Help!

I don't know how to keep my villagers alive long enough to reach Farming Tech 3. It's frustrating because I've googled and searched forums and nobody seems to be having the same problem. I've tried several times now and I keep running into the same obstacle.

I try to build the dam and the scarecrow as soon as possible, because I know that as soon as the seas get algeafied and the coconuts are gone... it's only a matter of time.

The problem I'm running into is that every time crops come up from the field, I have to wait increasingly more time before more crops come in. Eventually, I'll turn on the game and there will be 2 or 3 hours before I get new crops, but I'll have zero food. My villagers just can't survive that way! If I babysit the game and get as many mushrooms as possible, I might be able to squeak through to the next batch of crops... but it's only postponing the inevitable.

I know I need to research Farming Tech 3 and get rid of the algae (I've read most of the game spoilers trying to survive) but I haven't been able to amass more than 27000 tech points (3 or 4 Master Scientists and Science Tech 2) before it becomes hopeless.


HOW ON EARTH are you all managing to get 90,000 tech points without starving to death?

A way to get tech points is to keep an eye out for collectables you've allready got, then have a kid pick them up. And don't worry, quite a few people get stuck on that part of the game.

Well it's gratifying that other people are stuck there... but I still don't see how to get past it.

The first time I played I was fanatical about collecting items, and that's the time I managed to research the second level of all the techs. I built all I could, I looked at spoilers and solved all the puzzles I could... My population grew to about 20, and things seemed to be going great. Sure, they'd have to wait 10 minutes or so without food before the next crop came in... but that time increased. Then they waited 20 minutes without food, then 40, then two hours... it just seemed insurmountable.

Then I decided maybe my population was too large, so when I played again I limited them to 10 people. Still no luck - in fact, I entered the "death spiral" even earlier than before. I only managed Tech 2 in Farming and Science, but it was all downhill from there...

I just honestly don't see what I could do differently. I'm sick of spending hours of my own real time scouring the map for more collectibles or mushrooms, and even that didn't help. I'm really at a loss.

The crops are on a fixed cycle, which varies with the game speed setting. On normal speed, the crops arrive every 4 hours, regardless of how quickly your villagers harvest the crops. If your villagers harvest them in 3 hours, the farm will be empty for an hour; if they harvest them in one hour, you will be waiting 3 more hours for crops. One thing that can disrupt that cycle, however, is adjusting your computer's system clock (deliberately or inadvertently).

You will find the saga of another person here who was in a similar situation and the forum community offered a lot of help to get a successful game going.

Thanks, that link was very helpful. I was stuck in a false strategy - I put more and more people on farming in hopes that the more people I had farming, the sooner the crops would get harvested and the quicker I could start on the next round. I also thought that the more people who were watering the field, the shorter the next wait time would be. Looks like I was wrong.

Nope. Watering the field and planting crops helps by adding skill to your farmers, but nothing else. If the field is empty and you have no other food source it's best to take your farmers off and put them on research. That way you'll get tech points faster.

Remember to put them back on farming once the crops grow again, though!

on easy level you only want one person on farming, one person on building and the rest on research, mushies and items are assets. and its easier to take things one at a time, ive never lost a village from starvation because i dont jump the gun b4 i need to. get all the fish out, as soon as the algea turns up, get level 2. Dont get level 2 just cause you have the points there. wait be patient. you need the algea for a puzzle anyways so just get it done. then by the time the coconuts are almost depleted, your dam is done and the farm is ready. and again only one farmer, and make sure you get the scarecrow. then its just a matter of waiting till you get 90,000 to get level 3. If your spending alot of time on it, if while your waiting for new crops, put your farmer on research and then back on farming when the crops come in, but if your not there dont do it.

Ohh and dont let your population go over 15, thats all the farm can sustain.

I got 8 villagers, close to 2000 food, and all techs (except Farming and Medicine) are at Level 2.

You don't say what speed you are running. That not only makes a difference with how long the crop cycle is, but how much is collected (fish, coconuts or crops) each time.

I find that playing on "normal" speed is about right for keeping the early village well fed.

I'll also only put 2-3 villagers on the farm when the crops come in. They will keep busy, and not have too much time left in the "growing" season. As you discovered, if you harvest everything too soon, then it'll be a long wait to the next cycle.

Except for the dam and the briar thorns (so that more collectibles will appear) I also don't worry about building huts early in the game. Better to keep the villagers at the research table to earn the points.

I now have 9 villagers, over 2100 food, and all Techs are at Level 2, except Farming. I will wait to get Level 2 Farming when I can afford to get Level 3 Farming at the same time. My dam got started as soon as I got Engineering 2. I don't have to worry about starvation in this village.

