I just performed an interesting experiment with melons. This may have been done before, but in case it hasn't, here it is.
I was wondering if the melon farms described on the Minecraft Wiki were limited by each vine having only one available space to grow a melon. The authors make a big deal about how this or that layout is 44% efficient or whatever, but that is in terms of space; what about time?
I set up two plots. The first (group A) was a miniaturized Wiki farm design, and was a 2 x 3 plot of tilled dirt with three melon vines along one long side:
MX
MX
MX
(M - melon vine; X - tilled earth)
The other plot (group B ) consisted of three 3 x 3 plots of tilled earth, with each vine at the center of each.
XXX XXX XXX
XMX XMX XMX
XXX XXX XXX
All squares of tilled dirt were hydrated. I then waited and counted, harvesting melons and re-tilling the ground as they developed.
Result: group B outperformed group A by 15 melons to 4.
The corners of the 3 x 3 plots were not necessary; I expanded the three group B plots to ten plots, and am growing wheat in the corners.
A small 5x5 melon farm with very fast melon production could be set up, each farmland has 3 melon stalks next to it, and all the farmland is hydrated by a water source in the middle. Here's an example.
It IS random, but giving them 4 spaces to spawn on increases the chance of spawning one... Pure logic
Farming methods is simply a matter of preference. Compact designs are more efficient to harvest and for some players efficiency is king. For example, I'd take the A set-up, make each row a 1x3 so each stem had two spaces to grow into, and make it 3x9 long and have 18 spots for the stems to grow into melons vs only 12. All I lose are the corner spots you had growing wheat which wouldn't be an issue since by the time a player can grow melons, they should have an established wheat farm somewhere.
This is what I mean. = melon plant
It isn't pure logic that your system is better than other systems.
I'm going to also point out that
Allows for growing 13 melons using the same total amount of growing space (using the set-up from A).
Just waiting for Forge to officially release for 1.13.x to remove unneeded mobs from 1.13, like Phantoms, from the game because, in my gameplay based opinion, they add nothing of value to the game.
Fun fact: Clicking a bed every 30 minutes doesn't make you a better player, it makes you one who clicks a bed every 30 minutes. Wouldn't you rather just mod them out of the game completely?
Your A uses 6 plots to B's 27 which on your single test of A at 4 melons and B at 15 makes them very similar production wise per plot.
The corners of each 3 x 3 plot were superfluous, as melons cannot grow diagonally from the vine (if I had thought about it when I was tilling, I would have left the corners out), so really it's 6 plots against 15.
You are right, this layout takes up quite a bit more space, and is harder to harvest, but it takes less time per melon.
In 1.9 melons only drop a single slice? I hadn't heard that. Figures - I spend all this time working out how to harvest melons and eggs, and then everything goes and changes! :smile.gif:
The corners of each 3 x 3 plot were superfluous, as melons cannot grow diagonally from the vine (if I had thought about it when I was tilling, I would have left the corners out), so really it's 6 plots against 15.
You are right, this layout takes up quite a bit more space, and is harder to harvest, but it takes less time per melon.
In 1.9 melons only drop a single slice? I hadn't heard that. Figures - I spend all this time working out how to harvest melons and eggs, and then everything goes and changes! :smile.gif:
Melon slices are used to make items for use in potions, so it might not be all for naught.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Just waiting for Forge to officially release for 1.13.x to remove unneeded mobs from 1.13, like Phantoms, from the game because, in my gameplay based opinion, they add nothing of value to the game.
Fun fact: Clicking a bed every 30 minutes doesn't make you a better player, it makes you one who clicks a bed every 30 minutes. Wouldn't you rather just mod them out of the game completely?
In 1.9 melons only drop a single slice? I hadn't heard that. Figures - I spend all this time working out how to harvest melons and eggs, and then everything goes and changes! :smile.gif:
Rows is in my opinion the most efficient way, simply because it's easier to walk along a row of melons and harvest them rather than having to run across a field (and risk untilling the farmland blocks). Plus format A is much more space efficient. It doesn't matter how many seeds you have to use, since you can get more with time.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Over 90 % of the human population is stupid (in my honest opinion). Don't expect too much from them when you post something that actually involves thought.
I was wondering if the melon farms described on the Minecraft Wiki were limited by each vine having only one available space to grow a melon. The authors make a big deal about how this or that layout is 44% efficient or whatever, but that is in terms of space; what about time?
I set up two plots. The first (group A) was a miniaturized Wiki farm design, and was a 2 x 3 plot of tilled dirt with three melon vines along one long side:
MX
MX
MX
(M - melon vine; X - tilled earth)
The other plot (group B ) consisted of three 3 x 3 plots of tilled earth, with each vine at the center of each.
XXX XXX XXX
XMX XMX XMX
XXX XXX XXX
All squares of tilled dirt were hydrated. I then waited and counted, harvesting melons and re-tilling the ground as they developed.
Result: group B outperformed group A by 15 melons to 4.
The corners of the 3 x 3 plots were not necessary; I expanded the three group B plots to ten plots, and am growing wheat in the corners.
Farming methods is simply a matter of preference. Compact designs are more efficient to harvest and for some players efficiency is king. For example, I'd take the A set-up, make each row a 1x3 so each stem had two spaces to grow into, and make it 3x9 long and have 18 spots for the stems to grow into melons vs only 12. All I lose are the corner spots you had growing wheat which wouldn't be an issue since by the time a player can grow melons, they should have an established wheat farm somewhere.
This is what I mean.
It isn't pure logic that your system is better than other systems.
I'm going to also point out that
Allows for growing 13 melons using the same total amount of growing space (using the set-up from A).
Just waiting for Forge to officially release for 1.13.x to remove unneeded mobs from 1.13, like Phantoms, from the game because, in my gameplay based opinion, they add nothing of value to the game.
Fun fact: Clicking a bed every 30 minutes doesn't make you a better player, it makes you one who clicks a bed every 30 minutes. Wouldn't you rather just mod them out of the game completely?
The corners of each 3 x 3 plot were superfluous, as melons cannot grow diagonally from the vine (if I had thought about it when I was tilling, I would have left the corners out), so really it's 6 plots against 15.
You are right, this layout takes up quite a bit more space, and is harder to harvest, but it takes less time per melon.
In 1.9 melons only drop a single slice? I hadn't heard that. Figures - I spend all this time working out how to harvest melons and eggs, and then everything goes and changes! :smile.gif:
M=melon stem
X=tilled earthe
S=stone slab
MXMMMMXM
MXMXXMXM
MXMSSMXM
MXMSSMXM
MXMSSMXM
SSSSSSSS
MXMSSMXM
MXMSSMXM
MXMSSMXM
MXMXXMXM
MXMMMMXM
http://www.youtube.com/n0ah1897
Melon slices are used to make items for use in potions, so it might not be all for naught.
Just waiting for Forge to officially release for 1.13.x to remove unneeded mobs from 1.13, like Phantoms, from the game because, in my gameplay based opinion, they add nothing of value to the game.
Fun fact: Clicking a bed every 30 minutes doesn't make you a better player, it makes you one who clicks a bed every 30 minutes. Wouldn't you rather just mod them out of the game completely?
This is a bug that jeb has hopefully fixed.