Chicken Breeding Mod

[mandychuu]

Has anyone ever considered developing a mod that would lift some of the annoying limitations on breeding?

I both coop and free range my chickens, but I'm a slow player and haven't made it to "end" of the game yet. I like the experience of both, even though growing all my favorite fruits and veggies and ensuring that my slimes are fed is a lot of work.

If I knew anything about modding, I'd probably try to do it myself. However, I like progressive mods, so I'd like to see something that requires us to buy upgrades or maybe even use slime science to create things like a chickadoo or elder collector. Upgrades could allow us to hold more chickens in a coop and speed up their production. Maybe even target whether you want a higher chance of obtaining hen hens or roostros.

Another interesting element to introduce would be chicken feed. I'm not sure if slime science could be involved to grind veggies into feed, and I don't even know where to begin to make that happen. The idea is to give us more tasks so that we don't keep falling into the same routine. A variety of activities keeps a game healthy.

Thoughts?

[purplecharmanderz]

Its crpssed my mind before although before addressing any problem, you'd want to identify the causes. The main issues for chickens are RNG dependency, drones actively sabotaging production. And at least formerly lack of proper catch up integration.

There were some mods previously (now out dated) that fixed the drone issue at least.

Edit: rereading - its worth noting there's upgrades to do what you suggested (minus chickadoo collection and the hen/roostro weight system for chances.)

[mandychuu]

Originally posted by purplecharmanderz:

Its crpssed my mind before although before addressing any problem, you'd want to identify the causes. The main issues for chickens are RNG dependency, drones actively sabotaging production. And at least formerly lack of proper catch up integration.

There were some mods previously (now out dated) that fixed the drone issue at least.

Edit: rereading - its worth noting there's upgrades to do what you suggested (minus chickadoo collection and the hen/roostro weight system for chances.)

I'm really just getting started on slime science, but so far, I've made drills and apiaries, both the novice and advanced ones. I've also made a Market Link. Currently, I'm looking into making drones, but I'm still lacking resources. Hence the drills and apiaries.

How do the drones sabotage production, if you don't mind explaining? And what did the mod do to fix that issue?

Also, what upgrades are you speaking of? There's so many gadgets I haven't tried out yet, and as far as 7Zee Rewards Club is concerned, I've only just gotten the lab upgrade.

I reached the Glass Desert last night and found out that Painted Hens are the slowest to reproduce, and since I let my chickens free range in the Overgrowth, I have pens set up at the docks and one in the Grotto. I was experimenting how many Roostros and Hen Hens I could have in each pen without hindering production. So far, it seems one Roostro and one Painted Hen per coop produces the most the fastest, but if there's upgrades that could help with their production, I'd definitely be keen on pursuing those next.

I really want to get some Tangle slimes on my ranch, but I'd rather wait until I have a rather steady supply of Painted Hens and 300 in a silo, just in case.

[purplecharmanderz]

Originally posted by mandychuu:

How do the drones sabotage production, if you don't mind explaining? And what did the mod do to fix that issue?

To really explain that I'll have to get into the core mechanics of chicken breeding - so this is going to be long winded and detailed.


Chicken breeding is handled code wise almost entirely inside the hens, with each one having a timer to produce an egg. When this timer hits 0 they check for a roostro within range. If outside a coop they then effectively flip a coin. On heads they produce an egg then both the hen and the roostro have a 5% chance to elder. Inside a coop the egg is garunteed to be produced. The elder check only occurs if an egg is laid.

Since the timer is entirely in the hen, the number of roostros makes no actual difference in the production rate - only the duration.

more hens = faster production because of this. a max production speed coop is going to have many hens and a small handful of roostros. Drones however have their AI pick up any hens beyond 4. The average daily production for chicks with 4 hens is 18 if you've got every upgrade. Average daily production with 10 hens and only vitamizer is 30.

For reference a maxed out favourite food pre ogden garden's average daily production is 30 (technically 31.25 due to another thing with gardens but this paints the picture,)

Drones have further damages when we get to deluxe coops - an unlockable coop upgrade that doubles the breeding population cap from 12 (which for reference they will breed at 12 adults/elders) to 24, and picks up elders automatically. Drones do not account for its existence outside of being a coop - and will still keep the hen population to marginally above the minimum breeding requirement.

The mod went and increased the value they keep things at and allowed grabbing chickadoos. Which allowed you to maintain a max breeding capacity coop - and have another area to actually grow the chickens without putting the breaks on your breeding.


Final note: my comment on vitamizer for the 30 daily production was not a typo. Spring grass and vitamizer have their functions swapped when compared to their descriptions. Been doing back end code digging for years, and writing up a complete guide for chicken breeding.

