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Strategy around Dairy constraint [LONG POST]

FarmerPJW2FarmerPJW2 Posts: 45
So I just sat down and ran the numbers, and my conclusion is that the Dairy limitation is a problem which needs strategising around. My apologies for the long post, but I needed to set out the issues in a little detail! (See this thread if you're interested in some of the earlier discussion.) For reference, the problem is that the Dairy is slower to produce output than the Restaurant can gobble it up, even at highest upgrade level (except for Cream, where it very nearly is slower). On a constantly-on basis:
  • Butter's only final destination is Apple Pies; the Dairy's Butter production rate is 1.435/min, and its consumption by the Restaurant is 2.5/min so the Restaurant consumes 174% of the Dairy's peak output.
  • Cream is only used to make Marzipan Icecream; the Dairy produces 0.689/min and the Restaurant consumes 0.667/min so the Restaurant consumes 97% of the Dairy's peak output.
  • Goat Cheese only goes into Rita's Salad; the Dairy produces 1.304/min and the Restaurant consumes 1.667, so the Restaurant consumes 128% of the Dairy's peak output.
On top of that, the capacity restriction means that most people will lose four or five hours' Dairy time each day minimum. But this is not intended to be a moanfest about the rubbish Dairy! Obviously it is, but I can believe that the designers intended us to strategise around its very real constraints. So let's do that. What follows is intended to provoke thought and reasoned discussion rather than being answers: I am interested in other people's answers!

I assume we all know that Marzipan Icecream is the most profitable Restaurant item.[1] Does anyone have a sense of the optimal strategy here? It looks like Marzipan Icecream all the way through, but I think it must make a difference whether you have Honey Cream as an option in another place, and also whether the Box of Soaps is available. I forget the precise figures, but when I did the sums, Soaps were definitely more profitable than Honey Cream, and I think Honey Cream beat Marzipan Icecream.

So I would have thought that the Cream would be better used for Honey Cream, which cuts down the amount of Icecream which can be sold. But if you keep the Dairy running at full pelt on Cream, then this eliminates everything above Spaghetti as an option, which suggests that one should then run Spaghetti when the Restaurant hasn't enough stuff for Icecream. Does this sound like it is on the right track? I'm assuming that the player is able to set up enough almond orchards etc. to satisfy whatever quantity of other inputs is required: the bottlenecks are the Dairy (strongly), Bakery (less so), Restaurant and Shop.

I also see suggestions that purchasing Cream, while denting profits, is a good idea if you have everything else in abundance. Does anyone have any numbers to put on that? Mightn't Marzipan Icecream with bought Cream end up with a lower profit rate than Rita's Salad?

Key questions I am asking
  • What is the optimal production strategy for the Restaurant? How does it interact with the Flower Farm? Is it just a simple priority list: (1) Soaps, (2) Honey Cream, (3) Icecream, (4) Spaghetti or Omelettes?
  • How does purchasing Cream affect profitability of retail products, particularly relative to the alternative products? Does it influence the priority list?
  • What should we be looking at in terms of production capacity? What are the priorities for expansion (e.g., almonds)?

[1] That is, profit per minute, taking into account the fact that you could just have sold the inputs instead of making the Icecream, and taking into account the highest price at which the inputs could be sold: Sugar is loss-making.
Post edited by FarmerPJW2 on

Comments

  • rhon (GB1)rhon (GB1) Guest, GB1 Posts: 1,542
    edited 06.02.2014
    You have obviously thought long and hard about this, and good for you :) But are you aware that *soon* (within the next few updates) the Gourmet farm will be revamped as the whole farm is not working as well as expected?

    Indications are that there will be big changes, as compensation if appropriate has been mentioned. Maybe even new buildings and animals. So, probably production times, even batch sizes will be affected
  • FarmerPJW2FarmerPJW2 Posts: 45
    edited 06.02.2014
    Ah, well, there we go! No, I hadn't realised that. I'll wait to see what, if anything, transpires.

