The Ranch

The Far, Far Range Ranch
Your home and hub for all your needs. Here you can raise Slimes, grow Food, upgrade your Vacpack, sell your farmed Plorts and use the Range Exchange

== Expansions == Currently there are only two expansions to the ranch, the Overgrowth and the Grotto. Each provide the player with three things. Both have more plots, and both have a 2-way teleporter. The one in the Grotto goes to the Indigo Quarry, while the one in the Overgrowth goes to the end of the Dry Reef. And both have a special feature. The Overgroth has carrots, pogofruit, and hen hens, while the Grotto provides an environment to raise Phosphor Slimes in without the solar shield. It also has more plots.

There is also a third expansion called the Lab which is going to be added in 0.4.0. You will do some slime science in it, and make loads of gadgets that either are a decoration, or are a helpful machinery.

Plots
You have several plots at your ranch and at the expansions of your ranch - 8 on the main ranch, 4 in the Overgrowth and 5 in the Grotto which gives you total of 17 Plots. You decide which way your ranch should look like.

Coop
"Keeping chickens in their place prevents the uprising."

''Though many ranchers simply let their chickens roam the ranch, a Coop is the tool of the serious poultry producer. Coops keep hens and roostros close, allowing for maximum egg-laying potential. Just remember to avoid crowding the coop: chickens won't reproduce when in close proximity to more than a dozen other hens or roostros. But give them room and watch the love bloom. ''-Slimepedia

Cost: 250

Full upgrade total cost: 1275 NB

Upgrades

In total, it has 3 upgrades:
 * Higher Walls: Doubles the height of a Coop. Cost: 350 NB
 * Tips: This upgrade is useful for keeping the chickens in when you have a lot of them, and is very helpful for when a meat-loving slime escapes. Altough it won't keep hungry slimes out forever, it will certainly make it harder for them to get in and will buy you some extra time to stop them.
 * Spring Grass: Attracts little scuttle bugs to the Coop, which causes hens to produce eggs at two times the normal rate. Cost: 425 NB
 * Vitamizer: Attaches a special lamp to the Coop, which shines 'vita-rays' on the chickadoos. This allows them to grow into hens and roostros twice as fast. Cost: 500 NB

Corral
"A happy slime makes for a happy rancher."

''A Corral is used to keep slimes on a ranch. The open-air Corrals are designed for maximum slime satisfaction, with the rich soil of the Range beneath them and its expansive sky above them. Slimes will remain perfectly happy within corrals so long as they are fed regularly.''

''Remember: You can shoot things THROUGH a Corral barrier. Handy!'' -Slimepedia

Cost: 250 NB

Full upgrade total cost: 2550 NB

Upgrades

In total, it has 6 upgrades:
 * Higher Walls: Doubles the height of a Corral. Cost: 350 NB
 * Tips: Higher walls are important to keep the slimes contained because: 1: large quantities of slimes will bounce too much, 2: Slimes will stack to escape if too hungry, and 3: flying slimes can just hop over the level 1 walls.
 * Air Net: Makes a ceiling to a Corral, but may be temporarily removed if hit multiple times. Cost: 425 NB
 * Tips: Having an air net over a level 1 wall is kind of pointless because the strength of the net dissipates with every slime that bumps into it. If the net 'breaks' it will recharge and re-appear, but you may lose slimes in the mean time. Air nets are especially effective for flying slimes such as Phosphors and Phosphor largos.
 * Plort Collector: Collects plorts in the corral. Cost: 500 NB
 * Tips: The plort collector attaches to the far corner of the Corral and has two storage slots so it can collect two types of plorts at the same time, ideal for largos. However, the collector does not work immediately after you feed the slimes, instead it activates at regular intervals and just sucks up whatever is currently available. Because of this it is too dangerous to keep more than 2 slime types in a single corral. It can also help to have you stay out of corrals with dangerous slimes like boom slimes.
 * Auto Feeder: Feeds slimes automatically. Cost: 500 NB
 * Tips: The auto-feeder can hold one type of food at a time and dispenses food at regular intervals. Try placing the slimes' favorite food so they produce double the plorts!
 * Music Box: Calms slimes down. Cost: 350 NB
 * Tips: The music box is soothing to the slimes and allows them to keep their happiness statuses for longer, so it takes longer for them to get angry, or explode (Boom slimes), and helps prevent them from trying to escape, so you can leave them alone for longer.
 * Solar Shield: Protects certain slimes from the day or night when in a Corral. Cost: 425 NB
 * Tips: This upgrade is necessary to hold Phosphor slimes or Phosphor largos if they're not in The Grotto as they will disappear in full sunlight.

Garden
"Nothing beats the taste of food grown in your own backyard"

''The gardens used by ranchers use advanced technology to rapidly grow clones of fruits and veggies in a natural, though greatly sped up, way. By placing a sample into the replicator, the garden's soil is instantly populated by a fruit tree or veggie patch that will go on to produce several harvests of produce.'' -Slimepedia

Cost: 250 NB

Full upgrade total cost: 1275 NB

Upgrades

In total, it has 3 upgrades.
 * Nutrient Soil: Nutrient Soil is a special rancher's blend containing compost from the Moss Blanket and minerals from the Indigo Quarry. Crops grown in nutrient soil will always yield the maximum harvest. Cost: 350 NB
 * Sprinkler: A sprinkler ensures that your crops are always watered, making them grow twice as fast. Cost: 500 NB
 * Scareslime: A scareslime is a stuffed Tarr model designed to keep wandering (and hungry) slimes away from your crops. Simple, but terrifying. Cost: 425 NB
 * Tips: You may or may not want to get this depending on how much your corrals are upgraded. If all your corrals have High Walls and an Air Net so that slimes can't get out, you probably don't need to buy this.
 * Beware: If a corral is next to a garden with a Scareslime, all slimes in the corral will be scared and will not produce plorts anymore.

