1.0 - Where did all the berries go?

[Syrchalis]

Bull. Plants in Rimworld simply do not return at a natural rate after winter because the plant growth algorithm is borked, was for a long time.

Separately, a growing colony could not survive on berries and healroot because it would quickly have too many people for it to be feasible. Thus, plant regrowth is not actually a long-term balance factor.

As I said, I hated the way maps were left brown and dull after a winter and I agree that shouldn't be the case, but forageables getting less plentiful as time goes on is fine. Maybe you're underestimating raspberry bushes. They are insanely high yield plants, like several times as good as anything you can grow. Not even rice in hydroponics can compete. You also don't have to plant them, just harvest. If they are spread all over the map they can't really sustain a colony, but if berries were as frequent as in B18 throughout the entire game you probably could easily feed 6+ colonists from them, especially if you also hunt and make fine meals (you need just 4 bushes per colonist in that case).

What I'm trying to say - everything that helps early game might be good for the game, so early game never gets harder than mid or late game. Due to lack of items/tools/research etc. it's not easy to keep the early game down to a reasonable level.

So do I want more raspberry bushes in the beginning? Yes definitely. Do I want them to regrow everywhere, not just the edges? Hell yeah. Do I want them to be as plentiful later as in the start? Not really.