Farming Update

[GhostCreep]

Farming Update

I like the idea of farming in this game... but feel it could be updated along with the Dino TLC... 

I would add a few more crops...

Lettuce, tomatoes, maybe even small fruit trees like apples, oranges, bananas, etc. If it wasn't to crazy to add...

You could add the ability to grow rare flowers, mushrooms, aberrant mushrooms, etc. but only under a certain greenhouse percentage maybe... Maybe 1 Element dust in the crop plot for aberrant mushrooms outside of Aberration.

Just allow for more of a variety in what we can grow and maybe add some new foods to cook...

Scrambled Eggs or Omelette, could add a buff for a short amount of time but spoils quickly. Maybe a short buff like Focal Chili or something that fits the breakfast idea of having a more focused mind when eating before setting out in the morning...

Seasoned Prime Meat, could use veggies, etc when preparing and work like raw mutton for carnivore tames plus add a small melee-damage buff for a short time to survivors.

Salads, could be like mutton for herbivores... It could take most if not all the veggies to make to keep it a little more difficult to get at first.

Fried Potatoes, could add a short stamina buff to survivors...

A medical brew to heal dinos with like a Veterinary Brew or some kind of meal that heals herbivores and carnivores separately would be really useful...

(All of these can be added without adding new crops but you get the idea...)

I realize this is a long shot because the kibble tree has already been based around the 4 veggies we have but more cooked foods with effects on survivors and dinos could make it worth it and would really be able to make farming and cooking a little more of a priority when playing.

I know we need it for kibble but it would really help to give farming a little more use and variety. Better builds with more utility out of what you grow...

I bet something like this could even get my mother playing this game if she could just sit in a walled base and take care of her farm all day without dealing with dinos attacking her...

Might sound lame to some but it could really bring other kinds of players in and those that don't want to run around taming and fighting could do more for their tribe then just building and crafting.

I get that they can just go play a different game because ARK is all about building and taming but more players is always the goal for any game and more ways of playing allows that to happen and could really diversify jobs among tribe members and game-play in general if it still fits with the core themes of ARK.

A lot of people love farming games... And if you already have the mechanic in your game for it you might as well try to expand on it to appeal to those players...

Even if it is expanded on in a simple way by not adding more mechanics but things to do with those mechanics, that could go along way.

It doesn't have to be a huge overhaul or change in anyway... Just an expansion on what is already in game with adding a few foods and crops. In fact I wouldn't change the kibble process at all so it doesn't really effect long time players, just brings in new ones.

Maybe a long crop plot to grow a straight line of multiple crops. Like a row of connected crop plots that looks more farm-like than planter-like... Maybe be able to take a straight area of flat land and turn it to a strip of farmland with a plow on a Equus or Trike... 

Hook the plow to the dino and then craft the straight strip of farmland in the inventory with X-amount of berries to feed the dino as a price and place it where you would like it. Then the dino could start walking the area and "create" it automatically on its own in front of you. That would take a new animation but it would be awesome. Not necessary just awesome.

Anyway they are just some thoughts...

Thank you for your time.

[GhostCreep]

30 minutes ago, DodoRaptor said:

Yep. I've heard the reason they nerfed it was because they didn't want it to be possible to fish up a better rod blueprint, so they made good rod BPs super rare, only usable thrice, and made it nearly impossible to obtain good loot with said rod. Why not just make good rods unfishable, but still have normal blueprints and a good chance of loot? It would also be nice if the normal resources were better, instead of five flint, two metal, raw fish, and prime meat that will just spoil. I've caught absorbent substrate, before and if we're wasting sap, honey, and leech blood on it, the average item should be at least that good. Substrate, black pearls, and good blueprints should be somewhat common.

I agree... More black pearls would make a lot of sense particularly because they could be "eating" them at sea...

Substrate, Prime Fish all make a lot of sense also... You should be getting prime fish meat every catch to use for water dinos your taming close by...

And making rod blueprints unfishable while adding others makes a lot of sense also... Good points and easy fixes if you ask me...

Thinking it through fishing could be vastly upgraded those ways... Especially letting us get more prime fish quickly for tames on the water and black pearls as common drops.

