Cotton Gathering Tool or Something!

[SekoETC]

I don't see how a reamer could be used for gathering cotton... There are cotton harvesters irl, but they also gather a lot of crap. I think it would be good if handpicked cotton would include much less trash than it does now, the collection rate could remain the same but the ginning losses would be cut to 5% max. While machine-picked cotton would be gathered a couple of kilos a day but would include a lot of trash. After ginning, both of these resources would turn into cotton fibres, so the processing would go according to the old projects from that point on. 1) Rename our current cotton as hand-picked cotton and 2) add a new resource called machine picked cotton, 3) add cotton harvester (can take model from other harvesters), 4) figure out rates, 5) add projects to cotton gin / simple cotton gin. Sounds simple, doesn't it?

[T-shirt]

I think you should pick cotton fibres at 100 grams a day. And collect 2000 grams of cotton a day with a harvester. You will need to gin the cotton to cotton fibres though.

Thus, you should not pick cotton, but cotton fibres when farming without a tool.

[SekoETC]

Well, that would make things slightly more simple. A lot more simple in fact.

[Sicofonte]

Good idea, T-shirt !!!

The mix between Seko and T-Shirt's suggestions would be nice for me. And it would be rather realistic (let's wiki about the old and up to date cotton gathering processes, there is only two ways: at hand, or using very big motorized machines) and coherent with all the Cantr's mechanics.

Adn... having a better way than by hand for cotton gathering, any complains about it will vanish, even if the cotton output remains unbalanced... just because we (the complainers) will be busy building those machines.

[Arlequin]

Well, in our island there's only cotton, so the only worry is about the clothing cost. Cotton economy is building up for some locations and, tho the gathering is slow, that just impacts the technology advancement speed, not the local benefits. You gather more cotton, you are forced to set cheaper prices AND to transport bigger amounts to get the same benefit.

Said that, I think it would be good enough if clothes made a difference, and if cotton clothes (that are light, keep you warm when it's cold and fresh when it's hot) were the more efficient for all kinds of enviroments. And, come on, that isn't so difficult to implement. Just make food less efficient and sickness more common (after a mercy period if you born there) if you aren't properly dressed for that enviroment.

Also, cloth made with unprocessed fur and hides should decay.

[Sicofonte]

And, come on, that isn't so difficult to implement.

Well... someone has to set the weather(*) for the different areas. And the weather (and seasons) system has to be designed.

[Racetyme]

I really, really dislike the clothing connection to sickness and health. It makes life just that much harder, when really, the game is about interaction.

[Sicofonte]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_picker


A big machine that harvests cotton:

the "stripper" picker [...] It removes not only the lint from the plant, but a fair deal of the plant matter as well(such as unopened bolls).

The Cotton Stripper Harvester:

Code: Select all

Manufacturing
Object type: Machinery
Skill used: Manufacturing Machines
Time: 16 days
Materials:
2000 grams of iron
500 grams of steel
200 grams of rubber
Objects: none
Tools: screwdriver, hammer
Machines: none
Location: has cotton.

Projects
Maximum workers: 2
Harvesting cotton
Output per day of labour
 - 2000 grams of cotton
Maximum output
 - 150000
Required resources
 - none
Required tools
 - none
Skill used
 - harvesting?

Another big machine that harvests cotton avoiding most of the waste, not stripping the entire boll off the plant.

the "spindle" picker. It uses rows of barbed spindles that rotate at high speed and remove the seed-cotton from the plant. The seed-cotton is then removed from the spindles by a counter-rotating doffer and is then blown up into the basket.

In RL, the cotton has to be ginned after that step, but we could make that the cotton spindler produces "cotton fibres" instead of "cotton", to justify the extra cost and lower production rate of this machine.

The Cotton Spindle Harvester:

Code: Select all

Manufacturing
Object type: Machinery
Skill used: Manufacturing Machines
Time: 20 days
Materials:
3000 grams of steel
200 grams of rubber
100 grams of magnesium
Objects: none
Tools: screwdriver, hammer, pincer, wrench
Machines: none
Location: has cotton.

Projects
Maximum workers: 2
Harvesting cotton
Output per day of labour
 - 1500 grams of cotton fiber
Maximum output
 - 120000
Required resources
 - none
Required tools
 - none
Skill used
 - harvesting?

Note that...

The first pickers were only capable of harvesting one row of cotton at a time, but were still able to replace up to forty hand laborers [...] The current cotton picker [...] up to six rows at a time.

Fourty hand-labourers would be a 4000% boost to the by-hand production rate. The numbers I suggested are about 1500% boost.

[Arlequin]

I would cut down the cotton clothes cost instead, since that would be a harmless change. Cotton is light, it shouldn't require half a kilo to make a simple cloth.

A full dress in cotton requires near 3 kilos of cloth!

[KUKUS]

It is a marvelous idea, C'mon!

¿tara thus well ?

[Avathar]

I like the way cotton is how it is right now. Don't change anything. Let it be special. If you don't think it is worth your time to process cotton, just don't!

[El Bicho Mutante]

I definitely agree that cotton production is umbalanced, but if we want to make a balance we need a logical solution, not a boost of 1500 %

I undestand that clothes are a fancy use for resources, but anyway that's not excuse for letting them out of the tecnological development, is not fair that a resource that is consider of only use for the richs has not a technology development. I undestand that silk hasn't got one (since it should be the fanciest), and hemp and wool neither (they have good rates at this point),. but cotton right now is far more expensive than silk (in the process of cleaning looses a big amount of productivity). Also in the future cotton cloth should be used for technological developments, as sails, bags, furniture, etc. So is ilogical that it's recolection rate can't be increased.

In my opinion we need an easy solution, a simple cotton recolector who increases the output to 400 grams per day. Nothing too complicated, if you want to use aluminium to make it a very developed machinery is fine with me; but cotton recolection should be increased with technology, at this rate is imposible to trade or work with it.

[Sicofonte]

I like the way cotton is how it is right now. Don't change anything. Let it be special. If you don't think it is worth your time to process cotton, just don't!

Have your characters access to anything else than cotton?
When there is nothing else, you can't say "just don't".

[Avathar]

I have a character that works with cotton and doesn't have access to anything else. I like the challange to use cotton ingame. And I don't want to get a new tool so that cotton becomes much easier available. It would remove my challenge...

[Sicofonte]

I do agree with Arlequin. Cotton clothes are too weighted.

C'mon, Arlequin, let's apply to the resources department, more tailors would be good.



Oh, I forgot the aluminium...



A big and expensive machine that harvests cotton at 8 times the normal output:

Cotton Harvester:

Manufacturing
Object type: Machinery
Skill used: Manufacturing Machines
Time: 20 days
Materials:
2000 grams of steel
1000 grams of aluminium
200 grams of rubber
100 grams of magnesium
Objects: none
Tools: screwdriver, hammer, wrench
Machines: none
Location: has cotton.

Projects
Maximum workers: 2
Harvesting cotton
Output per day of labour
- 800 grams of cotton
Required resources
- none
Required tools
- none
Skill used
- harvesting?

Although I haven't calculate the exact costs of this and others machines, I am sure this is quite more expensive than most (or all).

If this was implemented, several characters should be engaged for several years of hard work in order to build one of these harvesters. The output of the machine (that would be quite far from the IRL expected output) should worth a so big effort.