Mark existing plant - replace with different one (change crop or tree type in-place, replace crop)

377 votes

When you initially set up a forester, you have the choice between planting three different tree types. For your initial planting, you might want to prioritize quick growing trees, while incrementally switching over to Maples.

The problem is that you can only switch a plot to a Maple if there is no tree currently on the plot.

The proposal is that if you specify an area to grow tree type X. That takes effect irrespective of what tree is currently in the plot. That way if the current tree gets cut down, the forester will automatically plant the last specified tree type. Rather than the last grown tree type.

In general, it could be nice to specify forester lots on places with pre-existing trees to reduce the amount of micromanagement during setup.

This could also be a feature for farm plots.

Under consideration Suggestion Suggested by: Kosie (25 Sep, '21) • Upvoted: 19 Apr • Comments: 61

Comments: 61

26 Sep, '21
Thaina Yu Merged
When we clear a crop farm or forest farm with cancel tool, the ground would become untilled again. The crop or tree would still exist and continue to grow but it would not be replanted after harvest

In that state I wish I could just use another crop or tree type to override it immediately without the need to demolish it with builder first. I want to just let it grow and be harvested normally, then rotate into the next type after that automatically. So I could grow a farm or balance the nutrition eventually without the need to do all these tedious process
1
06 Oct, '21
eleazzaar
Ditto for crops. There's needless friction as it currently works.
11 Oct, '21
Stone Cold Jane Austen Merged
If I want to change the tree/crop type in a field, I think it would be better if I could simply remove the existing designation and set a new one, and any existing trees/crops should be allowed to grow to maturity and then be replanted after harvesting. Currently this only works with trees/crops of the same type as the new designation.

Edit: for example, if I click and drag maple over an existing natural pine forest, it should designate the entire selected area as maple, and replant the pines as maples after they are harvested. Currently it will only designate empty tiles/stumps, and I have to remove each remaining pine before I can designate its tile as maple
12 Oct, '21
Gin Fuyou Admin
"Redesignating existing trees/crops" (suggested by Stone Cold Jane Austen on 2021-10-11), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
14 Oct, '21
Gin Fuyou Admin
"[QoL] Allow queueing an override crop farm and forest farm in advance" (suggested by Thaina Yu on 2021-09-26), including upvotes (12) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
19 Dec, '21
Vicas Merged
At the start of the game I made a Pine/Birch forest to get my logs, but as I'm expanding and finding better logging locations, I'd really like to replace it with a Chestnut/Maple forest. However, I would still like to get the logs out of the currently growing pine/birch trees, since a lot of them are pretty close to done.

Currently I've been watching my beavers cut down individual pines and replacing the cut tree squares with chestnuts, but of course that's pretty attention-intensive and takes several days. I think it'd be cool if when you mark, say, a growing pine tree with the "Plant Maple" flag, it would allow that tree to grow up, and once the pine tree is cut down, your forester would just plant a maple tree in that space instead.

If this functionality already exists/doesn't make sense, that's perfectly fine, this is probably the only big holdup I've had with the game so far. Thanks for reading!
20 Dec, '21
Gin Fuyou Admin Merged
Pretty sure it was suggested, but I can't find it. Probably it had non-intuitive title.
02 Jan, '22
benthevaporeon Merged
it would be very helpful if we could place planting areas for new trees or crops under currently growing trees or crops we planted, so if i wanted to switch from pine to maple i could just place the maple growing area over the previous tree planting area and then the maple tree would be planted once the pine was cut

the only way to do it now is to wait for the trees to be removed and then start the replanting, or watch the site and replace a square as soon as a tree is cut
02 Jan, '22
Gin Fuyou Admin Merged
"changing the type of crop or tree" (suggested by ben on 2022-01-02), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
22 Jan, '22
Adam Merged
Be able to change the resource being planted or grown simply by changing the marked area (over time when they need to plant new resources, they will use the new resource required).

Currently you have to demolish the current resource (or remove the current marking and wait until they are gathered), and then mark/plant new ones.
23 Jan, '22
Gin Fuyou Admin Merged
"Be able to change the resource being planted or grown simply by changing the marked area" (suggested by Adam on 2022-01-22), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
26 Jan, '22
Gin Fuyou Admin Merged
"Queued Planting" (suggested by ElveeNineNiner on 2022-01-26), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
08 Mar, '22
Pazuuzu Merged
for example, If i have pine trees and want to start growing walnut trees, i can change what the plan is on the tile with the existing pine tree, so my forester knows to plant a walnut tree next, instead of micromanaging every tree, or having "down time" for squares that had the planting area cleared once the tree was removed and before i get back to the area
08 Mar, '22
Gin Fuyou Admin Merged
"set vegetation type for square before previous plant is cleared, so beavers will change when cleared" (suggested by Pazuuzu on 2022-03-08), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
29 Jun, '22
Slappy Merged
For example, if you've got a 7 x 7 square of birch trees all planted, you can select the maple tree from the planting tool and draw over the birch trees. Then, when the birch trees get cut, instead of planting more birch trees, the forester plants maple trees.

