Crops/Farming

A optional requirement to have to eat and drink would be great though

Would you need blocks for mechanical seeding, weeding, harvesting, ploughing and hoeing?

Hydroponics does not always give the most efficient yield. It can require a lot of energy.

The Sun and soil can do that job too.

SE1 has token survival elements. I would love to see more. If creative is your thing, just don’t enable it in your game.

The solution to the dispute is actually primitively simple.

In vanilla SE1 there are blocks like beds, kitchens, bars, tables, even toilets and showers, green cylinders with some seaweed or algae... Why actually, when the player's character doesn't need to eat or drink or sleep? Decorations? OK.

In the plugin that Jordan Davis mentioned there are also other blocks for growing plants - and I can imagine a block for making meat: for example the "Lab Counter" block - also actually just a decoration, but easily convertible into something more useful. The player sacrifices a kilogram of his own body (wound for 25-50% health), or gets a trophy from a killed opponent (or "earthlike" animals) - and in a few days the block will grow more meat...

So the solution?

A simple toggle in the game world settings.

Want the need to eat, drink, sleep in your world? Whatever. Food system blocks are functional, producing plants and processing the food needed for the player's character.

You don't want more "unnecessary complications" in your world? Whatever. Food system blocks are purely decorative.

Exactly, we just need more votes badly

First I was not sure because some games you have to eat all the time and it's annoying but if the time when you have to eat is long enough it's fine. Or perhaps like some games food just heals a little. We have kitchen blocks in SE1 and it would be fun to have them some function. Other option would be that NPC crew needs food but not the player character. Anyway it would be fun to build a ship like in the movie Silent Running.

So if you're not suggesting a survival mechanic then what are you suggesting? Because as structured here, all I see is unnecessary complication for the sake of having complication, which is not even remotely fun at all. Even worse in some instances is it has the potential to force people to interact with a system they may not have no desire to interact with at all if they want to get the better blocks in game. I don't mind a crop system within reason, but this current structure as proposed is 50 pounds of nope in a 5 pound bag and has not been thought out nearly as much as it needs to be.

"Materials harvested from alien crops could be used in the construction of explosives or more durable and lightweight armor panels."

No, just no. I'm all for us having more durable armors, but this isn't the route it needs to come from. I have no issues going out and mining for my materials or trading for them (assuming trade system will be a thing), or even stealing them from hostile factions should the need arise. Because in those instances I have my choice of how to acquire the needed materials and I'm not forced into one particular way of doing things. Yet this system would essentially force me to play Farmville: Space Engineers 2 Edition to get access to the better armors.

"Alien crops could only be grown on alien planets.

• a) More complex system could allow players to mix gasses in rooms and create alien atmosphere for growing crops indoors. Would require you enter the room with your helmet on (optional).
• You could have automated systems to plant, water, and harvest crops. Crops could contribute to O2 production in your ship/base."

So not would I be forced to play Farmville in space, but I would be forced to do it only in the "approved" location as evidenced by the first bit in bold. Again no, just no. I've created content for games for over 20 years now and one thing I've learned is you can't force people to play in a way they don't want to play. Because when you pull the whole "play this way or else" card or try to lock content or stuff behind mechanics they absolutely hate, one of a few things is going to happen. They'll tell you to do anatomically impossible things, find a way around the restriction, or simply not play your content thus costing you players. I'm going to ask the obvious question here, if I don't want to interact with this system would I have an alternative means of accessing these stronger armors you speak of, or I would I just be SoL?

Another thing, if you want people to play a certain way, you have to give them reasons to want to play that way on their own. When I created maps for certain games I would often sprinkle extra bits around the map to draw people out of their bases. In a game like Timesplitters Future Perfect, sometimes I would put a semi-exposed area in the middle of the map, along with extra health, armor, and a gun or two to draw people out. While they could find these elsewhere on the map individually, this gave them some incentive to try and hold that area and fight for it but never forced them to do so.

Now you say we could mix gases to grow different stuff, yet what would the purpose of said gases be? Because less can often be more in terms of development. I can see nitrogen being a viable gas for stuff like this and crop growth, perhaps even a coolant should a heat mechanic of some type ever be a thing, but beyond this I don't see the need for extra gases. Also what would make this method of crop growth better than just me processing some ice or using your basic Oxygen Farm blocks? So far the second bit in bold is the only functional thing that could provide value I see coming from this.

"This type of farming could improve base/ship aesthetics by contributing to greener looking bases."

If one likes that kind of look for their base, sure. However this look could easily be accomplished with something as simple as ye basic deco block I place and forget, and without all the setup and maintenance.

"It would add to base/ship functionality, as more rooms a player can create would have specific functions or purposes."

And those extra functions and purposes would be what exactly? Because again if you want your base to look greener, this can be done with skins and basic blocks without all the extra work. And you can put out alot more of those blocks and skins far faster than you could a massive system like this. I also don't see enough reason to make me want to interact with this aside from cosmetics that doesn't come off as "do this or else."

"It would add depth to the crafting system, another angle in survival to unlock certain technologies and blocks."

And how exactly would it add to the crafting system and such? Because you say here it would give another angle to survival, yet say right after you're not suggesting a survival mechanic. Okay then what are you suggesting? Because respectfully I don't think you know what you want from what I'm reading here. If you're going to suggest a full on crop system you may as well just bit the bullet and do a full on food system. Let people adjust the rates hunger/thirst so it doesn't become all about "Farm Engineers" and they can adjust to their liking. Would also let people trade their crops to acquire supplies and materials. Only thing is there would also need to be some kind of upside such as temporary buffs for interacting with the food system other than it being "eat/drink this or die." As long as the tech and such you mention isn't exclusive to the farming method, this could work but would need to be thought out more. However if they're exclusive to this farm method, yeah that's a no from me. Because then it's like those devs in MMOs that say "oh yeah we're making this all new optional content we hope people like" but then tie your ability to do anything in game to that new feature and say "see we knew people would like the feature", when in actuality it's them giving people the illusion of choice.

Toilets and showers will need plumbing, and waste processor would be needed.

Much of this and more is also covered in the thread "SE2 Progression IDEAs"