New food type: Herbs/spices

[Chibiabos]

Maybe it just makes things unnecessarily complicated, but I think it might be neat to have herbs/spices as a special food type.  Rather than Fine or Lavish meals requiring one vegetable ingredient and one meat, perhaps they could just require one (meat or vegetable) and one herb/spice.  This could allow fine/lavish vegan meals as well as fine/lavish meat-based meals.  Those could even work into new traits -- a colonist could be vegan (mood debuff if they eat meat) or meatlover (mood debuff if their food includes any kind of vegetable -- but herbs/spices to flavor their meat is fine).

[Songleaves]

I like this idea, but I think I'd like to see it limited to lavish meals. It would be nice if the differentiation between fine and lavish meals was more than just additional food.

[Zombra]

Cool idea.  I think I would do it like this: just make one crop type called "Spices".  Unlike rice or potatoes, it isn't nutritious by itself; you can't just eat it.  But as an ingredient in Fine or Lavish Meals, it grants an additional +1/+2 Mood bonus (respectively) from dining.

[Songleaves]

I don't think it should be a generic "spice". Just like how we don't have a generic "meat" or "grain" or "vegetable", I believe we need an actual plant, even if it is just something made up like "RimSpice". (note I am not advocating for RimSpice)

[Zombra]

Hmm, maybe you're right, but it seems like we wouldn't want multiple spices either because then gardening would get ridiculous, so whichever one spice it was would have to be fairly universal.

Maybe you should be able to mine for salt instead; that's pretty universal

[cultist]

I don't think it should be a generic "spice". Just like how we don't have a generic "meat" or "grain" or "vegetable", I believe we need an actual plant, even if it is just something made up like "RimSpice". (note I am not advocating for RimSpice)

Rimspice* it is!

*Endorsed by Songleaves.

Well to keep it in line with "healroot", maybe it should be called "makeotherfoodtastegoodplant" :p

[hector212121]

What about, say, 3 spices, and mixing them increases the mood boost? Make them a mini ingredient and have each plant drop 20-50

[Zombra]

What about, say, 3 spices, and mixing them increases the mood boost? Make them a mini ingredient and have each plant drop 20-50

Not bad, but I still don't like having to set aside 3 different patches in my garden.  Maybe you could just grow "spices" but 3 different ones would drop.  I don't know.  We're getting closer.

[JimmyAgnt007]

I think salt is a good idea, maybe use it for fine meals and have spices for lavish meals.

Humans generally require both meat and vegetables though some prefer exclusively vegetables.  debuffs for eating meat if they are a vegetarian  and both get buffs for eating their preferred food. (meat can be too rare for there to be debuffs from not eating it)

For growing spices, why not something small scale like flower pots set to the spice plant.  Of course also have the larger scale choice of farm fields but require rich soil or something.

Spice and salt should both be expensive and somewhat difficult to get a hold of.  Salt mines or harvesting ocean water.  Spices instead of plants can be harvested after it bursts from the ground.  (Yes like Dune only no giant worms and in any environment.)

[Boston]

I have always found it .... "weird" that different meals require different "types" of food, and that the different "types" and amount of food required don't really make sense. For example, something like succotash (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succotash) or Irish Stew (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_stew) in real life is considered an easy, simple meal, due to the ease of which they are prepared (no real spices, just throw everything together, etc).

In Rimworld, they would be considered Fine, or even Lavish, meals, due to having more than one ingredient.

Spices and salt would be a good way to "spice" (hehehehe) things up. Maybe make it so "simple meals" can have any combination of ingredients, but lack spices and salt, while "fine meals" have one or the other, and "lavish meals" have both and alcohol?

Or, just make it so that the more complex the meal, the more mood bonuses it gives? If you make a stew with meat, potatoes, beans, corn and squash, that would be pretty tasty. Versus, you know, just some boiled/baked potatoes.

Spices could be grown in a garden, just like regular crops, while salt could be made from seawater, traded for, or mined from the hills. Salt has been a trade good in real life for many thousands of years.

[JimmyAgnt007]

+2 for the good points Boston, -1 for the pun. lol

[Zombra]

I have always found it .... "weird" that different meals require different "types" of food, and that the different "types" and amount of food required don't really make sense. For example, something like succotash or Irish Stew in real life is considered an easy, simple meal, due to the ease of which they are prepared.  In Rimworld, they would be considered Fine, or even Lavish, meals, due to having more than one ingredient.

Eh.  It's not so much "weird" as expedient and sensible.  Complex modeling of every meal type combination and different mood effects and unique "meal labeling" for each different combo would be inappropriate for a game of this scope.  We shouldn't start complaining that it's unrealistic to mix potatoes and strawberries in a single dish.  The food system is fine.