NewRanch:Getting Started
This page walks through the first steps of a New Ranch world. New Ranch adds its biomes, ores and structures only when a world is created with the mod enabled; in an older world a chat message tells you what is missing. Seasons, climate, needs, livestock, research, recipes, bosses and town NPCs work in any world.
Choosing a world
A Large world is recommended, because fields, orchards and hollows are spread across the map and a small world simply has fewer of them. The mod also adds a fourth world size, Ranch (16800 × 2400 tiles). It takes longer to generate, needs about twice the memory and only opens while New Ranch is installed. See World Generation.
Day one
- Barn Ore lies just under the surface. Smelt it into Barn Bars. Plain wooden chests on the surface may also contain Barn Bars.
- As soon as any player owns a Barn Bar, the Farmer can move in. He sells Grain Seeds, the Research Table and the Farm Journal. Items he sells cost Farm Marks, the mod's own currency (see Selling).
- The Farm Journal shows the season, the weather, your own state and the year's harvest.
The first field
- Craft a Barn Plow (5 Barn Bars, 8 Wood, Anvil). Using it turns dirt and grass into Fallow Soil, three tiles at a time. There needs to be open space above the tile.
- Plant Grain Seeds. Grain grows from spring to autumn.
- Harvest ripe crops with a right-click, a sickle or the Harvest Scythe. The plant goes back to a seedling and regrows, so there is no need to replant. Mining a crop only gives seeds.
- Out of season a crop does not grow at all; the seed tooltip tells you when it grows.
More on soils, crops and watering: Farming.
Research
Place the Research Table and right-click it to open the Field Book. Branches cost Field Notes, which drop from farm pests, other surface enemies, the mod's bosses and ruin chests. Items that belong to a branch cannot be used or placed until the branch is learned. Good first picks are Kitchen Garden (more crops) and Composting (manure and Rich Soil). See Research.
The first animals
- Hens, Woolly Ewes and Dairy Cows roam the surface. Catch one with a bug net and place the item: it sets down the animal's pen.
- The Veterinarian (moves in after the Farmer) sells Hens, Woolly Ewes and Barn Cats.
- Build a Feed Trough and fill it with Wild Grain. Animals within 30 tiles, or a pen within 10 tiles, produce eggs, wool or milk plus manure.
See Livestock.
Looking after yourself
With the default settings you have hunger and thirst bars under your buffs, and food spoils after a few days. Drink from a watering can or bottled water, eat, and dress for the temperature. See Seasons and Climate.
The first boss
The first New Ranch boss is The Rat King, summoned with a Moldy Loaf. Note that by default some vanilla bosses wait for the farm: the Eye of Cthulhu needs The Old Crow first, and the Wall of Flesh needs the Vermin Board. See Bosses.