alexmasse
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🥕 Grow Your Own Garden In Paralives
🕑 Added 2023-07-21 13:52:57 +0000 UTCHey there! It’s Alex.
Remember the Hackweek? It is our annual week-long event where each member of the team can work on a special project of their own choice, even if it’s not in our top priority planning for the release of the game. Last year, this spawned things like Paralives’ Photo Mode and a rework of Doggo’s look. This time, a lot of interesting projects came out of it once again, like the painting skill images and animation we showcased last month.
Today’s post is all about Léa’s Hackweek 2023 project: 👩🌾🥕 Growing crops and harvesting vegetables! Parafolks will be able to purchase seeds and turn them into fully grown vegetables. This post is for Patrons only so please don’t share it 🔐
Ohh, the joy of gardening! I love the plants Léa created for the game. One day, I'm gonna make a huge garden!
How to Tend to Your Garden
- 🌱 Purchase seeds: Use the build mode object catalog to buy seeds. Later, we might add the ability to order them online or purchase them at a local shop.
- 🏡 Plant them on your lot: They can be placed anywhere on the ground as long as it’s inside your own lot. We might also add wooden boxes for your plants later.
- 💦 Water them everyday: Ask your Parafolks to water the crops to make sure that they stay healthy.
- 📈 Watch your crops grow progressively: Keep reading this post for a showcase of that!
- 🍆 Harvest your vegetables when they are ripe: Your Parafolks will be able to collect the veggies when they are ready.
💰 Sell your vegetables: Enjoy the fruits of your labor!
Your Parafolks will have to regularly water the plants or else they won’t make it.
Growing Process
For this Hackweek, Léa created four different species of crops and more could come later. Here’s how each of them will grow, step by step. Note that the exact number of days for each plant to grow is still to be determined as we start testing the gameplay more and more.
🥕 Carrots
🎃 Pumpkins
🍆 Eggplants
🍅 Tomatoes
Extra Ideas Being Considered
The following are just ideas, for now!
- 🥕🥕🥕 Take good care = more vegetables: If your Parafolks tend to their garden especially well, crops could give out more veggies.
- 📊 Gardening could be a skill: Parafolks who garden a lot would become high level in that skill and do it more efficiently with better outcomes too.
- 🍴🎁 Use vegetables in cooking or gift them: In addition to being able to sell vegetables, you could be able to use them in recipes or gift them to friends.
- 🌧️ Rain: When we add seasons and rain later down the development road, Parafolks won’t have to water the crops if it recently rained.
- 🌅 Seasons: There could be different crops that grow in different seasons.
- 🏪 Open a shop: Players could open their own shop or stand at the market to sell their own vegetables and make higher profits.
Now, that’s more like it! My Parafolks are gonna make quite a few Paradimes with this!
Hope you liked this look at gardening in Paralives! Remember that it was done for the Hackweek and there’s still work to be done. It’s possible that we change things up as we test the gardening features or that it won’t be available on day one of the Early Access release because we will prioritize core features of the game first.
Have a great weekend and don’t forget to take care of your real life veggies! 👨🌾
Alex
Comments
Zissi D
Maybe we can only receive other seeds to plant in the garden when we improve our gardening skills 😊
Kayleigh
Not sure exactly how the cooking and meal making system will work, but I’d love to have certain recipes become available only if you have a certain crop stocked in your fridge. Like eggplant parmesan or roasted pumpkin seeds or something!
LightDeficient
Please make sure it’s not too overpowered making money through crops like it is in TS4
Lealovescats
I love the idea of having a stand or a shop to sell your veggies at. Also to actually get seeds back from the vegetables so you dont always have to buy new seeds. This could also be tied to a higher skill level.
Wonder Luna
I really hope that we will have interactive shops and malls to get our supplies from like gameplay
Íris Sól Þrastardóttir
So cool! Perhaps later on, it's possible to consider that plants have different needs regarding watering, weeding, etc.
