diff --git a/src/libslic3r/PrintConfig.cpp b/src/libslic3r/PrintConfig.cpp
index e71671021..3e1ee9f9f 100644
--- a/src/libslic3r/PrintConfig.cpp
+++ b/src/libslic3r/PrintConfig.cpp
@@ -2566,6 +2566,14 @@ void PrintConfigDef::init_sla_params()
     def->enum_labels.push_back(L("Dynamic"));
     def->default_value = new ConfigOptionEnum<SLAPillarConnectionMode>(slapcmDynamic);
 
+    def = this->add("support_buildplate_only", coBool);
+    def->label = L("Support on build plate only");
+    def->category = L("Supports");
+    def->tooltip = L("Only create support if it lies on a build plate. Don't create support on a print.");
+    def->cli = "support-buildplate-only!";
+    def->mode = comSimple;
+    def->default_value = new ConfigOptionBool(false);
+
     def = this->add("support_pillar_widening_factor", coFloat);
     def->label = L("Pillar widening factor");
     def->category = L("Supports");
diff --git a/src/libslic3r/PrintConfig.hpp b/src/libslic3r/PrintConfig.hpp
index 6b9e68eef..20c089d1c 100644
--- a/src/libslic3r/PrintConfig.hpp
+++ b/src/libslic3r/PrintConfig.hpp
@@ -976,6 +976,9 @@ public:
     // How the pillars are bridged together
     ConfigOptionEnum<SLAPillarConnectionMode> support_pillar_connection_mode;
 
+    // Generate only ground facing supports
+    ConfigOptionBool support_buildplate_only;
+
     // TODO: unimplemented at the moment. This coefficient will have an impact
     // when bridges and pillars are merged. The resulting pillar should be a bit
     // thicker than the ones merging into it. How much thicker? I don't know
@@ -1031,6 +1034,7 @@ protected:
         OPT_PTR(support_head_width);
         OPT_PTR(support_pillar_diameter);
         OPT_PTR(support_pillar_connection_mode);
+        OPT_PTR(support_buildplate_only);
         OPT_PTR(support_pillar_widening_factor);
         OPT_PTR(support_base_diameter);
         OPT_PTR(support_base_height);
diff --git a/src/libslic3r/SLA/SLABasePool.cpp b/src/libslic3r/SLA/SLABasePool.cpp
index f1e79357d..a235d52ba 100644
--- a/src/libslic3r/SLA/SLABasePool.cpp
+++ b/src/libslic3r/SLA/SLABasePool.cpp
@@ -427,6 +427,7 @@ ExPolygons concave_hull(const ExPolygons& polys, double max_dist_mm = 50,
         return r;
     });
 
+    // This is unavoidable...
     punion = unify(punion);
 
     return punion;
@@ -448,10 +449,17 @@ void base_plate(const TriangleMesh &mesh, ExPolygons &output, float h,
     slicer.slice(heights, &out, thrfn);
 
     size_t count = 0; for(auto& o : out) count += o.size();
+
+    // Now we have to unify all slice layers which can be an expensive operation
+    // so we will try to simplify the polygons
     ExPolygons tmp; tmp.reserve(count);
-    for(auto& o : out) for(auto& e : o) tmp.emplace_back(std::move(e));
+    for(ExPolygons& o : out) for(ExPolygon& e : o) {
+        auto&& exss = e.simplify(0.1/SCALING_FACTOR);
+        for(ExPolygon& ep : exss) tmp.emplace_back(std::move(ep));
+    }
 
     ExPolygons utmp = unify(tmp);
+
     for(auto& o : utmp) {
         auto&& smp = o.simplify(0.1/SCALING_FACTOR);
         output.insert(output.end(), smp.begin(), smp.end());
diff --git a/src/libslic3r/SLA/SLASupportTree.cpp b/src/libslic3r/SLA/SLASupportTree.cpp
index 54e3a0189..5a5187093 100644
--- a/src/libslic3r/SLA/SLASupportTree.cpp
+++ b/src/libslic3r/SLA/SLASupportTree.cpp
@@ -1898,6 +1898,17 @@ bool SLASupportTree::generate(const PointSet &points,
     }
     };
 
