Which do you prefer: fruit bats or mushroom caves?

[imnvs]

Good thing as I can't seem to get a mushroom tree after almost 6 game years.

Pro-tip: During year 1, try to leave a bunch of trees to grow and spread on the farm. My favorite map is the 4 Corners, and I'll leave an entire quadrant to get just full of trees. It gets to the point that you can't even walk through it without an axe and/or scythe to take out the little trees to make a path. Then in the fall, start watching, because that's mushroom season. (I don't want to spoil the mechanics, but you need trees, and the more you have the more likely you'll get a mushroom tree in the Fall.) I will give it a few days and then go exploring my mini-forest, looking for that mushroom tree... and when I find it, that's when you clear out all the trees around it, and I mean ALL, so it can spread. I will, over the course of a couple days raze the whole quadrant to the ground. Then I encourage it to spread by keeping things that way, except some path/flooring where I don't want it to spread to.

 

[starbrite]

I was always told mushroom caves are better so I always used them lol.

I thought it was easier to find the fruits on my own in the wild or just grow them since my playstyle is artisan + fishing focused, so at some point the bats would become useless to me. Mushrooms have always been harder for me to find unless I get really lucky on the lower level of the mines, but I rather have them on my farm instead of walking all the way over there.

I just prefer the mushroom caves for profit, and because I can decorate it! (Putting pathing down or like decorations will block the space from getting fruit) But the fruit bats are super cute so I’m a little disappointed I can’t have both.

.... I had no idea you could decorate... you can put up wall hangings too? Because I have preserve kegs in every possible place you can place them because I didn't want them cluttering up my farm LOL.

 

[Rhiannon]

Pro-tip: During year 1, try to leave a bunch of trees to grow and spread on the farm. My favorite map is the 4 Corners, and I'll leave an entire quadrant to get just full of trees. It gets to the point that you can't even walk through it without an axe and/or scythe to take out the little trees to make a path. Then in the fall, start watching, because that's mushroom season. (I don't want to spoil the mechanics, but you need trees, and the more you have the more likely you'll get a mushroom tree in the Fall.) I will give it a few days and then go exploring my mini-forest, looking for that mushroom tree... and when I find it, that's when you clear out all the trees around it, and I mean ALL, so it can spread. I will, over the course of a couple days raze the whole quadrant to the ground. Then I encourage it to spread by keeping things that way, except some path/flooring where I don't want it to spread to.

Good tip however I have had a "tree field" for all five years on my farm. I have left them to their own devices for years and occasionally thinned them to see if that made any difference. I guess it's just bad luck.

 

[imnvs]

FYI, it doesn't work if they're tapped.

I have a separate grove of trees that I've tapped.

 

[Rhiannon]

They are completely untapped. 99.9% are evergreens. I've been thinking about removing some and planting random trees to see if I get better luck. In my first save, I had a mushroom tree in year one I think.

 

[Ray of Hope]

Can I ask a question, since its on-topic (and I don't want to make a new thread just because), does bat's fruit make items disappear?

Like, when a fruit try to spawn, is there any chance it would override and spawn on the tile that has a... say, random example, Crystalarium, will it disappear and a fruit spawn in exchange?

If not, wouldn't that mean choosing fruit bats is more advantageous rather than choosing mushroom because you will have the most space between the two, which you can put artisan equipment or other more profitable things? I mean, the only purpose of mushrooms is for bundles and Life Elixir. Sure, you can make your own life elixir, but the dwarf sells it too, its not limited to crafting, and you can buy more elixirs using the money you get from the aforementioned equipments, is it not?

If yes, then Fruit Bats clearly the winner here, if I didn't miss anything else.

Sorry, if my english isn't great (not my native language), I was on my 4th playthrough, and I just got really traumatized when Demetrius (that son of a #####) set the experiment after I put all my chests in the cave and then stole EVERYTHING in there, and I had to start over from the beginning.

Not before I slap him with a carp though.... he deserves it.

 

[imnvs]

Can I ask a question, since its on-topic (and I don't want to make a new thread just because), does bat's fruit make items disappear?

Like, when a fruit try to spawn, is there any chance it would override and spawn on the tile that has a... say, random example, Crystalarium, will it disappear and a fruit spawn in exchange?

No, but the more tiles occupied in the fruit bat cave, the lower the chance of more fruit spawning.

 

[Ray of Hope]

No, but the more tiles occupied in the fruit bat cave, the lower the chance of more fruit spawning.

Huh, then what is preventing us for putting a butt-ton of kegs/jars/crystalarium in the cave? Doesn't that mean Fruit Bats is the definite winners here? Since mushroom is just a waste of space?
I mean, sure it's just 6 tiles but you can put 6 artisan equipments instead? Especially since space is very important late-game (if filling quarry, tunnel, and desert full of kegs does not enough for ya) any bits of space is important?

In the end, Bats won my vote for sure!