I play on normal speed at the beginning of the game and switch to 2X speed once the dam is built. That cuts the waiting period for the first crop, and the interval between crops, by half. I play on normal at first because the villagers eat less food. That allows me to build up food stocks, and then, when I get over about 500, I'll take the farmer away and put him or her on research or (if I've got that far) building the dam. Of course, if the food levels drop below 300-200 I'll put the farmer back. Usually, however, I can last out at around the 500 mark, topping up the food with mushrooms, until the dam is finished.

I don't allow any babies until the after the dam is built either. This is because I need as many villagers working as possible. Again, switching from normal speed once the dam is built leaves the mother "only" looking after her baby for two instead of four hours.

One trick I've discovered is that I try not to let the dam complete while the game is shut down (or even in another game slot). When that happens, the first crop cycle doesn't start until the game starts again, but in the mean time, the villagers have been eating the food supply.

When the dam completes while the game is running, then less food is used (before the first crops come in.)

Yes indeed. Also, the builders are likely to go off and build the small hut and/or repair the loveshack. If both those jobs are completed they'll mill around aimlessly until you open the game and give them something to do. I don't need either hut at this stage, so I prefer to switch the builders to research immediately they've finished the dam.

In fact, wherever possible, I try to guess when a building task will be completed and make sure the game is open. It's not always possible, alas (there's an annoying period called working that I have to spend away from the village).

"Work" is a four-letter curse word. Though unfortunately, I also have to do it. I feel your pain, arnie.

Can anyone tell me what the formula is for the food depletion rate? I know that it's affected by population and the speed at which you're running your village, but I haven't been able to predict when the food levels go down and by how much.

It's roughly 2 food per person for what I can tell. I could be wrong, though.

Thanks, Rand, but there has to be a time value in there too. So, 2 food points per person per ___ minutes? Anyone know?

That I don't know.

it depends on which speed you are playing at, i beleive

Anyone know exactly how many food units a villager eats per hour? (at 2x speed)

I know it is the same for adults and children, but does 'children' include babies still being nursed?

No idea how much they eat per hour, but it does include nursing babies

Yes.

If the food consumption details worry you, why not time your villagers and find out?

This is a critical part for me in the game too. I do not leave the game until I have seen the first two events.

This is how I play the beginning:

1. Get the herb mastery with the adults and the oldest child
2. Get my fire started after my herb mastery
3. Set the adults as researchers and the oldest child as the farmer, the other children are set on research and healing
4. When the next oldest child makes 14 they go to the research table
5. When the algae blooms I have that villager go to the table
6. I should have reached at least 1500 by then ( hard,2x) I know that if I need to I can buy the next level in food
7. I try to get to 6500 this is enough for food and engineering
8. When I reach 6500 I buy my food and the level 1 in engineering
9. I put two villagers on food and everybody else on building the dam
10. By the time the coconuts run out the dam should be finished or just about
11. There may not be food at this time but the time for the crop to come is not that long for them to starve to death.
12. I put everyone except the oldest villagers at the table and the oldest builds the hut, this way they can master the hard skill while they are still young. The other hard skill is farming. I try to get them to master these two first.

The village that I am currently playing is on track now to the 90k level of food. We had to use 10k for exploration and now we are on our way. Most of the villagers have mastered at least 2 skills at this point and I have only been playing 24+ hours.

With this method I find that it is easy to get them to 90k without anyone dying of starvation.

Maybe someone else has a better way.

As soon as you have your dam in place, immediately make the scarecrow. Any Master Farmer can do it without additional Tech.

That way you avoid the whole "birds" crisis.

Yes! But Adept Farmer is sufficient

Thanks for correction.

Also, if you have a tribe that gets sick a lot, early L2 Medicine may be worthwhile. Although I bought it for an early sickly tribe of mine and they all got sick anyway.

I have killed off 10 villages so far 3 of them while I was in the hospital for 2 months........most of them died because I let them on 2x speed too long I think. the thing is is that the event screens we get help our tribes grow stronger in some way or another. the tribes I have now I have done differently than the dead ones..... I make all of them fish at first then they get the algea, but enough food to last until they reach 1500 to buy agriculture. Then I let them "make up" for the lost food by picking coconuts. I will then start a few (3) on building the hut, 1 on farming, and one on research. Before the coconuts get too low, I put them all on research then watch them so they do not eat all their food. They usually are on 2x speed for this part because it goes faster and they get enough tech points for engineering. then you let them ALL loose on the coconuts and farm, I get my adept farmers (2) to go get the stuff for the scarecrow. Then there is plenty of time for researching for everything else. So far my tribe is going strong on normal speed.