Soil

Soil is a game mechanic of Atomicrops.

General Description

Soil is a basic game mechanic that the player utilizes in order to plant, grow, and harvest their Crops.

At the start of the game, the player by default starts with a 3x3 square of untilled soil. The rest of the player's Farm will be covered in Hard Crust. This is land which cannot be farmed, and must be broken one tile at a time to create tillable soil. This requires an item such as a Pickaxe.

Once the crust is removed, soil is tilled by highlighting the tile and using the "Farm" button. The default is the right mouse button (PC), LT (Xbox), L2 (PS), or ZL (Switch). The speed at which the player can till soil increases with their Farming Stat. Once soil is tilled, Seeds can be planted in it, with one seed per tile. Harvesting the crop returns the soil beneath to its untilled state, and it must be tilled again before planting more seeds.

There are several different phases of Soil, ranging from its default Hard Crust state to its Compact Wet state. All forms of Soil can have Weeds spawn on them unless the player has Herbicidal Soil, in which case broken crust and tilled Soil will not grow Weeds. The exact forms of Soil are shown below:

Table of Types of Soil

Image	Name	Description
	Hard Crust	The default state of all land on the Farm prior to being broken with a Pickaxe. Crops cannot be planted on this. Turrets and Scarecrows cannot be planted on Hard Crust unless the player has Turret Stakes.
	Empty Tile	The default state of the ground after being freshly broken by a Pickaxe, or after a Crop harvest has completely exhausted a soil tile. Crops cannot be planted on this, but Turrets and Scarecrows can.
	Basic Soil	Allows for one Crop to be planted and harvested before returning back to the Empty Tile state and needing to be re-tilled.
	Compact Soil	Allows for two Crops to be planted and harvested before returning back to the Empty Tile state and needing to be re-tilled. After the first Crop is harvest this tile will default to the Basic Soil look.
	Basic Wet Soil	Allows for one Crop to be planted and harvested before returning back to the Empty Tile state and needing to be re-tilled. Also waters the next Crop planted one time and speeds up that given Crop's growth while the soil remains wet.
	Compact Wet Soil	Allows for two Crops to be planted and harvested before returning back to the Empty Tile state and needing to be re-tilled. Also waters the next Crop planted two times and speeds up that given Crop's growth while the soil remains wet.

Associated Items

Breaking Hard Crust

• Pickaxes break one tile of Hard Crust, being consumed in the process. The most common way to break crust.
• The Tunneler Tractor breaks one tile of crust before needing to recharge.
• Scrolls break crust as well as till soil, with higher tier scrolls breaking more tiles of crust.
• When married, Borage will sometimes break crust, depending on the player's Luck.
• Pigs andHogs will sometimes break crust, depending on the player's Luck.

Making Basic Tilled Soil

• The Tunneler Tractor can be upgraded to till a square of soil when it breaks crust.
• When married, Borage will often till soil.
• Pigs andHogs will often till soil.
• If the player has Cleats, walking over empty soil will till it.
• The Tremor Scroll tills all soil.
• A Farmhouse upgrade allows the player to start the game with all 9 squares of soil tilled.

Making Compact Soil

• The Earthquake and Catalysm Scrolls till all soil into compact soil.
• When married, Borage can turn basic tilled soil into compact soil.
• Pigs andHogs can turn basic tilled soil into compact soil.
• The Megaton Tractor turns all soil beneath its area of deployment into compact soil.
• If the player has the Golden Hoe upgrade, all soil that they till is compact soil. This includes soil tilled through use of their Cleats.

Making Wet Soil

• The Flower Shower Scroll turns all tilled soil into Wet Soil, which lasts until after it has disappeared.
• With Snot Nose, all Pigs and Hogs till Wet Soil.
• Some Farmhouse upgrades give the player a chance for the soil they till to be wet soil.

Beneficial Upgrades

Because Soil is a key mechanic of the game, there are many Items that can affect it. As such, the following is a list of Items that can affect Soil in various ways.

• Burrowed Butterfly - Breaking crust or tilling soil releases an explosive butterfly
• Cleats - Soil is tilled by walking over it
• Farming Stat Up - A higher Farming Stat allows soil to be tilled faster
• Fat Grub - Breaking crust or tilling soil earns Seeds and Fertilizer
• Golden Hoe - Tilled soil is Compact Soil
• Helpful Worm - Breaking crust or tilling soil reveals a worm that follows the player and blocks bullets
• Herbicidal Soil - Weeds no longer grow on empty or tilled soil
• Resilience - Crops can spread from soil onto Hard Crust
• Snot Nose - Pigs and Hogs till Wet Soil
• Soil pH Meter - Weeds growing on soil have a 50% chance (Luck dependent) to be Flowers instead
• Stats Up - A higher Farming Stat allows soil to be tilled faster