pks crops is a mod that aim to more closely match the real world growing times of plantable crops, and to, as a result, slow down the entire process. this mod touches all of the crops that are plantable into the farm plot, basing them on a realworld equivalent.

Some changes have been made to maintain a decent gameflow, such as shortening a growth period to allow herbalists time to collect it in the wild or shifting the period over so as to remove a season from a plant's growing cycle.

**CHANGES**

-UNDERGROUND:
- underground crops have had their value lowered, halved in most cases, to be in line with above ground crops.
- underground crops tend to grow slower than above ground crops, however the mushrooms still grow fast.
- underground crops 'start' their cycle in summer, and typically you want to plant a non-mushroom. After one of them matures, you can plant a mushroom in on the off-season for a quick harvest, or use dedicated mushroom fields.
- underground crops tend to have a lot more 'wiggle room' on when they get planted, but the mod assumes that, like vanilla, something is causing variation throughout the seasons down there. Be it pollen from another plant, musk pheromones from a cave dragon, whatever.
- pig tails and sweet pods are about the only plants in the game that have an 'extra season' where they dont 'need' it to grow and they cant produce a second crop with the time, planting these in summer and plump helmets in winter is viable.


-ABOVEGROUND
- all plants, even the fictional ones, are based on real world counterparts. Their seasons, grow times, and biomes are based on that.
- some plants only grow in spring and summer, some take 3 seasons, a few only need 1, and some need over a year to grow.
- some plants are planted in fall or winter so they can grow the next year, called overwintering.
- all plants have had their value assessed.
- plants that take a long time to grow, only grow in a limited set of biomes, are influential plants in the real world, or produce useful byproducts like unique dyes or such have their value increased.
- plants that can be harvested many times a year, up to 4 in the extreme cases, and are known to be inferior or less expensive in the real world, have had their value reduced.
- plant values also affect by products like flour and dye and alcohol.
- the average plant value is 2, the same as vanilla.


-WHAT IT ALL MEANS
- crops grow slower, seeds are worth more, rarer plants are worth more, and products made from rare plants are worth more -> use rare plants if you find them, and execute the entire industrial chain.
- mill the seeds, make the paper, sell the products or use them.
- food is scarcer in the beginning. You cannot just embark with 30 meat, a cow, and 6 of every seed and not have a backup plan.
- surface forts are more interesting. Larger farms are required, theres more variety up top, and depending on the biome it may prove fun (FUN) to try again.
- crops should work as seamlessly as before. Crops dont 'waste seasons they dont need, they dont grow year round either -> plant what can be planted and maximize your yields.



- TIPS for getting started
- With a small handful of exceptions, most crops 'need' every season they have to maximize their harvest. Some plants can be harvested 2, 3, or even 4 times a year. The two notable exceptions are sweet pods and pig tails, which can grow for 3 season but only need 2 and cannot produce a second crop in the time left over.
- Bring more seeds, and more meat. Food is going to be scarcer when starting out, because farms takes longer to get rolling. Hunters, gatherers, and good old fashioned military squads can help bring in more food.
- dont neglect herbalism. Getting local above ground crops running early will provide you with food in the first year.
- Process your crops. Mill them into flour, create the dyes, and make the oils. rare, more valuable crops will yield more valuable processed goods.
- different biomes, alignments, and savagries have different crops, and Ive overall reduced how often any specific crop spawns in any 1 regions. -> Just like sometimes an animal will not get picked for a biome, a plant may not always get picked for the biome.
- Buy different seeds. Trade for seeds you can grow, to get that kickstarter crop.
- Your farmers might be super-busy or very idle, depending on the time of year and what/how much youre planting. Giving them some low priority tasks like hauling might help.




This mod is a stand alone product, but was designed to work with the other pks mods. This wants to be loaded after the other mods, since it changes plants.

- pks mod https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=17820
- pks frequency mod https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=17869
- pks crops https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=17873

is the load order recommended.


This mod is made with 53.14, however it is compatible with 53.15.