[2022] The Farming Update

A lil somethin somethin: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page here.

In The Farming Update we've made some big changes to how plants grow, adding new challenges and rewards. These changes include slowing down the growth time, a new genetics game loop, more nuanced environmental impacts on the plants, and the introduction of perennial plants. We wanted to achieve a feeling of involvement with farming and a sense of reward for being attentive and providing the right conditions for your plants.

This update has taken longer than normal but has laid the foundations for the next few updates that will build upon these game loops and you can expect to see more content around hydroponics and food.

Increased Growth Time
Base growth times have been increased for all plants, some significantly. While potatoes remain an easy single day staple food, others, such as the Tomato and Pumpkin plants have a base growth time of 12 days.

Base growth time will now be affected by a number of factors including the environmental conditions and the plant's genetics (more on that below).

Perennial/Annual Plants Along with long growth times, the tomato and pumpkin plants have been changed to be perennials. This means that once fully grown the fruit can be harvested and the plant will start producing more fruit without having to go through the entire growth cycle again.

Genetics and Growing Conditions
Plants now have a range of genes that affect the growth of the plant. Each plant will pass on its genes to fruit and seeds with a small mutation. A plant's genes can be affected over its lifetime depending on the conditions it was grown in. For example if a plant is deprived of water for a significant portion of its growth cycle then it will be more likely that following generations will require less water to grow.

While putting a plant under stress to manipulate the genes might result in the next generation of plants being more hardy, the plant will take longer to grow and its yield will be lower. Conversely, ensuring that the plant is within the ideal ranges defined by its genes, will make the plant grow the fastest it can and produce the highest yields.

We’ve added a section to all plant Stationpedia pages where you can find each plant's base growth parameters. There’s also a new Genetics Stationpedia section which includes a description of each gene.

Plant Sampler and Plant Analyzer
These two new objects will help you to choose which plants you cultivate and you can strive to create perfect plants that will thrive and grow quickly.

The Plant Sampler is used to take a sample of a growing plant. The Sampler is then plugged into the Analyzer and after a short time you will be able to see a full breakdown of the genetics of the plant. You can then cultivate the seeds from the best plants to use in the next generation.

Your support makes this possible
The major refactor has been a huge milestone for us and we think you can see the tremendous impact that it has had. Your support through bug reporting, suggestions, and direct involvement with our team on discord make a big difference.

If you like the progress we have made, please consider taking a moment to leave a positive review. This makes a great deal of difference to the project. We have worked hard on this project now for five years, and we feel confident the game has substantially improved from when we started. Many projects steer clear of the hard tasks, and we are proud to have taken them on.

Additionally, you can support us by purchasing the DLC we made to allow those who like the game to support us, and in return get something a little fun to continue to use in the game.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2089290/Stationeers_Human_Cosmetics_Pack/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1038400/Stationeers_Zrilian_Species_Pack/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1038500/Stationeers_HEM_Droid_Species_Pack/


Change Log v0.2.3667.17838

• Changed `nodiscord` arg to be single dash to be consistent with rest of args. Double dash will still work. `-nodiscord` or `--nodiscord`
  
• Fixed input/output tooltips not showing when pipe is connected.
  
• Fixed editor using namespace not wrapped in #ifdef
  
• Removed Discord SDK to test if crashing issues stop for some players
  
• Added ability to read cryo tube temperature and pressure from logic
  
• Fixed `-difficulty` command so it can be used at launch time for dedicated servers.
  
• Ice will no longer melt when moving between chutes and certain devices (furnace, silo, sorter, stacker, unloader, vending machine)
  
• Converted Tomato and Pumpkin plants to be perennial
  
• Changed Seeding stage to be after Mature (harvesting) stage for Tomato and Pumpkin plants
  
• Added a small amount of RNG to plant growth time to add variance and make growing a larger number of crops feel more organic.
  
• Fixed compile error caused by bad merge
  
• Refactored plant status system to support plant rebalance.
  
• Added Plant helper classes to support life balance changes.
  
• Removed fertiliser effect on food growth temporarily.
  
• Reverted fertiliser change(rev 17702)
  
• Added back DiscordSDK
  
• * Fixed discord crash. Caused by null pointer after a discord internal error. Have improved our Dispose method and added an extra init check in lobby creation
  
• Fixed NRE stopping tutorials to load
  
• Fixed a couple NREs from smelting tutorial
  
• Improved exception handling at GameManager.Start()
  
• Fixed characters staying standing up when they RagdollPart
  
• Added play names to skeletons and skulls
  
• Added missing discord sdk meta file
  
• Increased threshold at which atmosphere fires will completely combust all contents to help prevent overly persistent fires.
  
