Constipated beefalos?

[ailailou]

Something happened to the digestive systems of these mammals after the last update? I have 3 big herds near my base and I give them a visit on a daily basis with the hope I'll gather some poop so I can start my damn farm monopole. But for whatever reason I can barely get 2-3 pieces of manure a day before having to return to my camp.

 

What might be wrong with these poor creatures? Each herd has at least 4 of them, and the situation is the same even if they are in heat. I used to easily get 20xManure a day from one single herd last time I played the game (A Moderately Friendly Update).

[Craig_Perry]

they changed it so if you arent close enough they won't produce manure

 

this was to stop people chancing upon piles of the stuff

[simplex]

they changed it so if you arent close enough they won't produce manure

 

this was to stop people chancing upon piles of the stuff

But wasn't running on piles of manure, like, half the game? :/

[Craig_Perry]

But wasn't running on piles of manure, like, half the game? :/

it was half the game, for those that use beefalo roughly 90% of people

[TeoSS69]

Give a Werepig a stack of 40 berries. Problem solved.

[ailailou]

I have no use for Werepig poop. I'd rather have myself some high quality manure from a healthy Pig. First winter at the moment on my newest world, and the 30 or something berries I have in my fridge are needed for them tasty meatballs. I just thought I'll gather some manure for a few days while waiting for winter to end.

 

Sooo, I need to be near them now in order for them to poop? Now this is... rather funny actually. *alt+tabs in the game to test it*

[learnergamer]

Glad that someone posted about this.

 

I found exactly the same thing going on in my game....found three herds of beefalo on a savannah, 3 in the first herd and at least half a dozen in the other two. Spent two days doing nothing but wandering amongst the herds - aside from wandering with a torch to explore more of the savannah at night. As at dusk on day two, I'd collected a grand total of seven pieces of manure from 15-20 beefalos.

 

Given all the wood, twigs, grass, berries etc I could've spent those two game days collecting, it seems to me that collecting seven pieces of manure is a very miserly haul - and now represents a very poor use of a character's time. I understand why the dev's made the change they did in the update but can't help but feel they swung the pendulum too far in the other direction. Fingers crossed, they'll consider tweaking the area of effect if that's the issue, or otherwise undertake the programming equivalent of feeding their beefalos a little more bran to ease their constipation.

[TeoSS69]

and the 30 or something berries I have in my fridge are needed for them tasty meatballs

Start hunting Koalefants son, meatballs won't do you any good.

[TRENTOMINOUS]

Start hunting Koalefants son, meatballs won't do you any good.

XD it's ironic because I'm a koalefant Hunter.   

[Craig_Perry]

Start hunting Koalefants son, meatballs won't do you any good.

well it is the first winter, its not the case of "not sure whats worse all the wasted wood or meatballs on day 208"

[TeoSS69]

well it is the first winter, its not the case of "not sure whats worse all the wasted wood or meatballs on day 208"

They must learn young.

[Nebulous]

See, this is why I set up near a cave. Bats most nights and all their white turds.

[ailailou]

Ima put that gif in the collection, 10x Teo.

 

I'm bored of Koelephants, honestly. I've been depending on them for way to many 250+ worlds (and I still do, they are my main source of meat). I don't need much else for hunger replenishment besides Meatballs, at least at the moment. Meaty Stew? unless I have stacks of meat that have a couple of days left until they turn to rot I won't cook Meaty Stews. No need for an instant 150 hunger replenishment, because I'm playing good ol' Wilson with his 150 hunger limit. Sure, a fully upgraded WX or Wolfgang, for these 2 the situation is different.

 

Buuuuut, the main topic here is not my love for foraging berries and how this is wrongly emanating an amateurish aura from me, but how these beefalos suddenly got so nervous and polite as not to poop while in my sight.

[hotflungwok]

I've noticed this about Beefalo too.  Spent 3 days with 2 herds and got 8 manure.  Pigs might actually be a better source now.

 

And what's wrong with meatballs?  Cheap, easy, filling. 

 

How exactly do you make 8 Koalaphant meat last all season?

[d2r]

Meatballs are generally regarded as a waste of meat by veteran players...though to be honest, I'm the sort of person who makes recipes just because, as opposed to for food efficiency.

 

One time, I made and ate monster lasagne because I felt like having my character eat lasagne, for example. And it's difficult to think of a worse use for monster meat.

[TeoSS69]

And what's wrong with meatballs?  Cheap, easy, filling. 

