I miss old farming

[blahpers]

Came back to this game after a few years and found the new system to be a classic example of "more complex != better". It's needlessly overcomplicated compared to most other mechanics in the game.

But . . . clearly I'm wrong! The farming update is extremely popular. Given that, can someone lay out why the new system is somehow more fun for the average player?

[ArubaroBeefalo]

because you dont waste time farming grass, rocks and manure to feed most of your veggies to a bird so you can keep eating few of them but instead you can create cheap soil and enjoy a more interactive system than just clicking on expensive farms to get tons of veggies and seeds

isnt that overcomplicated since is ""similar"" to real life farming: just make soil, craft watercan, craft a hoe, till the ground, plant the seed, water it, research it with the gardener hat and read the info. Without the hat might be complicated but with it is very clear

takes a little at first but nothing compared with how bad were the old ones that, even playing as wurt, i didnt use them and was the only thing that made me not play warly until now

[BezKa]

More work=bigger reward, mostly. 

You can just plant whatever and come back later like it was with the old farms, the plants will still grow and give you the veggie. 

But if you put a bit of an effort to it, the rewards are much greater. The mechanics are pretty fun, with plants having various needs and there are tools to assist you with meeting them. 

There's various plant combos to learn, ruins item to be more precise, some buffs to Wormwood. Also water cans. 

Overall, it's just way less boring. 

[RoughCactus69]

I personally miss the old system purely because it was easy, and nostalgia reasons. 

That's about it.

 

Right now you can genuinely live off a a single 5X2 farm (Around 3 rigamajigs.) You just get more food overall for so much cheaper! Plus the cute little fly boyo!

[ALCRD]

On side note i like how DST's RWYS farming mechanics are more in depth than farming mechanics in Stardew Valley (RPG game about farming) 

[Hornete]

I like that it expands on the original core of this game, the core of learning.

I see a lot of people argue that DST drifts away from it's core, and in some cases I agree(stuff like the art style), but I do think DST has done such a fantastic job of reaching into that original core of trial and error, of learning and expanded it infinitely beyond with both fishing and farming. Fishing was just, put rod in pond, wait for a nibble, hook and reel, simple enough, simple to learn, and contributed to the learning experience of the game, mostly the same for farming, put seed in farm, maybe fertilize it to force it along a bit further and such.

Now? Farming and Fishing are extremely expanded mechanics with so much to learn and take in, they take that original core of Don't Starve and expanded it in a way I could have never imagined, the insane depth the two modern versions of these mechanics have is genuinely nutty to me, part of me wants to write a love letter just dedicated to Fishing, out of all the games I've played, I genuinely think DST does it the best, and damn, when a game has a good fishing minigame, it is a GREAT game.

With things like the fertilizing mechanics, watering, the fricking crop rotations! The fact that certain crops put nutrients back into the soil, which the player can take advantage of! It is some of the coolest things I have never seen, and I only hope that Don't Starve continues to modernize more food sources into these in-depth mechanics expanding the core of this game; learning.

[-Variant]

21 minutes ago, blahpers said:

It's needlessly overcomplicated compared to most other mechanics in the game.

New things will look scary and complex. It's not that bad, I was fearful when it first released too. It's a simple system you just need to work into.

And for the folks who don't care/want to not invest, you can still plant and forget with this system. You'll get the same if not more than you did with the old farming system. A lot of folks seem to overcomplicate it!

[Cheggf]

It's now among the best food sources in the game instead of among the worst.

[MondayNight]

If you're nostalgic after the old farming system, OP, and play on PC, can use this mod: Craftable Classic Farm.

Otherwise, as state in comments above, can learn new plot-farming mechanic - is not too hard, and benefits clearly being superior if investing time into it. Can solely search "Don't Starve Together Reap What You Sow" on YouTube for comprehensive guides. Gl!

PS: you may also find this online app useful in the learning process - DST Farm Planner.

[LinknAllie]

The new system grew on me simply because I get more than one crop per farm plot every 7(ish) days

[TheKingDedede]

The old system was so boring. Plant a seed on a single farm plot that took forever to make, and get nothing but the one seed and crop associated with it? If I do it over the course of a millenia, I might have some fun then.