+    if(cfg.ground_facing_only) { // Delete the non-gnd steps if necessary
+        program[ROUTING_NONGROUND] = []() {
+            BOOST_LOG_TRIVIAL(info) << "Skipping non-ground facing supports as "
+                                       "requested.";
+        };
+        program[HEADLESS]  = [](){
+            BOOST_LOG_TRIVIAL(info) << "Skipping headless stick generation as "
+                                       "requested";
+        };
+    }
+
     Steps pc = BEGIN, pc_prev = BEGIN;
 
     // Let's define a simple automaton that will run our program.
diff --git a/src/libslic3r/SLA/SLASupportTree.hpp b/src/libslic3r/SLA/SLASupportTree.hpp
index 8de8d2b33..7d23a981f 100644
--- a/src/libslic3r/SLA/SLASupportTree.hpp
+++ b/src/libslic3r/SLA/SLASupportTree.hpp
@@ -55,6 +55,9 @@ struct SupportConfig {
     // How to connect pillars
     PillarConnectionMode pillar_connection_mode = PillarConnectionMode::dynamic;
 
+    // Only generate pillars that can be routed to ground
+    bool ground_facing_only = false;
+
     // TODO: unimplemented at the moment. This coefficient will have an impact
     // when bridges and pillars are merged. The resulting pillar should be a bit
     // thicker than the ones merging into it. How much thicker? I don't know
diff --git a/src/libslic3r/SLAPrint.cpp b/src/libslic3r/SLAPrint.cpp
index 3cc689558..142428f1d 100644
--- a/src/libslic3r/SLAPrint.cpp
+++ b/src/libslic3r/SLAPrint.cpp
@@ -363,7 +363,11 @@ SLAPrint::ApplyStatus SLAPrint::apply(const Model &model, const DynamicPrintConf
             const_cast<PrintObjectStatus&>(*it_print_object_status).status = PrintObjectStatus::Reused;
         } else {
             auto print_object = new SLAPrintObject(this, &model_object);
+
+            // FIXME: this invalidates the transformed mesh in SLAPrintObject
+            // which is expensive to calculate (especially the raw_mesh() call)
             print_object->set_trafo(sla_trafo(model_object));
+
             print_object->set_instances(new_instances);
             print_object->config_apply(config, true);
             print_objects_new.emplace_back(print_object);
@@ -415,6 +419,7 @@ sla::SupportConfig make_support_cfg(const SLAPrintObjectConfig& c) {
     case slapcmDynamic:
         scfg.pillar_connection_mode = sla::PillarConnectionMode::dynamic; break;
     }
+    scfg.ground_facing_only = c.support_buildplate_only.getBool();
     scfg.pillar_widening_factor = c.support_pillar_widening_factor.getFloat();
     scfg.base_radius_mm = 0.5*c.support_base_diameter.getFloat();
     scfg.base_height_mm = c.support_base_height.getFloat();
@@ -620,8 +625,8 @@ void SLAPrint::process()
         // repeated)
 
         if(!po.m_supportdata || !po.m_supportdata->support_tree_ptr) {
-            BOOST_LOG_TRIVIAL(warning) << "Uninitialized support data at "
-                                       << "pad creation.";
+            BOOST_LOG_TRIVIAL(error) << "Uninitialized support data at "
+                                     << "pad creation.";
             return;
         }
 
@@ -643,9 +648,11 @@ void SLAPrint::process()
             // This call can get pretty time consuming
             auto thrfn = [this](){ throw_if_canceled(); };
 
-            if(elevation < pad_h)
+            if(elevation < pad_h) {
+                // we have to count with the model geometry for the base plate
                 sla::base_plate(trmesh, bp, float(pad_h), float(lh),
                                             thrfn);
+            }
 
             pcfg.throw_on_cancel = thrfn;
             po.m_supportdata->support_tree_ptr->add_pad(bp, pcfg);
@@ -939,7 +946,7 @@ void SLAPrint::process()
     };
 
