Yes, this is another thread about a possible animal farming option.
I did some searching in both the Already Posted Topics Thread and using the forum search engine... and I did not find the same suggestion.
On that note, if this already has been suggested before, my appologies for not finding it.
This will be a long... really long post, so scroll past sections that bore you. :happy.gif:
----------------- Old Farming
It used to be that husbandry was easy... make a decent to large sized field of grass with lots of light then wait for nightfall. This could be an above ground and fenced in field... a sky field with a 'death hole'... or an underground field. The result was, during the night a bunch of animals would spawn on the field and the masacre would begin.
With an update to make it harder, suddenly farms were gone and only hunting was viable.
During the day, head out and hope to find some animals... and the right animals.
This is great for those that enjoy hunting, but horrible for getting a large supply for long trips into mines and caves... or feeding a hungry crowd on a server.
----------------- Other Farming Suggestions
After looking at other suggestions for animal husbandry, it is common to require an item to either tame or herd animals. They are then either pets or penned up and then tracked by the game to retain their location and possibly encourage others to appear in the vicinity.
Although great suggestions for realism... look at what we are playing. This game is sugar coated realism.
Where do spiders come from? Darkness and spawners ("I'm attacking the darkness." -BM)
Where do creepers come from? Darkness
Where do zombies come from? Darkness and spawners
Where do cows come from? Daylight
Where do chickens come from? Daylight and eggs... being smashed against things. :happy.gif:
Digging out a massive cavern has no risk of collapse, unless sand or gravel is hit... but only that pilar falls.
Buildings can be built in the sky with just a single pillar to support it... and removing that pillar leaves it in the sky.
Let's get real about this... Minecraft isn't about total realism.
------------------ Really Old Farming
Back before my time in Minecraft, it seems mob spawners could be yanked and when placed would be pig spawners.
This was great for lots of pork... but was rather unbalanced for game play. Loads of pork everywhere (it is a little iconic really, minecraft is creepers, diamond gear and pork).
That system gave no variety in animals... and with it gone, now the only reason to remove a spawner is to stop the spawning, if setting up a monster grinder wasn't desired in that location.
------------------- The Suggestion - Animal Spawners
Not naturally occuring, of course... that wouldn't be right. Well, maybe an NPC town might have them.
This would be easy to code, just copy the monster spawner code and change it as needed.
Also, it wouldn't add a huge burden to the game since there is a limit as to how many animals can be spawned at once.
Each animal would have a different spawner and each would have to be crafted.
They would be a slower rate of spawning then monster spawners... not sure how much, maybe 3x longer.
Thus, not making them super powerful but enough that they are worth the effort.
It wouldn't be worth the player's time to just sit and wait for animals to spawn, but would mean that while they are doing things near by, animals would be pooling for when they have a moment to harvest.
Need milk? Hit up your farm.
Need lots of leather? Hit your farm now, and again a little later... and maybe on the third or fourth visit you can make a full set.
Making arrows? Hit the coop and get some feathers... as a bonus, get some chicken to fry.
You get the point... so how are these spawners gotten if they won't occur except the occasional NPC village?
Let's say it together... crafting!
That's right, you have to work for your dinner.
Gather some supplies, pop them in the bench and make yourself a little generator.
Now onto the recipes.
-------- Chicken Nest
Ingredients:
E = Egg
P = Planks
EEE
PEP
PPP
Appearence: Box of eggs
Not much of a stretch of the imagination, right?
Bonus suggestion: Fried Eggs! Milk, bacon, bread and eggs... breakfast!
-------- Pig Pen
Ingredients:
R = Raw Porkchop
F = Fence Post
FRF
FRF
FRF
Appearence: Fenced in piglet
Okay... not a great recipe, but this is just an initial idea.
Bonus suggestion: Bacon! Raw pork on crafting bench yeilds 3 bacon... 1/3rd as effective as pork.
-------- Cattle Pen
Ingredients:
M = Milk
L = Leather
F = Fence Post
MFM
FLF
FLF
Appearence: Fenced in calf
Also not a great recipe... but it will do.
Bonus Suggestion: Drinkable Milk! Wait, is this already in? If not, make it like one hunger.
--------- Sheep Pen
Ingredients:
W = Wool
F = Fence Post
FWF
FWF
FWF
Appearence: Fenced in lamb
Another recipe that seems unnatural... but could be acceptable in the semi-realism of Minecraft.
