farming
Latest
Xsyon now has cooking and farming
Did you know that you can cook and farm in Xsyon? Yep, you can, thanks to the latest patch which added the ability to combine ingredients and create recipes, food buffs and bonuses, and even signature dishes. If farming's more your style, Notorious Games says that you can now "raise a variety of different crops, watering, tending, and fertilizing them to obtain bountiful harvests." More details are available via the latest Xsyon patch notes.
Pumpkin Online Kickstarter promises farming and dating
If you've ever spend hours plugging away at Harvest Moon and thought that the game would be better if it were online, Pumpkin Online is aimed directly at you. The game is on Kickstarter now, and it's intended to be a combination of the best elements of games like Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing while also creating a robust environment for players to work, craft, and interact together. Players will have access to a variety of professions and goals as well as the ability to customize the inside and outside of their farms. They can also pursue friendly or romantic relationships with the townsfolk, with an emphasis on inclusive relationships and character options for all players. As of this writing, it's about halfway to its goal, so if you like the idea of an inclusive game or just want to farm with your friends, you might want to toss a few dollars into the bucket.
Korean carrier upgrades eel farm, makes the Internet of (slimey) Things
By definition, the Internet of Things (IoT) should connect with anything -- even writhing, kinda gross, but often delicious eels. SK Telecom's latest project is aimed at showcasing its IoT skills with a pilot connected eel farm that uses a network of sensors to monitor thousands of eels, mostly autonomously. Sensors dotted across multiple 20-foot-wide tanks check on water temperature, pH and oxygen levels, Data is then collated and analyzed by the Korean carrier's cloud system, and bounced to a simplified smartphone app -- all in pretty much real time. "Why?" is a good question, but there's a good answer too: apparently minute changes in those factors above can be fatal to young eels. Before, this meant regular tank checks by workers every two-to-six hours. Now, it's mostly automated and sudden changes will even ping a warning to eel farmers' smartphones when needed. SK Telecom is planning to roll out the system commercially next year -- who knew eel farming was big business?
EVE Evolved: Wormholes should be more dangerous
When unstable wormholes began forming all over the EVE Online universe in 2009's Apocrypha expansion, players approached them with extreme caution. The promise of riches in the form of new loot and Tech 3 cruiser components was balanced by the incalculable risk of facing a powerful new enemy in untested circumstances. Between the Sleeper AI that had been reported to melt players' ships in seconds and the player pirates taking advantage of the hidden local chat channel to sneak up on unsuspecting victims, we had no idea whether any ship we sent into a wormhole would ever make it back out again. The risk of venturing into something truly unknown made wormhole exploration the single most exciting thing I've ever been a part of in an MMO, but the past five years have completely eroded that danger. Farmers now know exactly what to expect in every wormhole site and can efficiently farm Sleepers with the minimum of effort or risk, and PvP alliances can rapidly cycle through systems to find weak targets to attack. We've mapped and tamed all of the wormhole frontier, systematically reducing the risk to the lowest possible levels under the current game mechanics. Tuesday's Hyperion update aimed to shake things up with a few disruptive changes designed to keep wormholes dangerous, and I think it's a definite step in the right direction. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at some of the changes in Hyperion designed to keep wormholes dangerous and ask what more could be done to keep things interesting.
You ask the impossible: Finding classic world-drop recipes
I've been running a Challenge Modes 101 series recently to help players who are scrambling to get their transmog sets, mounts, and titles before the axe falls, and our commenter Drewbob pointed something out that I hadn't considered. The use of Invisibility Potions is a key part of the strategy for gold timers, but the recipe is a world drop in classic Azeroth. If you weren't lucky enough to get a drop while leveling, or buy it when it was more commonly available on the auction house, you may find it very difficult to get these days. You can't really farm for it, and on smaller servers, you've got to wonder if it's ever available at all. I bought my Invisibility Potion recipe back during Burning Crusade, and now that Drewbob's mentioned the sheer difficulty of finding it these days, I'm so grateful that I was always too lazy to switch professions.
