Sprinklers are WEIRD.

[Gargoyle Girl]

So I decided to experiment with sprinklers on my farm after getting enough crimson. And they don't make sense.

In the few videos I watched, sprinklers needed to be near a water source... but the ones I placed don't. They needed electrical current to function... but these don't. (That never made sense to me anyway. Wouldn't it be a water pump and pipes or hoses?)

So here I have this sprinkler that is magically making water spray everywhere... except where you place it? Why is it dry UNDER the sprinkler? And yeah, I know you can't grow anything in that one spot, but HUH? Anyone who's ever owned one knows this is just crazypants.

Also... they *kinda* don't make sense? Normally, you water a patch of ground once, then plant in it, the plant grows, and the ground dries. But these keep the ground wet all the time which, other than stopping you from having to do it manually does what exactly? More water doesn't help plants grow faster, improve harvest quantities or anything else. Is there some hidden bonus that makes giving up that spot to a sprinkler instead of one more plant viable?

Why not just make a 3 by 3 watering can, or even something like a hose and water pump you can place, then walk around spraying water, since only the initial watering counts?

It just has a bunch of small quirks that make it seem strange. xD

[Stellar Remnant]

sacrifice 4% of growing area, never have to water again. makes perfect sense to me.

i love sprinklers. not weird, totally awesome

[Stellar Remnant]

Originally posted by Gargoyle Girl:

In the few videos I watched, sprinklers needed to be near a water source... but the ones I placed don't. They needed electrical current to function... but these don't.

I asked people on the discord and they say this has never been the case. What video did you watch?

[Gargoyle Girl]

Originally posted by MiniHerc:

Originally posted by Gargoyle Girl:

In the few videos I watched, sprinklers needed to be near a water source... but the ones I placed don't. They needed electrical current to function... but these don't.

I asked people on the discord and they say this has never been the case. What video did you watch?

Not many views, but it's this one: https://youtu.be/U4SrJ-tHDZM It does show him with the sprinklers wired in and using electricity, but the reply to one of the comments say they changed it since then, which I didn't notice.

[Neirgara]

Originally posted by Gargoyle Girl:

Also... they *kinda* don't make sense? Normally, you water a patch of ground once, then plant in it, the plant grows, and the ground dries. But these keep the ground wet all the time which, other than stopping you from having to do it manually does what exactly? More water doesn't help plants grow faster, improve harvest quantities or anything else. Is there some hidden bonus that makes giving up that spot to a sprinkler instead of one more plant viable?

Why not just make a 3 by 3 watering can, or even something like a hose and water pump you can place, then walk around spraying water, since only the initial watering counts?

You only need to water the seed once, and then it grows until it's ready to be harvested. But how would the sprinkler know, that in it's given radius there is a seed that needs watering? You probably could code that somehow, but it is much easier to just let the sprinkler "water every tile in the radius once every x seconds", which leads to the same result, and I'm sure, it reduces the possibility of bugs, too. There is no downside to this.

A watering can requires additional effort and time, including a water source, while the sprinklers save you all of that.

Without a sprinkler:
1. select hoe
2. hoe the ground / harvest
3. select the seed
4. plant the seed
5. select the watering can
6. walk to a water source
7. refill the can
8. walk back
9. water the ground
10. repeat steps 6-9 a few times
11. restart at 1

With a sprinkler:
1. select hoe
2. hoe the ground / harvest
3. select the seed
4. plant the seed
5. restart at 1

That's quite a difference, I would say.

Even with a hose or something else that does not require refilling you still would have to run around to water everything, and that still takes time. My farming area has 12 20x20 fields, and saving 1/3 moving time is a huge thing.