pekeniax
They look so cute! 💚
Nathalie Carluccio
Yes!!! 👍👍👍 That's sooo cool!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Hannah Moody-Goo
Very cool! I would love the opportunity to open up a store or stand to sell fresh veggies. I also think it would be cool if some recipes were only learned/unlocked when you successfully grew that veggie. Just a couple ideas. :)
Camilo Quintero
Yes Yes, thank you guys, all these options to enjoy the game with wide variety makes it more fun to play, having my pumpking ready to harvest on halloween and sell them.. So excited
lias
I've talked with a friend yesterday about her garden and it made me think of a few ideas that would be really cool as options! Fertilizers and Pesticides that a para could buy! Fertilizers could make the plants grow faster or lead to more fruits/veggies. With Pesticides maybe there's a slight chance that plants can get infected with something and you have to buy pesticides for them! My friend mentioned that she only does ecological methods of gardening, so she get's her fertilizer from her compost and uses insects as a natural pesticide. So maybe If a para reaches a certain level of skill in Gardening (If gardening is a skill) they could get the option to do ecological gardening. Maybe a compost could be added, where you can place organic waste objects (i.e. food that has gone bad) and they give you fertilizer a para can collect and use. Also they could simply add a insect house that has like a invisible area that it effects, so plants in that area would'nt get infected? Those are just ideas that! Maybe later if or when you have time and space to work more on this gardening system these would be cool ideas :)
Maxx
I love gardening in games 😭 hate actually touching dirt irl though haha. This is gonna be much fun!! I love that we can plant pumpkins, i hope we can carve them for halloween! They look a little low poly, though
ladyteruki
"The fruits of your labor" ! Parapuns are the best. Now this is very much the kind of thing I look forward to. I was hoping we would be able to get seeds by foraging, but nothing is set in stone, it could still happen, right ? Léa did a great job with the plant cycle. The sprouts are adorable, and I really like that there is a flower stage. Can't wait to see more !
Gary Hardt
If there are seasons later down the road I hope we can tweak the length of them and if there is snow or not.
Und3rgr0und -
I do support the addition of a storage box! In The Sims and Animal Crossing I usually end up with seeds I can't use now, or back up veggies in case I run out. They take up a lot of inventory space and I personally like it very neat! Another option would be inventory categories, kinda how in the sims you have different panels for different types of relationships!
Synthia Hubbard
Not sure how normal the plant will be in the game, but if insterested, maybe plant could have differnet characteristics. Like if they have weeds the roots could become large and the weeds become little gremlins and they could fight in the yard. And if the plant has a high enough love level from the Para then it would win the battle and produce extra produce. If not, it loses and the weeds kill that plant and spread to others nearby. Just not sure how alive the plants would be lol
Jen Giresi
Totally agree! That would be amazing. I love the looks of these fruits and veggies. This game gives me all kinds of cozy vibes. Great work!
TyraStar74
Yes,I would like that too. My Grandma grows the best tomatoes in her garden. They are much better than the ones in the supermarket. I'd like to grow the best tomatoes in Paralives too. <3
Cheyane Rider
What about health benefits for it you grown your own veggies, like home grown rather than store bought
Sarah
I would love to grow flowers too since they are good companion plants for fruits and vegetables
Alexi
Veggies looking good. I know I need to make at least one para with a super green thumb but it all depends on what other features will be in the game
Yvette Lopez
I hope to be able to use these fruits and veggies in recipes!
chanel moon
love seeing the game really come together!! no rush of course but is there an estimate of when early release will be coming ? (:
Alex Massé
It would be really cool to have greenhouses in the future! Not planned for now though
nemo
Loving it! They're all super cute, and no little cottage is complete without a little vegetable garden <3 Plus i love anything that expands the cooking system!
TnT_Terry
Awesome! Could there possibly a greenhouse for out of season veggies/fruit?
Genesis Llanos
Sorry but they are fascinating and personally love how they look.
Alex Massé
Hehehe! The Hackweek is a great moment for a team member to sneak in a feature that was not top priority for the initial release of the game! It would be great to be able to grow indoor plants too! Not planned for now though since making many different versions of every plant is a lot of work so it will only be done for farming and vegetables for now :)
Alex Massé
I update the roadmap once a month or so. Thanks for the reminder, I just updated it!
Angela
Oh you little sneaks! :p I remember mentioning gardening here, and having it be directly de-confrimed. Not that I'm complaining, just the opposite. So uhhh, maybe we can do some indoor plant stuff too? Just putting that out there, haha
Alex Massé
Thanks for all the great extra ideas and for the eggplant feedback! I will tell Léa!
Megan Santucci
Plus a neighborhood editing tool obviously so I can put wild plants in the woods 😂
Megan Santucci
This would be SO fun to plug into the modding system. Maybe there are general categories like "root vegetables" "fruiting plant" "fruiting vine" etc and we could edit the specs to make whatever we wanted.
