Farming and Fishing

Windrose includes farming, fishing, and mining as resource gathering activities alongside standard survival game material collection. These activities provide the raw materials for cooking, alchemy, and crafting.

Farming

Players can cultivate crops at their settlements. Farming requires Fertile Soil, which is found at Ancient Farms on Foothill islands (southeast of the starting area). Use a pickaxe to harvest soil patches from these locations. Fertile Soil is a required material; you cannot plant crops without it.

Seedbed Crops

The following crops can be planted in Seedbeds using Fertile Soil:

Ground Plants

These plants are placed directly on the ground anywhere on your plot, without requiring a Seedbed:

• Shrub

• Ficus

• Palm

How Seeds Work

Seeds are found randomly while gathering wild plants and food across islands. When you harvest a mature crop, it returns both the crop resource and new seeds, creating a sustainable loop. There is no watering mechanic; crops grow automatically over time. Press E to harvest when fully grown.

Farming Contractor NPC

For players who prefer automation, a Farming Contractor NPC is available:

• Unlocked after reaching Tortuga

• Purchased from the Recruitment Vendor for 10 gold coins

• Place the contractor at your home base

• Each farming job requires 50 seeds of a single plant type + 20 silver coins

• Processing time: 8 hours (works passively, including while offline)

• Returns: 50 seeds back + harvested crop resources

• Does not interfere with your personal seedbed crops

Fishing

Fishing is referenced as a side activity in the game's design. Fish Fillets appear as a cooking ingredient (used in the Seafood Skewer recipe: 1 Crab Meat + 4 Fish Fillets + 2 Tomatoes). Crab Meat is obtained by collecting crabs found on beaches. The full fishing system is expected to expand during Early Access.

Mining

Caves scattered across islands contain ore deposits for mining. Different biomes yield different ores, and mining provides the raw materials for weapon and armor crafting.

Ore Types

Smelting Recipes

Ore Respawn

Ore deposits respawn approximately 3 in-game days after a cave or quarry is completely emptied. Community reports suggest roughly 2 to 4 real-time hours for the starting island cave, though timing may vary.

Mining Progression

1. Stone Pickaxe (3 Wood + 3 Stone): mines Copper Ore

2. Copper Pickaxe (upgrade): mines Iron Ore

3. Iron Pickaxe (upgrade): mines Sulfur

A Miner NPC can be unlocked later in the game to gather Sulfur passively and efficiently, similar to the Farming Contractor.

Cooking

Cooking transforms raw farm and gathered ingredients into food buffs that boost stats for 7 to 30 minutes. There are no hunger or thirst bars; food is purely beneficial.

Known Recipes

Cooking Station Progression

NPC Automation

Players who prefer spending their time on combat and exploration can assign NPC workers to handle farming and basic resource gathering. Workers can be stationed at your settlement to gather resources or tend crops while you are away. This optional system respects the player's time while maintaining the economy through NPC wages.