• Reverted thing fire threshold changes
  
• Added groundwork for plant genetics. These changes will have no noticeable effects (yet)
  
• Fixed macOS compile errors for DiscordSDK
  
• fixing compile errors on OSX in ModData.cs
  
• adding alias of Posix dlls for Steamworks so that they can be packaged correctly on OSX
  
• Removing old IMGUI implementation
  
• Adding new IMGUI implementation
  
• Making tweaks required for new ImGui implementation to work in Stationeers
  
• added cached game-tick delta time.
  
• added serialization for plant genes.
  
• Changed plants can survive for longer in adverse states without taking damage.
  
• Added plants in adverse states will have a quality reduction an produce seeds of lower quality.
  
• Added plants pass genetic properties onto child seeds and fruits with some variation.
  
• Added plant record class. Plants track the amount of time spent in adverse conditions.
  
• Added PlantSampler tool. Doesn't do anything yet.
  
• Removed debris from older imgui package
  
• Fixed Xml serialization of genes and aggregate states to use XML Enum.
  
• Fixed some errors when planting and harvesting.
  
• Added WIP Genetic variance system for seeds based on stress events of parent plant.
  
• Fixed save game list from not populating if one save had a missing terrain binary.
  
• Allowed saves to be loaded with a missing terrain binary.
  
• Changed Added SeedQuality to GeneCollection.
  
• Changed tidied up InheritTraits function to remove some duplicate calls across the various different planter classes.
  
• Added turning on Plant Sampler
  
• Added plant sample add/remove behaviour
  
• Added preservation of gene information in stackables.
  
• Fixed an error in plant growth RNG causing the upper limit to be very large.
  
• Tied the plant growth RNG to the reference ID of the plant so that it is deterministic(affectively serializing it)
  
• Fixed out of range exception being caused when stacking plants from older saves
  
• Added AppliancePlantGeneticAnalyzer. Can add/remove PlantSamplerTool to the slot and turn on appliance. Just cosmetic no gameplay changes.
  
• Added Genes now effect the health and growth of plants.
  
• Added new genes for Resistances and tolerances of atmospheric states.
  
• Fixed Stacked gene collections not updating correctly when calling OnUseItem and when harvesting when same type was already in hand.
  
• Initial balance pass on Genetic mutation. Mutation chance for genes follows binormal distribution over a 20% range for change.
  
• Fixed OnUseItem message not updating stacked gene collections.
  
• Moved StackedGeneCollections to Stackable.cs. List is only initialised on Plant and remains a null on the base class.
  
• Added Plant Sampler Tool save data persistence.
  
• Added error handling for Plant Gene Analyzer Appliance.
  
• Added missing so.meta file from DiscordSDK
  
• Added `IMGUI_FEATURE_CUSTOM_ASSERT` `IMGUI_FEATURE_FREETYPE` defines to project settings. (kept auto generating)
  
• Fixed IndexOfRangeException in Stackable
  
• Added localisation keys for ItemPlantSampler and AppliancePlantGeneticAnalyzer
  
• Added AppliancePlantGeneticAnalyzer to electronics printer recipes
  
• Added ItemPlantSampler to tools printer recipes
  
• Fixed plant sampler not working on all plant slots
  
• Fixed battery slot location on plant sampler
  
• Added Slot.ScaleMultiplier to scale size of things in slots. Only applies when realWorldScale is false.
  
• Fixed Collider Mesh renderers showing when moving plantGeneticAnalyser and Plant sampler between slots.
  
• Tidy up of plantGeneticAnalyser and PlantSampler prefabs.
  
• Fixed Analyser anim not stopping when unpowered or error.
  
• Added WIP plant growth values
  
• Fixed hydroponic trays not being able to be sampled using plant sampler
  
• Added damage to plants now takes into account the plants genetics.
  
• Fixed issue where you could not type into the F3 console as the window was not receiving focus correctly
  
• Fixed issue with tablets scrolling very fast making it impossible to read the middle sections of longer scrollable content
  
• Renamed some Plant Genetics variables and classes.
  
• Fixed Plant Genetic Temperature Modifiers.
  
