Hybrid Dog wrote:l would like that the soil node which is too wet becomes a node with a mud texture. Particles sadly can't use transparency as far as l know.
And l think that a withered plant needs to be a different node that it's easier to see the difference to fresh plants. The particles may be insects which are flying around the withered plant.
Bug infestations are not the same as withering or over-hydration. As a matter of fact, I'm planning to add bug infestations as another source of plant damage.
Another damage source would be frostbite/freezing damage.
Particles are a simple way to show a plant is under
stress. Having different textures for a plant under stress would cause lots of node updates, and actually introduces a lot of other problems.
e.g night time comes, plants recover a bit from drought, now I have to update all the plants back to normal textures -> lots of node changes, which are complex.
Also, just because a plant is low on water and showing signs of dehydration, it doesn't mean the plant is actually withering (taking damage). The visual clue that a plant is determining a bit of stress through particles is easy to understand. It's also clear that the plant itself isn't dead yet (on the contrary).
There is a dead plant texture for each plant, and that's what the plant turns into if you don't water your plants at all (and have the crops difficulty setting set to "difficult"). That texture means "the plant is dead" and you get nothing back from the plants (no seeds, no potatoes, etc.)
So, for various reasons, I
understand that you don't like how this mechanic works because it's not realistic enough, but I'm not convinced that changing it will improve
gameplay (not realism) and improve
code.
Hybrid Dog wrote:twoelk wrote:why not just accept it as signal of what's happening like some manga or comic code
ln my opinion interpreting these signals may not always be easy because the withering plant still looks fresh.
You make a valid point. But, as I said above, if you see the withering particles, it doesn't mean the plant is actually taking damage. It's often just an indicator that damage
may happen if the player doesn't act.