On the Raising of Sheep

EaterOfBerries · 2018-03-16 08:21:49

As one of the more experienced players, I thought I'd make this post to cover my thoughts on sheep raising. This is not a guide so much as a loose collection of ideas, but I am open to feedback and revision.

-------------------------------- BUILDING A PEN --------------------------------

One of the challenges of sheep raising is that it is basically Tile Management Simulator 2018.

Each adult sheep occupies one tile, and produces multiple baby sheep which each occupy one tile. When you shear an adult sheep, you need to take its fleece and place it in an unoccupied tile. The end result is that an adult sheep takes up many more tiles than just one, and in my experience should be treated as though it is a three-tile object.

I would recommend aiming for a 3x3 interior to the pen. This leaves room for two adult sheep, a single basket, one trash pit, and a little bit of breathing room. It is also a good target because it is achievable (if difficult) within a single lifetime, especially if you recruit one helper (children are a good target).

An essential aspect to the pen is an airlock. Or a sheeplock in this case. Basically, once you have your 3x3 interior pen, build a 1x1 interior on one of the sides, and use it when entering the pen. Note that you seem to only be able to open east-west fences, so build your airlock on the top or the bottom.

Try to build the pen in a clear area that is close to the rest of civilization, but not on top of it, and has good access to maple trees. It may be the case that building the pen is a multi-generational endeavor, and that is fine.

To make things more efficient, if you find a large stand of maple trees you can bring the adze with you to reduce the number of trips you have to take (carrying a fence kit is twice as efficient as carrying one maple branch), but is risky because you might lose the adze, or you might die without telling someone where you put it and lose it for the whole civilization.

Each fence takes two long straight shafts, so my ideal 3x3 interior with an airlock pen takes 42 long straight shafts. That's a lot of maple trees. Consider though, that reducing to a 3x2 only saves you 4 long straight shafts. You can also reuse fences from other fence-related construction projects if you find them. Just hit them with the shovel.

Some tips to make pen building easier for the next generations:

Early tech: Harvest branches from maple trees whenever you see them and leave them beside the tree.

Fire tech: Try to use non-maple branches for kindling if easy (don't run across the map, but grab yew or curved if they are available)

Steel tech: Never chop down a maple tree unless it is directly in the way of something you are building. Go to the swamp and swing away you maniac.

-------------------------------- GETTING SHEEP --------------------------------

This is fairly simple, and so I don't have many thoughts on it. Mark your home before you go on a long expedition.

-------------------------------- TILE MANAGEMENT SIMULATOR 2018 --------------------------------

Once you have your sheep you can begin to play Tile Management Simulator 2018. If you have high latency, raising sheep will not be a fun time. I measure 8 clicks just to enter the pen through the sheeplock with a held item.

Raising sheep can be dangerous. Tile overcrowding is a thing if you aren't careful and is very deadly. If nobody is around to get you out you will slowly starve to death. That is why I recommend having one tile in the pen be a trash pit. This pit should only be used for absolute emergencies, because once it is filled it cannot be removed, and real estate is limited inside the pen.

In addition to the trash pit, I recommend that you keep one basket in the pen containing shears, a drop spindle, and knitting needles. That way the wool processing can all happen in one place, and making a sweater doesn't require >50 clicks.

Your 3x3 pen should support 2 sheep. More will cause overcrowding, and also, since wool production is not tied to number of sheep, but to amount of berry bushes, and your patience with the sheeplock, more sheep does not equal more wool. Two is good because it provides some redundancy in case one escapes (kill it with a knife before it eats the carrots), and I like to think it gives the other one some company to make them feel better about all their dead sheep children surrounding them.

Speaking of dead sheep children, they do decompose, so don't spam them in the trash.

A necessity for dealing with sheep is having a backpack. Your backpack should contain at least one food item (ideally pie), and at least one empty space (ideally two). You can use the empty space to temporarily store dead sheep children to allow you to escape if the pen fills up while inside (without having to waste the trash pit), and its always good to have food handy.

When entering and exiting, if you leave an item in the empty tile in the sheeplock (works perfectly if you use the item you are trying to bring in or out) the sheep physically cannot enter the sheeplock. You can swap the inside long shaft with the item you want to bring in (or out), and the sheep will still not be able to enter, and you have your item.

Don't leave sheep-unrelated items inside the pen. If you have an empty bowl, place it in your backpack when you leave. If you upgrade your crappy rabbit shirt to a fancy wool shirt, take your rabbit shirt out when you leave.

Something that I have yet to investigate, but it seems that when you shear a sheep, but before you remove the fleece, the sheep itself cannot move. This opens an opportunity to skip the sheeplock and efficiently move many items into and out of the pen, if all sheep are shorn.

-------------------------------- CONCLUSION --------------------------------

Wow I did not expect this post to go on for so long. If you read it all the way to the end, congratulations. You get a cookie. Just contact me when civilization has advanced far enough for cookies to be possible.

If you have feedback or suggestions, or desire clarification I'd love to hear it. Thanks all, and let's get this wool train going!

Joriom · 2018-03-16 08:42:31

Or.... just simply use boxes as replacement for fences so you can store items there (dead lambs, flece, feeding stuff, etc). On the North/South wall it even looks nice as part of the fencing.

colinmarc · 2018-03-16 12:26:43

Sheared sheep don't produce lambs. So keep your sheep sheared, and then immediately shear them whenever you feed them. No lambsplosion!

Tebe · 2018-03-16 16:51:53

Joriom wrote:

Or.... just simply use boxes as replacement for fences so you can store items there (dead lambs, flece, feeding stuff, etc). On the North/South wall it even looks nice as part of the fencing.

Until some unscrupulous cousin's mouth starts watering at the prospect of their own easy handcart! And then poof, there goes your north fence. It's a good idea, but very risky.

EaterofBerries wrote:

When entering and exiting, if you leave an item in the empty tile in the sheeplock (works perfectly if you use the item you are trying to bring in or out) the sheep physically cannot enter the sheeplock. You can swap the inside long shaft with the item you want to bring in (or out), and the sheep will still not be able to enter, and you have your item.

Is this true?? Oh my god this changes everything for me. Somehow I recall sheep trampling all over my sheeplock no matter what was in it, but I'm probably mistaken and they came in as soon as I opened the fence and still holding the shaft. If this works and you can just block their way, this makes the whole ordeal a hell of a lot easier!

Joriom · 2018-03-16 20:35:36

Tebe wrote:

Joriom wrote:
Or.... just simply use boxes as replacement for fences so you can store items there (dead lambs, flece, feeding stuff, etc). On the North/South wall it even looks nice as part of the fencing.
Until some unscrupulous cousin's mouth starts watering at the prospect of their own easy handcart! And then poof, there goes your north fence. It's a good idea, but very risky.

They can still deconstruct the fence just byl right clickig on it to get long staight shaft - to start fire, make pine frame, make tool, to troll or simply by ignorange. So risks are the same. Btw, just make sure you have like 50 hand carts available everywhere.

One Hour One Life Forums

#1 2018-03-16 08:21:49

On the Raising of Sheep

#2 2018-03-16 08:42:31

Re: On the Raising of Sheep

#3 2018-03-16 12:26:43

Re: On the Raising of Sheep

#4 2018-03-16 16:51:53

Re: On the Raising of Sheep

#5 2018-03-16 20:35:36

Re: On the Raising of Sheep

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