New Tree Propagation Mechanics

[EnigmaticWonder]

So I shared this in another discussion and thought it could warrant its own topic given the discussions on the rare trees and their drop rates.

I believe that the tree propagation mechanics should be changed overall, which would allow a more immersive and enjoyable experience. At the moment, to get tree seeds you need to break leaves and hope rng works in your favor. For the most part, it works fine, but with the introduction of new rare trees, you end up with diminishing returns due to the low drop rate. Those trees can literally go extinct over time in a game.

So instead of having to cut the tree downs to get seeds, give each tree a chance of generating saplings or seeds near and around it. You can then collect to replant, or, if the seed is generated on good enough soil and left on it's own, it'll end up growing. This would eliminate the diminishing returns issue on rare trees without forgoing the rarity of them. The player has a choice; cut the tree for its wood immediately, or cultivate the area around it to eventually get more seeds for more trees.

So on the whole, it would encourage sustainable tree husbandry. Instead of clear cutting entire forest, you can do selective cutting, allowing the forest to generate back over time. Prefer a particular tree? Cull the others and keep only the ones you want growing. A self sustaining and regenerating forest provides a much more immersive experience and provides a choice and consequence with how the manage their world.

This would also make edible nut bearing trees more beneficial too, like the new walnut, allowing repeated harvests of "fallen" nuts without the need to kill the entire tree to collect.

[Maelstrom]

Thinking of this from the coding perspective...   Would this be for ALL trees in world?  If so, I would think that the burden on servers could be quite demanding. 

I like the mechanic you describe, maybe constrain it to only player planted trees?

[junawood]

3 hours ago, EnigmaticWonder said:

So on the whole, it would encourage sustainable tree husbandry. Instead of clear cutting entire forest, you can do selective cutting, allowing the forest to generate back over time. Prefer a particular tree? Cull the others and keep only the ones you want growing.

? That's already what you can do. You cut down the trees you don't want, leave the ones you like, plant new ones where you want (the same spot where you cut one down, if you want), and maybe use saplings and now seeds for a tree farm in an area where they are easy to harvest.

 

[EnigmaticWonder]

22 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

Thinking of this from the coding perspective...   Would this be for ALL trees in world?  If so, I would think that the burden on servers could be quite demanding. 

I like the mechanic you describe, maybe constrain it to only player planted trees?

I would say for all trees, but I have to confess ignorance in regards to coding, so I'm not sure what entirely would be manageable in the game engine. But I'd imagine the game would look at block of chunks, and offset the growth times of seeds present by just enough to prevent too many trees maturing at once. I would also imagine a restriction on how many seeds/saplings could generate naturally per chunk, along side other natural limitations on growth such as soil condition, overhead foilage/blocks ect., with player planted trees being an exception the rules. I wouldn't think it would present more load on the game than a player planting a bunch of saplings themselves,  but again coding is not my area of expertise : P

 

22 hours ago, junawood said:

? That's already what you can do. You cut down the trees you don't want, leave the ones you like, plant new ones where you want (the same spot where you cut one down, if you want), and maybe use saplings and now seeds for a tree farm in an area where they are easy to harvest.

 

That is true, was merely imagining how such a system could work without the players input, creating a more dynamic and immersive world that exist and thrives regardless of the player.

[Maelstrom]

1 hour ago, EnigmaticWonder said:

I would say for all trees, but I have to confess ignorance in regards to coding, so I'm not sure what entirely would be manageable in the game engine. But I'd imagine the game would look at block of chunks, and offset the growth times of seeds present by just enough to prevent too many trees maturing at once. I would also imagine a restriction on how many seeds/saplings could generate naturally per chunk, along side other natural limitations on growth such as soil condition, overhead foilage/blocks ect., with player planted trees being an exception the rules. I wouldn't think it would present more load on the game than a player planting a bunch of saplings themselves,  but again coding is not my area of expertise : P

With my limited knowledge of programming, every seed would have be checked regularly to see if it changes state or not.  This would likely expand to all the trees visited to see if they would drop a seed.  Confining your idea to only player planted trees would keep the game from getting bogged down in processing all of the individual trees and seeds.  Of course, the devs (or mod makers) could show how ignorant I am (which would be appreciated).

Edited July 20, 2021 by Maelstrom