Hey guys I was wondering if anyone knows if there will be any kind of seed system, or if the current farming system is staying? In particular, it occurred to me that that some high value foods / products could require destroying the plant seeds, which would add an interesting seed wastage / food quality dimension to the current food chain (especially if the upper class start throwing hissy fits over food quality).
There's definitely potential for mechanics there. Maybe the possibility for buying/finding seed types to use.
I don't feel so honestly as long as its kept at a reasonable degree. You need x number of "bags of seed" to plant a field and everytime your colonists harvest a crop theres a chance of also getting a bag of seed. Weighted in such a way that having a farm with little or no malfeasant clawbulbs would yield a surplus to open up the options for more farms or maybe use the seeds as a food source directly or as an ingredient. Getting seeds in the first place would then be 1) some form the initial supplies 2) some can be found on the map if it's a native plant 3) from trading once such a system is there. I don't feel its really really necessary and we can live without, but on the other hand I don't see it as a unnecessary complication nor "micromanagement": More like a way to have progress as there would be some crops that were very good food or trading supplies that needs to be "unlocked" by playing a bit and as such creating another measure of progress for your colony "Yuhuuu! I have cotton! I can trade that for some precious metals I really need!".
Well, that always depends on how you actually implement the system. If we use the literal "collect one seed per plant" system then yes, I would strangle you all in your sleep if I woke up and saw that in the game. I almost yearn for more systems that promote progression, empire wide metagame stuff. Say the Empire has several different Scientific Organizations. Flora, Fauna, Explosives, etc. And over time as you play more and more colonies you unlock and discover new animals, crops, modules. One day I make a Desert colony, it dies horribley but before it did my explorers found and domesticated a Fruit Cactus. In my next Colony I can bring Fruit Cactus seeds with me, allowing my colonists to farm for these cacti (Afterall, when harvested most plants leave their seeds). Now comes the interesting part, you already have a system in place that supports my idea: Naturalists. As they explore, they collect data about the animals and plants they find. A precious few they take extreme interest in they may Scheme about. The naturalist will take their time collecting samples of the item, writing thesis papers, and gathering research. When their Scheming is complete the Naturalist can do several things, sometimes without the players advice. The Data can be turned into an representative to the Empire, such as an aristocrat or supply zeppelin to potentially unlock things, gain favor, or accidentally discover something for an enemy empire (That Supply Captain was a spy all along!?) In short: Give us lots of complicated little mechanics like this done in imaginative, character-intrinsic ways rather than boring inventory whack a mole solutions you thankfully know to avoid.
In Banished, you can buy seeds from a merchant and they all cost the same 2500 standard units, but once you own them you can plant as much as you want of that kind of vegetable or fruit. It works more like a "seed license". Mixing this with the ability of making available the seeds in the empire market by discovering and studying them in different biomes would be great.
I don't want to have to manage seed stocks and such, but I do think that having varying types of seeds would increase replayability. Aside from some basic seed types, like, say wheat and cabbage. The colony that only grows cabbage will place a higher value on acquiring more varied seeds that allow greater flexibility in cooking. "We have a ton of wheat. If only we had some pumpkin, we could make pie. Well, at least we have no shortage of beer."
Exactly, not a seed stock, but more acquiring the ability of planting more things through quests or trade, with some distinct basics depending on the biome.