Right now, if you want to replace a patch of birch trees with maple trees, you have to use the planting tool on one tile at a time as each birch tree is cut, which takes a lot of tedious clicking and demands your full attention for a long time. Or you have to wait until every last birch tree is cut before planting a single maple tree, making your log production inefficient.

This should also be applied to crops.
30 Jun, '22
Gin Fuyou Admin Merged
"Use tree planting tool on existing trees to change what tree gets planted next" (suggested by Slappy on 2022-06-29), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
11 Sep, '22
Shrubbery Merged
Plant crops or trees only works on empty tiles. If you want to change the type of crop in a field you have to cancel plant crops or trees, wait for the crop to be harvested or mark them for deletion, then assign the new crop or tree. Switching crop or tree variety results in either waste, or micromanagement.
There should be an option to assign a new crop that will be planted when the current crop is harvested, without having to cancel, or wait for the harvest to reassign the planted crop.
12 Sep, '22
Skira Merged
The situation I run in quite often is as follows: I start a new tree or crop farm and plant something basic to get a quick supply.
Then later I want to change what I am growing there. Now I can either clear the planting area and wait for everything to be harvested, demolish the resources to change it quicker, or wait for each plot to harvested and change what is put there before it's replanted.

What I'd like to have as an option though is to change the crop or tree that's going to be planted next while the old one is still on the plot growing. That would make planning easier without the inefficiencies that come from the other options.
13 Sep, '22
Gin Fuyou Admin Merged
"Allow for changing crop or tree type while something else is growing" (suggested by Skira on 2022-09-12), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
14 Sep, '22
Cameeb Merged
Same for trees as well.
15 Sep, '22
Jcheung Admin Merged
"Make it easier to change planted crops and trees variety" (suggested by Shrubbery on 2022-09-11), including upvotes (9) and comments (1), was merged into this suggestion.
21 Sep, '22
Volfied Merged
Once that tree is cut, a forester can replace it with the marked tree, otherwise replacing a wooded area becomes a chore of tracking down stumps
22 Sep, '22
Jcheung Admin Merged
"Allow marking a tree planting over an existing tree" (suggested by Volfied on 2022-09-21), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
26 Sep, '22
Droideka Merged
Say for instance I have an area filled with carrots, and a farmhouse nearby. I want to transition this area over to growing wheat, but I don't want to tear up any currently-growing carrots until they're ready to harvest. Unfortunately, it seems that I'm not allowed to set an area to plant wheat while another crop is growing--I have to first cancel the carrot growing so my farmers don't replant carrots, wait for the carrots to grow and be harvested, and *then* I can set the area to grow wheat. This is especially inconvenient if the carrots in the area are at various stages of growth, since I have to either leave useful farmland empty while I wait for the last of the carrots, or keep dragging over the area with the "plant wheat" tool every few in-game hours or days. Similar annoyance when replanting a forest. It would be much more convenient if the planting tool let you set an area to start planting the new thing as soon as the old thing was harvested.
26 Sep, '22
Gin Fuyou Admin Merged
"Make it possible to switch crop/trees planted in an area while the previous ones are still growing" (suggested by Droideka on 2022-09-26), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
04 Oct, '22
Will Merged
I have a tree nursery of pine, that I want to upgrade to maple, this means clearing the pine tree plant areas and waiting for the pines to be harvested, and then selecting the land to be maple.

This is too much micromanagement for a simple change, It would be a lot nicer if you could tell the foresters ahead of time to plant maples after the pine is cut, instead of waiting until after the cut, to give the command to plant.
05 Oct, '22
Jcheung Admin Merged
"Designate land already occupied by a tree, to be planted as a different tree type." (suggested by Will on 2022-10-04), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
07 Nov, '22
Gin Fuyou Admin
"Mark Existing Trees for Replacement With Different Species (change crop or plant type, override)" (suggested by Vicas on 2021-12-19), including upvotes (60) and comments (21), was merged into this suggestion.
04 Dec, '22
Tyler Merged
It would be nice to be able to override the crop being planted on a new square without either having to clear the area and wait or try to catch it when it's not planted.
Example: I have a patch of carrots that are growing. next time around I want them to be planted as potatoes. I select potatoes, select the area, and next time those tiles get planted, they are potatoes (but the carrots still grow).
06 Dec, '22
Gin Fuyou Admin
"QOL - Changing crop/tree alotments" (suggested by Tyler on 2022-12-04), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
29 Dec, '22
LordZanik Merged
Let us replace a planted resource without having to remove the exiting resource first.

Ie: let us change the crop the farmers are planting without having to wait for them to harvest/cut the existing plant. Such as a field of carrots to a field of potatoes or vice versa. (same goes for tree types).