• Moved some functions to PlantLifeRequirements.cs
  
• Removed ability to clear plant without modifier key press. Preventing accident clearing of plant from slot when harvesting.
  
• Added holding C key as modifier to clear plant from slot. (Shown in tooltip)
  
• General clean up of plant slot tooltips.
  
• Added game strings to some areas of plant tooltips for localisation.
  
• Refactored how plant life requirements get their values from the plant's genes
  
• Removed unused method in gene collection
  
• Added plant genetics display window for viewing gene data when interacting with the plant analyser
  
• Added meta file
  
• Fixed null ref on creating temperature curve for plant
  
• Fixed genetic info popup not scrolling properly
  
• Fixed null ref when pointing sampler at empty plant tray
  
• Fixed genetic info display looking weird for zero width ranges
  
• Changed Moved all plant balance data onto PlantLifeRequirements.
  
• Added Plants now have an ideal Pressure Range for growth 50-100Kpa. Outside of this range growth will slow.
  
• Added Plants will take pressure damage when pressure is outside of the range 25-200Kpa.
  
• Changed plants require at least 5% of their growing atmosphere to be their breathing gas for them to grow at full speed. Growth will slow at lower ratios. i.e a potato will now grow optimally in a 50Kpa atmosphere of which 5% is CO2.
  
• Added UndesiredGasResistance Gene.
  
• Changed implemented a number of Genes into plant growth and plant damage mechanics.
  
• Changed Renamed some plant variables and general cleanUp of plant class.
  
• Added search button to plant analyser
  
• Removed Error state flashing on OnOff button
  
• Removed turning off appliance after analyse animation
  
• Fixed being able to clear plant without hold C
  
• Changed Default Genetics adjustment range to 25%.
  
• removed Old hard-coded mushroom growing behaviour this will ben handled by PlantLifeRequirements now.
  
• Fixed alt key for clearing plants to be more consistent with other alt interactions.
  
• Fixed NRE on client join Plant.Gene not being synced.
  
• Removed SeedQuality and YeildMultiplier genes
  
• Added GasProduction Gene to plants.
  
• Reduced the effect of Fertiliser on growthSpeed (now max 25% boost) and harvest yield (max +2.5 yield).
  
• Changed Reduced seed harvest quantity to 1.
  
• Changed Seed harvest quantity is no longer boosted by Fertilizer.
  
• Changed Increased base harvest quantity to 3 for all crops except potatoes.
  
• Changed Harvest quantity is now reduced for plants that have experienced negative environmental effects over their growing period.
  
• Added Exposing plants to negative environmental states will cause trends in genetic mutations. i.e Restricting a plants water intake will encourage the plant's water usage gene to mutate in the positive direction meaning child plants will use less water.
  
• Fixed possible missing reference exception if plant is destroyed. Copying the plant now rather than passing around reference.
  
• Changed hydroponics tray and planter to use "Slot1" for their action rather than "Activate" to make them more consistent with other planting devices
  
• Moved interaction logic for planting devices to one place to make it easier to make the behaviour consistent
  
• Refactor hydroponics utils class
  
• Added new genes to analyser popup
  
• Updated gene info display to handle lopsided ranges
  
• Fixed syncing Plant Sampler state across clients
  
• Fixed syncing Plant Analyser sample data across clients
  
• Added print debug info for plants and Hydroponics Station
  
• Fixed error caused by plants when starting a new game that caused you to be kicked back to the main menu
  
• Fixed growth time gene being used directly as a multiplier meaning that growth times were approximately infinite.
  
• Added light stress as a growth time multiplier
  
• Optimised all plant prefabs. Removed some un-necessary physics components.
  
• Fixed Plants loading in with renders disabled.
  
• Fixed not being able to clear Fertiliser from slot
  
• Fixed bug where you could alt click drag growing plants from slots
  
• Stopped cursor interacting with world when genetic info panel is open
  
• Handled harvesting plants while holding plant of the same type
  
• Fixed Incorrect interactable hashing on plant analyser.
  
• Fixed turning plant analyser on and off quickly or removing/adding plant sampler would cause sampling anim to stop working.
  
• Tidied up Plant Analyser interaction code to be in-line with project standards.
  
• Added Interactable name hashing to on_editor_validate button.
  
• Fixed Plant Analyser spinning animation playing when it has no sample to process when loading into a game.
  
