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Confused about open farm food production
Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2023 12:11 pm
by diji
I have a planet where the report recommends domed farming. Terran agri toxicity is 0 and alien nutritional toxicity is 1. However, the rain has a pH 2, which apparently corresponds to a -60% modifier. I expected this to mean that domed farming or open xeno farms would be more desirable since they aren't affected by the rain. Other hazards include level 4 exposure and respiratory hazards, though this doesn't appear to affect open farms as far as I can tell.
I wanted to compare the food production because I couldn't understand why the planetary report was recommending domed farms rather than open xeno farms, since the -10% toxicity modifier seemed trivial compared to using less energy per farm (though I can see that domes would also be desirable depending on the weather of the hex).
So, I constructed one of each type of farm. The terran farm uses 266 water and produces 224 food, the dome farm uses 200 water and 10 energy to produce 204 food, and the xeno farm uses 304 water to produce 193 food. This is basically the opposite result of what I expected!
What's going on here?
Re: Confused about open farm food production
Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2023 12:56 pm
by Xxzard
I note you did not mention temperature yet. The temperature is also a production modifier. The temperature for the hex is determined by geography and fluctuates seasonally. There can even be different ideal production bands for terran and xeno crops. If your location is in a good temperature window throughout the year, then open farms might actually be better. On the other hand production will vary seasonally if temperature goes outside the ideal window.
The pH of the rain and soil are also recently added modifiers but it sounds like you are accounting for those and they should not vary over time.
Occasionally a planet may also be capable of hosting open farms, but not have the right terrain to do so.
Thus, my best guess for why the planetary report recommended domed farms (not knowing the actual algorithm) is that after the PH and toxicity modifiers the production level of open farms is almost level with domed farms. Adding in other possible factors, perhaps when averaged out as a whole the planet is not well suited to open farming, but in your location it is good enough.
Re: Confused about open farm food production
Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2023 2:21 pm
by diji
Xxzard wrote: Wed Dec 27, 2023 12:56 pm
I note you did not mention temperature yet. The temperature is also a production modifier. The temperature for the hex is determined by geography and fluctuates seasonally. There can even be different ideal production bands for terran and xeno crops. If your location is in a good temperature window throughout the year, then open farms might actually be better. On the other hand production will vary seasonally if temperature goes outside the ideal window.
The pH of the rain and soil are also recently added modifiers but it sounds like you are accounting for those and they should not vary over time.
Occasionally a planet may also be capable of hosting open farms, but not have the right terrain to do so.
Thus, my best guess for why the planetary report recommended domed farms (not knowing the actual algorithm) is that after the PH and toxicity modifiers the production level of open farms is almost level with domed farms. Adding in other possible factors, perhaps when averaged out as a whole the planet is not well suited to open farming, but in your location it is good enough.
Oh, I forgot to mention that the hex temperatures are usually identical or within a degree or so, due to fluctuations. The terran and alien crops both have identical temperature suitability ranges, as well. I suspect your guess for why domed farms are recommended by the report is right. I've only explored the immediate surroundings so the planet may be poorly suited for open farming on average. The strangest thing to me about the whole thing is that xeno farms are less productive than the terran ones, despite the -60% modifier due to pH! I would've thought that -60% would render the terran crops nearly useless. Are terran crops really so bountiful that even with such a steep malus, they're still competitive with the other methods?