Rainfall and plant growth?

[Mystic]

Does rainfall affect the rate of plant growth?  I haven't seen any indication that it does, but it is a difficult thing to evaluate precisely.

If it doesn't, then I think it should - i.e., the longer it has been since any rain fell, the more the plant growth rate should slow down from its standard, maxed-out speed, to the point of nearly stopping altogether in a drought.  I need only look out of my windows at the grass in my yard to see support from Mother Nature for this idea.

[Tynan]

It doesn't affect plant growth.

Just because having it do so would require another big system to track moisture per-square. It would have to be saved/loaded, updated, etc... The ecology is unstable enough without adding another factor in.

[Fruit loops]

maybe just if its raining and there is a crop zone outside it gets a small boost and when it stops raining it gos away?

[Mystic]

It doesn't affect plant growth.

Just because having it do so would require another big system to track moisture per-square. It would have to be saved/loaded, updated, etc... The ecology is unstable enough without adding another factor in.

I was merely thinking of this being a straightforward, global scaling factor for the growth rate of any plant life that is classified as "outdoors", based on how long it had been since the last rain event, just stored as a global timestamp value.  I thought that the "roof" mechanic might provide an easy, ready-made statistic to make the determination of what plant squares are "outdoors" and hence affected by this scaling factor (a statistic which would be entirely appropriate in this case, since the presence or absence of a roof is primarily what determines the effect of rainfall on the ground underneath).  But if you say that this would need to be handled separately for each square, then of course there may be more going on underneath the hood with plant growth rates than I would have guessed.

Oh well, it was just my Rimworld thought for the day. 

[kingtyris]

It doesn't affect plant growth.

Just because having it do so would require another big system to track moisture per-square. It would have to be saved/loaded, updated, etc... The ecology is unstable enough without adding another factor in.

I was merely thinking of this being a straightforward, global scaling factor for the growth rate of any plant life that is classified as "outdoors", based on how long it had been since the last rain event, just stored as a global timestamp value.  I thought that the "roof" mechanic might provide an easy, ready-made statistic to make the determination of what plant squares are "outdoors" and hence affected by this scaling factor (a statistic which would be entirely appropriate in this case, since the presence or absence of a roof is primarily what determines the effect of rainfall on the ground underneath).  But if you say that this would need to be handled separately for each square, then of course there may be more going on underneath the hood with plant growth rates than I would have guessed.

Oh well, it was just my Rimworld thought for the day. 

This guy. He makes a good case.

[MajorFordson]

I don't see plants requiring water in this way to be a necessity for the game, if it's a PITA like Tynan says. I think the generic "it rains sometimes" is more than enough of an environmental effect to show the player "yes water falls from the sky and the plants grow here"

Though naturally plants in unsuitable climates shouldn't be able to grow. So no potatoes in the desert, unless you have a water pump or something or you grow them indoors.

[kingtyris]

I don't know, relating rain to plant growth wouldn't be hard to implement and would be a small change that could deepen game play.

So basically, anytime the weather sets to any kind of rain, all growing zones outdoors get a global buff to grow speeds. This is more cosmetic than anything, as the growth speed is already fine and buffing it too much would be OP.

However, the storyteller could keep a counter for how long the periods between rainfalls lasts, and if it takes too long, a Drought could occur, which would debuff plant growth, and if it takes WAY too long, Severe Drought could halt all traditional agriculture completely. This would also be a good way to introduce new constructions, like maybe Sprinklers and Irrigation Ditches that would immunize given areas from drought, and could function similarly to nutrient pumps.

[Spidyy]

We could do the opposite : Acidic/poluted/contaminated rains that damage the plants and stop or revert the growth.