Some config questions

[Omicron 62]

I've looked around using the search function, but I've not been able to find answers to these, so here goes

 

 

1.) Ore density

In TFCOre.cfg, I can modify the density of spawning ore veins, with higher numbers resulting in more compact veins (less stone blocks between ore blocks). But: how is that density achieved? I can imagine two variants. Either the physical dimensions of the ore vein changes while keeping the average amount of ore blocks constant; a less dense vein will simply sprawl over a bigger area than a more dense one. Or, the physical dimensions of the vein is held constant, and the density decides how many blocks in that constant area are ore blocks and how many are stone blocks. A less dense vein will have less ore in total than a more dense one.

 

Which of the two is it? If it's case 2, I may want to offset my changes to density with changes to rarity and/or vein size, so I don't change the actual amount of ore too far from the default.

 

 

2.) Crop growth speed

One thing that has always annoyed me a little bit about TFC crops is the fact that crops with a growth time of "very long" (usually grains) are unable to complete a single growth cycle before depleting all available nutrients in the ground. The very last stage on those crops can take as much time as all other stages combined because of this. So I thought, maybe I can tweak crop growth speed just a little to reduce the frequency of this happening. However, again, I can imagine two possible scenarios.

 

Either a crop is set to require a fixed amount of nutrient to mature, and modifying the growth speed simply changes the rate at which fertilizer is consumed in lockstep with the rate the plant grows at. In this case, slightly lengthening the crop growth time will result in a more smooth growth for the slowest crops, as the ground will produce more nutrients during that time.

 

Or, a crop always consumes the same amount of nutrient over a given time period, independent of growth speed. In this case, slightly shortening the crop growth time will result in a more smooth growth for the slowest crops, as they will be able to reach maturity before running the ground completely dry.

 

Which of the two is it?

 

Bonus question: how does ingame year length play into this? I seem to recall reading that lengthening the year will increase some timers, such as the gestation and growth periods of animals, which are always a number of months, not days. Does lengthening the year also slow crop growth? And if it does, and the answer to the above question is case 2, does that mean that progressively lengthening the year more and more will cause more and more crop types to run out of nutrients before they finish growing?

Edited 17 Jan 2016 by Omicron

[Kittychanley 1,002]

Ore Density: The average number of ore blocks will always stay the same. The density just determines how close or spread out those blocks are.

 

Crop Growth Speed: A long time ago I actually ran a bunch of simulations and tweaked the code so that on the average case, every single crop will complete its entire growth cycle before the plot is completely depleted, regardless of how long it takes to grow. This is because we alter nutrient drain rate for each individual crop type. If your grains are consistently depleting the entire plot before they complete, you might want to double check that the plot was actually completely full of nutrients before you started, that the plot is properly hydrated, and that you aren't growing them at bare minimum temperatures.

 

Another important thing to note, the nutrient that a crop is draining will never replenish naturally as long as the crop is planted there. In fact, no nutrients will replenish in any farmland that has crops on top of them unless it is specifically a crop that regenerates the other nutrients while it drains the primary ones, like soy beans.

 

Nutrient drain is consistent regardless of how much the crop grows. Every time it grows, even if it's just the tiniest amount, the same amount of nutrients are depleted from the plot. So setting the multiplier to a larger number means that your crops will grow faster, completely independent of nutrient drain.

 

Year Length: Increased year length does mean slower crop growth. However, the number of nutrients in a full plot is higher, and the drain amount for each growth cycle is also lower. If anything, growing crops is easier with longer year lengths as all crops will drain less total nutrients compared to the maximum of the plot throughout their growth cycle. It just takes more time.

[Omicron 62]

Thank you for the detailed answer!