Incorporate mutton is available.
Bonus Suggestion: Mutton! Now killing sheep has a use... other then silencing them!
--------------------------- Notes
With these in place, it would mean it is possible to have animal farms without it being possible first day.
With these, a player has to find some of the specified animal to be able to make a farm for it.
Although still possible in early game, it isn't automatic.
These don't fit in with the adventure (nomadic) updates, and would be more like a settler update... unless villages might have one or two of them.
------------------------- Questions, Retorts and Answers
Q: What about wolves?
R: Why do yours keep dieing?
A: They aren't needed to survive, but if they drop something then that with a couple bones and wood could do it.
Q: What about squids?
R: Is it contagious?
A: I actually find they spawn in abundence... but if they dropped edibles (seafood - squid tentacles) then it would be worth considering. Can only work if submerged... or maybe only spawn in water within x tiles.
Q: How about fish?
R: Ah, one of those people. *grins*
A: Last I checked (pre 1.8) the fishing rod does not require fish present. I hear rumors of a silverpike... but I know nothing of that. Same requirements as the squid really... needs to drop something usefull and not be naturally abundent.
Q: How about making monster spawners craftable?
R: How about making a diamond spawner?
A: First off, just make a dark enough corner and there you go. It really isn't that hard to make monsters spawn and if a natural spawner can be integrated, all the better.
Q: What about pigmen and ghasts?
R: Have you been to the nether? I have to look around before digging, lest a pigman leaps infront of my pick.
A: Their spawn rates in the nether are rather decent... and time being irrelevent, as well as lighting, means there is no shortage.
Q: Why slow the spawn rate?
R: Speed kills.
A: Pig spawners and night farming were eliminated for making animal hunting too easy. My hopes is that the reduced rate will increase the odds of this actually being implemented. Besides, you just need to build 3 to bring the rate up to the same... or maybe spawners within x blocks won't increase the rate. *evil grin*
I did some searching in both the Already Posted Topics Thread and using the forum search engine... and I did not find the same suggestion.
On that note, if this already has been suggested before, my appologies for not finding it.
This will be a long... really long post, so scroll past sections that bore you. :happy.gif:
----------------- Old Farming
It used to be that husbandry was easy... make a decent to large sized field of grass with lots of light then wait for nightfall. This could be an above ground and fenced in field... a sky field with a 'death hole'... or an underground field. The result was, during the night a bunch of animals would spawn on the field and the masacre would begin.
With an update to make it harder, suddenly farms were gone and only hunting was viable.
During the day, head out and hope to find some animals... and the right animals.
This is great for those that enjoy hunting, but horrible for getting a large supply for long trips into mines and caves... or feeding a hungry crowd on a server.
----------------- Other Farming Suggestions
After looking at other suggestions for animal husbandry, it is common to require an item to either tame or herd animals. They are then either pets or penned up and then tracked by the game to retain their location and possibly encourage others to appear in the vicinity.
Although great suggestions for realism... look at what we are playing. This game is sugar coated realism.
Where do spiders come from? Darkness and spawners ("I'm attacking the darkness." -BM)
Where do creepers come from? Darkness
Where do zombies come from? Darkness and spawners
Where do cows come from? Daylight
Where do chickens come from? Daylight and eggs... being smashed against things. :happy.gif:
Digging out a massive cavern has no risk of collapse, unless sand or gravel is hit... but only that pilar falls.
Buildings can be built in the sky with just a single pillar to support it... and removing that pillar leaves it in the sky.
Let's get real about this... Minecraft isn't about total realism.
------------------ Really Old Farming
Back before my time in Minecraft, it seems mob spawners could be yanked and when placed would be pig spawners.
This was great for lots of pork... but was rather unbalanced for game play. Loads of pork everywhere (it is a little iconic really, minecraft is creepers, diamond gear and pork).
That system gave no variety in animals... and with it gone, now the only reason to remove a spawner is to stop the spawning, if setting up a monster grinder wasn't desired in that location.
------------------- The Suggestion - Animal Spawners
Not naturally occuring, of course... that wouldn't be right. Well, maybe an NPC town might have them.
This would be easy to code, just copy the monster spawner code and change it as needed.
