caelran.
coldbonesSo I was wondering if there’s a difference in production from the different livestock “buildings.”
I have a couple of 25×25 Paddocks, one with cows and one with chickens. The chickens one holds 125 chickens and produces around 340 food per year (180 meat 160 eggs or so). My cows paddock is not full yet, but in a previous game I had a similar one and it was quite a bit, closer to 1,000 food per year between meat and milk. I noticed that when my stockbreeder picks up the eggs in the pen at the chicken paddock, they get replaced fairly quickly and I was wondering if some of the chicken production is going to waste because the stocks can’t get emptied fast enough for that many chickens? Are the specialized buildings more productive per chicken, or are they size limited because that’s what the worker can produce and more is just a waste anyway? Or are they just different buildings to give some variety?
Tom SawyerHi and welcome!
Yes, eggs are wasted in a big paddock full of chickens where people can’t pick them up fast enough. Chickens stop dropping eggs if those spots are full (like cows stop giving milk and sheep giving wool). Laborers also pick up eggs but they do not slaughter, so an overwhelmed stockbreeder is wasting meat as well. Chickens are more suitable in small areas where cows would not have enough room.
The idea of different pastures was originally to have nice looking variants for different livestock and to not have to raise chickens in pastures. Different productivity results only from species and their characteristics, and those circumstances like area and walkways to storage.
Different min/max sizes of pastures kind of suit the livestock they are meant for. In a coop it’s only useful to breed chickens because too small for sheep and cows. And in a paddock it’s only useful to breed cows or sheep because they are more productive than chickens there. It’s not possible to limit the select livestock button in different pasture objects but players usually pick the suitable option because it makes the most sense not only in look but also in productivity.
coldbonesThanks for the reply! I’ve been running some tests – really I’ve been trying to design a “hub” that provides enough food for some growth and so I’ve been trying to figure out what kind of production I can expect from different food producers to try to get the right number of houses for the production, and also get an estimate of what kind of excess food production to expect from it. Its a fun little puzzle to solve, inspired by alecium from here: https://www.banishedventures.com/howto-happiness/
So far, cows and barley are the clear winners from a food per worker perspective. I’m not sold on any food processing until my workers are educated, although I haven’t tested yet.
Anyway – this is a fantastic mod.
caelranHas anyone done experimentation to determine what the largest optimal size of barley field & Cattle fields are for this mod (and how many farmers per that size field?) ? Seems to be a bit different that vanilla, which is great!
NillaMy oppinion is that the optimal field size and number of farmers that are published in different forums are a myth. There is no optimal size valid everywhere in every condition! Not in vanilla gameplay, not in the North. It depends on various things. Climate! Do you optimize output for each worker or output of a certain area? Which crop do you have? Where are stores and the houses of the farmers? Are the farmers happy and healthy? Everything has an influence.
Generally, I use smaller fields in the North than vanilla, the harsher the climate, the smaller the fields. Turnips and other heavy vegetables, smaller fields than barley and beans with lower weight. If the farmers aren’t fully happy, I like to have a bit larger fields with 2 farmers on each, you never know when someone goes away a long time to idle, with happy farmers, I prefere 1 farmer fields. I can say I make sizes between 70 and 150 tiles. And I’m always tryng to optimize the output.
With pastures, it’s similar. How desperate do you need the meat/leather? Can it wait, I use the maximum size (more or less) If I want it to be full fast, I make it smaller.
One thing however is important in the North by fields and orchards; start the harvest manually sometimes in late August early September, no matter if it’s close to fully grown or not. Maybe on mild it can work without but on fair or harsh, it’s absoulutely necessary or you’ll lose a lot of crop.
caelranThanks!
