Sunday, October 6, 2013

Under the Hood with "Growsim"

Greetings.  This week has seen a decent amount of updates to the game, with a lot going into the engine itself--how the game works under the hood.  More screenshots and video will be forthcoming.  The game is still on track for a December 1st full release.

For anyone who's curious, I'll share some of what's going on under the hood.  We'll focus on the plants in this article.

Each plant tracks many attributes.  The two primary ones are size and growth.  A plant's growth determines how fast it reaches potential size.  Every plant, when the seed is started, has randomly generated attributes that determine its maximum size, growth rate, and THC potency.  How the plant is cultivated determines the actual growth rate and size.

The first choices that affect this outcome are the seed type, bucket size, and rooting medium.  All choices are worth exploring--there is no perfect option that works for every plant.  A plant with low potential size rating is finely suited for a small bucket, as it won't need to extra space (and cost) with a large bucket.  Plants that grow slowly won't benefit as much from using a rooting medium that encourages faster growth.

Each plant can be tested when it's in the flowering stage.  Testing reveals the name of the strain, the current THC potency (not maximum potential but current potency), and the plant's natural climate (temperature and humidity).  By testing one particular strain, cloning it, and keeping it going, players can watch the THC rating and determine if they want to keep the strain and try to maximize it or try a different seed.  There will be a lot of experimentation with configurations to find the ideal for a particular plant.  The most difficult challenge will be trying to customize an environment (grow room) to suit a particular strain while keeping down costs for having different rooms operational.

Every action has an affect on a plant's potential size and growth rate.  Pruning leaves can help encourage the plant to stretch out and increase potential size; feeding high-quality nutrients and water can bump up growth rates; every action and decision regarding plant care and environment control has an affect on how a plant develops.

The game will remember every plant strain you discover and any new ones you cultivate.  As of right now, every new game will reset the database and allow you to discover all new strains and re-discover ones you already found (with different attributes).

If there are any specific questions, please ask.  Thanks for reading.

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