Changing Farm Meta Layout

ruanna · 2021-11-30 07:10:03

A proposal for changing the farm meta layout. Currently the meta is to make a 3x3 grid and layout all farms into that grid. I did a diagram of the relationships between the various things in the game, and the ones that benefit with the most increased productivity due to proximity, after which I decided to do an "ideal farm" layout.

• A long centre line allows for stacking/seed space, AND allows for the upgrade of a sprinkler.
• Carrots should be 7x1 (2 left to seed), and berries around for efficiency.
• Leave the centre of the berry 3x3 empty! The centre berry bush is the least picked and can be used to hold a bowl or bucket of water instead.
• Beans should be banished to the far edge of the farm. Garlic and dill should be banished even further.

Spoonwood · 2021-11-30 09:23:21

ruanna wrote:

Garlic and dill should be banished even further.

Spoonwood wrote:

Garlic and dill should be banished.

There we go now. That's better, right?

LonelyNeptune · 2021-11-30 23:28:35

Spoonwood wrote:

ruanna wrote:
Garlic and dill should be banished even further.
Spoonwood wrote:
Garlic and dill should be banished.
There we go now. That's better, right?

No, you absolute bot. The original made more sense.

Ruanna:
I like this idea and while I usually prefer a well location that is more central in the farm, it's pretty good. Though any attempts to thoughtfully plan out towns are usually thwarted by some idiot building a forge 3 tiles from the well.

DestinyCall · 2021-12-01 02:03:46

It is hard to have proper organization in a village that is designed by dozens of different people, over multiple generation. Trying to remove or reorganize existing structures is rarely easy. It can be done, but takes a long trying to force your vision of the future on the chaos of a developing village. And years later, the layout is largely fixed and even harder to change.

Meta village designs are not necessarily the BEST way to design the village but they are ways that work relatively well and are easy to perpetuate from life to life. It is hard to establish a new meta, because it is more than just finding a good idea. You also need to convince others to keep maintaining it after you are dead or do the same thing when you aren't even there. A complex farm layout is never going to have the same chance at surviving as random 3x3 plots situated around the well.

But that doesn't mean it isn't work looking for ways to change and improve. Do something cool and others might follow your lead. Make your farms the way you like them and others might see the value of better organization.

If I could change one thing about OHOL, I would make it easier to produce signage. Imagine how organized things could be if you could label garden plots?

Spoonwood · 2021-12-01 02:44:10

LonelyNeptune wrote:

Though any attempts to thoughtfully plan out towns are usually thwarted by some idiot building a forge 3 tiles from the well.

When playing as Eve this can and often does make sense (depends on tree placement), since it saves on travel time when food is tight. But, of course, if Eve makes a kiln near the natural spring, it should get moved sometime.

Edit: A kiln for charcoal firing for a newcomen can also help.

Last edited by Spoonwood (2021-12-01 15:30:53)

Laggy · 2021-12-01 20:55:14

Can't separate pumpkins and squash because it's random.

Grapes, ya those exist.

arkajalka · 2021-12-02 09:15:44

Love the new layout.

Tho i HATE sweaty meta gaming in general. Its so boring to see the same thing rise again and a again. Like whats the point if we just build the same thing over and over. I get that somethings are just efficient and make life much easier, but you dont have to sweat on everything

Sometimes i plant rows, double rows and all kinda other varieties. Then after few lifes some sweaty meta grinder destroyes my hard work, wastes tools on it and curses me for trying to build something different.

Spoonwood · 2021-12-02 16:25:29

Where does the oven for cooking rubber go?

DestinyCall · 2021-12-02 16:31:13

Probably over by "glass/copper/other".

Or you use the kitchen oven, like a lazy person.

ruanna · 2021-12-04 05:17:50

DestinyCall wrote:

It is hard to have proper organization in a village that is designed by dozens of different people, over multiple generation.

Yes, absolutely! And I understand the impossibility of imposing a fixed ideal design on villages, when the appeal of communal building is the variety that comes from working together with multiple people over multiple lives to build and expand.

arkajalka wrote:

Its so boring to see the same thing rise again and a again. Like whats the point if we just build the same thing over and over. I get that somethings are just efficient and make life much easier, but you dont have to sweat on everything.

And also agreed to this, I'm a building game fanatic and I love looking at town layouts (hence the sweaty diagrams), and spending too much time thinking about it. And my absolute favourite towns have a unique feature like gardens, side buildings, interesting graveyards.

I guess my post addition will be a bunch of "best practices" for maximising efficiency. I'm always thinking about user experience when I build, some people think in terms of maths/maximising space, but the most unique thing about OHOL is that I can't think of another multiplayer game where so many people use the structures you build.

1. BERRY CARROT
The most tedious task in the farm is the berry carrot bowl, requiring a ridiculous number of clicks for a single object, and needed for sheep, rabbits, pies and early game compost. Additionally, carrots always spread to take up space around them, with floor stacks of carrots being superior to slot boxes because you can directly click the berry bowl on the carrot pile. (Slot boxes are neater though, so I am slightly torn between the two.) Additionally, bowls of carrot seeds all over the ground are messy. A lot of people don't even use buckets or carts (or they may not be available) and simply make a single bowl then run to the sheep pen/rabbit area and run back, which means making this more efficient would benefit a lot of players.