    And then how long it takes to eradicate all the bugs which would have been spotted if the programmers spent a moment playtesting.
  • Prudence5Prudence5 Posts: 10
    edited 07.02.2014
    I ran or run cherries if the icecream ingredients arent available because of the xp points it offers.
  • FarmerTess (AU1)FarmerTess (AU1) Posts: 2,393
    edited 07.02.2014
    To keep up to date on what is happening with each update of Big Farm Keep an eye on This thread
    When ever there is a update you can read about it a few days before hand.
  • Rusty Farmer (AU1)Rusty Farmer (AU1) AU1 Posts: 1,705
    edited 07.02.2014
    When you run out of enough cream, buy some. That is one of the few items that gives good return. You still make a profit from the shop and restaurant.
  • Ala123Ala123 Posts: 52
    edited 23.02.2014
    Somebody needs to REALLY run the numbers on MARZIPAN ICECREAM. It takes about 3 days to make enough for one scoop in the restaurant making $280,000. And it costs well over $100,000 ! Maybe Cabbage Soup every 2.4 hours @ $34,000 is more profitable per hour ?

    Making building Bakery+Dairy+Almond_Orchard superfluous !

    Actually the 7xp of Cabbage Soup every 2.4 hours vs 13 of Marzipan Icecream every 3 days probably trumps anything else. ( Tho I dont know what XPs u get from butter, almond, & cream production ?)
  • Larino (INT1)Larino (INT1) Posts: 4,572
    edited 23.02.2014
    Ala123 wrote: »
    [...]And it costs well over $100,000 ! [...]

    Well actually it costs nothing if your running costs are at -100% ;) Which, seen from your gourmet farm total calculated in -200 it certainly is not at your farm, they will probably even be in +xxx%. Decorations are important!
  • Bweatherholt (US1)Bweatherholt (US1) Posts: 359
    edited 23.02.2014
    Honey cream also uses cream from the diary
  • My Farm 7My Farm 7 Posts: 11
    edited 24.02.2014
    XP points trumping? Other way around. XP points are *bad* in this game.

    Basically, they get you to a level that you can't afford to keep up with all the upgrades. I'd like the most $ per XP, all else being equal (which it isn't). So, while I have the puppy maxed out, I never click on the training, because I don't want the XP. I'm still playing catch-up on old tasks that I've not been able to afford yet, why open up new ones? Levels in this game only seem to be useful for opening up new upgrades, but I have millions in outstanding upgrades I could do if only I had the cash. I don't need more XP, I need more $$.

    As to the dairy, I *can't* keep up on the almonds. I have 3 maxed almond orchards, and, while profitable, are still a bottleneck in producing here. But not nearly the bottleneck the dairy is.

    I've resorted to buying cream. Seems to be the only way. And given the profit levels here, it seems like the least-bad solution.

    I'm looking forward to the revamp, though I do worry about all the $$ I've already plunked into the GF. We'll wait and see how they'll take that into consideration with the revamp.
  • Gwendolen (US1)Gwendolen (US1) Posts: 1,268
    edited 24.02.2014
    I don't make too much apple pie, because that really costs heaps of butter. Sometimes in the evenings, but I rather do some omelets as the 'one more and then I'll go to bed' dish.

    During the day I alternate between spaghetti and salads, depending on how much goat cheese is available and how bored the bakery is ;)
    Honey cream and icecream I make at night only, so it's doable to keep up with the cream.
    I sometimes buy some cream, specially if I get the 'spend 120k' task lots of times during the day.
    I have 3 goats, to be able to keep the boxes of soaps running without running out of goat milk.

    Ala, if you have enough almond orchards and other things, it doesn't take 3 days to make enough things for one round of icecream.
  • george3 (AU1)george3 (AU1) AU1 Posts: 411
    edited 24.02.2014
    Hopefully the Dairy, will be fixed with the revamp, it would be great to get Steve the Architect to visit, separate to main farm, how about having a good think of adding Co-Op projects to the Gourmet Farm, there starting to get a bit boring after a while.
    Looking forward to seeing it.
    George

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