Agriculture Low Hanging Fruit

Subject: Agriculture Random Critter Spawns & NPC Profits Return.

Background:

I had to get an understanding of where we were at in Agriculture before suggesting this, and this thread was where I was reminded of the answers:
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/remind-me-about-agriculture.172811/

Roomers from the Development Team during past live streams:

1) I heard tell of a seed which was possibly destined to be gained through a Quest in the "Outlaw Run" instance, a seed called a "Bridgian Coffee Seed".

2) I heard tell of a Developer idea in "Treated Seeds" which may grow hybird plants.

My Personal Comment:
I think those ideas sound great. Even if some of those ideas end up being used in Lord British's up-coming game, (which I also plan on playing).

In the mean time I suggest:

1) That all sales prices to NPC's be returned to their long ago levels. My argument for that is very simple, the largest profit of any crop was Cotton and that is the only for profit crop now, which limits players to an agriculture cotton picking game only.

2) (and most importantly):

• Each type of crop grown when harvested, have a chance to spawn a Crazed Varmit/Vermin that would be a native nibbler of the crop chosen to grow.
• Each type of Crazed Varmit/Vermin would be more or less dangerous that all the others, which would then cause certian crops to be more deadly or dangerous to grow than the others.
• The chances of these Crazed Varmit/Vermin spawning should be rare, yet rare enough where a large (mega farm) would likely spawn enough to attract adventurers to wish to join in this agriculture activity.
• These Crazed Varmit/Vermin would also provide attractive add values to Cooking and thus those players who would enjoy Rare Cooking.

Conclusion:
This is a simple thing to program in and thus a very low hanging fruit of value to our game while also adding uniqueness.
This would also not interfere with the Developer Roomers in development previously mentioned.
This would also address the intent of the changes mentioned in the link, of encouraging hunting party activity while discouraging player solo agriculture.

I have very little hope that any of this will become enacted, yet I wanted to get it off my chest because I've played myself sick in Solo Cotton Picking yet I continue to have hope for a more robust agriculture, of which there has been many threads and wishes throughout our years in ways to enhance this part of our game.

I know we are a cottage gaming industry game, but I will continue to remind our developers that "Farmville" grossed $700,000,000.00 real US Dollars", which should serve as a demonstration of agriculture's potential in better profits for our game.

Crazed Varmit/Vermin Spawns & Return of Sales Prices to NPCs
"It's all very low hanging fruit"
~Time Lord~

 

Cantabrigian coffee seeds in Outlaw's Run are a daily turn-in quest item, I presume that's what you're thinking of in the first livestream comment. Maybe there's a plan to introduce a growable version in future but I've not seen anything in the game so far which would suggest that.

 

Yep, that's it @Vaentorian ! Those must be the ones... (I was watching an older live stream that mentioned them)

Are you saying "We can't grow those?"

Maybe we can in the future?

Have you tried growing from them?
~Time Lord~

 

I haven't tried growing Cantabrigian coffee seeds. I don't often grow things. They're tagged as a quest item (yellow text in inventory) and you can only collect one at a time until you turn them in, so I assumed they won't be compatible with the agriculture system. They are called 'seeds' but I imagine they are just objects as far as the game is concerned.

 

They are just a quest item. They are not planted

 

Sounds like a place holder for future development perhaps @Anpu ? Comming soon to New Britannia Starbucks?

~Bio Fueled Mech Suit or Power Supply~
We have yet to see the SOTA tinkering skill.


I think the power supply thinking in early times was in windmills & wind generators.

But then there's this quote from SOTA Release #59: "Kobold Distillation Device: This mysterious Kobold device is rumored to be used by Kobolds to make chemicals, bombs, potions, and liquors".

Kobold Distillation Device still seem like agriculture progress placeholder items.

I think I remember there was some sort of "Tinker Certificate" issued in pledge items.

I do remember in SOTA early fund raising that "Lord British the Garriot" having as much as 20% of his interview time spent touting a robust agriculture system in response to many interview questions on the topic. While I think "we do have a system", I don't think 20% of our development energy has been aimed in that direction... as of yet... Not a shortfall on the subject, but similar to all our old construction signs placed inside old instances, that development didn't have such a sign as a reminder of agriculture's goals.

*(Most all of what I'm talking about here in these agriculture threads, is a now missing element of our player's enjoyment experience, that being player innovations in our game design to help fill in "placeholders" that still lay within our game's development. It was that element which drove much within our game's development direction).
~Time Lord~

 

All this reading about farming stirred up some of my older ideas again, figure why not - i'll toss this out again:

Fertilizer....its been a dream ingredient for years, why not implement it.


From the Wikipedia:

Fertilizer - is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients.

Historically fertilization came from natural or organic sources: compost, animal manure, human manure, harvested minerals, crop rotations and byproducts of human-nature industries (i.e. fish processing waste, or bloodmeal from animal slaughter). However, starting in the 19th century, after innovations in plant nutrition, an agricultural industry developed around synthetically created fertilizers. This transition was important in transforming the global food system, allowing for larger-scale industrial agriculture with large crop yields.

Lets pull this apart a little, and see where this can translate into SOTA. The first part: material of natural or synthetic origin.