Now, we've got jumbo sized crops, a boss associated with farming and a character who can capitalize on it and contribute to the team greatly. I'd almost like to see it in single player if it was an option.

[demon3000]

New sistem more effective, but you need knowledge, patience and more work. But delete old farm - it strange. You can used farm in a boats and live on water. Maybe need add to seafaring tab.

[Spino43]

8 minutes ago, demon3000 said:

New sistem more effective, but you need knowledge, patience and more work. But delete old farm - it strange. You can used farm in a boats and live on water. Maybe need add to seafaring tab.

I agree, they would fit perfectly for growing crop on the ocean. There's no need to remove them completely.

[minespatch]

8 minutes ago, demon3000 said:

ou can used farm in a boats and live on water. Maybe need add to seafaring tab.

How about a net farm? Would make players farm on the ocean during the winter.

[Echsrick]

sometimes i do miss simply placing a seed into a farm plot, and technicaly these farms are still in the code, for older worlds, alsol if you play alone, i think new farms are a bit much for single play, but there is a mod that adds them back as crafting again if you want, heres the mod

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2322014692

there is no shame using it, but it is server only mod of course

[ALCRD]

Hmmm recycling these old Farm Plots into Crop Planters similar like ones in Stardew Valley would be pretty cool actually.

Can't get giant crops on these , very limited space for crops , cost materials to craft but can be put anywhere including on a boat.

I think that could work .. maybe.

[blahpers]

Did players really have trouble getting enough food from vanilla (improved) farms?  We just built six to eight of them and planted all the seeds we found.  Took very little time, required no fiddling with nutrients or even watering, and no tools that would end up breaking and needing to be recrafted.  We barely even used the bird--just to make sure we didn't run out of dragonfruit seeds.  And nobody had to dedicate 50%+ of their time to maintaining the farm or figuring out growth combos--we continued to explore, shore up defenses, take out bosses, do some creative building, and so on.

I'd figured that Klei redid farming because it was too good, not because it wasn't good enough.  Now I really don't know what Klei's rationale was for that update.

[Mike23Ua]

1 minute ago, blahpers said:

Did players really have trouble getting enough food from vanilla (improved) farms?  We just built six to eight of them and planted all the seeds we found.  Took very little time, required no fiddling with nutrients or even watering, and no tools that would end up breaking and needing to be recrafted.  We barely even used the bird--just to make sure we didn't run out of dragonfruit seeds.  And nobody had to dedicate 50%+ of their time to maintaining the farm or figuring out growth combos--we continued to explore, shore up defenses, take out bosses, do some creative building, and so on.

I'd figured that Klei redid farming because it was too good, not because it wasn't good enough.  Now I really don't know what Klei's rationale was for that update.

The answer should be obvious, but they redid farming to make you actually have to work & put effort into it.. and if you put enough effort into it: You can get even better benefits beyond just what Old Crops was capable of.

[lakhnish]

On 4/19/2022 at 4:51 PM, blahpers said:

But . . . clearly I'm wrong! The farming update is extremely popular. Given that, can someone lay out why the new system is somehow more fun for the average player?

Here's all you need to know for the new farming.

Plant your seed. Talk to them once (or use a one-man band) and you get a guaranteed 1 crop AND a 1 seed back. And that's it. 

All of that for some flint, rope, and boards to make the Digmajig, which turns turf into tillable soil (36-40 tillable slots if you can till properly).

It's only complicated if you want to make giant crops.

[Keller Max]

1 hour ago, blahpers said:

Did players really have trouble getting enough food from vanilla (improved) farms?  We just built six to eight of them and planted all the seeds we found.  Took very little time, required no fiddling with nutrients or even watering, and no tools that would end up breaking and needing to be recrafted.  We barely even used the bird--just to make sure we didn't run out of dragonfruit seeds.  And nobody had to dedicate 50%+ of their time to maintaining the farm or figuring out growth combos--we continued to explore, shore up defenses, take out bosses, do some creative building, and so on.