Megan Santucci
*googles walipini* oh no I can feel my ADHD tingling 😂
Megan Santucci
Maybe there could be a simple indoor/outdoor mechanic so our paras could have tropical plants as houseplants or little herb gardens in the kitchen window in addition to greenhouse plants!
Megan Santucci
Maybe for some skills like cooking and gardening and so on there could be a "Help with gardening" interaction that allows you to select an adult to supervise the child. And then there could also be things like the toy oven in TS2 or a mini flower pot or something that kids can use without help.
Megan Santucci
My real life 6yo is OBSESSED with gardening so it definitely seems like something children should be able to do!
Megan Santucci
YESSSS I would die if we could have a community garden!!
Nelssie
I mean this roadmap https://paralives.notion.site/f138c4f6cb234604be16fe4198d17f51?v=41e2b3e389404b37b4060bc74dead4af
Nelssie
Hi! Love all the work you're putting in! Thank you! ♥️ However, I was wondering if the roadmap is updated (I think is not) as I'm getting anxious hahah and I really think I am not the only one...
Vera Ohlsen
I was about to comment that! Eggplants are white when they are unripe.
Panthro Samah
I love gardening and this is the modding project that I'd love to do: make varieties of fruits and vegetables that are from Brazil and certainly wouldn't appear in a XXX game. Açaí, acerola, cupuaçu? Yes, we can have it!
mintyKHat
In my experience they show up because of compost, so that would be a fun mechanic, giving a certain percentage chance of random seedlings near the compost pile maybe? Hehe
mintyKHat
Love love love. I appreciate so much that the crops look like they have actual growth phases unique to that type of plant, with carrots in the ground, no onions that grow in a bush instead of as a bulb here, no sir! Give me weather and the vibe will be 💯 💚
Gill Reid
Oooh I love this!! Dont like gardening in rl but im pretty sure in paralives I'll be out there planting and watering every day. Cant wait!!
lias
Omg gardening!!!!! This is the best day of this month for sure! I think fruit trees would be a cool Addition Like cherry or apple trees! Maybe some of them could even be around town on public lots where paras can maybe forrage? Either way i'm hoping for maybe some berries and fruits that paras could use in their pies! Oh also i am a biiiiiig Fan of market stalls or maybe even little Stores 👀 i would Love to be able to make my paras sell things 👉👈 anyways i am so excited! Also because these plants actually look like the real Deal! The only Thing that's a little off is that eggplants are white when they aren't ready yet :D
BonaparteBardithion .
I can see adding one berry plant and one leafy greens plant. That would give a mechanical basis of berry bush, lettuce-shape, root veggie, outward crawling and upward climbing for modders to work off of. One fruit tree would also round it out.
Alex Massé
It could be possible using our wall tools and basement tools! We'll have to see!
Alex Massé
That would be a really cool thing to add eventually!!
Genesis Llanos
Okay so I have been obsessed with walipinis. Is there any way we'll be able to make them in the game.
Joy Kennedy
I have a suggestion. How about adding a greenhouse shell structure that players can move anywhere on the lot. The greenhouses could benefit and affect plants differently than outside of it.
Virginie M.
Super impressed and happy you changed your mind on gardening, i didn't expected it would end up in the game. I know it's a work in progress, just a little suggestion : add some more leafs to the tomato plant. Other than that, it's very good :) Thank you Léa !
Alex Massé
Ohhh, that's so cute, I love the idea! It would be a great addition!
Alex Massé
We will be analyzing and testing this specific question, thanks for the feedback!
Alex Massé
Children will be able to help in the garden, yes! Sprinklers are not planned right now but it would be a great addition in the future if we can! Greenhouses would be really nice to have too on day for off-season farming!
Alex Massé
d) Ohh, a community garden lot would be really cool to see!
Alex Massé
c) Thanks!!
Alex Massé
That could be nice!
Michael
Paralives is the #1 game I'm rooting for
Pvydrow
I am freaking OUTTTT, these ideas and images are amazing, I love love love the potential implementations of weather and the interactions with gardening and harvesting, hopefully we'll be seeing most if not all of those ideas implemented down the line
Canary
So, one of the most fun things that happened when I was living in a particular apartments for a while was that we had a little garden in the middle of two rows of apartments, and an unexpected plant started growing it in. We all wondered what it was, and were all surprised and pleased when it turned out to be a pumpkin vine that we all helped look after. It would be neat if unexpected plants might show up under certain circumstances, like animals wandering across your property, etc.