Also, it wouldn't add a huge burden to the game since there is a limit as to how many animals can be spawned at once.
Each animal would have a different spawner and each would have to be crafted.
They would be a slower rate of spawning then monster spawners... not sure how much, maybe 3x longer.
Thus, not making them super powerful but enough that they are worth the effort.
It wouldn't be worth the player's time to just sit and wait for animals to spawn, but would mean that while they are doing things near by, animals would be pooling for when they have a moment to harvest.
Need milk? Hit up your farm.
Need lots of leather? Hit your farm now, and again a little later... and maybe on the third or fourth visit you can make a full set.
Making arrows? Hit the coop and get some feathers... as a bonus, get some chicken to fry.
You get the point... so how are these spawners gotten if they won't occur except the occasional NPC village?
Let's say it together... crafting!
That's right, you have to work for your dinner.
Gather some supplies, pop them in the bench and make yourself a little generator.
Now onto the recipes.
-------- Chicken Nest
Ingredients:
E = Egg
P = Planks
EEE
PEP
PPP
Appearence: Box of eggs
Not much of a stretch of the imagination, right?
Bonus suggestion: Fried Eggs! Milk, bacon, bread and eggs... breakfast!
-------- Pig Pen
Ingredients:
R = Raw Porkchop
F = Fence Post
FRF
FRF
FRF
Appearence: Fenced in piglet
Okay... not a great recipe, but this is just an initial idea.
Bonus suggestion: Bacon! Raw pork on crafting bench yeilds 3 bacon... 1/3rd as effective as pork.
-------- Cattle Pen
Ingredients:
M = Milk
L = Leather
F = Fence Post
MFM
FLF
FLF
Appearence: Fenced in calf
Also not a great recipe... but it will do.
Bonus Suggestion: Drinkable Milk! Wait, is this already in? If not, make it like one hunger.
--------- Sheep Pen
Ingredients:
W = Wool
F = Fence Post
FWF
FWF
FWF
Appearence: Fenced in lamb
Another recipe that seems unnatural... but could be acceptable in the semi-realism of Minecraft.
Incorporate mutton is available.
Bonus Suggestion: Mutton! Now killing sheep has a use... other then silencing them!
--------------------------- Notes
With these in place, it would mean it is possible to have animal farms without it being possible first day.
With these, a player has to find some of the specified animal to be able to make a farm for it.
Although still possible in early game, it isn't automatic.
These don't fit in with the adventure (nomadic) updates, and would be more like a settler update... unless villages might have one or two of them.
Q: What about wolves?
R: Why do yours keep dieing?
A: They aren't needed to survive, but if they drop something then that with a couple bones and wood could do it.
Q: What about squids?
R: Is it contagious?
A: I actually find they spawn in abundence... but if they dropped edibles (seafood - squid tentacles) then it would be worth considering. Can only work if submerged... or maybe only spawn in water within x tiles.
Q: How about fish?
R: Ah, one of those people. *grins*
A: Last I checked (pre 1.8) the fishing rod does not require fish present. I hear rumors of a silverpike... but I know nothing of that. Same requirements as the squid really... needs to drop something usefull and not be naturally abundent.
Q: How about making monster spawners craftable?
R: How about making a diamond spawner?
A: First off, just make a dark enough corner and there you go. It really isn't that hard to make monsters spawn and if a natural spawner can be integrated, all the better.
Q: What about pigmen and ghasts?
R: Have you been to the nether? I have to look around before digging, lest a pigman leaps infront of my pick.
A: Their spawn rates in the nether are rather decent... and time being irrelevent, as well as lighting, means there is no shortage.
Q: Why slow the spawn rate?
R: Speed kills.
A: Pig spawners and night farming were eliminated for making animal hunting too easy. My hopes is that the reduced rate will increase the odds of this actually being implemented. Besides, you just need to build 3 to bring the rate up to the same... or maybe spawners within x blocks won't increase the rate. *evil grin*
In case I have need of it.
One more, just in case.
Ah, interesting. I don't use twitter myself, so I won't know when something occurs there.
Thank you for letting me know.
I will leave the thread as is... as a cool but moot idea. :happy.gif:
Cow, sheep and pig eggs?
*falls on floor* Bwahahahahahahahahaha...
*cough* Good one.
Well, if creepers can lay 'em, why not?