Plant Rust

[Teh Pizza Lady]

I still have a problem with the whole "growing rust" thing because rust is <spoiler> and because of that <spoiler from Chapter 2> and <another spoiler>.

Call it blight, or whatever, but rust is a very specific thing in the lore and what you're suggesting makes zero sense whatsoever.

5 minutes ago, Rudometkin said:

chance they will grow rust overnight

 

[Rudometkin]

5 minutes ago, traugdor said:

I still have a problem with the whole "growing rust" thing because rust is <spoiler> and because of that <spoiler from Chapter 2> and <another spoiler>.

Call it blight, or whatever, but rust is a very specific thing in the lore and what you're suggesting makes zero sense whatsoever.

 

First of all, thank you for respecting the spoilers despite having a history of such disagreement with me. That is highly commendable of you, and I appreciate it.

I will note that "rust fungus" is an actual thing, and happens to have its traces of being thematic to the game.

If what I'm suggesting is confusing relative to the lore, then of course it could be called blight.

Edited July 2, 2025 by Rudometkin

[Teh Pizza Lady]

1 hour ago, Rudometkin said:

then of course it could be called blight.

out of curiosity, I looked on the ModDB and there is already a mod that does this and it's not very popular. Only just over a thousand downloads which is like.. 1% compared to the other farming mods. I don't think this idea is very popular and if you REALLY think it would be, you're not selling it well at all.

[Rudometkin]

5 minutes ago, traugdor said:

out of curiosity, I looked on the ModDB and there is already a mod that does this and it's not very popular. Only just over a thousand downloads which is like.. 1% compared to the other farming mods. I don't think this idea is very popular and if you REALLY think it would be, you're not selling it well at all.

Maybe, but I'm not aiming for popularity!

[Teh Pizza Lady]

Just now, Rudometkin said:

Maybe, but I'm not aiming for popularity!

I feel like that is a prerequisite for suggesting something be added to the base game.

[Enjen]

12 minutes ago, traugdor said:

I feel like that is a prerequisite for suggesting something be added to the base game.

I dont think that's quite right. I can't imagine certain base game features being incredibly popular. They're in because the devs wanted it in.

I can't tell whether you're against the suggested idea because it came from Rudometkin and your going to go against everything he says no matter what or you genuinely don't like the idea and will refuse to elaborate how to fix, improve and entertain said suggestion. Saying how it couldnt work instead of everybody being creative and imagine how it could work. Unless im severely misunderstanding how the suggestion Board is supposed to work.

[Teh Pizza Lady]

1 minute ago, Enjen said:

I can't tell whether you're against the suggested idea because it came from Rudometkin and your going to go against everything he says no matter what or you genuinely don't like the idea and will refuse to elaborate how to fix, improve and entertain said suggestion.

I don't like the idea because it makes farming, which is a core mechanic of the game, more difficult than it already is for a single player to manage while trying to do the other 2364827634 things (exaggeration but you get the idea... lol) that have to be done before the first winter. Plus the time sink of tending to crops to make sure disease doesn't wipe them all out discourages exploration and adventure which is another core mechanic of the game. Sometimes you have to be away from your base for weeks at a time just to go to the places, do the things, and come back. I wouldn't enjoy the adventure if I were being forced to constantly worry if my crops would even be alive when I got back....

Thus I believe it would hurt the game's design overall and would be better relegated to a mod. I've said this before... but it was a while go so I don't fault anyone for forgetting, but my stance has always been the same. If it flies in the face of established lore or would upset the balance of existing game mechanics then it would be better served as a mod. In fact, this idea is already part of a mod, which unfortunately doesn't have many downloads, so I don't really think I'm the voice of the minority here.

I'm sorry, but that's just how it is unless you have proof that people outside this thread would love it.  

[Enjen]

16 minutes ago, traugdor said:

I don't like the idea because it makes farming, which is a core mechanic of the game, more difficult than it already is for a single player to manage while trying to do the other 2364827634 things (exaggeration but you get the idea... lol) that have to be done before the first winter. Plus the time sink of tending to crops to make sure disease doesn't wipe them all out discourages exploration and adventure which is another core mechanic of the game. Sometimes you have to be away from your base for weeks at a time just to go to the places, do the things, and come back. I wouldn't enjoy the adventure if I were being forced to constantly worry if my crops would even be alive when I got back....

Perhaps I may not be understanding just how long everything takes as is. I should spend more time in the game and then come back and see if these same points line up with my experience and ask myself "Can I really afford to manage another mechanic?" right now my answer is yeah. If it's implemented well and it's balanced, I don't see why it'd be a bad idea. It'd just be another thing to learn in a game where I'm already learning so much.
 

