Topic

Piggy harvesting efficiency (one easy trick)

I love harvesting piggies, with the Animal Kinship VII skill and the Super Animal Harvest III upgrade card each piggy will give you 48 iMG and 8 - 40 meat all for only 8 energy (or free with Gurly Drinks). However it can be annoying trying to remember which pig you just petted or nibbled when there are a half dozen pigs on the street, however there is now a super easy way to harvest 30+ pigs with one Gurly Drink and no accidental feedings or renaming and little trouble remembering which actions you've done with which pig.

The trick? Use a Piggy Stick and set the radius to Very Tight, you will need Piggy Control Freak upgrade card to do this. What this does is it allows you to stand in front of the Piggy Stick and have all Piggies highlighted AT THE SAME TIME. As long as no piggies become unhighlighted and rehighlighted the order that the Piggies are displayed on the "Enter menu" WILL NOT CHANGE. So you can very systematically Pet and Nibble each Piggy twice and not lose track of which Piggies you've already interacted with. 

This method makes Gurly Drinks ridiculously effective, I harvested a group of 30 Piggies with one Gurly Drink and got 1440 iMG and about 400-500 meat without using any energy at all!

Now this is the part where I ask you all for your help and cooperation. I just visited the top 40 Piggy streets as listed on this website http://resources.grelca.com/directory/piggy, and only 4 out of those 40 people had their Piggies set to a Very Tight radius. Given how annoyed I get when i select the same pig that I have already petted and nibbled 4-5 times in a row because none of the piggies on the street have unique names or I'm just not paying attention all while my Gurly drink buff is ticking away, I don't even bother with free roaming pigs on home streets anymore. With the Very Tight radius, as long as you can remember the position of the piggy you are working on (i.e. 2nd row 4th pig) you will not waste time clicking on pigs that only ask to be fed.

There is one tiny error that may mess you up once in a while when you first use this method, but it seems to only be caused by going too fast or lag and you eventually get used to it and can spot it easily. The error is that every once in a while the pig that you JUST nibbled or petted will not be on the "Enter Menu" and it will mess up your systematic pattern of harvesting by placing the next piggy in line where the piggy you just harvested was, however the next time you open the "Enter Menu" the missing piggy will be right back where he should be. The trick to noticing when a piggy is missing from the menu is to remember where the X to close the "Enter Menu" should be located (i.e. if there are 30 Piggies selected then the X button will be located on the 4th row in the 1st space, but if it is on the 3rd row in the 10th space then you have a missing piggy.) If you press Esc and then Enter again the piggy will be back or you can just keep harvesting and just make a mental note that you still need to finish that piggy.

I know that last part was probably confusing for most of you, so here is a "visual" example of this method, I am going to demonstrate on an extremely small scale here using 5 Piggies. We hit Enter and see the following Piggies in this order:

[Mario] [Luigi] [Princess Peach] [Yoshi] [Toad]

As long as all the Piggies remain highlighted together, they will ALWAYS be in this order.

Now let's assume that we have already finished petting and nibbling Mario and we have petted Luigi twice, we click on Luigi (2nd Piggy) a 3rd time but we see the option for Pet again. What is actually happening is Luigi is missing and Princess Peach is really in the 2nd Piggy spot like so:

[Mario] [Princess Peach] [Yoshi] [Toad]

It is really obvious with only 5 Piggies that 1 is missing, but with 20+ Piggies on the menu it gets hard to tell. So if you get 3 Pet options in a row, it is a good indicator. Regardless of whether you pet or nibble Princess Peach or just press Esc, the next time you press Enter the pigs WILL BE back in their original order (assuming they all remain highlighted the whole time).

That about sums up my thoughts and opinions on Piggy harvesting. I hope some of you benefit from this most likely TL;DR post.

ETA: Set your Piggy Stick radius to Very Tight.

