Farming EP ideas!
Hey everyone! I've noticed a lot of posts asking for a farming EP over the past bunch of months, so my thought was, WHY NOT MAKE ANOTHER ONE?!?! Here are some ideas I'm really hoping to see! Hopefully I can provide some insight for creating a pack like this since I live on a farm.
THINGS THAT ARE KIND OF ESSENTIAL TO A FARMING EP:
SEPARATE ANIMAL INTERACTION IDEAS:
I hope this is inspiring and I would love to hear your ideas!
THINGS THAT ARE KIND OF ESSENTIAL TO A FARMING EP:
- BIGGER LOTS! To make a small farm, you'll need a 50x50, but what if you want a regular, or even a large farm? I think a new world with a variety of lots ranging from about 50x50 to 100x100 would be perfect, and maybe a little cottage in the corner on a small lot, too. Not everyone wants they're own farm.
- "INVITE IN" INTERACTION! To run a farm, you'll need to hire farmhands, and you might not want them in your house. This is a much needed feature already, and a farming pack is another instance where it would be vital. I want to have a roommate who lives in a cabin beside me and doesn't enter my house, but I want to be able to invite them inside sometimes and not go redo all the door locks. Can't we have an invite in interaction, and can't guests just automatically go through some doors?
- FIELDS! Have you ever seen a farm with no fields? If you've ever been to a farm, then the answer is probably 'no'. Fields could be build with a tool similar to the pool tool. There could be different dirt textures, pathways, and decor to fill them with. Of course, plants can grow on the regular ground, but it's not a farm until it's got a field.
- OUTDOOR ANIMALS! Cats and Dogs is great, don't get me wrong, but I would like to have the option for a more self-sufficient pet. A barn cat doesn't live in the house, usually hunts it's own meals, and definitely doesn't use a litter box. A farm dog may or may not live in the house, but it's often living outdoors, and it needs a dog house. Dogs don't need walks when they have an acreage to run around in, and cats don't need laser pointers when they have birds to chase.
- FARM ANIMALS! Of course, it's kind of a given that everyone would want farm animals with a farming pack. My personal motto is, "It's not a farm until you've got animals".
- FARM ANIMALS ARE NOT HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS! If you owned a farm, you could choose if your pet is a farm animal or a pet, and these would change the available interactions and the pet's needs. There could be a separate category, maybe viewed through the phone, that shows all of your chickens, pigs, goats, horses, barn cats, etc... Maybe you could have up to, say 30 farm animals. I know more would be ideal, but that would slow down the game too much. They would have simple needs, namely hunger, bladder, and energy. They would automatically sleep when tired, and leave some fertilizing droppings when necessary. You would have to keep their feeders full. Livestock would be incapable of going through gates, so you could make enclosures for them that the sims can go into and clean and stuff. There could be a Sell To Butcher interaction when clicking on an animal (though not horses, cats, or dogs), and this interaction would bring someone to pick up your livestock, then later a dilevery of meat would appear at your house or mailbox. There could be a whole range of interactions with animals. I'll put some ideas later...
- SLOWER FOOD GROWING AND COMPLICATIONS! Growing food isn't that easy. Really, I've got lots of firsthand experience. About half your plants just don't grow, and you only get produce from each plant about 1 to 10 times per year. Root and stalk veggies only produce one harvest every year, whereas fruit trees, perennial leafy plants, and other such things, will produce maybe 5 to 15 harvest in a year. No one plant can be harvested every day. Most plants need to be re-planted every year because they are not perennial. You have to plant at certain times of year, too. Then there are the complications; seeds sprout with the seeds around the leaves, slugs eat the crops, and so much more!
SEPARATE ANIMAL INTERACTION IDEAS:
- SEND TO GRAZE HERE. Farm dogs or farmers on horses could herd cattle as they graze in a specific spot.
- COLLECT MANURE. Collect manure and spread on garden fields
- RIDE HORSE HERE
- GROOM HORSE (Maybe horses could have hygiene needs and have an option to be household pets as well)
- PLAY WITH CHICKENS. Kids and toddlers could play with the chickens
- AND SO MUCH MORE!
I hope this is inspiring and I would love to hear your ideas!