20 minutes ago, traugdor said:

I'm sorry, but that's just how it is unless you have proof that people outside this thread would love it.  

I couldn't possibly go out and find even the ones that have downloaded the mod you're talking about. I'm sure doing a search in the forums would get a sense of who wishes more from farming, but this is besides the point anyways. Popularity really doesn't matter imo

[Rudometkin]

4 hours ago, traugdor said:

Your idea that plants should suffer diseases requiring cures raises significant concerns. How do you propose starting players, who may not have access to cures, should handle this? Is there even a viable counter once diseases set in, or does it simply punish them with no recourse? 

While a challenging game is great, pushing the "uncompromising wilderness" concept too far risks making farming feel like an unfair grind dictated by RNG. Games should be rewarding and engaging, not frustrating to the point of driving players away. Striking that balance is key to maintaining player interest and satisfaction.

So, how do you solve that problem?

Great question.

I don't think the phrase 'punish them' is the most accurate terminology, so I just want to voice that right off the bat. The world does what it does, and the player does what the player does. The player's job is to respond to the world, and that is generally a fun mechanic. When the world punishes a crop with disease, the most accurate terminology is that it punishes the crop, not the player. Sure, by extension, it can be 'punishing' the player. But in technical terms, it is flawed terminology, because it assumes the player is striving for a healthy crop. It could be that a carnivore player is farming crops, simply wanting to see how a crop will naturally exist in the world. In this playstyle, it would not be 'punishing' the player when the crop suffers a disease. In fact, it may excite the player. Now since the general intended use is to grow crops for their beneficial harvest, the terminology 'punishing the player' when a crop contracts a disease is accurate enough. I just wanted to establish that, because I haven't seen anyone else here do that yet.

(And I am said to not be thoughtful and considerate to other players )

Starting players who do not have skill for proper water technique, nor access to good soil, nor cures, simply do not have ability to cure a disease should one arise. Perhaps in this early stage of the game, it is all about damage control. If you have 10 carrot plants and one happens to contract a disease from overwatering or poor soil, you should immediately be able to uproot it and replant it somewhere away from the other healthy plants. That diseased one may go the rest of its life without the disease getting any worse. Or, it could get worse and die off. Or, you could happen to obtain the cure later on and cure it. Or you could just throw it away if you want.

This does not mean the player will die of hunger. However, if the rudimentary farm is neglected (high quality farms are more self-sufficient, and can be left alone with full assurance), then the disease could in fact wipe the entire farm out. Maybe they just have to search for more food, perhaps from a different source, until they can get more equipped to handle farming better without struggling so much.

If this sounds too difficult for your liking, consider the chances. I intentionally did not suggest 1/100, or 1/10, or 1/4 would get infected by poor soil. What do you think would be good chances?

If a crop in poor soil had a chance of contracting a disease every midnight, what would be a reasonable chance? 1/50? 1/100? 1/250?

For overwatered crops, I propose each percentage of 'overwater' could be a percentage of chance that the crop contracts the disease at midnight. Or, the disease chance percentage could be a 1/10 fraction of the overwater percentage. So a 10% overwatered plant could have a 10% chance of contracting a disease at midnight, or a 1% chance at midnight. Or, it could be multiplied by 2, so a 20% chance of contracting a disease by midnight. That's if it the check happens by midnight, y'know?

Even if rare, the possibility that your plants might have contracted a disease is undeniably exciting (not to necessarily mean people would be giddy about it, but that it would raise some alarms and rise a little bit of thought).

Also, imagine a player who doesn't understand that plant disease is a thing. They start to notice, "Hey, this plant has some spots on it. Cool. Wait, now there's more. And now there's more on this plant. Last week it wasn't like this. What's wrong with my plants? Are they diseased!?" Sometimes it's these moments that make a game magical.

Edited July 2, 2025 by Rudometkin
Refinement

[Rudometkin]

17 hours ago, Enjen said:

I was about to mention some idea for a different genus of crop that it could turn into! I scrolled back up and saw you already mentioned it haha! It's sort of like radioactive farming. Maybe Rust fungus could be used in some recipe for Rusty Gears. but then again I feel that being able to craft Rusty Gears goes against the story. So in turn, maybe Rusty Fungus can OO It can be applied to Arrow Tips and Spear tips for a sort of poisoning effect

Poison arrow tips is such a good idea! That would be awesome.