The Rancher gets a promotion

[Aligote]

I haven't played rancher in a long time, so maybe some of my ideas have already been integrated, however some of my ideas are clearly not in yet since it would fundamentally change the role in a way.
Why don't we make ranchers take care of multiple animals like cows (I don't think Goon has cows yet, we should probably code cows)! Like instead of spamming kitchen with dead chickens they couldn't feed in time or giving us one or two box of eggs because they don't start with empty egg cartoons, they could start with empty egg and milk cartoons and cows along with the chickens! I mean, the entire purpose of the rancher is to primarily supply the kitchen when they run out of eggs making drug cakes or something right? Why not the MILK!
EDIT: Is there a way to get bacon by killing pigs? If aye or nay, it could also be integrated into the rancher's day.

[cyberTripping]

I feel like cows would add too much existential horror for cow human mutantrace characters.

Luckily, there is a clever and funny alternative for milk that does not fall afoul of this: cockroac-- wait a second....

I guess there's always goats?

[GORE]

Goats like cheese.

Let the goats eat all the floor-cheese.

[UrsulaMejor]

cows are extinct. I've been considering goats but I've been experiencing this weird thing called "outside" a lot more now that I'm vaccinated, so coding stuff has been taking a back burner.

[Aligote]

cows are extinct. I've been considering goats but I've been experiencing this weird thing called "outside" a lot more now that I'm vaccinated, so coding stuff has been taking a back burner.

WAIT, how did the cow's go extinct?

[GORE]

Are cows still alive during the Pod Wars era?

[UrsulaMejor]

cows are extinct. I've been considering goats but I've been experiencing this weird thing called "outside" a lot more now that I'm vaccinated, so coding stuff has been taking a back burner.

WAIT, how did the cow's go extinct?

they're extinct, which is why all milk is secretly soy milk

---

Are cows still alive during the Pod Wars era?

ask kyle

[Aligote]

cows are extinct. I've been considering goats but I've been experiencing this weird thing called "outside" a lot more now that I'm vaccinated, so coding stuff has been taking a back burner.

WAIT, how did the cow's go extinct?

they're extinct, which is why all milk is secretly soy milk

---

Are cows still alive during the Pod Wars era?

ask kyle

Are cow people's "blood" secretly soy milk to?

[Cal]

Are cow people's "blood" secretly soy milk to?

Yes. Cow people are grown much like plants.

[Sov]

I think more animals could be cool

One of the biggest challenges facing the rancher job currently though is ranch space. Existing ranches were squeezed into maps that were never designed for them. Trying to fit more critters into the pens would be difficult

[TheRealFlapJackson]

What if we could raise slimes with different mutations like Slime Rancher like the slimes in that one azone?

Or would that be too similar to beestation's xenobio system?

[aft2001]

I am all for more critters for more depth in rancher gameplay - I don't play rancher at all, but more options that aren't just bloat and that have in-depth mechanics is almost always good. However the space issue is absolutely a major limiting factor for ranches. As such, I propose a solution which has some flaws I'm aware of:

A shuttle at or near Hydroponics which will take you to and from a larger ranch with dedicated pens and even a mini hydroponics bay for growing feed. The shuttle should be publicly accessible, but only Ranchers would be able to access the pens - other people can visit and just have a look at the animals if they so wish. Keep some of the on-board ranching space as well, since those seem to work well for chickens, but the off-station ones could be best suited for animals which last a lot longer and don't need constant attention. ((also gives a chance for the clown to sneak in undetected and steal some goat milk for their dastardly plan to spread cheese everywhere or something))

The aforementioned flaws is really just one and I tried to address it above, and that is that the ranch and hydroponics should always be able to be seen by the public. It's nice to see the plants and animals on a bleak and chaotic space station filled with maniacs. Also cameras for people to be able to watch the animals via TV. Perhaps even a publicly accessible pen to function as a petting zoo?

This is only tangential to the main purpose of this thread but I wanted to bring it up since solving this issue seems necessary for more animals to be able to be practically introduced.

[UrsulaMejor]

I really don't like the idea of off station ranching, if only because I prefer the ranch and its animals to be visible to the crew

[Pestilancer]

I for one would love to breed rats.

[Rilor]

how about your animals are penless and just roam the station halls?