Hi there,
Just got the game, it's very cool, however, it seems farming is taking FOREVER!
I've gotten them to plant the crops, and have 4 of 5 villagers now watering them, but still no food.
I had a LOT stored up from the busy, but the parrots came and ate most of it.
It's now been about three hours that I've been watering the crops, and still nothing.
Am I missing a step or something?
I'm just barely susbsisting, and a little concerned.

Thanks,

d

Hang in there! The crops will grow... and then you should have plenty of food for your 5 villagers. Sometimes it gets pretty scary with the food situation, but I've found my village usually recovers from a close call like this.

Another newbie question: I'm trying to be patient in waiting for my crops to grow for the first time, but I'm getting nervous. I got Lvl 2 Harvesting and have had two or three villagers busy planting and watering the crops. Since then my villagers have aged two years. Does it really take that long for the first crop to come in?

Also, the villagers default to watering the crops, but if I drag them to the crop fields again they do more planting. Which one is a better use of their time at this point?

Finally -- I'm assuming there will be an obvious visual change when the first crop comes in. Is that correct?

Thanks for any help!

As MissEh said, the crops will grow. The game is designed to make the food situation a little tight in the beginning! You will see a definite change in the farm when the crops have grown.

As for watering and planting, I usually have my farmers work on things that improve their skills. Watch them for awhile and see what you want them to do.

Hmm...well, it didn't work out. My diligent villagers planted and watered those crops for 8 years of gametime, but still no sign of a harvest, and now they're all dead but one. Is there anything I could have been missing?

On another note, I may have come across a bug. One of my original adults was age-zapped down to 2. He was 6 when the tribe started work on the crops, and he turned 14 just before the last of them starved. Oddly, when the food ran out and everyone else's health began to decrease, he remained at full health. He's now continuing to do work and shows no sign of slowing. Was the magic potion supposed to make him immortal, or never need food again? Or will his health start to decline now that he has come of age?

I guess I'll have him continue watering those darned crops, to see if they ever grow. Or perhaps he'll wander through this village of corpses and become a lonely Master of all trades.

There have been occasional reports of the farm taking an inordinate amount of time to replenish, but they are rare. You may very well encounter an island event that will help you out of your current situation. If you do have to restart the game, you'll likely not encounter that problem with the farm again.

Drinking that potion has some varied and interesting effects on villagers. I wouldn't characterize your experience as a bug!

I just got game last night and have been up most of the night playing with my little people. I noticed with my game after I got the farming, I had two farmers water the field and within a year or two (a few minutes) they were already harvesting their crop. Which gave that darn fruit tree enough time to sprout one tiny fruit that does help out with the "food" issues.

I haven't seen or found a "potion" does that come later in the game?

There are many Island Events that occur throughout the game, and some of those are potions!

Oh thats interesting thanks for the info ladycfii. I have another question. I have a little girl running around she's 7 now but when she (while I was asleep) was born and picked some fruit. So now she has experience in that, but I can't seem to get the children to work anymore.

The children don't work until they are 14 years old. You see some farming skill in her details because your little girl inherited that skill from one of her parents.