The Daily Grind: Do you hate minigames in MMOs?
A reader in my last Working As Intended column made an off-hand comment about minigames that struck me as interesting. "I loathe how [minigames] have invaded MMOs in the last few years," Zuji wrote. And he's right: Minigames have become a huge part of MMOs. Upon reflection, I find I half agree with Zuji in that I could do without approximately half of them. Farming? Check. I always like farming. Hacking? OK. Tag? Sure. Card games? Those too. Vehicle combat? Ug, yeah. Pokemon? I guess so, but if I never heard the word Polymock ever again, I'd be delighted. Chicken hockey? Wait. Chicken hockey? So here's the question of the day: Do you hate minigames in MMOs? Are they a plague on the industry or a clever way of adding creative non-combat content to a genre that desperately needs it? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Choose My Adventure: Hunting for trouble (and riches) in ArcheAge
Bouncing between alpha and beta has hindered progress in ArcheAge for Massively's MJ, but it hasn't diminished the fun. As per last week's vote, she spent the past weekend in beta, checking out life on the other continent as an Elf. Now, with the next beta a whole week away, it's back to alpha life as a Firran. But that doesn't mean it's a lonely life! MJ found a spot for her little farm and has been raising some goslings as she continues her crafting and trade exploits. And there's also this thing about joining a guild... we're sure she could find some more trouble to get into with friends. Perhaps she'll even finally make it to prison! Join us live at 7:00 p.m. for MJ's final two-hour CMA Live adventure. Game: ArcheAge Host: MJ Guthrie Date: Friday, July 55th, 2014 Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT Enjoy our Stream Team video below.
TUG alpha patch allows you to hunt dumb goats
What purpose do really dumb goats serve? If they're in TUG's new 0.6.3 alpha update, it's to be hunted for their pelts and cooked over a roaring flame. In a new video, TUG shows off several of the sandbox elements that went into today's patch. Players can create and cultivate farms, or alternatively go hunting for the aforementioned "dumb goats." There is also a physics system in place for projectiles, new craftables, and the ability to have a good old-fashioned cook-out. We're not kidding around, this is one goat-tastic video. Check it out after the break!
Global Chat: Being the bad guy
As an MMO enthusiast blog, Massively has always had a special appreciation of the dedicated (and unpaid!) writing that gamers put out on their own blogs every day. Every week there are dozens if not hundreds of terrific posts on MMOs out there, and since I'm the resident loon here who reads pretty much all of them, I decided to start up a biweekly column to point you in the direction of some of the best discussions going on in the blogosphere. We'll see posts on specific games and general topics, geeky gushings and zany rantings. For our inagural edition of Global Chat (yes, I'm recycling the name from a long-dormant feature on this site), we'll take a look at how outfits tie into identity, surviving MMOs as a chicken, a requiem for a gold farmer, and so much more!
Working As Intended: Dabbling in indie sandbox Villagers and Heroes
Villagers and Heroes is not the sort of sandbox that gets a lot of coverage in the gaming press. You can't gank in the game. No one will murder you for your ore or your logs. There are no petty internet crime lords generating scandals or developers being ousted for cheating. Clichéd zombies are not waiting to slaughter you come nightfall. You cannot fall off a cliff or treetop pathway to your death. You never have to walk 10 miles uphill in the snow both ways to get to your house. You don't have to wait in line for an instance. You don't really have to fight at all. In fact, the worst thing that might happen to you is that you'll run out of energy.