[Dinobros2000]

Yes! Farming and fishing ect. Update!

[GhostCreep]

That is WAY more in depth than what I was suggesting but I support it!

Well presented also.

[DodoRaptor]

Very neat ideas. Farming doesn't do much right now. Also, the iguanadon's special seeding ability doesn't do much either, since all you need is a parasaur/moschops to get a modest amount of seeds, and you're all set. I wonder if this could be tied in. @GhostCreep and @SapphireSam7 both have great ideas. More special recipes especially. Here are some more ideas.

Incredible Kibble: (kind of fits with the current kibble names): Perfectly tames all dinos, even those without a prefered kibble, like ravagers, dimorphodons, light pets, procoptodons, and compies. Extraordinary kibble eggs, but with extra expensive ingredients, like cooked mutton, black pearls, maybe even element. Does have limits (won't work on otters, hesperornis, basilisk, hyaenodon, etc.). Since it's so expensive, maybe it can tame with over 100% effectiveness.

Creaturewipe Tonic: Like on the previous post. Perhaps it takes one mindwipe tonic and one kibble, and only works on creatures who eat that kibble. Creatures with no kibble... hmm. Dunno. We've all accidentally leveled food or oxygen before, and on a bossfighting creature, or strong fighting mount, that really sucks.

Juices: It would be nice if you could juice fruit outside of Prim+, especially in early game. Water skins leak at a ridiculous speed, and water jars cost crystal, and cementing paste, which can be hard for beginners. Berries give water incredibly slow, and weigh a good bit, so it would be nice if you could juice a stack of 100 berries into an equivalent amount of hydration, allowing an early player to safely explore away from water sources.

Enraging Dart: Not exactly a recipe, but an interesting idea with consumables none the less. This would cost a bullet, stimulant, and rare flowers, and work the opposite of a pheromone dart. It would make a specific creature aggro on you, and help with luring creatures into pens, without them running away or attacking other things. Much more effective than eating a rare flower, since only one creature will charge. 

[SapphireSam7]

I too am a believer that the Farming aspect of Ark is a bit lacking. The standard game anyways. The Primitive Plus version is far more thought out and planned. 

And you had a lot of good idea's. I broke them down below to go over and add some to them. 

• Adding a few more crops
  • Lettuce, Tomatoes, Wheat, Rice, Barley, Tea, 
  • Changing the names of current items in game to modern counterparts for simplicity.
  • A good reference to a list of items are those found on Primitive Plus.... 
• Adding some fruit trees
  • Apples, Oranges, Banana's, Lemons, Limes, etc...
• Add Ability to grow all current plant based harvestables in game in crop plots. 
  • Aberrant mushrooms, rare mushrooms, rare flowers, etc...
• Add new food items to create.
  • PLEASE! It makes very little sense that we learned, as characters, to teleport and clone things and yet can hardly cook more than cooked meat. Yes, there is a create a recipe method, but that is just not the same thing.
  • Primitive Plus and the methods used on Altas are both good options and the recipes are amazing. 
• Creature Tonics - methods to heal your creatures. 
  • PLEASE! I do not care if it takes a crazy amount of rare items, I will put in the work. 
  • Creature Mindwipe - 
    • This would be a life and time saver - again, even if the recipe is hard to create. It could take tribute items and I would still put in the effort. 

As for the rest, I completely agree. 

Below are a few of the items I had been discussing with another that may fit in with what you were thinking;