I'd figured that Klei redid farming because it was too good, not because it wasn't good enough.  Now I really don't know what Klei's rationale was for that update.

With old Farming, you can produce up to 1 crop in 3 - 4 days, with one time cost of 10 Grass, 6 Manure, 4 Stone.

With new farm, you can produce up to 120 crops in 3 - 4 days, with one time cost of 3 Boards, 2 ropes, 2 Flints.

[Cheggf]

4 hours ago, blahpers said:

Did players really have trouble getting enough food from vanilla (improved) farms?

You were able to survive with the farms but you were putting in tons more time and effort than if you had used a different food source like pigs, goats, or bees. New farms are way less time for way more rewards.

[xhyom]

5 hours ago, blahpers said:

Did players really have trouble getting enough food from vanilla (improved) farms?  We just built six to eight of them and planted all the seeds we found.  Took very little time, required no fiddling with nutrients or even watering, and no tools that would end up breaking and needing to be recrafted.  We barely even used the bird--just to make sure we didn't run out of dragonfruit seeds.  And nobody had to dedicate 50%+ of their time to maintaining the farm or figuring out growth combos--we continued to explore, shore up defenses, take out bosses, do some creative building, and so on.

I'd figured that Klei redid farming because it was too good, not because it wasn't good enough.  Now I really don't know what Klei's rationale was for that update.

Jesus Christ...

[Theukon-dos]

8 hours ago, blahpers said:

But . . . clearly I'm wrong! The farming update is extremely popular. Given that, can someone lay out why the new system is somehow more fun for the average player?

5 hours ago, blahpers said:

Did players really have trouble getting enough food from vanilla (improved) farms?  We just built six to eight of them and planted all the seeds we found.  Took very little time, required no fiddling with nutrients or even watering, and no tools that would end up breaking and needing to be recrafted.  We barely even used the bird--just to make sure we didn't run out of dragonfruit seeds.  And nobody had to dedicate 50%+ of their time to maintaining the farm or figuring out growth combos--we continued to explore, shore up defenses, take out bosses, do some creative building, and so on.

I'd figured that Klei redid farming because it was too good, not because it wasn't good enough.  Now I really don't know what Klei's rationale was for that update.

Sense nobody's actually answered your question for some reason, allow me to explain.

 

Ahem. 

The old farming system was utter ASSSSSSSSSSSS

You claim (or atleast imply) that the old system of farming was better for average players, but it's actually the exact opposite. Old farms where a trap for newer/average players on account of the fact that they where comically inefficient.

This mostly comes down to 2 main things.

1. The cost

2. The yield.

 

For the cost, farms where very expensive. A single improved farm took 10 grass, 6 manure, and 4 rocks. The rocks and manure wheren't too bad truth be told, but 10 grass is a lot. That's only 4 farms/stack, and when you're expected to make 20 of the things, well, it's not exactly a small hurdle now is it.

 

But more importantly, the yield of farms was abysmal compared to other sources of food. Someone on Reddit did the math better than I could, but despite your experiences, Farms are objectively worse than even berry bushes. Crops on their own average out to about 15 hunger each compared to berrie's 12.5, which is a slight edge, except for the fact that you can fertilize several berry bushes per farm. And even if you optimized a farm set up for Dragonpies, you'd only get a second seed back about 33% of the time, meaning you had to burn 66% of your crops just to sustain the farm.

 

The new farming system is more complex, yes. But by all accounts old farms where the worst food source in the game. Not unusable by any stretch of the word. I used them once in my Wagstaff world because that was my first Megabase and I wanted to try something new. By there was without a doubt no reason to not make a better food source, such as rabbit or pig farms. New farms are much cheaper to set up and operate, and a well-tended farm can produce stacks upon stacks of crops with a bit of maintenance. 

 

 

Oh, also old farms didn't work in Winter, meaning that you needed a better food source anyways to get through it.

[ArubaroBeefalo]

7 hours ago, blahpers said:

I'd figured that Klei redid farming because it was too good, not because it wasn't good enough

[Mike23Ua]

I’m pretty certain that old farm crops did not work in the Winter Weather Season, which instantaneously means the new crops are superior in every single way.