LE The Simple Life - Be A Farmer

[lostRD]

I'm into farming in video games and I see a lot of potential for farming to be introduced to Skyrim. It would add further roleplaying scope to the game and another objective besides the combat and lore-based questing. Inspiration can be drawn from Harvest Moon in a few ways, especially the time scale of a few minutes per day, the necessity for a good amount of sleep per day and penalties for sleep deprivation, the owning of a farm but necessity to clear rocks and stumps off the field in order to use it, ability to upgrade the farm by purchasing things such as a greenhouse, chicken coop or barn.

 

I have considered specific aspects of this mod that would make it both immersive, involved, challenging and rewarding but above all, realistic. I want some realism to fall back to after I slay a dragon by shouting at it. I want to defend my herd of cattle from a dragon or some bandits or a pack of wolves. I want to get married and have my farmer's wife help me tend the farm. Skyrim has such a fantastic world within which to live the life of a farmer that missing this opportunity seems almost criminal.

 

Here's the list of farming features that I have compiled so far:

 

• A farm can be bought in each hold but taxes must be paid to the Jarl on a regular basis. Each farm will be suited to a certain aspect of farming due to factors such as climate, distance from the city, terrain features, soil quality, abundance of grass, you name it.
  
• The player can upgrade the farm by purchasing things such as a greenhouse, chicken coop or barn. This will allow the player to keep animals (cows need a warm place to sleep) or grow different produce such as tomatoes in the greenhouse.
  
• Crops (potato, cabbage, etc.) can be planted in a player-owned field.
  
• Fields require plowing before crops can be planted - requires an ox and plow (each sold separately, batteries not included).
  
• Crops have individual respawn timers and can only be harvested a certain amount of times before they must be replanted. Different crops take different times to grow.
  
• Crops require watering or they will die after a few days but not so long that going on one of the more extended quest leaves you with a dead farm to come back to. Having a wife/husband to maintain your crops would extend the time that you can stay away.
  
• Food will be producible in larger quantities so as to make them a viable source of income.
  
• Livestock can be bought from other farmers and even sold to them should they require a new animal (radiant quest similar to a farmer buying cabbages from you but much rarer).
  
• Animal breeding is possible but very slow.
  
• Feeding livestock will be necessary (like tending crops) but more expensive.
  
• Livestock can be sold at stables outside of cities or butchered for meat.
  
• The player must manually walk their livestock to the stable - no avoiding bandits of wolves on the way there by fast travelling!
  
• Animals can be bred but only at certain times of year and pregnancy takes in-game months.
  
• Wheat can be milled and cooked into bread and pastries.
  

 

And here's a list of gameplay modifications to add to the immersion:

 

• The time scale will be much higher, leading to much shorter days so that growth actually happens in the player's IRL lifetime.
  
• Eating, drinking and sleeping will be necessary on a daily basis, probably using Imp's More Complex Needs.
  
• Actions such as planting and harvesting crops, cooking, plowing and milling will take in-game time and will have animations to match. Any products that require time will be worth more to justify cooking as a roleplaying element but not worth so much that a player would choose to cook everything rather than sell raw produce. Potentially certain merchants will buy only raw foods and others only cooked foods.
  

 

Any interest? Is this even possible?

[Topazanite]

Sooo . . . Are we talking Harvest Moon, but in Skyrim?

[lostRD]

In many ways, yes. Not a precise clone but most of the gameplay elements less a few and add some more that fit the Skyrim world.

[littleork]

IT could probably be done, I was gonna add a farm in my job mod to buy but I wasnt going to extend it as much since it would be fairly complicated to me. A lot of the things you mentionne could be done by just playing the role, I mean by that that someone who really wants to farm all day will find a way to do it by taking his time when he does each activities.

 

I was thinking of adding some stuff to do the farm like a big crops field,buyable animals and possibly helpers that you could pay.

 

ITS not as extended as you would like but it could be a start til someone makes a bigger one

[Riffzor]

I like any lore-friendly RP mods. Farming would definately be a fun option to fame and richess!

 

... Well, perhaps not fame and richess, but atleast enough to feed your family.

[lostRD]

@littleork, I have played like you suggested already and that playstyle is what led me to believe that a mod really would enhance this greatly. I had high hopes for being a travelling farmer but it feels more hollow than I expected.

 

@Riffzor, that's precisely the idea. Achieving fame, glory and wealth is easy in Skyrim - too easy, so easy that it feels cheap to me. I'd rather earn it through hard work.

Edited June 16, 2012 by lostRD