(All of this current to November 1, 2015)
I've done quite a few farming tests over the course of this last year. Figuring out this and that with help from others as well as trial and error. It's been a while since I've posted any of my findings, but with recent discussions once again, I figured I'd share some of the information I've surmised. So here goes:
1. What's in a Day?
First off every in game day has its own Weather pattern. An in game day is composed of 1 Plant Growth Cycle. That means if the server setting Plant Growth Cycle is set for 3 hours, an in game day is 3 hours long. If it is set at .5 hours, an in game day is 30 minutes long. If it is set for 24 hours, an in game day is 24 hours long. That entire day, from the "midnight lag" to the next "midnight lag" is the same Weather pattern for that entire day.
2. Finding Seeds and Planting
Finding seeds is pretty simple. Get a sickle and "Gather Wild Plants" on a cell under Farming tab. Searching on higher quality soil will result in higher quality seeds, but will reduce the quality of the soil when successfully found. Doesn't matter what type of soil you search on, as long as it is not plowed (known as "loosened," any soil that does not have the grass/bush effect, soil that has been plowed, dropped, or eroded with the pit decay). The chance to find any seed is about 10%, with Agility and Willpower playing a part in the chance (primary and secondary farming stats). You then plant the Wild Plant, either the seed or the actual vegetable (Sow), on any plowed Fertile Soil (not Forest Soil).
3. Growing
After planted, it takes 8 full Plant Growth Cycles (or 8 in game days) to completely grow to be harvested. You will see the plants grow from plantings into growthlings at the half way marker. This is just visual and you are not yet able to harvest. Once matured it will change graphic again, and be harvestable.
4. Harvest Time
Once 8 full Plant Growth Cycles have past, the crops will be fully mature and be Harvestable. You now have 4 Plant Growth Cycles to harvest them before they despawn.
5. Seed and Soil Quality Effects
Seed and soil quality only effect the quality of the fully grown and harvested plant. They have no effect at all on the Harvested amount. If the seeds are of higher quality than the soil, once harvested the Soil Quality will remain unchanged. If the Seed Quality was less than the Soil Quality, Soil Quality will be reduced at a rate of 1 point for every 3 quality gain on plant. In other words, if you planted 10 quality Carrots on 100 quality Fertile Soil, the Carrots when harvested will be 55 and Soil Quality will end up being 85. However it rounds up to a full quality point if the seed to harvest quality goes up at all.
6. What does affect Harvested Amount?
This is a big one, that has confused many for quite some time. I've gotten a good handle on it though of recent. First, Soil type affects harvested amount. Fertile Soil being better than plain Soil (infertile). Second, weather, and here comes the confusing part. There are currently (as of Nov. 1 2015) only 3 types of weather that can occur on any given in game day. Fair, Shower, and Cloudy. Don't believe me, look at the GM commands here https://lifeisfeudal.com/billing/gmcommands.php
NOTE however, it seems as though if the weather is changed via GM controls it drops Harvest Tiers to 1 on all planted crops.
Now, let me explain to you what I call the "Harvest Tiers." There are three for each type of farmable soil.
Fertile Soil Tier 1: 1/2/3
Fertile Soil Tier 2: 2/4/6
Fertile Soil Tier 3: 4/8/12
Soil Tier 1: 1/1/2
Soil Tier 2: 1/2/3
Soil Tier 3: 2/4/6
As you can see, infertile "Soil" has its harvestable amount cut in half per Tier. And now here is where the RNG (Random Number Generator) comes in, because it seems completely random which of the amounts within the same Tier you end up with; 4, 8, or 12 within Fertile Tier 3. Now then, the actual Weather stuff:
All planted crops start off "perfect" at Tier 3 for its Harvest Tier. It's why if you are a GM, on a Fair Day, you can use /grow 8 times and harvest those plants at the Tier 3 rates.
7. Difference between Shower and Cloudy days
Currently the visual for Shower days is pretty bad. It's often confused with a fog or mist, but in actuality that is the current visual for Shower or "rain." These days the clouds in the sky are a darker shade of gray, which may have form but have no real break in the cloud coverage. Cloudy days, the sky is overcast with more white cloud cover with definitive breaks in the clouds here and there. The air is also clear and you do not see the fog/haze/mist that accompanies Shower days.
Shower Day:
Cloudy Day Afternoon & Evening
Cloudy Day Morning Note Clouds and Stars
Fair Day Note no large definitive cloud shapes, there are some small but none overhead, overhead will be clear blue.
there is so little info on this game, which I guess, in some way, is part of the charm of it. Thank you for putting this together!