• Fixed building error due to editor namespace not in defines
  
• Added local build script to simulate code stripping like build server
  
• Fixed harvesting plants with max stack size in hand caused plants to spawn in at origin
  
• Added some light stress when the late status of a plant changes
  
• Added server build script with stripping for linux
  
• Fixed NRE in splash screen causing it to not display correctly
  
• Removed a debug log
  
• Added multi gene widget for temperature and pressure related genes. Will show ideal temperature/pressure ranges and min/max possible temperature/pressure ranges.
  
• Added Sounds to Plant Genetics Analyser.
  
• Fixed PlantStatus not syncing on network
  
• Fixed exception when generating tooltips for certain plants
  
• Updated hydroponics tray device slot types
  
• Added Mushroom Seeds.
  
• Added Mushroom seeds to organics crate in default starting conditions
  
• Added Units to numbers in genetics panel.
  
• Changed Reordered elements in genetics panel.
  
• Changed Water usage gene to show percentage change rather than absolute values.
  
• Localisation pass on hydroponics tooltips
  
• Fixed NRE issues with plants from Harvester
  
• Tweaked plant analyser mesh and fixed materials on sampler and analyser
  
• Added Sound for taking plant sample with PlantSampler.
  
• Changed grow Temperature range for tropical Plant.
  
• Added Grow Efficiency tooltip to plants.
  
• Added Light stress tooltip to plants.
  
• Fixed Pressing alt would when loading into game with plant sampler in hand could cause the plant sampler status screen to show both statuses.
  
• Updated plant analyser to flash error when any tool other than the plant sampler is placed in its slot
  
• Localisation pass on genetics info panel
  
• Fixed Error in GrowthEfficiencyRNG calculation that was causing all plants to grow slower.
  
• Fixed exception when watering plants
  
• Updated seeding plants so that the seeding stage always follows the mature stage and is also marked as mature.
  
• Made it so you can harvest a seeding plant's seeds/fruit in any order. Previously you had to harvest the seed first.
  
• Fixed issues with perennials not reverting to the correct stage
  
• Fixed issue with plant visualisers disappearing when decrementing stage
  
• Refactored harvest method
  
• Improving error logging to imgui console window and log to file to help us lovely devs a bit more
  
• Fixed tool tip next lining on pipe analyser
  
• Added Plant Growth Requirements to Stationpedia.
  
• Added new icon for genetic
  
• Updated gasicons.psd
  
• Fixed wrong callback event from logMessageReceived
  
• Added Duplicated water shader and gave individual colors.
  
• Fixed issues with harvey not harvesting fruit when plant is seeding. Harvey will now harvest seeds first followed by fruit.
  
• Refactored plant and planters to make harvesting functions more consistent
  
• Removed some uncalled code which was meant to harvest mature plants when planters are deconstructed. For now, plants will continue to pop out of slots when the planter is deconstructed. They can then be re-planted and will revert to the first growth stage.
  
• Stationpedia Genetics Page WIP
  
• Made Console log catch threaded
  
• Slightly tweaked plant growth tooltip
  
• Fixed DelayedActionInstance.Success() message not showing
  
• Added Inhaled, Exhaled & toxic gases information to plants Stationpedia pages.
  
• Added Water usage to plant stationpedia pages.
  
• Fixed WIP-Genetics Statiopedia page throws error when opening.
  
• Added Stationpedia entry for Plant Sampler and WIP entry for the Genetics page
  
• Added missing genetics icon meta file
  
• Added Individual gene pages to Stationpedia.
  
• Added Localization hooks for Genetics strings in stationpedia (moved hardcoded strings to gameStrings)
  
• Updated plant analyzer stationpedia description
  
• Updated plant analyzer thumbnail
  
• Updated plant sampler thumbnail
  
• Fixed grammar in stationpedia genetics page
  
• Fixed errors in the genetics page text
  
• Fixed transparency on gene icon
  
• Added gene icon to genes page list
  
• Added Growth time to stationpedia.
  
• Changed Plant grow times: Potato 1 game day. Wheat, Rice, soybean, mushroom 3 in-game days. Corn 6 in-game days. Tomato 15 in-game days, Pumpkin 18 in-game days. Subsequent harvests of
• Tomatoes and pumpkins will take 3 & 6 in-game days respectively.
  Fixed Math bug with seconds to Time converter that caused the wrong time length to be shown when time was greater than an hour.