How exactly do you make 8 Koalaphant meat last all season?

ailailou doesn't want derailment. Don't tempt me.

 

[ailailou]

Thank you Teo, I appreciate it.^^ The thing is, these recipes debates when it comes down to food for surviving have taken place over and over again on dozens of threads. Logic dictates one thing, while personal preferences another.

 

Heck, I don't even know why I'm building farms since I've rarely used their vegetables. Just for the looks I guess, I like gardening. :3

 

Whelp, I guess I'll have to rely on pigs for manner from now on.

[FDru]

No food is a waste of meat unless you go over your hunger cap. Sure you could make "better" food but if you don't have better ingredients available then you settle for what you have. Meatballs are the most convenient and easy to make food period.

 

I survive fine without farming (as in, building zero farms) so I don't know what the fuss is. All of the farming mechanics are annoying anyway.

[learnergamer]

I survive fine without farming (as in, building zero farms) so I don't know what the fuss is. All of the farming mechanics are annoying anyway.

 

For me at least the two issues are (i) game balance and (ii) gameplay / fun.

 

Re: game balance. As I've noted above, the issue here is that visiting beefalo to collect manure is now obviously a very poor use of the character's time when compared to it's opportunity cost (ie. that action which the gamer could've pursued instead). Put another way, whilst I think anybody tempted to suggest that farms were too powerful previously might have had a point, I'd suggest that this change goes too far in the opposite direction. There is however I believe a happy medium which can be reached.

 

As others have noted in this thread, the obvious conclusion since the update is that even a large herd of beefalo isn't worth visiting any more to collect manure from...the gamer should simply ignore them and use pigs instead to produce manure if wanted. IMHO, game balance has been lessened as a result of the change in the update.

 

Re: gameplay. The key point here IMHO is what do the devs want the gamer to have to do to not starve?

 

When I think of that question, I'm reminded of a number of reviews which criticised the game for being repetitive: a number of reviewers mentioned that the gamer was essentially being asked to complete the same tasks over and over, which led to at least a modest sense of boredom creeping in. Now, to be fair, the game has come a long way since then and, having played the game since release, it's obvious to me that the devs have responded to this issue by working very hard to add content and therefore variety to the game, to increase both gameplay options and fun for the gamer. On the whole, I think the devs have done a magnificent job.

 

In my experience, the point raised in those reviews however is relevant to the question I asked (ie. what do the devs want the gamer to have to do to not starve?) because one of the ways I've enjoyed replaying the game is by simply playing the new map on which I've spawned. In other words, I've used that crux of survival: adapt to my surroundings.

 

As a result, there have been games I've played when I've built plenty of farms (because I found a large herd of beefalo near to a great location to a camp) and there have also been games when I've built none of them, either because there were very few beefalo around or the beefalo herd was in an otherwise poor location. That in turn has added to replay value.

 

Unfortunately however, this change in the update seems to have thrown this basic principle of survival – adapt to your surroundings (or play the map) out of the window IMHO. As has been pointed out, visiting even a large herd of beefalo no longer seems worthwhile. The result is that I'm once again reminded of the point made by some of those early reviews...that gameplay options / variety have been lessened and the gamer is being encouraged not to pursue a course of action to avoid starving, even if pursuing it is an otherwise strong choice given the world in which they've spawned.

 

Fortunately, as I've pointed out, I think the fix is a simple one – and I really hope some kind of fix gets at least considered, because I'm convinced there's a happy medium between the glut of beefalo manure it was possible to get in past games and the virtual absence of it I now see.

[gnarlytreeman]

what do you need piles of manure for anyway? after all you only need about 8 farms making more is pointless. the koalafant hunting btw can yield such a consistently healthful food supply it's astonishing. the spawn frequency ought to be adjusted.

[ARamblingSpider]

They need to eat more prunes.

[5raptorboy777]

They need to eat more prunes.

thei shud ad prunes. lets ad this 2 thu "this game is to op please nerf" thred.

[ARamblingSpider]

thei shud ad prunes. lets ad this 2 thu "this game is to op please nerf" thred.

I'm surprised that thread is still alive.

[the truthseeker]

Well, if I have to literally hang around for two days for about 7 manure with 12 Beefalo, that's why this thread is around. 

[Cynical Cynicist]

Why not just use that meat to make honey ham...or make dragonpies which are basically guaranteed sustenance for summer (and a large part of winter as well).