Increasing Soil Fertility

[thelebk]

Does soil fertility ever change during the game? Is there any way to increase the soil fertility of an area? In Medieval times they used crop rotation for instance to manage soil fertility levels.

[Feyda]

Not in the base game. You can research Hydroponics which are pretty cheap to build (100 steel and 1 component) and the basins have 280% fertility (double that of fertile soil)

[thelebk]

OK I wont worry about it then. Some crops in real world drain fertility considerably, but if that is not factored into the game then initial crop placement is all that matters.

[brian_va]

VGP mod has a couple ways to increase it with fertilizer, could maybe use that and just role play it as necessary to keep fertility.

[kevinshow]

you can use a few mods that I know of, to increase the fertility, but the game doesn't actually take that into consideration.

personally i like using them anyway because there comes a time when the colony is stable. the initial efforts and personal impediments to make the colony struggle more, are over. now, the colony can run itself, so might as well bump up to faster-growing food for the ability to reduce the number of plots you need.

[thelebk]

I always play vanilla in my first run of any title. After I get a feel for what Rimworld is... and is not... I'll ask for recommendations on no more than three top mods. Thanks all!

[brian_va]

yeah, good idea; the base game has alot to offer. plus the mods will soon become an addiction, so be sure you have a couple days of no responsibilities at hand.

[Kittenpox]

Originally posted by thelebk:

OK I wont worry about it then. Some crops in real world drain fertility considerably, but if that is not factored into the game then initial crop placement is all that matters.

There's no need for crop rotation in this game. :-)

[Kittenpox]

Originally posted by thelebk:

I always play vanilla in my first run of any title. After I get a feel for what Rimworld is... and is not... I'll ask for recommendations on no more than three top mods. Thanks all!

There's a lot of recommendations we could give - mine would be Fluffy's 'Blueprints' mod, and 'Show Mod Designators' - but honestly the best approach would be to just play vanilla, then when you're ready to start adding mods, decide what you think the game would be better with & find a mod which does that.
Then continue playing.

A bit later on, revisit that question of what you think the game could use, and then search for the next mod; then continue playing.

It'll help you learn what you've added to your game, and better avoid mod conflicts because you'll know the most likely culprits and can test accordingly.

[Razorblade Nipples]

Dub's hygiene mod lets you fertilize soil and adds sprinklers. Works great for turning the soil into a higher fertility grade.

[thelebk]

Thanks both!