Mutated Plants - feedback and suggestions

[pether]

I love it!

New plant system is great! There is so much great ideas about it! It is so super cool! To be specific, I love that:

• Farms can be improved in late game, not just expanded
• Mutations open new strategies for farming, new decisions, that fit different playstyles, with no "this is always best" option
• They introduce constant radiation requirement in the late game
• They look so cool, it is so easy to see what plant mutated into what
• There is this nice feeling I had when searched for pokemons, this thrill of excitement and anticipation each time plant is harvested

I'd love to see this system expanded, here are my some suggestions:

• Kanims for each mutation to reinforce the idea of each mutation being easy to identify by the one look
• MORE mutations (but tbh I will never have enough of this cool stuff)
• Rare mutations - better, but harder to get
• New building - Radlamp - 2x1 building that acts like ceiling lamp with radbolt port. It consumes radbolts and produce radioactive glow so my mutants could grow 
• Something to allow us detect mutated seeds more easy, maybe green glow around them? Hovering mouse over all of them takes so long...

Thanks KLEI, this update looks so fun! Good job!

[goboking]

2 hours ago, pether said:

• New building - Radlamp - 2x1 building that acts like ceiling lamp with radbolt port. It consumes radbolts and produce radioactive glow so my mutants could grow 
• Something to allow us detect mutated seeds more easy, maybe green glow around them? Hovering mouse over all of them takes so long...

These are both great ideas.  I'd probably go with a golden glow on the seeds just to make it stand out a bit more though.  The lamp could have non-agricultural applications, too, such as disinfecting surfaces and materials.

[sakura_sk]

3 hours ago, pether said:

Something to allow us detect mutated seeds more easy

There is this DNA thingy but a green or gold glow would be better

Also, a new storage category would be great! "Mutant seeds" perhaps? I don't think it needs to be one separate category for each individual mutation but at least you could select to not feed mutated seeds to pacu...

[Electroely]

Personally, I think mutant seeds are a bit too rare ATM. That, combined with the fact that mutants don't drop mutated seeds, makes having a decent amount of mutant plants really, really time consuming. I've been hitting 300-350 rads/cycle in my farm by dropping a ton of shine bug eggs in it, and even then I still don't have a decent amount of mutated seeds. I would like it if mutated seeds could drop more of their own kind, so I could create something like a specialized food farm, automated resin farm with Juicy Fruits mutations or make all the Mealwood at my Drecko ranch Leafy to save on space.

I also think that most mutations shouldn't really need radiation to keep growing. At this point, it's pretty minor since it just makes Wheezewort required every few tiles, but some of the mutations are too underwhelming to really justify it.

The blooming mutation, for example, only gives +25 decor. I might consider planting some blooming seeds here and there for a morale boost, but I would need both the plant and a Wheezewort. Decorational plants like the Jumping Joya usually do better since they don't require maintenance, can be planted in prettier containers than Planter Boxes and Farm Tiles and don't leave debris periodically.

Other than that, though, I really love the update! It's really cool being able to get variations of plants that fill different niches, and I can't wait to get a good enough amount of seeds to really experiment with it. I just can't seem to get a decent amount of seeds in the system's current state.

[goboking]

One early piece of feedback I have to offer (if TC doesn't mind me adding it to his thread instead of starting a new one) is that Blooming should produce Floral Scent germs in addition to the boosted decor.