Edit: I dont really care about the fruits, since I plan to grow them in greenhouse anyway (still, it doesn't hurt getting iridium quality fruits from botanist!).

 

[imnvs]

Huh, then what is preventing us for putting a butt-ton of kegs/jars/crystalarium in the cave? Doesn't that mean Fruit Bats is the definite winners here? Since mushroom is just a waste of space?
I mean, sure it's just 6 tiles but you can put 6 artisan equipments instead? Especially since space is very important late-game (if filling quarry, tunnel, and desert full of kegs does not enough for ya) any bits of space is important?

Except the mushroom cave can have stuff put in it and that doesn't reduce the amount of mushrooms you can get. If you're so desperately in need of space (and can't afford a shed), wouldn't that make the mushroom cave the winner?

 

[Ray of Hope]

Except the mushroom cave can have stuff put in it and that doesn't reduce the amount of mushrooms you can get. If you're so desperately in need of space (and can't afford a shed), wouldn't that make the mushroom cave the winner?

I didn't say mushroom can't have stuff put in it, what I said is that you can gain much more from that 6 tiles with other equipments than mushroom. This is especially important at very early game, the cave is the prefect place to put your chest and/or furnace, since in your house your dog blocks you sometimes.

And its not about can't afford a shed, its about did not have space for new shed. And personally, I hates the mushrooms layout since I'm a symmetric maniac.
Asymmetricality (ex: farm ponds) just trigger my OCD.

And again, it's not about "desperately in need of space" it's about "what if I had more space?" I have seen people with crazy farms, and they put kegs everywhere they can travel, just to see how much profit they can get, and even though I'm not as passionate and dedicated as them, I still has the curiosity, we all have.

This is Stardew Valley, people plays with their own pace and their own style, but in terms of profit and space management, Bats is better than Mushroom. And, I mean, come on, don't you want your own "Bat Cave"? Even if you don't need the fruits later on, you can still decorate it! Mushrooms will just be in your way.

Edit: In my humble opinion, people should utilizing Bats to get fruits for bundles and avoid planting fruit trees at the farm plots (again, waste of space in the future, and for general convinience) until you unlocked Greenhouse, which you could plant up to 18 Fruit Trees at the edge of the said Greenhouse. Exception for those with Farms that are focused on Fruit Trees.

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Edit: In my humble opinion, people should utilizing Bats to get fruits for bundles and avoid planting fruit trees at the farm plots (again, waste of space in the future, and for general convinience) until you unlocked Greenhouse, which you could plant up to 18 Fruit Trees at the edge of the said Greenhouse. Exception for those with Farms that are focused on Fruit Trees.

Do keep in mind you'll need three apples for the Fodder Bundle, so you'll have to at least plant an Apple Tree before the end of Summer to complete that bundle if you want to complete them before the end of the first year. You can get lucky with a Pomegranate for the Wizard Bundle, but three apples is just not realistic.

 

[One More Day]

Huh, then what is preventing us for putting a butt-ton of kegs/jars/crystalarium in the cave? Doesn't that mean Fruit Bats is the definite winners here? Since mushroom is just a waste of space?
I mean, sure it's just 6 tiles but you can put 6 artisan equipments instead? Especially since space is very important late-game (if filling quarry, tunnel, and desert full of kegs does not enough for ya) any bits of space is important?

Honestly, if you're doing mega amounts of kegs late game, the farm cave is so small, it won't make any meaningful difference. I've never actually put machinery in the cave, but I doubt you can get much more than 25 in there; even the cellar can hold five times as many as that.

In comparison, you can conservatively fit approximately the following numbers of kegs in these off-farm areas that avoid NPC pathing

quarry 375
mountain 200+
desert 500+
bus stop 100+
tunnel 125
road 75
cindersap plus secret woods 700+
backwoods 200+
rail station plus swamp 250+
beach 200+
eastern edge of town 100+
sewers plus bug lair 200+

That's more than 3,000 spots for kegs, even if you're not really laying them out optimally. And that's without any sheds at all. There's only so many you can load before you simply run out of time to manage them.

 

[Ray of Hope]

True, it's small, but still a space nonetheless, and unlike mushroom you can fully decorate it. I think that alone deserves a point.

Do keep in mind you'll need three apples for the Fodder Bundle, so you'll have to at least plant an Apple Tree before the end of Summer to complete that bundle if you want to complete them before the end of the first year. You can get lucky with a Pomegranate for the Wizard Bundle, but three apples is just not realistic.

Oh dang, I completely forgot about apples! Yeah you're right, apples an exception. I just want to prevent ppl planting lots of fruit tree, and they cut them down when they need space, or something like that, and planting it again(speaking from experience here)

 

[Jewelsome]

I’ve only ever had mushrooms but I definitely see the perks to using the fruit bats. I use it for profit early game, and then later on I use it to get mushrooms for life elixirs for when I go into skull cavern.