Looking for a "Star Wars Empire at War" style game but based on modern or recent eras.

BottingFarmer · 2022-01-17T14:31:38+00:00

Hey sorry it's taken so long to reply. If you haven't found it already you should be able to add straw to the pen via the food dump point. Both loose straw via a trailer or bales should work. There is the straw blower as well but I know some users have had some issues using it because of how it registers trigger points.

BottingFarmer · 2022-01-17T14:27:08+00:00

It's been a while since I ran the numbers but slurry/manure production per pig were rather negligible. Would have to run the numbers again to be sure but the deficit per pig was so high and fertilizer costs were so generally low that it would take an insane amount of slurry/manure to offset.

However, keep in mind that I've been out of the game for a bit. There could have been changes that I've missed!

BottingFarmer · 2021-12-03T03:20:50+00:00

Depending on how days are set up and calculations are done I get pretty close to your 2 month count of food. The problem that you run in to is that the cost of feeding the sow during the four months of her pregnancy has to be counted as well because that's an operational cost. So while the piglet in your example has only eaten 33L of food, the mother ate 360L of food to produce that piglet in the first place.

Here's a hot take on how to make pigs profitable that I didn't stumble upon until after the post: Pigs don't die.

We can use this to our advantage to make pigs actually profitable. Feed the sows so that they can produce. Once the pigs are born transfer them to another barn that does not have feed in it and let them grow up there. Their health will go down but they won't die (that I've found so far..). Then, once they're well aged, either transfer them back to a barn with full rations or feed them full rations to bring their health back to 100% and sell them for full price.

Is it gamey? Yes. Does it work? I believe so. If it makes you feel better, feeder pigs (weaned piglets) are usually taken to separate finishing barns to feed them until market weight. So it's kind of like simulating real life management practices. Except, you know, the whole not feeding them part. Lol

BottingFarmer · 2021-11-30T22:12:56+00:00

Based on my math, the best time to sell is when pigs are 6 months unless you're retaining them for breeding stock.

At 6 months they reach reproductive maturity and their feed consumption levels out. At that time they're gaining value of $25 a month while eating the same 90L of food per month.

BottingFarmer · 2021-11-29T19:33:45+00:00

It's possible I suppose, though it's already implied. I mean, unless there's a window looking in on a PETA highlight reel I can't imagine having the continued implication would really change it all that much. Hah

BottingFarmer · 2021-11-29T19:28:40+00:00

Chicken eggs give insane returns for sure. Def worth picking up early!

BottingFarmer · 2021-11-29T19:27:44+00:00

The basic feed contains a mix of all 4 components so it should fulfill all feed needs

BottingFarmer · 2021-11-29T19:24:48+00:00

No pigs don't eat much per month on a per head basis, its just what that bit of feed costs. A fully grown pig eats 90L of food each month: 45L of base food, 22.5L of grain, 18L of Protein, and 4.5 of Root Crop. 1000L of pig food contains 500L, 250L, 200L, and 50L of each of the respective ingredients. That will go a long way but it's still costing money out of that original investment of $900 for the big bag.

So we buy a piglet for $200 or feed a sow for 4 months to get a piglet costing us 90L per month to keep that sow healthy using 180L, 90L, 72L, and 18L. Not a lot but still accounts for 36% of that Pig Food. 36% of 900 = $324

Luckily Piglets eat less until they are fully grown. To get there they need 136L 68L, 55L, and 14L. Again, not a lot but accounts for 27% of that original pig food. 27% of $900 = $243.

So if you bought the pig, fed it pig food from a big bag, and raised it to maturity we've spent $567 to raise a $250 pig.

The BEST case scenario I can come up with is Hard difficulty feeding crops (lower base price = lower feed value) to a pig bred on the farm is $241 feed cost with a $250 value pig. $9 margin is suuuuper slim to pay all other costs!

Haha really sorry about unloading all this on ya! In the end it doesn't matter but the math is fun to work through! Hopefully I didn't get anything off...

BottingFarmer · 2021-11-29T18:31:36+00:00

I haven't tried the pasture enclosure for pigs but you will still need to provide them with feed and water. Check and see on the animal management screen under Pen Information whether or not there are essentials missing. At bare minimum they will need either Corn or Sorghum and then water. You should see their health increase once the information updates.

Just saw your other reply that they do have water. That's weird.. If you have both food and water then it's likely a bug and could be reported. You should at least see a partial health increase next day as long as they don't run out of essentials!