ArcheAge feature guide delves into more housing details
You've seen the 37-minute video showing off ArcheAge housing (and if you haven't, you really should); now, you can get all that juicy information and more in one fact-filled feature guide. Trion has released a housing and farms guide as a companion to the livestream that aired last week. Want a concise listing of types of housing and a guide to building the place of your dreams? Check out this easy-to-reference piece that goes into construction, furnishings, and upkeep. Then be on the lookout for future feature guides following the Exploring ArcheAge livestream series. If you don't have 37 minutes to watch the full original stream, check out the more concise version that hits the highlights below.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: human diamonds, floating farm and a 13-year-old nuclear fusioneer
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Ever wish you could take a bite out of Kanye West? A new (possibly satirical) startup is taking meat alternatives to an absurd new level, with plans to make salami from animal meat and human tissue from celebrities. No word yet on what Kanye thinks of the venture. In other weird science news, a Swiss company says it is creating diamonds from cremated human remains. The company claims that its so-called memorial diamonds are almost indistinguishable from a typical diamond.
Monsanto pushes Big Data-driven planting but farmers are skeptical
Some farmers are worried that with the latest push from seed manufacturers, their planting techniques could be used against them. Monsanto and DuPont (two of the largest seed providers in the world) are urging farmers to implement data-driven "prescriptive planting" tech that suggests how densely rows of seeds should be planted and at what depth. It also gives detailed information about a farm's soil, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Some modern farming equipment already collects the above information for the farmer's personal use, but this new tech would upload it to seed-providers who will analyze the aggregated data and feed optimized planting info directly to the iPads or other tablet inside a tractor's cab. As Monsanto tells it, this could increase corn crop yields by as much as five to ten bushels per acre -- and with mass adoption, that number would rise. Critics, however, aren't nearly as optimistic. The American Farm Bureau Federation (a farming trade-group) has pointed out that seed companies have an implicit interest in higher crop returns and planting denser fields: Monsanto and its ilk stand to profit from the cost of their services as well as increased seed sales. Farmers fret that the shared data could lead to increased competition and higher seed prices, too. What's more, they're worried about a drop in the profits made from futures contracts and a possible fight related to who owns their crop data. Given Monsanto's history regarding ownership, though, the farmers' hesitation could be warranted. For the full story, be sure to hit the source link. [Image credit: Vampire Bear/Flickr]
Flameseeker Chronicles: Meeting fun halfway in Guild Wars 2
Lion's Arch is gone. What's left of our city is rubble and fire and the echoing screams of terrified survivors. The day Scarlet Briar's army attacked dawned clear and mild; by the end the sky was choked with smoke, poison, and the silhouette of Scarlet's massive drill ship. Thousands of people died, are dying, and will continue to die -- all we can do for now is to try to save as many as we can. Escape From Lion's Arch is a truly impressive piece of storytelling and atmospheric set design, and I found it immediately comparable to similar missions in games like BioWare's Mass Effect series. I've never really played anything like it in an MMO, and I think ArenaNet has done a wonderful job of capturing the feeling of a city under attack. It's been a bittersweet time for fans of Guild Wars 2; as I discussed last week, roleplayers have responded to the release with a flurry of creative activity, and the general consensus seems to be that the story, dialogue, atmosphere and artwork are all excellent -- if only we weren't forced to mindlessly farm for loot! Wait, we're what?
EVE Evolved: Ghost Sites and PvE goals
PvE in most MMOs revolves around killing hordes of NPCs for currency, XP, tokens, or loot, and EVE Online is no exception. Players can hunt for rare pirate ships in nullsec asteroid belts, farm Sansha incursions for ISK and loyalty points, or team up against Sleeper ships in dangerous wormhole space, but most prefer the safe and steady income of mission-running. Missions are essentially repeatable quests that can be spawned on request, providing an endless stream of bad guys to blow up in the comfort of high-security space. Completing a mission will earn you some ISK and a few hundred or thousand loyalty points, but most of the ISK in mission-running comes from the bounties on the NPCs spawned in the mission sites. Similar deadspace sites with better loot are also distributed randomly throughout the galaxy and can be tracked down using scanner probes. But what would happen if the NPCs in these sites were a dangerous and unexpected interference that could get you killed, rather than space piñatas ready to explode in a shower of ISK? This is a question CCP plans to test with the Rubicon expansion's upcoming Ghost Sites feature, which promises to introduce a whole new form of high-risk, high-reward PvE. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at EVE's upcoming ghost sites and explain why I think its goal-oriented approach to PvE should be adopted in other areas of the game.
