Farming Mechanics

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Farms produce commodities by growing plants and raising animals.

Plant-growing processes that use water from the environment are not affected by the visible presense of water at or near the farm site. They are also unaffected by visible rainfall. When processes gather water from the environment, the probability of success is based solely on a worldwide water presense percentage, which appears in sensor scans as the water surface coverage of the planet.

Animal and animal byproduct production processes that use pasturing to acquire foliage from the environment are affected by the visible presense of plants. When processes gather foliage from the environment, the probability of success is based on the foliage density at the farm site. The most accurate indicator of foliage density is the green leafy texture painted on the dirt itself.

For these reasons, it is good to build your animal farms where the the ground is greener. Farms producing plants can be built anywhere.

Animal Husbandry

Animals can be reproduced by farms. Farms are able to domesticate herbivores from the local environment. A farm with no domestic animals on the farm will domesticate a herbivore from the local environment at the time of day the animal is produced.

Each farm resides in three animal specie areas of a planet, one for each time of day: bright, dim and dark. Each specie area produces two different herbivore species. Every farm can produce up to six different herbivore species, two from each of the farm's three specie areas.

At the time of day the farm produces an animal, one of the two possible herbivore species is selected at random. A 3D representation of the domesticated animal appears on the farm.

The farm can breed a herd of two living animals. When one domestic animal is already present on a farm, the next animal produced will be the same specie as the existing animal, except that it will be the opposite gender.

When two domestic animals are present on a farm, living 3D animals stop appearing there. Subsequent animals produced by the farm are slaughtered immediately and animal carcass commodities are added to the city's inventory instead.

A farm that is producing animal byproducts will only produce a single living 3D animal. The animal represents the farm's source of the animal byproducts. A farm must be producing the animal carcass commodity to breed a herd of two living animals.

A farm will not produce animals or animal byproducts until a living animal is present at the farm. If an animal cannot be domesticated from the local environment, a herbivore must be transported to the farm from elsewhere. Farms in harsh environments cannot domesticate animals from the local environment.

A farm producing animals can be used to populate other farms. The first animal enables the animal farm to produce a second animal. After the second animal appears, take one animal from the farm. The farm will produce another animal.

DNA samples can also be used by farms to produce an animal. When a farm is ready to spawn an animal, the farm is searched for a source of DNA. If a DNA Sample is found lying on the ground, it is used as the source of DNA for the animal, overriding the presense of other animals. This uses the DNA sample, which will cause it to disappear when it is eventually used up. The animal appears at the location of the DNA sample. An animal spawned from a DNA sample is allowed to exceed the usual population limit of the farm, 1 or 2 based on what it is producing. The DNA does not have to be a herbivore and it must not be from a sentient race. Using a DNA sample, animals from any ecological role can be domesticated.

Equine

Avatars are able to ride animals that are large enough. An animal is large enough if it is at least as large as the rider.

To ride a domestic animal, approach it closely and target a spot on its surface that is within reach of the avatar. Press the E key to mount the animal. If the animal is large enough, the avatar will mount it. Press E again to dismount.

When mounted, the movement and combat abilities of the animal can be used, including leaping, flying and swimming but not burrowing. Creatures that are not amphibious will stay at the surface when swimming; amphibious creatures will readily swim underwater.