     // this would disable the rasterization step
-//    m_stepmask[slapsRasterize] = false;
+    // m_stepmask[slapsRasterize] = false;
 
     double pstd = (100 - max_objstatus) / 100.0;
     st = max_objstatus;
@@ -1063,6 +1070,7 @@ bool SLAPrintObject::invalidate_state_by_config_options(const std::vector<t_conf
             || opt_key == "support_head_width"
             || opt_key == "support_pillar_diameter"
             || opt_key == "support_pillar_connection_mode"
+            || opt_key == "support_buildplate_only"
             || opt_key == "support_base_diameter"
             || opt_key == "support_base_height"
             || opt_key == "support_critical_angle"
diff --git a/src/slic3r.cpp b/src/slic3r.cpp
index 62b56f7ff..9a124c73c 100644
--- a/src/slic3r.cpp
+++ b/src/slic3r.cpp
@@ -131,6 +131,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         GUI::GUI_App *gui = new GUI::GUI_App();
         GUI::GUI_App::SetInstance(gui);
         gui->CallAfter([gui, &input_files, &cli_config, &extra_config, &print_config] {
+            if (! gui->initialized()) {
+                return;
+            }
 #if 0
             // Load the cummulative config over the currently active profiles.
             //FIXME if multiple configs are loaded, only the last one will have an effect.
diff --git a/src/slic3r/GUI/GLCanvas3D.cpp b/src/slic3r/GUI/GLCanvas3D.cpp
index 84a2b61cf..f043deda5 100644
--- a/src/slic3r/GUI/GLCanvas3D.cpp
+++ b/src/slic3r/GUI/GLCanvas3D.cpp
@@ -600,7 +600,8 @@ void GLCanvas3D::Bed::_render_prusa(const std::string &key, float theta) const
 
 #if ENABLE_ANISOTROPIC_FILTER_ON_BED_TEXTURES
     GLfloat max_anisotropy = 0.0f;
-    ::glGetFloatv(GL_MAX_TEXTURE_MAX_ANISOTROPY_EXT, &max_anisotropy);
+    if (glewIsSupported("GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic"))
+        ::glGetFloatv(GL_MAX_TEXTURE_MAX_ANISOTROPY_EXT, &max_anisotropy);
 #endif // ENABLE_ANISOTROPIC_FILTER_ON_BED_TEXTURES
 
     std::string filename = tex_path + "_top.png";
diff --git a/src/slic3r/GUI/GUI_App.cpp b/src/slic3r/GUI/GUI_App.cpp
index 056062cf4..fe96aaa80 100644
--- a/src/slic3r/GUI/GUI_App.cpp
+++ b/src/slic3r/GUI/GUI_App.cpp
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ bool GUI_App::OnInit()
 
 
     mainframe->Show(true);
-    return true;
+    return m_initialized = true;
 }
 
 unsigned GUI_App::get_colour_approx_luma(const wxColour &colour)
diff --git a/src/slic3r/GUI/GUI_App.hpp b/src/slic3r/GUI/GUI_App.hpp
index 79da4531d..43938b66a 100644
--- a/src/slic3r/GUI/GUI_App.hpp
+++ b/src/slic3r/GUI/GUI_App.hpp
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ static wxString dots("…", wxConvUTF8);
 
 class GUI_App : public wxApp
 {
+    bool            m_initialized { false };
     bool            app_conf_exists{ false };
 
     wxColour        m_color_label_modified;
@@ -90,6 +91,7 @@ class GUI_App : public wxApp
 
 public:
     bool            OnInit() override;
+    bool            initialized() const { return m_initialized; }
 
     GUI_App();
 
diff --git a/src/slic3r/GUI/Preset.cpp b/src/slic3r/GUI/Preset.cpp
index 871cd0b73..ee182a01a 100644
--- a/src/slic3r/GUI/Preset.cpp
+++ b/src/slic3r/GUI/Preset.cpp
@@ -414,6 +414,7 @@ const std::vector<std::string>& Preset::sla_print_options()
             "support_head_width",
             "support_pillar_diameter",
             "support_pillar_connection_mode",
+            "support_buildplate_only",
             "support_pillar_widening_factor",
             "support_base_diameter",
             "support_base_height",
diff --git a/src/slic3r/GUI/Tab.cpp b/src/slic3r/GUI/Tab.cpp
index 69b3c5b30..28b7cd248 100644
--- a/src/slic3r/GUI/Tab.cpp
+++ b/src/slic3r/GUI/Tab.cpp
@@ -3191,6 +3191,7 @@ void TabSLAPrint::build()
     optgroup = page->new_optgroup(_(L("Support pillar")));
     optgroup->append_single_option_line("support_pillar_diameter");
     optgroup->append_single_option_line("support_pillar_connection_mode");
+    optgroup->append_single_option_line("support_buildplate_only");
     optgroup->append_single_option_line("support_pillar_widening_factor");
     optgroup->append_single_option_line("support_base_diameter");
     optgroup->append_single_option_line("support_base_height");