• Berry/carrots should always be adjacent, ideally with carrot between the berry. Most people already know this and it is the most common meta positioning for farms.

2. WHEAT CABBAGE
This is the second most tedious farm task and the position of the wheat/cabbage/sheep pens as well as the position of the compost affects the overall efficiency of the farm. It's also common to find wheat and cabbage on the two furthest edges of the farm, meaning you have to run the longest distance to make compost, and straw and cabbage require a cart to transport, while wheat needs a bucket.

• Wheat and cabbage should be planted adjacent. Both can be planted in larger sizes than 3x3. Ideally wheat should be near the kitchen and the compost space should be nearby. Leaving a space for compost in the centre of the farm increases efficiency of farming for all crops.

In my initial farm layout I also tried to group crops by other categories, including crops that stack on the ground (wheat, cabbage and squash/pumpkin); crops that use skewers (cucumber and tomato); crops that need a flint chip (corn, pepper, cucumber, wheat, cabbage, squash). I agree that that's an unreasonable amount of micromanaging and too sweaty to realistically implement in game.

Grapes I totally forgot! But it always comes later in the game so it's on the outskirts of the farm and isn't included in early game farm layout planning, and it doesn't have a symbiotic relationship with any other crops.

arkajalka · 2021-12-04 18:45:12

Imo the wheat field in the max efficiency meta should be lot bigger tho. As you need whet for baskets and adobe which are essential too. Getting the straws from home town for buildings speeds up adobe building a ton.

Spoonwood · 2021-12-04 19:02:45

arkajalka wrote:

Imo the wheat field in the max efficiency meta should be lot bigger tho. As you need whet for baskets and adobe which are essential too. Getting the straws from home town for buildings speeds up adobe building a ton.

Unless you're near a lot of swamps with a lot of tule reeds, and people were digging up all of the tule stumps.

Yea... that's not likely to happen.

So, probably a bigger wheat field is better.

forman · 2021-12-06 22:38:24

I've wrote about this type of stuff a ton so I'll just make a few quick points

For adobe, I recommend just riding or taking a cart out to a far away swamp and bring a shovel

Shovels create adobe when used on tule reed stumps, the cost of 1/2 iron (bring back the scrap) is well worth it

The clay and reeds also obviously make adobe as well and you can easily leave a swamp with loads

For mash, you can use buckets to move large amounts -- one bucket fits 6 bowls of mash and when you add them you don't need to use a stone to mash

You could also use a cart to carry multiple buckets if you wanted to -- and this mash can be used directly on a flat stone or bait bag for getting rabbits

With all this said, the only real important thing about farm design I'd say is that the bushes need to be near the kitchen and near sheep -- they are also harder to move

The most tedious thing I can think of is the amount of mash needed to make shirts/shorts so this is important

But what matters even more, imo is the smith

What is more complicated and costly is mass manufacturing required for engines and vehicles

I had an earlier design with a whole village layout but it was clunky and I have a much better meta for that -- maybe ill post it one day

The gist is you want two dedicated forges, one for crucibles, and then one further east a few tiles for dedicated newcomen forging

Then you want a bunch of kilns, ideally 6 or more for mass coal production they need to be close to the fire but best also to be below the smith because thats close to where crucibles typically are made

And finally, Sprinklers can be expensive for water and metal (see many forum posts)

That said, they are also outrageously efficient when used correctly (100x or more iirc) mainly because there is no upper limit on the return per bowl of water

For that though, you want a layout in a single, unbroken line which can be folded to fit better but must be unbroken because plows lose oil when they stop (ie. broken tile)

Plow are necessary for sanity and because the size has to be quite large to justify the metal expenditure.

In short, sprinklers require a whole other design none of which ever seem to 'take' and so just end up next to the farm in the rare cases where they are built (see my profile links)

One Hour One Life Forums

#1 2021-11-30 07:10:03

Changing Farm Meta Layout

#2 2021-11-30 09:23:21

Re: Changing Farm Meta Layout

#3 2021-11-30 23:28:35

Re: Changing Farm Meta Layout

#4 2021-12-01 02:03:46

Re: Changing Farm Meta Layout

#5 2021-12-01 02:44:10

Re: Changing Farm Meta Layout

#6 2021-12-01 20:55:14

Re: Changing Farm Meta Layout

#7 2021-12-02 09:15:44

Re: Changing Farm Meta Layout

#8 2021-12-02 16:25:29

Re: Changing Farm Meta Layout

#9 2021-12-02 16:31:13

Re: Changing Farm Meta Layout

#10 2021-12-04 05:17:50

Re: Changing Farm Meta Layout

#11 2021-12-04 18:45:12

Re: Changing Farm Meta Layout

#12 2021-12-04 19:02:45

Re: Changing Farm Meta Layout

#13 2021-12-06 22:38:24

Re: Changing Farm Meta Layout

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