Hello there, first of all thanks to the community for endorsing my weapon rack suggestion - my first endorsement :)
Right, on to the good stuff, some of you may find this suggestion absurd, others may find it brilliant.
I hope to convince you guys that it's the second. Some may say this should be split up into several suggestions, but I believe that all this is linked into making a better, more realistic world.
First of all, here are two suggestions i will give that have furthered my own suggestion:
Fireflies Suggestion - S'moregoth - http://lotrminecraftmod.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:354987
Dogs Suggestion - Sir Nori (and others before him) - http://lotrminecraftmod.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:341080
Okay, so this is going to be a rather large Nature, Farming & Brewing suggestion, if more experienced members of the community could help sectionalise (with all the hyperlinks) and make some textures and the CT things in the comments that would be great and i would really appreciate that. I'll try my best to lay it easily though.
This suggestion will be split into 5 major sections, for your convenience.
Soil Overhaul
New Plants/Trees
New Foods and Alcholic Beverages & Storage
The Gardeners Guide
New Fauna
Soil Overhaul
Within ME there are many different looks of dirt, most noticably Dirt & Jungle Mud, my suggestions for a 'Soil Overhaul' are:
1a) Introduce 'Woodland Dirt' (like Podzol), a 'Sandy Dirt' (dirt with little flakes of sand in) and 'Fertile Dirt' (has a darker brown colour - closer to Farmland)
1b) 'Woodland Dirt' found in forests, woodland etc.
1c) 'Sandy Dirt' found in semi-desert, desert, coastlines etc.
1d) 'Fertile Dirt' found in The Shire, Dorwinion, Fertile Valley, Rivendell
1e) These dirts would still feauture the biome varients (so the Shire will have its classic lighter green)
2a) Introduce 'Compost', made using this recipe-
Jungle Mud Dirt Jungle Mud
Dirt Bone meal Dirt
Jungle Mud Bucket Jungle Mud
2b) Compost makes the ground more fertile in a 3x3 radius of putting the compost down (its in a bucket but would function more like the breakability of a wooden hoe than a liquid- so multi-use)
3a) These dirts would have different advantages- some would be better at growing exotic plants (i.e the Jungle Mud), whereas the some would be better with normal garden vegetables (i.e fertile dirt)
3b) What I mean by this is by having different growth rates of plants on these dirts, (which is sped up with compost)
New Plants/Trees
4 Barley - Grows similarly to Wheat, 2 blocks high when grown. Barley Grains produced, which are used as the seed and as the raw produce. Used in the production of a) Oatmeal b) Whiskey
5 Holly Bush - Similar damaging effect as that of Cacti, produces small red berries that attracts birds, berries can be harvested and turned into a dilute poison.
6 Orchids - Exotic plants only found in the jungle, massive varieties in colour and shape
7 Coconut Palm Tree - Similar to the date palm but smaller, lighter green leaves and obviously produces coconuts
8 Rice Plant - grows in 1 block high water, produces rice for a) rice b) saké
9 Peach Tree - Produces edible peaches, and would grow in Rhun.
10 Peas - Runner plant, would grow on a Wooden Frame, produces peas for Pie & Mash (made with cooked chicken, potatoes and peas)
11 Strawberries- Runner plant, would grow on a Wooden Frame, produces Strawberries
12 Onions & Garlic - similar growth to leeks and potatoes
New Foods
13 Oatmeal - made like bread but with Barley Grains
14 Coconuts - Have to be crafted with a weapon in order to open, then can be eaten or crafted with a bottle for coconut milk
15 Rice - staple produce, can be crafted with a bowl for a food, about the same food as bread?
16 Peach - similar to Pomegranate apart from texture
17 Peas- mentioned before
18 Strawberries- can be eaten alone, or make a juice
19 Onions & Garlic - could be used in advanced recipes eg. Roast Dinner
New Alcoholic Drinks
20 Whiskey - made from 6 barley
Potency= for you to decide in the comments
21 Sake - made from 6 rice
Potency= for you to decide in the comments
New Alcohol Storage
22 Tumbler - short rectangular glass for more potent drinks
23 Fluted Glass - for the more expensive drinks, to look very posh at a banquet
24 Look at Catfish's Wine Storage suggestion- 'tis brilliant!
The Gardeners Guide
25 Now, some of you may be going 'What on earth is that?', very well then I shall tell you. My plan is to have a Book which gives information on plants, trees, soil, practically everything to do with working outside.