We just received "fancy toilets" as a reward - toilets process waste material - that waste material is historically a component of "fertilizer" One of my ideas for the release reward was different piles of "manure" so we could decorate up barns, horse pet fields, and other possible juvenile pranks/ideas. Why not - the release had a lot to be desired, adn that form of decoration would fit the general feeling of that.

You could possiby collect "materials" from it - kind of like the different cornucopia's that no one really collects from anymore. Use those materials in making different fertilizers.

I'll stick with the "natural" part for now - but the next paragraph:

Historically fertilization came from natural or organic sources: compost, animal manure, human manure, harvested minerals, crop rotations and byproducts of human-nature industries (i.e. fish processing waste, or bloodmeal from animal slaughter).

Kinda covered manure already, but the next ingredient - harvested minerals: we have granite, its a harvested mineral. We have sand, its also a harvested mineral (I actually do/did use wuite a bit of that rototilling it into my garden here at home IRL) How about thinking up ways to incorporate those ingredients into a large planter? Maybe the granite into a craftable decorative planter? Or a "terrace style planter with larger planting area - instead of a 2x10 planter, a 5x10, or 10x10. Different crafting materials in construction gives different effects on growth rates or returns.

What about the crop rotations? Crop rotations - well, that would have to give some serious thought, because no one really plants different crops unless they are doing it for deco, or doing a lot of cooking. I know my planters if they were anything similar to RL - would be sick of growing pumpkins, cotton or apple trees. Maybe make a hidden "rotation" where if you plant potatoes, peppers, then corn - the next crop would get a bonus percentage to yeild when harvested...dunno - that idea is a little far fetched to even me.

Byproducts of human-nature industries, (i.e. fish processing waste, or bloodmeal from animal slaughter). Ok, this is where we could have a little fun adding maybe some new ingredients, or more uses of fish filets, animal meats, and animal bones, entrails and things like that. The game has them as resources - make more uses for them.

Lastly - the part where we could have the biggest impact: synthetically created fertilizers.
Most everyone has a collection of whats considered useless potions. Lesser, regular potions of health, focus, poison and whatnot. Why not incorporate them into farming? Farming seeds have 3 different "tiers" - all related to growth times. Farming has greenhouses - which also effects the time of growth. Taking those together makes me think that adjusting the timer for seed growth is not super hard - its already built in. Use those potions to make a "liquid fertilizer that you can use instead of a "bucket" of water. Different potions can make different effects, a health potion could increase the yield of the plant. A focus potion could lower the timer, or maybe remove the effect of forgetting a watering cycle. Conversely - a poison potion could increase the timer. Why would anyone awant to increase the timer of a plant? Well - if I want to grow a 8hr cycle seed, a 16hr cycle seed and a 24hr cycle seed all at the same time...I could water the pumpkins with a "poison/growth inhibitor" - to double its growth time, plant some cotton and water it normally - or with a health potion mixture to increase the amount of cotton I gain, and water the apple trees with a focus potion mixture to cut the time down...and voila: everything is on the same watering cycle.

Now...thinking about the craftable planters...add shrines to them as a ingredient. Why: well, shrines are a 1 time craftable unless you just want them for a specific purpose. Once you got the ones you want, why would you make more?

Now when i think craftable planter - I am thinking of something that is the size of a row home or 1/3rd the size of a village deed) If you want to get froggy, maybe the size of a village deed.

Earth Shrine as a planter ingredient: everything gets a small bonus ? 5% ? to yield

Atenism (sun) shrine: Similar effect as a greenhouse, but not stackable - you cant throw this into a greenhouse and get 3x the speed, but you could toss it in the basement (if it fits) and negate the 10x penalty

Water Shrine: less watering needed, and (1) missed watering wont kill the harvest

Moon shrine: shrouded in darkness, all plant cycles are doubled. Why: I would mix these planters to plant different crops to make everything water/grow/harvest at the same time.

Air, fire, chaos, all the other shrines - cant think up ideas on them off the top of my head, but we are a large community - someone else has to have ideas.

 

Historically everywhere there was a river or brook watermills were used too.

 

After the invention of industrially produced fertiliser ("Haber-Bosch process", which should have no right of existance in a world of swordfights, archery and manufactoring) production and population took a giant leap


Tthe most prominent nitrogen fertiliser used until WW1 was bird **** ("Guano") which was imported in huge amounts to Europe from e.g. Chile.

Everything else before did not really create considerable more production but replenished the lack of "plantfeed" in the earth that was stressed by continous planting to continue to plant every year instead of the 3-field-method (3 fields, 2 being planted with different seeds to not suck the reserves in the earth dry but use different nutritiens, the 3rd lying fallow to replenish for next years planting) which used a lot more land.

Warning: Before fertiliser of any sort is implemented in the game, that would raise harvests, there would be need to do something about demand before, because else it would just make the larger harvest less worth.

e.g. have food actually be necessary as in earlier Ultimas or other games.
In one Ultima for example you could go on and do everything you wanted without ever eating, even magical healing worked - but NATURAL healing only worked when you had food on you when you rested. So - slower to 0 natural healing unless the player and NPC eats something, anything once every earth day?