[mandychuu]

Originally posted by purplecharmanderz:

Drones however have their AI pick up any hens beyond 4.

I'm zoning in on this comment because I finally setup a drone in my the Docks area with three coops and a single silo, but it seems like my drone is stuck?

I have it set to pick up Painted Hens from the coop to the silo, but it just sits there with that perpetually tired look on its face.

Earlier, I read that you have to water them, so I did that and still get nothing.

Each coop has a single Roostro and Painted Hen in it, which would make it three currently; however, earlier, I pulled at least 10 Painted Hens from the coops and the drone still hadn't taken any to the silo.

I also set up one in the Overgrowth where all my fruit-bearing trees are, but I didn't realize earlier that it couldn't pinpoint to a nearby silo. I'll probably continue to just pick them up by hand, honestly, because I like having my lemons, mangoes, cuberries, and pears all in one area. My veggies are at Ogden's Retreat, though I could probably take that drone from my fruit forest and move it to Ogden's to move the veggies because I do have a silo there...

[purplecharmanderz]

Originally posted by mandychuu:

Originally posted by purplecharmanderz:

Drones however have their AI pick up any hens beyond 4.

I'm zoning in on this comment because I finally setup a drone in my the Docks area with three coops and a single silo, but it seems like my drone is stuck?

I have it set to pick up Painted Hens from the coop to the silo, but it just sits there with that perpetually tired look on its face.

Earlier, I read that you have to water them, so I did that and still get nothing.

Each coop has a single Roostro and Painted Hen in it, which would make it three currently; however, earlier, I pulled at least 10 Painted Hens from the coops and the drone still hadn't taken any to the silo.

I also set up one in the Overgrowth where all my fruit-bearing trees are, but I didn't realize earlier that it couldn't pinpoint to a nearby silo. I'll probably continue to just pick them up by hand, honestly, because I like having my lemons, mangoes, cuberries, and pears all in one area. My veggies are at Ogden's Retreat, though I could probably take that drone from my fruit forest and move it to Ogden's to move the veggies because I do have a silo there...

Drones have their own related bugs regarding skipping job cycles. However given what you've said so far - it would seem like you had like 4 hens per coop with 1 having 5. The only one from that which would have even been a potential target is 1 hen from the 1 with 5.

The 4 hens i mentioned is a per coop limit. And if that 10 included the first 3 you placed - statistically speaking none of your coops would have exceeded the 4 hen threshold.

It also potentially factors in catch up - which doesn't play well with chickens.

[bombusdistinguendus]

Probably not what you're looking for, but while waiting for mods;

I made the lab chicken/roostro-only area. I'm growing the maximum amount of veggies (the hens seem to like to hang around those more than fruit trees) and not using any coops or scare slimes. There's no slimes of any kind around. I've transported I don't know, maybe 20 hens and a few roostros to the area and now it feels like it's just blossoming with hens :D and without coops there's no limits (that I know of).

Again, not the mod you were after, but an option to consider meanwhile.

[Sno-Squito]

I believe the capacity limit on the chicken coops to remain productive is 12, over that amount and it will not produce any chicks. I went through a few variations but reduced three coops down to one in the overgrowth area, with all 4 chicken species breeding with 2-3 roosters in the one coop. The excess I harvest and let loose in the overgrowth where I have programmed a drone to collect and feed the 3 meat-eater corrals via auto-feeders that I set up on the 3 remaining plots in the overgrowth. It may not be the most efficient solution but it is entertaining and my overgrowth is teaming with wild chickens so I'm happy with this setup.

[purplecharmanderz]

Originally posted by Sno-Squito:

I believe the capacity limit on the chicken coops to remain productive is 12, over that amount and it will not produce any chicks. I went through a few variations but reduced three coops down to one in the overgrowth area, with all 4 chicken species breeding with 2-3 roosters in the one coop. The excess I harvest and let loose in the overgrowth where I have programmed a drone to collect and feed the 3 meat-eater corrals via auto-feeders that I set up on the 3 remaining plots in the overgrowth. It may not be the most efficient solution but it is entertaining and my overgrowth is teaming with wild chickens so I'm happy with this setup.

Tbf the overgrowth's natural chicken production on its own out paces coops and its less effort than even gardens technically. (Only because the set up is the drone alone)

[Sno-Squito]

True, but one of my objectives was to preserve all 4 species of chickens as I believe only hen-hens spawn in the overgrowth. I also found my roosters didn't live long enough to breed as the drone would scoop them up and feed them to one of my 3 meat-eating corrals fairly quickly. The single corral protects a couple of roosters and the 3 other species from the drone and lets me manage them. Not hard, once a day I harvest the excess and shoot them into the overgrowth.