• Crop Plots;
  • Basic (what is in game)
  • Stone
    • Upgraded border and more line items than previous engram.
    • Has the option to snap together like Tek Dedicated Storage.
    • When snapped, piping is built into the crop plot so that any "snapped" plots will water each other as long as one of them is connected to a water source. (extends 4 plots from plot with water connectivity)
    • Plots can be connected via pipe to create walkways. 
  • Metal
    • Upgraded border and more line items than previous engram.
    • Has the option to snap together like Tek Dedicated Storage.
    • When snapped, piping is built into the crop plot so that any "snapped" plots will water each other as long as one of them is connected to a water source. (extends 6 plots from plot with water connectivity)
    • Plots can be connected via pipe to create walkways. 
  • Tek 
    • Upgraded border and more line items than previous engram.
    • Has the option to snap together like Tek Dedicated Storage.
    • When snapped, piping is built into the crop plot so that any "snapped" plots will water each other as long as one of them is connected to a water source. (extends 8 plots from plot with water connectivity)
    • Plots can be connected via pipe to create walkways. 
• Elevated Crop Plots
  • Basic;
    • Same as what is in game, but designed to stand 1 foundation above the ground. Must snap to a previously placed foundation. 
  • Stone 
    • Reacts the same as above listed; but will require placement to a previously placed foundation and will resemble a stone foundation. 
  • Metal
    • Reacts the same as above listed; but will require placement to a previously placed foundation and will resemble a metal foundation. 
  • Tek
    • Reacts the same as above listed; but will require placement to a previously placed foundation and will resemble a tek foundation. 
• Fertilizer
  • Compost Bin - Currently in-game
  • Dung Beetle - Currently in-game
  • Composter -
    • Industrial level item, will 100 items and compost items at a faster rate. Will compost rotten meat.
  • Tek Composter -
    • Tek level item, will hold 350 items and compost items as a faster rate. Will compost rotten meat, mushrooms, and berries. 
    • Must be "snapped" to elevated tek and non-elevated crop plots for auto-fertilizing. 
    • Will require Tek Generator to power. 
• Harvesting
  • Adjust current harvesting settings;
    • Option One: (Based on a previous suggestion) Use Sickle or new item "Basket" to harvest from garden plots without requiring the character to access the plots. Applying fertilizer would then require the accessing of the inventory.
    • Option Two: (Based on Harvesting in Atlas) Harvest by walking up to the plots. A "Harvest" option would appear if you are in range just as the "Ride" option appears if you walk up to your creatures. Once harvested you would then see a "Fertilizer" option that would then let you drop in fertilizer without accessing the inventory. You would see the amount located when looking at the crop plot. 
    • Option Three: Leave it as is. 
  • Add "Tek Harvester" 
    • Tek level item, will store and hold harvested items until collected by player. Decay timer is slightly higher than a fridge to promote daily collection.
    • Must be "snapped" to elevated tek and non-elevated crop plots for auto-fertilizing. 
    • Will require Tek Generator to power.

Another aspect of Farming that is overlooked is the Greenhouse buildings. And here are a few reasons why;

• They do not properly snap. 
• Unlike other building items, a 4 high wall was not provided. 
• There is no upgraded format such as a metal or tek tier items for building that would allow the greenhouse to have more durability and longevity. 

Overall, I think too that this is an aspect of the game that is severely lacking. 

It is a survival game and farming is a big part of that. An Army Marches on its Stomach after-all. 

 

[GhostCreep]

I like these ideas.

Incredible kibble would be useful but instead of an over 100% effectiveness I'd be fine with it just taming faster at 100% and working on any dino.

Creaturewipe having the Mindwipe mixed with the kibble is clever... Your Incredible Kibble would cover those that don't have a kibble if they didn't just group them in with the others for the Creaturewipe specifically.

Making Extraordinary Kibble or that Incredible Kibble the only kibble ingredient needed plus adding the mindwipe (plus a few other ingredients) for a Creaturewipe recipe that cover every dino would make the most sense though... Better to keep it simplified.

I like the juice idea but don't see what you would keep it in if not waterskins and water jars? I might of missed that part but if the juice was in a waterskins wouldn't it drain the same anyway?

Or do you mean when a berry stack reaches 100 you would have the option to "drink" them pretty much? Because you would still be carrying stacks of berries to drink them...

I like the idea of making juices but I don't see a big benefit from them unless they had some added effect...

Juice in real life wouldn't hydrate you as well as water would so even making your hydration drain slower isn't very realistic either...

Still wouldn't mind having the option to make juices and wine though... Maybe you can set me straight on what you meant I'm really not trying to shoot that idea down even though it might sound like it...