Posted 6 months ago by TRB4 Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • I understood all of it, and am fascinated.  It sounds like a job for the serious routes group!
    Posted 6 months ago by WalruZ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • That's what I usually do with my own pigstick before I pet/nibble my piggies. I turn it back to very wide afterwards though as I like to have my piggies some space to walk, it's crowded enough for them as it is already ;)
    Posted 6 months ago by WeavingTheWeb Subscriber! | Permalink
  • All animal routes should have their animal sticks set to very tight, I also use this method :)
    Posted 6 months ago by La Mariposa Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It's also helpful if all your piggies are named, unnamed piggies make it hard to tell who you've pet/nibbled and who you haven't.
    Posted 6 months ago by Kouki Sangoma Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree that naming piggies is helpful, but the great thing about this method is that it works with all pigs whether they are named or not.
    Posted 6 months ago by TRB4 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Good tip. Just set my 40 piggies to Very Tight; nibble away!
    Posted 6 months ago by Lx’s Ghost Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks for the great tip and easy to read explanation!
    Posted 6 months ago by FlatEarther Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Very interesting tip! Thanks for letting me know. I will set my radius to Very Tight soon.
    Posted 6 months ago by AwesomeCardinal2000 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • And now my piggies are very tight!
    So quick, especially if you use the enter key in conjunction with strategic mouse placement.
    Posted 6 months ago by Biohazard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I used to use mouse placement with the Enter menu to instantly select the piggy I was working on, but on more than one occasion some of those mouse positions also select items on the action menu and I try to capture piggies on accident. But the mouse can save you some time in most cases by leaving in position over the pig you are working on and rapid tap enter until you complete all 4 actions (2 pet and 2 nibble) just be careful when you start getting close to the action menu.

    Also I am glad to hear that you enjoy my tip ^_^ I am also very happy to hear that there will be a lot more streets for me to mass harvest piggies. My only worry is that with this tip the auction price on Gurly Drinks may see an increase lol.
    Posted 6 months ago by TRB4 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • As one of those people with 40 piggies in their yard, I must say that this is an interesting trick. However, I also feel like it's a bit of a double-edged sword, presently. When I first started my animal-heavy street out, I asked around for a while on whether people preferred sticks or no sticks, and the only real feedback I got was a comment noting that when a ton of animals are gathered around a single stick, it can cause a bit of a framerate issue for people on a slower computer (which, after a little experimentation, I determined was even true of my own computer, though it is rather old). I also usually feel better about giving my piggies full roam of the street so they can eat off all 15 trees, as I haven't been using feeders, though I know that isn't really necessary. Right now, I'll take the stick issue into consideration, and I look forward to further debate and discussion on the subject.
    Posted 6 months ago by Zigniber Subscriber! | Permalink
  • fwiw, I find piggies are more consistently fed when placed in front of a single tree, as it only takes one interaction with that tree for all of them to be fed.
    Posted 6 months ago by Lx’s Ghost Subscriber! | Permalink
  • yay! I've been using this style of harvesting for a week or two and love it! 

    feel free to stop and nibble my tightly grouped formation!  now to strategically position a tree...

    (thanks for taking the time to summarize and post it, TRB4; the thought of trying to explain this exhausted me.  and WebWeaver, if I ever feel bad about the tight radius, I just remind myself how much more petting my piggies are getting now.  they seem awfully happy. ;)
    Posted 6 months ago by Tribeca Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I've been using this trick on my home street and in my backyard, but haven't set my home street piggies as such. I do keep feeders around just in case as sometimes my street doesn't see as much traffic and sometimes it does. I actually filmed doing this for the experiment that's currently stickied.
    Posted 6 months ago by Ayasta Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Hey!!!! I'm on that page! :) and mine is set on very tight too :)
    Posted 6 months ago by Popcorn☺ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I just tried this at Lx's house, and it worked great. Thanks!
    Posted 6 months ago by Pii Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yeah Mystify you were one of the 4 that had very tight piggy sticks, the other 3 were The Oncoming Storm, Banyan, and Leonardo De Vinci.

    By the way, I just did 6-7 streets with very tight piggies and I collected about 3000 meat in about 30 minutes, plus I got over 12,000 iMG and only used about 300 energy thanks to Gurly Drinks (It's hard to get 40 piggies with 1 drink lol).