[mandychuu]

Originally posted by purplecharmanderz:

Drones have their own related bugs regarding skipping job cycles. However given what you've said so far - it would seem like you had like 4 hens per coop with 1 having 5. The only one from that which would have even been a potential target is 1 hen from the 1 with 5.

The 4 hens i mentioned is a per coop limit. And if that 10 included the first 3 you placed - statistically speaking none of your coops would have exceeded the 4 hen threshold.

It also potentially factors in catch up - which doesn't play well with chickens.

Well, I finally got the Deluxe Coop upgrade a few days ago, and now my Painted Hens seem to be producing so much more than they were before. It's not as fast as I would hope for it to be, and after further research, I did deem it necessary to start combining my meat-eating slimes with a veggie or fruit-eating slime. I'm just a sucker for seeing so many different little faces on my ranch, haha.

I do hope that this is something that Monomi Park decides to address in Slime Rancher 2 because I'd love to see more corrals with pure breeds of slimes rather than largos for efficiency. I've unlocked most of the upgrades, so soon enough, I won't need that quick money anymore.

The drones at Ogden's Retreat, however, are working beautifully, and once I decide on what largos to keep on my ranch, I'll be removing a fruit-bearing tree to make way for a silo in the Overgrowth and get a few drones in there.

[mandychuu]

Originally posted by Sno-Squito:

True, but one of my objectives was to preserve all 4 species of chickens as I believe only hen-hens spawn in the overgrowth.

I kinda wish there were an upvote system to these forum comments, but this is exactly what I was trying my best to do while still remaining productive enough to feed my meat-eaters. I just wish there were enough plots in-game to preserve all resources and all pure slimes and that drones could be directed from one expansion to another.

I haven't gotten far enough to play around with any of Viktor's upgrades yet, but I'm keen on seeing what they do for my ranch.

[mandychuu]

Originally posted by Sno-Squito:

I believe the capacity limit on the chicken coops to remain productive is 12, over that amount and it will not produce any chicks. I went through a few variations but reduced three coops down to one in the overgrowth area, with all 4 chicken species breeding with 2-3 roosters in the one coop. The excess I harvest and let loose in the overgrowth where I have programmed a drone to collect and feed the 3 meat-eater corrals via auto-feeders that I set up on the 3 remaining plots in the overgrowth. It may not be the most efficient solution but it is entertaining and my overgrowth is teaming with wild chickens so I'm happy with this setup.

This is kind of like the setup I have currently since upgrading to the Deluxe Coop. I'm just focusing on the breeding of Painted Hens so I have a good supply before I actually introduce the Tangle slimes to my ranch. They'll be put in the lab area when I'm ready, but as for the rest of my chickens, they're all over the Overgrowth in a huge population explosion.

I just want to keep my little buddy slimes happy with their favorite foods, haha.

[mandychuu]

Originally posted by bombusdistinguendus:

Probably not what you're looking for, but while waiting for mods;

I made the lab chicken/roostro-only area. I'm growing the maximum amount of veggies (the hens seem to like to hang around those more than fruit trees) and not using any coops or scare slimes. There's no slimes of any kind around. I've transported I don't know, maybe 20 hens and a few roostros to the area and now it feels like it's just blossoming with hens :D and without coops there's no limits (that I know of).

Again, not the mod you were after, but an option to consider meanwhile.

I'm curious as to why you chose the lab area versus the Overgrowth since regular Hen Hens have an automatic production if you're not over the limit already like I am (which is okay since I go and scoop them out occasionally to feed my slimes.)

[Sno-Squito]

Originally posted by mandychuu:

Originally posted by bombusdistinguendus:

Probably not what you're looking for, but while waiting for mods;

I made the lab chicken/roostro-only area. I'm growing the maximum amount of veggies (the hens seem to like to hang around those more than fruit trees) and not using any coops or scare slimes. There's no slimes of any kind around. I've transported I don't know, maybe 20 hens and a few roostros to the area and now it feels like it's just blossoming with hens :D and without coops there's no limits (that I know of).

Again, not the mod you were after, but an option to consider meanwhile.

I'm curious as to why you chose the lab area versus the Overgrowth since regular Hen Hens have an automatic production if you're not over the limit already like I am (which is okay since I go and scoop them out occasionally to feed my slimes.)

I switched it up a bit, as the drones do not feed all auto-feeders fairly, especially when there are 4 chicken species in the over-growth. Tango may get 25 Hen-Hens, Boom may get 2 Painted, I wish the auto-feeder wasn't species specific and accepted them all as just meat. I now have the drone scooping from the wild and feeding the corrals directly instead of through the auto-feeders.

As for the Tango Slimes if contained to a corral in the overgrowth they will happily feed themselves by pilfering chickens dumb enough to gather outside of their corral.