Incinerator
"Don't need it? Burn it!"

''An incinerator will instantly burn anything it touches into ash, and then burn that ash into nothing. It's an excellent solution for eliminating a tarr outbreak or for simply disposing of unwanted slimes if you're a terrible, heartless monster.'' -Slimepedia

Cost: 450 NB

Miscellaneous
 * An incinerator is required for the Carousel and You...Monster! achievements in which you must incinerate an elder hen/elder roostro (Carousel) and any type of chickadoo (You...Monster!)

Upgrades

N/A

Pond
"Water you going to do with this?"

A pond gives you a source of fresh water on the ranch that you can use for watering gardens, calming slimes in a corral, defeating tarr, or giving your puddle slimes a place to hang out.

''A pond will be slowly consumed if vac'd up or drank up by puddle slimes, but will also slowly refill over time. You can transfer unused water from your vacpack to a pond, and they will refill immediately when it rains.'' - Slimepedia

Cost: 450 NB

Upgrades

N/A

Silo
"You can't take it with you when you go, so put it in storage."

''A silo lets a rancher neatly store plorts and resources in a handy, compact unit. Simply shoot into an available silo port to fill it, or vac it to retrieve the items within. Remember, a clean ranch is a happy ranch!'' -Slimepedia Cost:

Cost: 450

Full upgrade total cost: 1725 NB

Upgrades


 * Additional Storage: A silo can have up to four ports for storing resources. Cost: 500 NB First Upgrade - 575 NB Second Upgrade - 650 NB Last Upgrade

Plort Market
"Feed slimes. Collect plorts. Get paid"

''The plort market is a network of buyers and sellers of plorts across the galaxy. Ranchers use plort market machines on their ranch to send plorts to the market for sale. Ranchers are paid immediately when depositing plorts at the plort's current market value.''

Plort market values fluctuate and some of the more savvy ranchers will hoard certain plorts for days when sale prices are high, especially rare plorts. -Slimepedia

Plort Base Values

 * Pink Plorts: 7 NB
 * Rock Plorts: 15 NB
 * Phosphor Plorts: 15 NB
 * Tabby Plorts: 15 NB
 * Rad Plorts: 30 NB
 * Boom Plorts: 30 NB
 * Honey Plorts: 30 NB
 * Puddle Plorts: 30 NB
 * Golden Plorts: 200 NB

Vacpack
A vacpack is an item you hold in hand, and it's used to suck up and blast out anything that isn't nailed to the ground. This can be Food, Slimes, plorts or other stuff. It is also equipped with a flashlight (press "F" key).

Largo Slimes are too big to get sucked up so they stick to the nozzle of the vacpack until you release them. Crates also are to big to be sucked up and stick to the nozzle.

In the beginning, it can hold up to four stacks of items/creatures with up to twenty entities each. You can upgrade it to higher capacity by using a tank booster. It is impossible to have the same item/creature in two or more slots.

Vacpack Upgrade

 * Dash Boots: Grants you a stylish pair of boots that halve your sprinting consumption. Cost: 350 NB
 * Heart Module: Your total health is increased to 150. Cost: 350 NB
 * Heart Module Mk II: Your total health is increased to 200.
 * Heart Module Mk III: Your total health is increased to 250.
 * Jetpack: Gives you a jetpack that enables you to fly for a short time. Cost: 350 NB
 * Air Drive: Enhances your Jetpack thrusters to make it consume 20% less energy and boost you twice as much. Cost: 350 NB
 * Power Core: Your maximum energy is increased to 150. Cost: 350 NB
 * Power Core Mk II: Your maximum energy is increased to 200.
 * Power Core Mk III: Your maximum energy is increased to 250.
 * Pulse Wave: Adds a pulse emitter to your vacpack which allows you to push slimes away. Cost: 350 NB
 * Tank Booster: Your vacpack can hold 30 items/creatures per slot. Cost: 350 NB
 * Tank Booster Mk II: Your vacpack can hold 40 items/creatures per slot. Cost: 500 NB
 * Tank Booster Mk III: Your vacpack can hold 50 items/creatures per slot. Cost: 750 NB


 * Water Tank: Adds a slot that can hold water to your Vacpack. The amount increases with the tank booster upgrade. Cost: 350 NB

Range Exchange
The Range Exchange is a small machine you can use to trade items. From time to time it will let you see a small list of goodies that other Ranchers are in need of. You can also see what you are going to get from them when you trade these items in. You can shoot the demanded items in with your Vacpack. As soon as you have inserted all the items on the list, the machine will burst out everything at once, so be ready to suck it all up.

Goods that will be requested by exchanging ranchers include various Slimes; Plorts and food items.

The House
The House is...well, your house of course! It's the perfect place to rest after a long day of exploring the Slime world and feeding your slimes. You can sleep here if you want, and skip right to the next morning. The House is also your spawnpoint, meaning if you got overwhelmed by Tarrs, or accidentally fell into the waters of the Slime Sea, you will always safely return to your humble home.

But that's not all: you also receive Starmail here from people all over the Slime world! They will nicely notify you whenever you have unlocked a new upgrade for your trusty Vacpack, and give you other useful information. Well, although that's everything there is to your house at this moment, there will probably be more functions added in future updates.

(0.3.0b)