may try that. Thanks for the help.

[foop]

It's not a particularly original complaint but worldgen drives me mad these days. 

With minimum inter-cavern distances and embarks next to the sea, my closest magma has been at Z -105.  I wouldn't mind if I could find bituminous coal, but even with abundant minerals the only coal I've found all evening has been in the middle of an aquifer spanning 8 Z levels.

In anyone has any clever worldgen tricks, I'm all ears.

[ST753M]

Those numbers are insane.  I usually get 30 to 40 z-levels total, with all 3 caverns, magma, and other things.

My casual testing seem to show that changing the min/max elevation from 0:400 to 99:400 helps.  You'll also have to lower the ocean square requirement, edge oceans, and minimum number of low elevation squares.

I usually embark as far as I can from mountains OR oceans, in flat or nearly flat region tiles.

[Jusman]

One more question actually, would I have to change anything about caverns in order to still have them when I remove some layers?

[NecroRebel]

One more question actually, would I have to change anything about caverns in order to still have them when I remove some layers?

As long as the cavern layer count number isn't 0, you'll have at least one cavern. The magma layer is separate from the cavern layer count, as is the bottom layer, so you could have a world with 1 cavern and a magma layer underground and nothing more, or 2 caverns and magma, or a cavern and no magma. The bottom layer does force magma, though.

[Naryar]

I play with only one cavern layer.

Pretty sure I'd had a few cave dragons on them.

[gtmattz]

At various times I have had examples of all the different cavern features in my single cave maps, so I am pretty sure that a single cave layer is actually a combo of all 3 most of the time, but can occasionally only be representative of a combination of the first 2 or the last 2. 

[ancistrus]

I always play with 1 cavern layer. This layer will have everything, including as mentioned above, cave dragons or nether caps.
For minimum of z-levels, I embark on 16x16 areas that contain lakes. Lowest I saw was 24 z levels underground, but generally getting less than 30 is easy.

[zilpin]

I always play with 1 cavern layer. This layer will have everything, including as mentioned above, cave dragons or nether caps.
For minimum of z-levels, I embark on 16x16 areas that contain lakes. Lowest I saw was 24 z levels underground, but generally getting less than 30 is easy.

What kind of computer lets you run a 16x16 embark?  Even a flattened one would kill mine.

[ancistrus]

I always play with 1 cavern layer. This layer will have everything, including as mentioned above, cave dragons or nether caps.
For minimum of z-levels, I embark on 16x16 areas that contain lakes. Lowest I saw was 24 z levels underground, but generally getting less than 30 is easy.

What kind of computer lets you run a 16x16 embark?  Even a flattened one would kill mine.

Sorry, I mean I embark on a 2x2 subset of a 16x16 area, that I am calling a 16x16 area, because I forgot how it is called.
In other words, I find a 16x16 area with a lake, then embark on any 2x2 area within it.

[utuki]

just reduce cavern height from 5-25 to 3-7(and its good idea to minimize density and maximize openness) in advanced worldgen and you will have 3 layers and magma at level 30-40.