Kieran Wade
I LOVE this
Victoria Garcia
This is really awesome! Can I request that the plants go barren after a while? I prefer the gardening in the Sims 3, I don't really like it in the Sims 4.
Zedef
Can you share whether gardening (including planting seeds and watering) is age restricted to adults and older? Personally, I think children and up should be able to do it. And another question/suggestion: sprinkler or other type of watering system for the garden? And if certain fruits/veggies are season-specific, could we (eventually) get greenhouses to grow off-season fruits/veggies?
Zedef
Could a compromise be possible and just have paras plant a whole tomato or whatever they've bought in the store or grown themselves? Instead of having to buy new seeds? Quality could also improve if you keep planting well cared for fruits/veggies.
Samari Prime
Ugh so wonderful, something about gardening that I loved in the Sims and will very much do so in paralives too.
Connor
amazing guys!!
Stewby
b) maybe you could consider a community garden/allotment??
Stewby
a) amazing work devs. i absolutely love it.
Cameo
What's already in the works looks great, and the extra ideas would add nicely to it ! The gardening skill seems especially relevant, since caring correctly for different plants and crops is indeed a skill that needs both knowledge and practice ! I am really looking forward to it :)
Bianca Taylor
Patiently waiting for the early release 😩
Kristen Wright
The thought of there being a market is so cute and exciting!! I love it!
tey711
Let me grab my gardening tools, I'm ready, let's go!! I love everything about the gardening features, images, and duties! Great work!!
Lane Brettschneider
Crying with excitement!!! ❤️❤️❤️ Amazing and beautiful! I can't wait to learn moooore!!! Thank you Lea!! And thank you for sharing, Alex!!
Awanthi Vardaraj
Me too! Maybe some paras can get together and just have one over the weekends in a designated space; I'd love for something like that.
Awanthi Vardaraj
This is so exciting. I can't wait! It's such a privilege to watch this amazing project come to life too. Thank you, Lea!
BekkiRoss
Yes!! I’m so glad there will be gardening in Paralives! 😍👩🌾 Looks amazing! And love all the ideas for future additions to this feature as well! 🥕
Julio Saliba
Awesome! I hope we can see more options for gardening, I hope to see farms too. Now that you got me thinking about plants, I hope the plants would be unique to various climate zones.
Luiz Andreolla
I can’t wait to play this game oh my god, such a so good job! Everything looks awesome
Joy Kennedy
I love gardening in real life and in games. Amazing job! I hope some time later we could create a farmers market event.
Carelle
farmers market >.> I like farmers markets
asentientai
Nice! I'm particularly hyped about gardening. I think having it as a skill would be nice, as well as being able to plant or find rare plants.
Judi Dielman
So cool! I am so excited for this game to be released, but take your time and make it right, it is going to be great!
Tee W
I love this. Watching this game develop had been amazing. I still remember seeing the first video showing the walls being created and from that to now has been such a joy to watch
Alex Massé
We are not planning to have the ability to extract seeds for now but that could be a great addition eventually :)
Abigail Buchmiller
I love this idea for a para who wants to eat healthier and grow their own food. Or who loves to garden and share with the neighbors!
LindSlay
OMG you just made my day with this! Your team is amazing!
Gaby Fraga
i'd love to be able to use the ingredients on recipes, and different recipes needing different ingredients. I love this kind of gameplay :D
Marita Svendsen
Oh I love this! I love gardening in games. So this is perfect. 😍 Hoping for more later! Berries, potatoes, salad maybe etc. 😍😍
Aleksandra
Sweet! Gardening is my favourite part of TS3. Will we only be able to buy seeds or will we be able to extract & plant, for example, tomatoe seeds from the fruit we already have?
Amanda Hotchkiss
Speaking of, would love farm animals in the future!
Amanda Hotchkiss
Love that y'all's team allows for creativity like this. I can't wait to start my Paralives garden!
Orin
I would REALLY LOVE for vegetables to be usable in cooking. And for cooking to have an ingredients system 💖 I love to make my sims live off the land and I'm not expecting that from Paralives necessarily but I do like ways to play in the direction