And the aggro dart would be useful but shooting them with tranqs or arrows usually lures them pretty effectively from my own experience... but it would still be useful to not have to worry about them getting side tracked or killing them.

Again really good ideas.

[GhostCreep]

7 hours ago, SapphireSam7 said:

This is an area of the game I have thought about a lot. Both the Farming and branching into the Cooking as they do tend to go hand-in-hand to a degree. While playing Primitive Plus and on Atlas, I usually end up playing as the Farmer/Cook for the bunch so I have done quiet a bit of it. 

Which is why I had so much ready to go with for a reply. 

As for the recipes mentioned. 

• Incredible Kibble - I am about 50-50 on this one.
  • For convenience sake, it would make things easier. Rather than hauling around the different kibbles and memorizing their recipes, you could focus on crafting one kibble to "rule them all" so to speak.
  • It would have to be extremely costly. Given how fun it can be to already make the other kibbles, this one would have to be a beast. It should almost require the use of the other kibbles to make it. Like merging them into one for a mastery kibble form. 
• Creature Mindwipe - Please
  • What you are suggesting @DodoRaptor sounds like you would like there to be multiple forms of Creature Mindwipe just as there are kibbles. And it makes sense to a degree. The toughest creatures to tame cost the most expensive kibbles and therefore the toughest creatures to tame could have a more expensive Mindwipe. 
  • My only question is, would it really be necessary though? As hard as it is to craft, assuming it would need to be so for what it does, would making multiple varieties be necessary or would it possibly make more sense that the recipe require 2-4 types of kibble to make it, of which they could be interchangeable. It would keep the high cost, and keep the difficulty factor without having to add 6 new line items that may not be used all to often to store. 
• Juices
  • @GhostCreep, I think what @DodoRaptor was getting at, and I could be wrong, is the ability to use juices similarly to how it is done in Primitive plus. If I remember correctly the recipes require only the item being juiced and some sugar cane to create. They aren't stored in a vessel. So the water-skin and water-jar are not necessary to carry around with you.
  • As for what they can do for you, Mejoberry Juice for example will halt stamina consumption for 30s if consumed while sprinting. It doesn't necessary take the place of a cool drink of water, but it will do something for you. They each have a purpose if I recall, though some are similar. 
• Enraging/Aggro Dart
  • For the most part - running up to something and punching it or shooting it with a tranq does the trick for me. However that said, there are a few creatures that tend to loose aggro quickly and there are times when being able to pull something away from a group of creatures without pissing the others off would be nice. So for that, I can get behind this particular item. Though like you said it doesn't pertain to the main point of discussion. As a separate idea however,  I would up-vote it. 
• Recipes: In general
  • One thing I love about Primitive Plus and Atlas is what they have to offer as far as the items you can grow and use. There is just so much more you can do that honestly make a lot of sense in a survival world. And while I know having a "special effect" to some would be nice, from a new survivor perspective, simply being able to make some scrambled or fried eggs would be a nice start on the go for added food. 
  • Now I am not saying that either game are perfect. Atlas simply makes farming easier. It is simple and fast. And Primitive Plus really breaks down the cooking process. Having the different stations and such to break down the process can be confusing, but I also find it a lot of fun. I would be nice if they were to take that and clean it up before adding it. Simply having engrams for the items each station processes would be a great start. 
  • And I think that creating recipes, as you can with ark now, but with the additional ingredients of Primitive Plus, could allow someone to really create the "fancy" meals one may expect at the higher levels of the game. 

I really do hope that this area of the game is not dropped but is eventually worked on. 

I get what they meant now...

The Extraordinary Kibble does seem to work on every dino 100%, already doing what the Incredible Kibble was suggested to do... That's why I bred Yuties. Idk if it works on dinos that don't take kibble specifically, but I know it has worked on every tame I have ever used it on... So the Incredible Kibble might not actually be necessary now that I think about it... 

I think all kibbles for the most part work for any dino that takes a lower level kibble than it is but not entirely sure.

[GhostCreep]

I also made a "primite life update" post that this all should be rolled together with as one big update, farming and primitive tech additions.

[GhostCreep]

I hadn't really thought about fishing because I really don't ever fish in ARK... Probably because it needs an update! Good call!