    Looking at those figures, if I was focused and I played at that rate for an entire game day and there were enough home streets, theoretically I could collect around 25,000 meat and 100,000 iMG in a single game day while using up around 3,000 energy. Those are some good ratios.
    Posted 6 months ago by TRB4 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Same idea: I keep all my inside piggies on a single side table. 
    Posted 6 months ago by Sped Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oh wow, I didn't know that. Well, I will be sticking my 40 pigs then. :)

    I may no longer need my shelf system inside knowing this, I might make a special piece of very narrow furniture or stick em in the backyard, giving me more space to organize my SDBs or.. gasp.. decorate the place. :)
    Posted 6 months ago by Lorraine ♪ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Question: do the piggies have to pass by a feeder/collector in order to use them? That's my only concern with the 'very tight' radius setting. I've seen streets where the pigs are far away from the equipment so maybe it doesn't matter?
    Posted 6 months ago by N2ZOrtolanaBlue Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think that the feeders have to be near the piggies, but my collectors are far away and still collect.

    My stick is now set to very tight. Very useful for getting the most out of piggies, for sure.
    Posted 6 months ago by Scarf Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I just threw my piggies and chickens on very tight sticks, if anyone wants to make use of it. It may only be a temporary thing, though, depending on how things go (as per my earlier post). I've got a new note pole up asking for more feedback.
    Posted 6 months ago by Zigniber Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I don't think feeders or collectors have to be anywhere near the animals, as I've had milkers in the 3rd floor of a 50k home before new housing, and it was getting butterfly milk across the yard from the pens on the ground.

    EDIT: It works! I just nibbled 40 pigs in organized succession. Thanks for this amazing tip, since the month I've started playing, I always wished there was an easy way to handle a lot of animal harvests on one street, or even in one blob.
    Posted 6 months ago by Lorraine ♪ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Will there be a VTP (very tight piggy) route? :)
    Posted 6 months ago by Jezebel Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm on the Serious Spice route, but I have 34 pigs and they're all Very Tightly wrapped around one Spice tree.
    Posted 6 months ago by Ayasta Subscriber! | Permalink
  • No feeders and collectors don't have to be anywhere near the pigs, just as long as they're on the same street
    Posted 6 months ago by Popcorn☺ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • All my piggies are on principle free range.  Sure, you pay more, but the meat tastes better and you feel like less of a Rook.  ;P
    Posted 6 months ago by Meromorphic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • -waits for TS to nerf this like they do with everything useful-
    Posted 6 months ago by Cure Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Love this. :D
    Posted 6 months ago by Ameh.Loves.Fudge Subscriber! | Permalink
  • What a great tip! I typically use the keyboard and find that using the mouse to highlight the pig I'm on and the keyboard to pet/nibble works very well.
    Posted 6 months ago by Knitomaton Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Awesome tip!  I also had no idea that collectors and feeders could be set far away, which is amazing cause they its pretty annoying to unload all those collectors with piggies walking by all the time). 

    I'll change my radius now! Anyone feel free to come over and pet my piggies :D
    Posted 6 months ago by Coconut Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Im sorry, I am on the route, and I just cant stand the use of animal sticks.  I do not play with my keyboard, I use my mouse.  30 pigs on one pig stick while using your mouse is IMPOSSIBLE.  I appreciate where everyone is going with this, I just find it easier to nibble piggies when they are free range while using a mouse, than on a stick.  I start at one end of the street, nibble while walking. I never have a problem of renaming, feeding, or clicking on a pig more than once.
    Posted 6 months ago by Innie✿, Obviously Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It's also handy for when you're feeding crops to piggies for seeds: like thus: i.imgur.com/v3Fc9.png Sure there's a few plots on the outside areas, but for the most part, all the seeds will group in one area making it easier for you to pick up.
    Posted 6 months ago by Ayasta Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If you examine all of the plops BEFORE picking them up then you can pick up all of the same type of seeds at the same time.
    Posted 6 months ago by TRB4 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Right, that's what I meant, and what I did. XD
    Posted 6 months ago by Ayasta Subscriber! | Permalink
  • oops.  wrong post
    Posted 6 months ago by Peachesan Subscriber! | Permalink