I want to harvest the existing resource when it matures and just plant the new resource when its done.
As it stands now, you have to either wait for a whole field to be harvested or repeatedly place the new crop as the old one gets harvested.

This issues feels unnecessary and tedious as I have seen this option in multiple other games and I fear this chunkiness will drive people away from this great game.
30 Dec, '22
William Preston Merged
When attempting to change what trees are being planted in a specific area, it might easier for the player to be able to highlight the same group of trees and expect the tree planter to start planting the new trees instead.
For example if i was planting a 10x10 square of birch trees, but wanted that 10x10 square to be maple instead, it would be nice if we could just highlight that space with maple and have it slowly change as the birch are
30 Dec, '22
Jcheung Admin Merged
"Tree planting, quality of life" (suggested by William Preston on 2022-12-30), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
30 Dec, '22
Jcheung Admin
"Allow planting of new resource planting without removing previous resource" (suggested by LordZanik on 2022-12-29), including upvotes (2) and comments (2), was merged into this suggestion.
30 Dec, '22
Cyrus Merged
If you place trees or vegetables it should automatically clear out existing plants.
Also, I noticed it is possible to zone out a forest farther from a path than it is possible to send beavers to demolish plants. (this should be the opposite way around)
02 Jan, '23
Gin Fuyou Admin
"Clear existing when placing Trees or Vegetables" (suggested by Cyrus on 2022-12-30), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
06 Feb, '23
NemoStein Merged
To swap crops/trees/bushes the player need to remove the assigned area (the dark soil) then wait for the current crop/tree/bush to grow and be harvested, or send builders to remove it before it's ready to harvest (wasting resources), and only then replace the assignment.

It would be far easier to simply repaint the area with a new assignment and the new crop/tree/bush be queued for the next planting.
28 Feb, '23
Eric Merged
I'm not sure if it's possible in the engine but I'd love to be able to change the type of tree I want planted "next". Like, say I have a maple but I want a pine in the space- just set the plant space to pine and when the maple is cut down, a pine is planted.
04 Mar, '23
Jcheung Admin
"Change plants at any time" (suggested by Eric on 2023-02-28), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
11 Mar, '23
Gin Fuyou Admin
"Swap crops/trees in place" (suggested by NemoStein on 2023-02-06), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
07 Apr, '23
rastaflettus Merged
If, let's say, a pine tree has been planted. I would like to have the ability to mark that location so that the next tree to be planted after harvest is a maple tree. Now I have to await harvest/demolishing. This can be a mechanic that works for every tree, crop or bush.
09 Apr, '23
Jcheung Admin
"Ability to override what to be planted next in a location without harvesting/demolishing first" (suggested by rastaflettus on 2023-04-07), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
12 Apr, '23
Peter34 Merged
Right now, if you're growing one kind of Crop, or one kind of planted Tree, if you've changed your mind or re-evaluated your strategic needs and want to change it, you have to do a two-step procedure with a wait in between the steps.

Either cancel re-planting, then wait until the item has fully grown and has been harvested, then assign the new thing to plant, or else select dismantle, wait for dismantling, then assign the new thing to be planted. Both are annoying.

I propose that it should be possible to re-assign the chosen "plant here" to something else while the original thing is still growing. That'll be a much superior and smoother UI experience, reducing the micromanagey need to do a first thing, then wait for an unspecified period of time, before you can return to the place and do the second thing.
12 Apr, '23
Jcheung Admin
"Add a Replace Crop/Tree function" (suggested by Peter34 on 2023-04-12), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
19 Jul, '23
Romuald Merged
When I want to replace a field filled with crops with another crop, I have to manually destroy the existing crops (or wait for it to be harvested) before replanting the new ones. The same thing happens with the trees.

It would be nice to be able to indicate that you want to plant another breed of tree or crops (on top of existing crops) and the Forester & Farmers automatically switch seeds whenever the previous crop has been harvested.

Thanks for the work devs ! Amazing game !
1
22 Jul, '23
Jcheung Admin
"Automatically destroy & replant trees and crops" (suggested by Romuald on 2023-07-19), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
31 Jul, '23
berryblu
Please allow this to be developed. :) Going back again and again to the same plots to add the new choice to the farm crops or the forester seems needlessly picky.
30 Oct, '23
Jcheung Admin
"Be able to replace seemlessly the plantings (from carots to potatoes)" (suggested by Benoit on 2023-10-30), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
28 Nov, '23
Dawson (dew3) Merged
It's kind of annoying to have to destroy crops before planting new ones, same things with trees, especially because they're replanted automatically. It would be nice to just click to plant the new crop over them and have them automatically queued to be destroyed and then the new crop planted in its place.
28 Nov, '23
Jcheung Admin
"Replace crops/trees/paths, etc by planting over them" (suggested by Dawson (dew3) on 2023-11-28), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.