[SapphireSam7]

This is an area of the game I have thought about a lot. Both the Farming and branching into the Cooking as they do tend to go hand-in-hand to a degree. While playing Primitive Plus and on Atlas, I usually end up playing as the Farmer/Cook for the bunch so I have done quiet a bit of it. 

Which is why I had so much ready to go with for a reply. 

As for the recipes mentioned. 

• Incredible Kibble - I am about 50-50 on this one.
  • For convenience sake, it would make things easier. Rather than hauling around the different kibbles and memorizing their recipes, you could focus on crafting one kibble to "rule them all" so to speak.
  • It would have to be extremely costly. Given how fun it can be to already make the other kibbles, this one would have to be a beast. It should almost require the use of the other kibbles to make it. Like merging them into one for a mastery kibble form. 
• Creature Mindwipe - Please
  • What you are suggesting @DodoRaptor sounds like you would like there to be multiple forms of Creature Mindwipe just as there are kibbles. And it makes sense to a degree. The toughest creatures to tame cost the most expensive kibbles and therefore the toughest creatures to tame could have a more expensive Mindwipe. 
  • My only question is, would it really be necessary though? As hard as it is to craft, assuming it would need to be so for what it does, would making multiple varieties be necessary or would it possibly make more sense that the recipe require 2-4 types of kibble to make it, of which they could be interchangeable. It would keep the high cost, and keep the difficulty factor without having to add 6 new line items that may not be used all to often to store. 
• Juices
  • @GhostCreep, I think what @DodoRaptor was getting at, and I could be wrong, is the ability to use juices similarly to how it is done in Primitive plus. If I remember correctly the recipes require only the item being juiced and some sugar cane to create. They aren't stored in a vessel. So the water-skin and water-jar are not necessary to carry around with you.
  • As for what they can do for you, Mejoberry Juice for example will halt stamina consumption for 30s if consumed while sprinting. It doesn't necessary take the place of a cool drink of water, but it will do something for you. They each have a purpose if I recall, though some are similar. 
• Enraging/Aggro Dart
  • For the most part - running up to something and punching it or shooting it with a tranq does the trick for me. However that said, there are a few creatures that tend to loose aggro quickly and there are times when being able to pull something away from a group of creatures without pissing the others off would be nice. So for that, I can get behind this particular item. Though like you said it doesn't pertain to the main point of discussion. As a separate idea however,  I would up-vote it. 
• Recipes: In general
  • One thing I love about Primitive Plus and Atlas is what they have to offer as far as the items you can grow and use. There is just so much more you can do that honestly make a lot of sense in a survival world. And while I know having a "special effect" to some would be nice, from a new survivor perspective, simply being able to make some scrambled or fried eggs would be a nice start on the go for added food. 
  • Now I am not saying that either game are perfect. Atlas simply makes farming easier. It is simple and fast. And Primitive Plus really breaks down the cooking process. Having the different stations and such to break down the process can be confusing, but I also find it a lot of fun. I would be nice if they were to take that and clean it up before adding it. Simply having engrams for the items each station processes would be a great start. 
  • And I think that creating recipes, as you can with ark now, but with the additional ingredients of Primitive Plus, could allow someone to really create the "fancy" meals one may expect at the higher levels of the game. 

I really do hope that this area of the game is not dropped but is eventually worked on. 

[DodoRaptor]

On 6/28/2020 at 12:27 PM, GhostCreep said:

I hadn't really thought about fishing because I really don't ever fish in ARK... Probably because it needs an update! Good call!

Yep. I've heard the reason they nerfed it was because they didn't want it to be possible to fish up a better rod blueprint, so they made good rod BPs super rare, only usable thrice, and made it nearly impossible to obtain good loot with said rod. Why not just make good rods unfishable, but still have normal blueprints and a good chance of loot? It would also be nice if the normal resources were better, instead of five flint, two metal, raw fish, and prime meat that will just spoil. I've caught absorbent substrate, before and if we're wasting sap, honey, and leech blood on it, the average item should be at least that good. Substrate, black pearls, and good blueprints should be somewhat common.