Daily iPad App: Hay Day is a casual farm sim that'll have you raising chickens in no time
If you are a fan of sims like Theme Park, then you should check Hay Day from Supercell. Hay Day is a farming sim for the iPad and iPhone that brings the spirit of Farmville to the iOS platform. Hay Day kicks off with a brief tour that walks you through the basics of the game. Once the tour is over, you are prepared with the skills to turn your small plot of land into a booming agricultural metropolis. You can grow crops, raise animals, produce eggs and even make baked goods like bread. Everything flourishes over time, but you can speed things up with diamonds. When you harvest your bounty, you can trade with friends or sell your wares to make money to improve your farm. Hay Day is a freemium game, which means it is free to download, but includes in-app purchases that may be required to advance in the game. It's good clean fun for sim fans with some time on their hands and a bit of cash to spare.
Game Dev Story creator launches Pocket Harvest on Android
Game Dev Story developer Kairosoft launched its latest creation, Pocket Harvest, on Android recently. The game costs $4.99 (£2.99 in the UK) and is in the same style as Kairosoft's other creations. The farming simulator has players planting and cultivating produce like strawberries and lettuce as well as raising animals like sheep and chickens to create wool and eggs. The game also challenges players with refining their crops so they win awards, which attracts local grocers that opt to place orders with their farms. Like other city and life simulators, players can develop attractions to bring tourists into town, building on their farm's bottom line. After developing a top-tier racing team, a game development studio, a soccer team and now a farm, we wonder what "story" Kairosoft will place us in next.
Xsyon gets Steam Greenlight, plans PvE server
Xsyon has been Greenlit! After pitching its post-apocalyptic world to the Steam community, Notorious Games got the thumbs up for launching the game on that online platform. And in preparation of that launch, the game is planning some new updates, not the least of which is a PvE server! That's right, if you ever said to yourself you'd love to play Xsyon if only there was a PvE server, now you'll have the chance. A PvP server will still be an option for the more risk-oriented. Other plans in development include resetting abandoned terraformed land back to its original form, allowing players to farm by planting and tending crops, and adding cooking abilities where players can combine ingredients to create all-new recipes for dishes that provide buffs. There's no launch date set yet for Steam, but tell us: Would you play Xsyon on a PvE server, or would you prefer to remain on a PvP one? Tell us your thoughts! [Source: Notorious Games press release]%Poll-85422%
Breakfast Topic: Is the Timeless Isle still keeping your attention?
We're in the third week of patch 5.4 and the Timeless Isle is still buzzing, but the population does seem to have dropped somewhat. There's actual living mobs walking around for me to quickly finish the daily and I'm still working towards the achievement when I can, but I'm definitely not farming the Timeless Coins as fervently as I used to. I've instead found myself camping certain rares, like Garnia for the pet, while chatting and fishing with others who are doing the same. Overall, I like how the Timeless Isle turned out, but I think I may have gone a little bit too hardcore with it in the beginning, so I've decided to tone it down to avoid burning out. %Poll-84824%
Flameseeker Chronicles: Who watches Guild Wars 2's watchknights?
A few weeks ago, I covered a few possibilities for the direction of the Guild Wars 2 patch that was known at the time as The Queen's Speech, now revealed to actually be Clockwork Chaos. The majority of it didn't pan out, which is to be expected when engaging in wild mass guessing; I'll be a little disappointed if ArenaNet has really decided to retcon the hints it previously set up around the Great Collapse, but we know that the Crown Pavilion Arena will probably be revisited at some point and there's always a chance for things to go wrong in lots of different ways. The plus side is that Scarlet Briar is exactly the kind of villain GW2 has been hurting for, and her presence on the playing field is opening up all kinds of potential directions for the plot. Behind the cut are spoilers for this chapter of the living story as well as Scott McGough's short story What Scarlet Saw. Join me in the depths of hopeless nerditude and let's discuss the new lore elements this release has introduced!