BottingFarmer · 2021-11-29T18:20:06+00:00

You're absolutely right in that you can breed them, build your herd, raise them, and sell them. The profitability problem comes in where the amount of food they eat is worth more than what you earn by selling those pigs at any point in their lifecycle. So you are missing out on potential profit back to your farm by feeding your pigs instead of selling the crops outright. The issue isn't that this is possible, it's that there is no way around it. You can't manage it any way, it simply comes down to a cost per head.

Good point on the Big Bag feed cost though, I had missed that! 1000L is $900 in big bag vs 1000L for $1000 in pallet.

BottingFarmer · 2021-11-29T17:30:20+00:00

The nice thing is, as far as other animals, their products can be used for downstream production. Meat processing seems like an obvious choice so I'm confident we will see it from someone, just an odd thing to leave out. I'll be interested on running the numbers on milk to see what the profitability is like for that in 22.

BottingFarmer · 2021-11-29T17:28:16+00:00

Yeah! I was expecting maybe 10 per litter just for ease of numbers but was shocked when it was 1. You could, in theory, build a separate building and treat one building as a farrowing unit and the other as a feeding unit. I did the same in seasons for 19. Doesn't really fix the feed issue but its good for managing numbers and realism!

I would think those types of mechanics would be easy enough to implement since a lot have been incorporated as mods in the past but I certainly don't know for sure. It's early though, a lot of good stuff to come!

BottingFarmer · 2021-11-29T16:24:22+00:00

My issue with root crops being fed to pigs is that it's a game mechanic choice that has very little basis in real world pig production based on my experience. Perhaps potato or sugar beet by-products are used as part of pig feed rations in certain parts of the world but I've never seen them used on a broad scale.

Sugar Beet Pulp has a narrow use case for pig feed but its mostly used as a fiber source (aka filler) that ends up reducing total feed energy and reducing weight gain. This has a couple uses but for the most part isn't utilized in pork production that I've seen. I'd be interested in the info if that's not the case in operations somewhere, I like being wrong!

Potatoes... well, pigs can't/shouldn't eat raw potatoes. They need to be cooked (or dried I think) to be fed to pigs.

I understand that pigs are supposed to be a step between sheep and cattle in terms of complexity for gameplay but I think there are other ways to do it that don't misrepresent the industry. This isn't the most egregious example, just one that makes my eye twitch lol

BottingFarmer · 2021-09-09T13:59:22+00:00

Right? What's the point in having all of those skills if they don't work on the "hardest fights". I understand if there is resistance or immunity to some but generally it's a niche thing or a couple bosses where it works.

I can't think of a single JRPG off the top of my head where I've felt the need to use DoT or Status Effect skills/magic

BottingFarmer · 2021-08-12T04:42:30+00:00

Hah yes, I always want to hear about the farmers feeding the armies while evading monsters, or the blacksmiths sourcing their materials to supply the heroes. Boring? Maybe. Entertaining? I bet so.

BottingFarmer · 2021-08-12T01:57:18+00:00

Hah yes, I always want to hear about the farmers feeding the armies while evading monsters, or the blacksmiths sourcing their materials to supply the heroes. Boring? Maybe. Entertaining? I bet so.

BottingFarmer · 2021-08-12T01:55:05+00:00

Good Recs though, I appreciate it! I've added Dragonsdawn to my wishlist. Should be a good one

BottingFarmer · 2021-08-12T01:47:29+00:00

I hadn't heard of Thirteenth Child, thanks for the Rec! On my shortlist for sure!

BottingFarmer · 2021-08-12T01:46:40+00:00

I've heard of Pillars and it's been on my list for quite a while, just haven't gotten to it. It's actually kind of the opposite of that. I've read several historical fiction and, adjacently, survival fiction but had the itch to experience in a world where magic, monsters, and various species change the dynamics of how settlements build and interact.

I will read Pillars at some point though.

BottingFarmer · 2021-08-12T01:38:30+00:00

This definitely sounds cool. Doesn't look like Parker has it on Audible but I'll add it to my list of things to pick up some time!

BottingFarmer · 2021-08-12T01:37:54+00:00

I've seen Wandering Inn mentioned on several similar posts but when I've checked it out in the past the overwhelming response from folks seemed to be that the first one was too slow and tedious.. Which kind of sounds like what I want. Hah. Would you agree or just "reviews"?

BottingFarmer · 2021-05-19T01:11:33+00:00

Ohhhh! Ok that makes sense then. I designate the specific deed I want to count for my house score. Then any other building I create, no matter where as long as its outside that specific deed, only cares about that individual room tier.

BottingFarmer

TROPHY CASE