Force Plow

In FS '17 the game introduced the forced need for plowing. If the player did not periodically plow, the yield would start to go down. We did not have this need prior to FS '17. Prior to FS '17 there is no yield hit regardless of whether the player ever plows or not. This mod for FS '11 forces the player to periodically plow fields.

This script is not implemented the same way that it was for FS '17. In FS '17, the map itself required another density file to record plowing activity or the lack thereof. To keep from having to set up a map in a special way, I wanted to have this script adaptable to any kind of map. The result admittedly doesn't look 'pretty.' When you see application of the script on fields, it has a 'blotching' effect. That said, it has the desired effect of taking out parts of the field over time so that the player is forced to eventually dig out the plow to keep the field viable. Once harvested, none of the blotch areas can be replanted until they are plowed.

Each night the script activates on the map and scans all fields that have been either cultivated or planted. If a field has been plowed, it is left alone. But if a field is in a cultivated or planted state, the script will randomly remove certain small areas of the field. In other words, it will remove the cultivated/planted texture, and it will force the player to plow the area before it can again be planted. It won't remove any unharvested crop from the area, so the player can still harvest it. Over succeeding days, these impacted areas will gradually make up a larger portion of the field.

If the map has dynamic foliages available, it will occasionally place some of these in the impacted areas. It could consist of rocks, bushes, grasses, weeds, etc. If the map has grass in it, occasionally grass will also be planted in these impacted areas. But not always. These additional effects are entirely at random, but they do add some additional color to the map.