With the changes to food growing, I did some science to see how the changes affect the game.
The following numbers are from the game info screens, actual game runs, planted in soil.
Food plants growing times were increased.
A growth day is the time the plant has full light, and correct temperature.
All plants rest, so even with a sun lamp they will not grow 24 hours a day.
Rice went from 3.76 growth days to 4.89 growth days
Strawberries went from 4.08 to 5.3 days
Potatoes went from 4.76 to 6.19 days
corn went from 10.52 to 13.68 days
Yields also changed. Yield depends on the growers skill, and can fail.
Rice has a yield of 0 to 7 per plant.
Strawberries have a yield of 0 to 7 per plant
Potatoes have a yield of 0 to 10 per plant
Corn has a yield of 0 to 27 per plant.
To compare; max yield/growth days
rice 1.43
Strawberries 1.32
Potatoes 1.61
Corn 1.97
Strawberries are the clear lowest food. Only advantage is you can eat them raw.
Rice grows quickly, but will take more work, and larger fields, to feed the colony.
Potatoes, 1.3 growth days longer, but a 40% greater yield than rice, is the early colony winner for me.
Corn is the best food for long term colonies, that can grow in soil, with the high yield and small amount of colonist work involved.
Nice maths, did you also take price in consideration ?
Some of the crops might be worth more than others.
Quote from: MultiDavid on August 27, 2015, 01:38:19 PM
Nice maths, did you also take price in consideration ?
Some of the crops might be worth more than others.
Rice: 1.9
Potatoes: 1.9
Corn: 2.1
Berries: 2.1
So seeing that the price difference is rather small compared to the growing, I'd grow a lot of rice for money. I worry about food before silver though, and I like to brew beer for money. Many traders want beer, it keeps my colonists happy and I like having a brewery for personal reasons!
Quote from: Ithildae on August 27, 2015, 01:49:50 PM
I like to brew beer for money. Many traders want beer, it keeps my colonists happy and I like having a brewery for personal reasons!
I find that beer is pretty lucrative as well....although now I find that hay is competing for space with my massive hops plantation....ah, choices.
Quote from: MultiDavid on August 27, 2015, 01:38:19 PM
Nice maths, did you also take price in consideration ?
Some of the crops might be worth more than others.
Was not concerned about selling of raw foods... only about feeding the hungry colonist.
Corn, Rice and Haygrass (absent from your stats) are unique in that they benefit a lot more from good soil, and suffer from bad soil. Most plants get +8% growth bonus in lichen-covered soil and +15% in rich soil. Corn, Rice, Haygrass gain +20% and +40% respectively. Hydroponics counts as very fertile soil, so rice is better in hydroponics than potatoes unless the extra work scares you. Rice in Hydroponics grows at 170% speed.
Quote from: b0rsuk on August 27, 2015, 05:07:24 PM
Corn, Rice and Haygrass (absent from your stats) are unique in that they benefit a lot more from good soil, and suffer from bad soil. Most plants get +8% growth bonus in lichen-covered soil and +15% in rich soil. Corn, Rice, Haygrass gain +20% and +40% respectively. Hydroponics counts as very fertile soil, so rice is better in hydroponics than potatoes unless the extra work scares you. Rice in Hydroponics grows at 170% speed.
Haygrass can not be used by colonists. outside the scope of feeding my colonist.
Also, stated this is ONLY for soil, nothing special.... want the stats for the other situations, take the time and do them, and share with the rest of us.
Thanks for running the numbers. My last colony started off with rice, and I didn't think it was worth it either unless the first harvest is absolutely needed ASAP.
So to adjust for soil we just take the OP numbers and multiply them by the bonus?
Plant | | Yield / growth time| | Soil bonus| | Sum| |
Potato | 1.61 | 1.15 | 1.85 |
Rice | 1.46 | 1.40 | 2.0 |
Corn | 1.97 | 1.40 | 2.75 |
If this is how stuff works - then corn is a massive yield improvement on rich soil. Rice is also worth considering - as corn is more susceptible to fire, cold snap, growth period and blight than rice due to its growth time.
Don't forget Lichen-covered soil numbers. Rich soil is a lot rarer than Lichen soil for greenhouse/open field users!
Plant | Yield / growth time| Soil multiplier | Final Yield/Growth|
Potato 1.61 1.08 1.73
Rice 1.46 1.20 1.75
Corn 1.97 1.20 2.36
Quote from: Ithildae on August 28, 2015, 09:30:43 AMas corn is more susceptible to fire, cold snap, growth period and blight
There is also storage time w/o refrigeration and corn beats all other plants in this. It is so high, that it is even possible to store most of corn not frozen.
Really useful info all around!
didn't honestly realize they were good choices and i typically do a crop of xerigium, potatoes and strawberries for most colonies. :)
Starting out has been much more difficult than I remembered. I guess this is due to the fact that the potato crop I am relying on feels like it takes a lot longer to grow. Couple this with the fact that skills now effect yields and I am worried about setting up my initial food sources.
How do you guys deal with the starting game and getting food running? How much food do you plant and of what type? Do you use a sunlamp? What is the benefit of having a sunlamp if they don't grow at night then?
I am just trying to figure out the best way to get food up and running as soon as possible. So any help is appreciated.
Quote from: Draxis on August 29, 2015, 09:26:49 AM
Starting out has been much more difficult than I remembered. I guess this is due to the fact that the potato crop I am relying on feels like it takes a lot longer to grow. Couple this with the fact that skills now effect yields and I am worried about setting up my initial food sources.
How do you guys deal with the starting game and getting food running? How much food do you plant and of what type? Do you use a sunlamp? What is the benefit of having a sunlamp if they don't grow at night then?
I am just trying to figure out the best way to get food up and running as soon as possible. So any help is appreciated.
I typically plant is "rows" often being something like 4*10 squares of planting. One row is rice, two is potato, one is xergium. I also look for rich soil, and if I find any I prioritize rice on rich soil. When the potato harvest is in, I change rice to corn. Then I look to expand into a roofed plantation with sun lamps inside and heaters. Here I usually allow hops and xergium as well.
Any other food is butchering. I do butcher a lot honestly. Last game I did at least 5 elks, some boars and exterminated the local muffalos just to keep my head above the water. When spring is back, things usually stabilize a lot. Oh. And I allowed some hay in the roofed plantation as well.
Quote from: Draxis on August 29, 2015, 09:26:49 AM
Starting out has been much more difficult than I remembered. I guess this is due to the fact that the potato crop I am relying on feels like it takes a lot longer to grow. Couple this with the fact that skills now effect yields and I am worried about setting up my initial food sources.
How do you guys deal with the starting game and getting food running? How much food do you plant and of what type? Do you use a sunlamp? What is the benefit of having a sunlamp if they don't grow at night then?
I am just trying to figure out the best way to get food up and running as soon as possible. So any help is appreciated.
yes food is much harder in the beginning now.
If I have rich soil close to my landing site, and where I want my base, I grow there, and design my base around that rich area. It also greatly depends on what biome you play in, the length of the sunshine days, as the northern biomes have less sun, which increases time until harvest.
One thing many players assume wrongly, is when potatoes say 6.19 days to grow, they will be harvesting in 6.2 days. That is not the number of days from sowing to harvesting, it is the actual days of growing time at brightly lit, and correct temperature. If you have 12 hours of brightly lit growing time, and the correct temperature range, the potatoes are ready to harvest in 12.4 days from sow to harvest, in standard soil. Eclipse, snow, rain, thunderstorms, all reduce light levels, so increase the time to grow to harvest. Indoors, solar flairs are another problem.