Talk:Watering Cans

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Capacity

The article (and the Tools article) state that the capacity of the Iridium Watering Can is 100 charges. However, upon obtaining one in game version 1.2, both game files list the maximum (as well as current) capacities as 85, the same as the Gold Watering Can. I suspect that equal charges will still water more tiles with the iridium can than with the gold, as each use can cover twice the land area, but I think perhaps that it would be good to verify the 100 charge figure. It was placed in the article before 1.2 was released, so it might have changed. Butterbur (talk) 01:26, 5 June 2017 (BST)

The values in WateringCan.cs haven't changed with v1.2. margotbean (talk) 02:34, 5 June 2017 (BST)

Thanks! But then, shouldn't the game save files list the tool capacity as 100 instead of 85? Seems anomalous! Butterbur (talk) 06:55, 5 June 2017 (BST)

My year 13 save says <waterCanMax>100</waterCanMax>. Perhaps it doesn't change until you go to bed with an iridium watering can in inventory?  ?? margotbean (talk) 18:07, 5 June 2017 (BST)

Yours certainly sounds right to me. But my year 2 save says <waterCanMax>85</waterCanMax>. There does seem to be something different in the save files between our versions, and that can only mean there is some code difference that makes them different. I expect it's platform-related. But I think it likely then that there's a bug in my platform code (for PCs - at least on Steam), since there is no increase of capacity between gold and iridium level, which seems quite suspicious. I think I'm going to feel justified in hacking my game files to raise the limit to 100! :D Butterbur (talk) 02:27, 6 June 2017 (BST)

P.S. Hmm. Remember those "Forage Grape" types we discussed a few months ago? We didn't seem to be getting the same things in our save files then either! Butterbur (talk) 02:27, 6 June 2017 (BST)

Oh! And I did go to bed with the Iridium can in inventory, so that's not it. Butterbur (talk) 02:34, 6 June 2017 (BST)

Now just a cotton-pickin' minute! In subsequent save files, the game seems to have recognized and corrected its error, for the limit appears as 100 in days after the save of the day when I picked the tool up from Clint. The anomaly appears in only that first save file. Butterbur (talk) 02:53, 6 June 2017 (BST)

Wiki practices (an example)

Previously, the final paragraph of section "Energy Cost" read:

If the can is almost empty, and you perform an advanced operation with only a smaller number of charges available, the energy cost is the same as though the full number of charges were dispensed. That's the price for being granted the extra capacity for free.

In a recent edit, I removed the final sentence (struck). I did this because

1. The subject of the sentence ("that") is unclear.
2. The statement does not appear to reflect a verifiable and notable fact about the game. Rather, it appears to reflect a user's opinion (re the developer's motivation in selecting a particular mechanical design).
3. The sentence is nonsensical: a thing ("extra capacity") cannot simultaneously have associated costs ("the price") and yet "be granted ... for free." (Nonsense aside, note furthermore that the extra capacity is already clearly not free).

Wiki editors can improve the readability of wiki pages by routinely removing this sort of statement. -- ΟΥΤΙΣ 20:22, 12 February 2018 (UTC)

Tempest in a teapot. The language was loose and informal, that's all - not precise, and not inaccurate. "Price" means about the same as "tradeoff" here. We're not writing a tech manual here. But have it your way. Butterbur (talk) 05:41, 13 February 2018 (UTC)

Charge confusion

Right now, "charge" is used on this page to mean two completely different things: charge as in the number of units of water (capacity) of a watering can; and, charge as in the area-of-effect covered when the can is used. It's taken me weeks of re-reading this page and testing in-game to decipher what on earth the water consumption section means -- and then the section on the skills page about energy consumption is even worse. In particular, I was originally interpreting "fully-charged" to mean a filled watering can.

Therefore, I made an edit to the page to clear up the confusion: I left "charge" in place where it means capacity (in particular via the /Skills transclusion). I substituted "power" for "charge" wherever area-of-effect was meant (which appears to be consistent with internal game code that uses Power in this case).

