v1.17.6 tree drops test (sticks, seeds)

[Ezra]

So I found a fairly large birch tree, cleared the area around it, and chopped it down. 8 logs, 2 sticks.

I reloaded from backup and tried again, same result.

I then used ladders and punched (no shears) leaf blocks and branchy leaf blocks (trying to get each individually) and I got 8 logs, 30 sticks. I also got one birch seed (which I didn't from the earlier tests).

Why make it easy to cut down an entire tree in one go if you also make it a bad idea to cut down an entire tree in one go (if you want sticks and possibly seeds)?

[Maelstrom]

Harvesting leaf blocks before felling the tree is the game mechanic to create more sticks and seeds than just cutting the tree.  It's a good thing since mid to late game there's an over abundance of both sticks and seeds (except for the non-prolific tree seeds i.e. ebony). 

[Ezra]

3 minutes ago, Maelstrom said:

It's a good thing since mid to late game there's an over abundance of both sticks and seeds (except for the non-prolific tree seeds i.e. ebony). 

It may be a good thing in mid to late game, but it sucks in early game.

[Maelstrom]

Early game you should be harvesting leaf blocks to generate sticks and seeds.  Hint: shears make it much easier.

Edited October 5, 2022 by Maelstrom

[Ezra]

6 minutes ago, Maelstrom said:

Early game you should be harvesting leaf blocks to generate sticks and seeds.  Hint: shears make it much easier.

Early game you don't have shears, because they are made from copper.

I also object to the use of 'should'. This is a mechanic that is not explained in game, and why should players know to punch leaves instead of cutting down trees?

This could easily be avoided by moderating the currently huge difference so instead of 2 vs 30 you get something more reasonable like 8 vs 20

Edited October 5, 2022 by Exra

[wasa]

the mechanic is explained in game though, in bold letters on the sticks entry, where most players would look to see how to how to obtain sticks (at least i went here under the assumption that i would find a crafting recipe, so it was a good spot to dump this info for me). if stick yield from chopping trees was increased new players might stop questioning why they aren't getting many sticks and just assume the "reasonable" low yield is the only way to get sticks. at least until they come across shears and start questioning their purpose. i suppose it could be added into the starter guide entry, but the entry is already pretty long as is.

what isn't explained anywhere in game is axes greatly increase the speed of breaking leaves (besides a vague mining speed modifier on the tool itself), allowing them to act as a sort of "stone age" shears to make the stick gathering process go by alot quicker. this is knowledge i would of liked to have known my first time around since it makes the process go by alot quicker.

[dakko]

On 10/5/2022 at 11:48 AM, wasa said:

what isn't explained anywhere in game is axes greatly increase the speed of breaking leaves

Faster than hitting them with a stick?

[Maelstrom]

Yes.  Leaves break almost instantly with axes.

[Branislav Kostic]

You don't need that many sticks early game, and you should have sheers by day 4-5 since it is possible to get them by the end of day 2

[Ezra]

28 minutes ago, Branislav Kostic said:

You don't need that many sticks early game, and you should have sheers by day 4-5 since it is possible to get them by the end of day 2

I used something like four or five stacks of 64 firing things before I had a saw, and I still didn't have sheers. Mostly on about eight storage jars to replace all the crappy reed baskets I was using before.

[Maelstrom]

4 hours ago, Branislav Kostic said:

You don't need that many sticks early game, and you should have sheers by day 4-5 since it is possible to get them by the end of day 2

I'm curious to know what you consider not "that many sticks".