Volcanic Farms

Discussion in 'Suggestions' started by Sventex, Apr 13, 2017.

  1. Sventex

    Sventex Pangalactic Porcupine

    Hey, this is my first real post on this forum, so I hope I make it a good one. I just want to say, I love the new Farm Maps this game introduced, which has made running different playthroughs very interesting.
    While I was baking in the Ibusuki Sand Baths in Japan on a visit, I thought of an idea: a volcanic farm. A lot of these onsen inns are built in the countryside by the farms. Much like the idea of a forest farm or river lands farm, the volcanic farm would be near a volcano, which would offer a farmer new opportunities and hardships.

    Pros:
    Volcanic soil is extremely fertile, very rich in minerals. All crops grown on the farm will be naturally fertilized.
    Possibility of having a hot springs on the farm, allowing the farmer to rest and recuperate without needing to travel so far to the bathhouse up north or wait for the earthquake event.
    Neat new aesthetic, with darker rocks and soil and bubbling ponds.
    Natural warm soil and steam-vents may allow for winter farming, or the building of additional greenhouses.


    Cons:
    The terrain near volcanoes tends to be rough or uneven.
    Tough volcanic rocks could naturally litter the farm in the start, and generate more rapidly then on other farms.
    Fertile soil could cause the natural trees and weeds to grow more rapidly, require more maintenance on the part of the farmer to prevent the farm from becoming a tropical forest.

    I'm interested to hear any feedback on this idea. Such instances of Volcanic Farms can be found in places like the Big Island of Hawaii, or Khushu, Japan, or Luzon, Philippians.
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      Bismuth Seed likes this.
    • blind3rdeye

      blind3rdeye Big Damn Hero

      New farm zones with unique properties would always be welcome; and I think the ideas you've posted sound pretty good. However, I will say that it sounds like a pretty powerful farmland. Auto-fertilised ground would provide a decent head-start in the early game; and faster grounding natural plants isn't necessarily a disadvantage...

      Different farmlands don't necessarily have to be balanced; but I do think that new and special farms should generally be more difficult than the default farm - given that experienced players are the target audience. So I reckon this farm would need something kind of harsh as a counter-balanced to the perks you mentioned.
       
      • Sventex

        Sventex Pangalactic Porcupine

        I was thinking that the farm would start with a lot of rocks scattered about that require a heavily upgraded pickaxe to remove, and generally tougher terrain to work with. (But I'm not a geologist, so I don't know if volcanic rock is that much tougher then normal rocks) And I suppose there's the idea of a volcanic eruption weather event that could disrupt the farm, but I don't know if that's within the capabilities of the game. The main draw of this farm, in my mind, is having an on-site hot spring to recharge energy more conveniently, but also having more busywork on the farm to balance it out. At least in the first year, I don't feel like I'm spending enough time on my farm, and traveling all the way to the bathhouse is too time consuming to be worth it.

        Or for balance sake, the buildings could be more expensive to build on the volcanic farm because they had to be built with extra protections against earth tremors and fire. So crops would end up being more profitable, and ranching a bit more difficult.
         

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