Jump to content

Make Farm blocks revert to dirt if grass grow on it.


tony Liberatto

Recommended Posts

The grass growing is a result of the soil replenishing. I don't agree when grass grows on it, because grass grows so quickly on it, but I do agree it should revert after grass has been growing on it for some time. Perhaps grass could grow into tall grass on the tilled soil and when that happens it reverts it to dirt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Stroam said:

The grass growing is a result of the soil replenishing. I don't agree when grass grows on it, because grass grows so quickly on it, but I do agree it should revert after grass has been growing on it for some time. Perhaps grass could grow into tall grass on the tilled soil and when that happens it reverts it to dirt.

The way I see, you only need to till the soil the moment you actually going to plant something, so how fast the grass grows on it, as long as is not instant, should not matter much. Unless the player actually wants to replenish that soil block, in that case, maybe the mechanic could be, from tilled soil to short grass, then tallgrass and then grass block with tall grass. That's when the player knows the soil is replenished.

One way or another the player should have to retile the soil every time he harvests something and plants again.

Another minor change that could be implemented is to require a tool to harvest. Scythe for grains, hoe for roots and by hand not damaging the plant for vegetables. I am not sure what tool was primitively used to harvest beans or soy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Stroam said:

I'm sure all plants were harvested by hand with the use of a stick to help dig at one point.

My immediate reaction was; He is right, I did not think of that.

My second reaction was but they also planted with that same stick and bare hands.

So if a hoe is needed to tile the soil why not require it to harvest potatoes?

Again, not a gameplay change, and not a must-have feature, just something I thought would be cool.

there are a lot more pressing matters in the game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see a small contradiction in the idea. Farmland turns to grass block (with grass on top) after some time being empty.
But players would usually just harvest crops and replant them instantly, so no chance for farmland to turn into something.
So at least "the player should have to retile the soil every time he harvests something and plants again" mechanics is not yet explained in the discussion.

Currently the empty farmland can be good for farming grass, instead of shaving all land around your house. New mechanics may make it more expensive ... Well ok.

Turning farmland into grass block with grass on top will allow to

  • regrow grass on shaved areas. Very nice!
  • naturally "regrow" grass blocks on dirt areas. E.g. when flatting hills to get some dirt for terraforming. Very nice!
  • dig up expensive high fertility soil and move it to another location. Very nice!

Btw, the new mechanics would allow to completely avoid introducing the MC mechanism of grass block regrowing by themselves.

So if done right, seems a very nice idea.

Gathering with tools only - sounds nice. Just don't rob starting players from ability to grow food please :) 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right now the game has almost only two types of crops as far as harvesting goes - grains which would be easiest harvested with a scythe (though could use hand or knife of course, in a pinch) and root vegetables which are more of a dig thing.  I think it would be entirely fair to allow crop harvest of anything by hand, but make it take quite awhile, and then allow tools to harvest quicker (scythe or knife for grains, shovel for root begetables).   Soybeans are the only other kind of crop right now. I've never grown them irl, so I'm not sure exactly how they work, but if anything like regular green beans, you can actually harvest the beans from the plant and the plant will continue to produce more beans.  Same as peppers, or peas.  But game purposes though knife/scythe and only 1 harvest would be fair.

The other interesting thing about requiring more tilling of the soil, is that it opens up the option for 'teching up' in that area.  No only hoe materials, but eventually there could be plows that the player could use to till an entire row of crops squares at once, speeding up the operation.  Higher tier materials do longer rows.   You could even have ox-pulled plows do 3 rows at the same time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the idea of animal pulled plows.

My idea is for domesticated animals to require feeding, in order to produce any goods or do any work. A starving donkey will not take you anywhere.

Pasture animals would require a pasture, That means a fenced area big enough that the grass has time to regrow before the animals get hungry ( some math would be needed there, so many blocks per kind of animal). 

Since to play any game you need to have suspension of disbelief, the breaking point is that animals would not die of hunger, they would instead need to be fed a few days before you can actually do anything with them. ( For multiplayer servers if animals die you would lose all of them every time you log off.

In practical terms, for single player, it does not change much, because once you log off the game is also off and animals are suspended.

For multiplayer we could have the feeding through. that would be good for some time. 

The whole point is that now the player needs to farm enough to feed his animals. So there is a reason to create plows and bigger farms. Also, one we have winter there would not be grass for the pasture animals, so they need grain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

before the modern times of continuous cropping and fertilizer  they practiced summer-fallow from ancient times until the 1980's.  You let the land rest for a season and continually till the weeds under adding that biomass back to the soil, reducing weed seeds by letting them sprout, and allowing natural processes replenish nutrients.

I like that grass/weeds grow on tilled soil and idea of tilling the soil after the grass grows to improve the soil.   

Not sure why we have knowledge of so many nutrients in VS because even today we cannot measure nutrients without very sophisticated science technologies.  Farmers still practice rotation and record keeping.  I think crop rotation should be simplified. But it is fine as it is i guess.

I also think poor land could become rich over time if its being farmed properly.  You dont move soil from one area to another this is not minecraft ;) 
You should either settle in an area where the land is rich or you work on improving the land by adding biomass to it. Either summer-fallow or manure/compost/hay.  Eventually poor land should become medium.

Love the idea of animals doing labor.  running a mill stone or ploughing or an irrigation system.   

Love the idea of gathering with proper tools.  perhaps using a tool improves the chance for harvest. Breaking by hand causes a chance for product to be lost or a random injury or saturation decrease as a negative incentive. ever dig potatoes or pull weeds by hand?  Much harder and painful than using a tool.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.