But my edit was reverted, with the explanation "It doesn't really make sense to change all instances of "charged" on one page, then explain what "charged" means". However, the reversion completely misses the point -- I did not change ALL instances on the page, only the ones that mean area-of-effect. I then explicitly clarified that units of water is synonymous with charge (which still appears on the page via transclusion).

I believe similar changes are needed elsewhere (and had already made one such edit to Skills), but I'll hold off on making any more such edits until there's some resolution here. Nebulous Maestress (talk) 20:34, 14 February 2020 (UTC)

You may have missed the sentence toward the top of the page that says "to water more than one tile at a time, hold left-click to "charge" an upgraded Watering Can." A full-charge means you have held left-click until the can is ready to water the maximum area that it is able to, based on its upgrade level. margotbean (talk) 21:21, 14 February 2020 (UTC)

No, I didn't miss that sentence -- note that I revised it as part of my edit.

Rather, my point is that the page provides two completely different definitions of charge. So when the term "fully-charged" is then introduced -- without any explicit definition -- two justifiable meanings exist for the term: 1, at maximum capacity, e.g. for a starting water can, one with 40 charges of water; 2, at maximum area of effect, e.g., left-click held for maximum duration. Arguably, maximum capacity is the more obvious meaning, given that "charge" is used for capacity five times on the page, all immediately above this paragraph.

Most importantly, this page and the section at Skills#Proficiency are very confusing as written. New readers come to these page without your background knowledge of the game and your built-in assumptions about what the page is trying to say -- and my experience as a new reader was that I did not understand either of them the first few times I read them. If readers cannot understand the content, it should be modified. Why are you refusing to allow constructive, justified, factually-correct edits to be made to the wiki? Nebulous Maestress (talk) 22:33, 14 February 2020 (UTC)

In the absence of any alternative suggestions for how to improve the page, I'm reinstating my edit. One revert-explanation mentions "consistent terminology", so I'm also going to make analogous changes to all other relevant tools/etc.

If there is still some type of objection to this edit, could I just get some type of suggestion for how to achieve my goals, namely how to remove the ambiguity about the definition of "fully-charged" and how to make it easier to understand this page and the section at Skills#Proficiency? Nebulous Maestress (talk) 19:02, 15 February 2020 (UTC)

Clarification for upgraded watering cans on mobile

The directions for watering multiple squares on a mobile device require a bit more clarity and I'd like to get some feedback on wording.

First, you can only (reliably) water multiple squares in a direct line (up/down or left/right) from your current position. Tap on the closest square to be watered and wait (very briefly) until the avatar scrunches down, then drag out to the farthest square to be watered, but don't let go yet. The watering region expands in stages, first three squares, and then to larger areas. When the full area to be watered is highlighted, then release.

Thanks, Popsy (talk) 19:28, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

Hi again, Popsy! I don't have a mobile device, so I had no idea that watering was that complicated. The wording looks great to me, so feel free to add it to the page when you like. Perhaps add a subsection called "Useage" or "Watering Multiple Tiles" and move the PC directions there before adding mobile directions. Cheers, margotbean (talk) 14:26, 22 September 2020 (UTC)

Popsy's description doesn't make it look that complicated to me, Margot, but very like how it works on PC. If you follow his/her directions on PC, watering will occur exactly as desired. On PC, the only difference is that you need not drag the tap outward. Simply tapping (and holding it, not releasing) causes the watering region to expand in timed steps. Release when it reaches the distance you intend, and watering occurs. That works for the rectangular watering possible with gold or iridium tools also.

Popsy, the description says that the drag motion is a requirement on mobile. Would you verify it really is a requirement, or is it simply an option as it is on PC? Butterbur (talk) 00:54, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

Hmm, poor statement on my part. I'm not used to touching screens. My PC "tap" is really a mouse click and hold. Butterbur (talk) 01:01, 23 September 2020 (UTC)