It would be a little like the Lexica Botanica from (could someone remind me- i think its called Botania)
It would show height of the plant, growth time, how much produce it produces (this could actually give way to different varients of plant so you pick the best plants to grow), and a little info/lore.
For soil it would show the quality and how muxh compost has been placed on it, and would state what are the best plants to grow on it.
26 The actual recipe of the Gardeners Guide would be as such:
Niphredil Bannana Dwarfwort
Athelas Book Plum
Cherry Jungle Mud Pear
New Fauna
New Animals
27 Polar Bear - exactly the same as the Bear but has a white skin and spawns in Forodwaith only.
28 Woodland Animals -
- Badger - a friendly animal only to be found in the major woodlands - nocturnal
- Fox - Can attack if too close to its young otherwise friendly - nocturnal
- Hedgehog - a friendly little animal that is a joy to behold - nocturnal
- Squirrel - would have two variets the Grey and the Red Squirrel
- Racoon - cheeky little chap that comes up to a player then scurries off
29 Goat - like a sheep but instead is a goat! No goat simulator jokes please.
30 Alpaca - found in (let community decide) - produces Alpaca wool which sells for a lot to NPC's (this should be another suggestion)
31 Hyena - found in the Savanah - distinctive cackle - sometimes attacks lions, and if in a pack will attack player.
32 Hippopotamus - found everywhere in Far Harad
33 Dogs - These would be biome-decided varient breeds heres some ideas i had:
- Hunting dogs- such as Pointers, Greyhounds, Bloodhounds, Beagles (features Tundra dogs as well: Siberian Husky, Great Alaskan Malamute, Greenland Dog, North Inuit Dog)
- Guard Dogs- most noticeably the Mastiff (Vikings were known to use dogs in their raids, research has suggested it was an ancestor of the Great Dane)
- Ladies Lap Dogs- Most likely Spaniels eg. the King Charles Spaniel (not exactly middle ages but it is one of the most recognisable old dog breeds in the UK).
New Birds/Flying Things
34 Fireflies - as mentioned in S'moregoth's suggestion
35 Bees - based around a central block 'Beehive' (which can only be found not crafted) they provide a wide area (30x30) of giving a boost to plant growth
36 Hummingbird - Beautiful colourful birds found in the Fertile Valley and Rivendell, can be attracted with 'Sugar Water' which can be made in a CT with a peice of sugar, a bottle of water and a wooden bowl. Players can see the Hummingbirds landing and sipping on the water.
37 Owls - There's a very large variety of owls in practically every sort of biome that ME offers, so I won't go into every single owl breed on here.
38 Eagles - As mentioned above - could fit into any biome - would particularly like to see a Bald Eagle.
39 Dodos - a fun addition - only to be found on Meneltarma.
New Fish
40- Salmon - found around the Island of Tol Morwen and Himling and the West Coast of Lindon - very good food source
41- Dolphin - found in the tropical waters of Far Harad Coastline
42- Shoals of Fish - these would be found only in the Ocean, and would effectively be a large amount of differently coloured fish moving in unison.
Thank you for reading my suggestions, I hope i've given people who like to do textures an absolute holiday :P
If you could put on the CT recipes and make some textures I would absolutely love that.
If theres a section of the Suggestion you really don't like say in the comments and it can be altered/removed
Lets get this endorsed for a more real and more fun world!