Mods / Jack's Composting

Tags:
Crafting Tweak
Author:
JackRob
Side:
Both
Created:
Oct 20th 2024 at 6:04 PM
Last modified:
5 days ago
Downloads:
5543
Recommended download (for Vintage Story 1.22.0 - 1.22.7):
JacksComposting_1.3.0.zip  1-click install

Description

In reality, composting not only involves food waste, but must be balanced with "brown" items rich in carbon as well to encourage rapid composting.  This simple mod intends to reflect this.

Instead of adding rot directly to a barrel to compost, you now need to craft an item called "Organic Wastepile" with rot and some kind of plant debris. The following can be mixed with a unit of Rot to produce 2 Organic Wastepile:

Brown materials
  • 4 Dry Grass; Commonly available but can requires more work and tool durability than other materials.
  • 1 Thatch / Cattail / Papyrus; Good option if you have some left over, especially thatch if you don't intend on roofing with it.
  • 1 Paper; Primarily an upcycle option.
  • 1 Dry Plant Debris; New item in this mod that perishes (1:1) from VS.1.22's Plant Debris you get from breaking berry bushes.
  • 1 Hay block (with 2 rot for 4 organic wastepile);  Convenience In case you have that on hand instead.
  • 1 Hay Bed (with 6 rot for 12 organic wastepile); Upcycle option.  Might remove since this can break down into hay block easily.

You can also use 3 Plant Debris introduced in VS.1.22 in place of rot for the above recipes.

 

This wastepile can convert to compost in two ways, either let it sit around and it will decompose on it's own or add it into a barrel for optimal conditions.

Organic Wastepiles currently perish into compost like how food perishes into rot.  You can leave it in any container, piled on the ground, or keep it in your inventory and it will progressively decompose into compost.  Intended for primitive/stone-age/early gameplay, it will convert over in a relatively poor ratio than if you were to use a barrel (6 wastepiles to 1 compost currently).  It will take an average of 27 days, but due to being very susceptible to temperatures, it's possible to speed-compost in hot environments.

Of course you can also stick it in a barrel with a bit of water for consistant and efficient results.  This relies on a ratio of 4 wastepiles and 0.5L of water for a unit of compost over 20 days (same length as vanilla).  So while you get more compost per rot with copper-age technology, it's also ideal for those in colder climates.

 

Functionality (Conflict-ability with other mods)

Should function alongside most any mod.  In-depth changes this mod makes to consider:

  • Vanilla recipe for barrel composting is disabled so other mods won't interfere with my barrel compost recipe unintentionally.
    • If you desire to change compost output quantity, composting time, or other; best either make the changes directly in my mod and repackage it or make/download a patch that directly affect this mod.
  • All grid recipes in this mod will work unless another mod happens to combine rot and other items on a grid recipe in the same fashion, resulting in conflicting outputs.
    • Some mods that adds support for multiple output of the same/similar recipe can fix this, such as RKN Generic Crafting for example.

 

Compatibility (Gameplay balance with other mods)

 

A primary gameplay intention with this mod is that you must obtain rot and a 'brown' material to compost.

Safe to say, I wouldn't recommend using mods that allow you to compost straight grass, such as "Compost Grass" or "Compost from grass", or thatch such as "Thatch Expanded" since they circumvent that idea.

 

Notable Mod Compatibility

Immersive Woodworking: Compatibility patch added in V.1.3.0.  Disabled IWW composting recipe and added wastepile recipes with their compostible barks.

Leaf Litter: Compatibility patch added in V.1.3.0.  Disabled LL composting recipes and added wastepile recipes with their leaf litter.

Wear and Tear: Has inherent support for my mod.  Sawdust can be utilized in wastepile recipes.

 

Secondary gameplay intention is for composting to be more readily accessible.  Now you can obtain compost with as little as 2 or 3 rot, instead of needing a full stack in vanilla.  You also get more compost per rot compared to vanilla, but this is balanced by the work of obtaining brown materials that is consumed in the process.  Much of this also reflects reality, but of course gameplay comes first.

Mod Version Mod IdentifierFor Game version Downloads Released Changelog Download 1-click mod install*
1.3.0 jackscomposting
1.22.0 - 1.22.7
133 5 days ago JacksComposting_1.3.0.zip 1-click install

Major update.  Revamps most of the mod from previous version.  Should update mid-game smoothly if needed.  Likely only works in VS.1.22 (tested in VS.1.22.6), since it makes references to new resources in that update.

  • Orcanic Wastepile and Compost can now be placed in piles on the ground for easy ground storage:
    • Both uses the stone pile shape for now until I can maybe make a messier pile shape I am happy with.
    • 64 item stack for Wastepiles, and 32 item stack for Compost.

 

  • Organic Wastepile can now perish directly into Compost:
    • Allows primitive form of composting. 
    • Uses Perish mechanic, so it's subjected to temperatures like food.
    • Average perish rate is 27 days (648 in-game hours).  While that may seem long, a strong temperate summer can help it keep pace if not surpass barrel composting in time.
    • Converts every 6 units of Wastepile to Compost upon 'spoiling', so barrel recipe is more efficient (4:1) to reward tech progression.

 

  • Reworked Plant Debris from Update 1.22:
    • No longer directly spoils into rot.  Instead it perishes into a new item 'Dry Plant Debris' (same 1:1 ratio).
    • While still fresh, 3 Plant Debris can be used in place of 1 Rot for all Organic Wastepile recipes.
    • When dried, 1 unit can be used with 1 Rot or 3 fresh Plant Debris to make 2 Organic Wastepile.
    • Cut perish time by slightly more than half: 11 Days average -> 5 Days average.
    • Modder's note: It was tough figuring out what to do with Plant Debris, since branchy/twiggy leaves realistically don't make the best 'green' compost, but I also wanted to respect vanilla balance somewhat.  The thought now is that you seperate green leaves from twigs to use in composting. These changes should be a good compromise on balance and intent.

 

  • Compost barrel recipe changed:
    • Requires a bit of water (0.5L per 4 Wastepile) to produce 1 compost.  So max stack of 64 Wastepile requires 8L of water.
    • Can use any amount of Wastepile in the barrel as long as the above ratio is correct.  Still takes 20 days now matter the amount.

 

  • Existing recipes to craft Organic Wastepile changed:
    • Need more Dry grass per Rot: 4 Dry Grass to 1 Rot instead of 2 Dry Grass to 1 Rot for 2 Wastepiles.
    • Need less rot per Hay block: 1 Hay block to 2 Rot for 4 Wastepiles instead of 1 Hay block to 4 Rot for 8 Wastepiles.
    • Need less rot per Hay bed: 6 rot to 1 bed for 12 Wastepile instead of 12 Rot to 1 Bed for 24 Wastepiles
    • Can now use 1 Cattails or Papyrus mixed with 1 Rot for 2 Wastepiles.
    • Can now use 1 Paper mixed with 1 Rot for 2 Wastepiles.
    • Dropped Thatch roofing recipes for handbook streamlining purposes.  Cut these up back to thatch to recycle those.

 

  • Added compatibility patch for Leaf Litter:
    • Disabled Leaf Litter's compost barrel recipes in favor of mine.
    • Added Recipes: 1 Rot/3 Dry Plant Debris to 1 stack of Leaf Litter for 2 Wastepiles.  8 Rot/ 24 Dry Plant for a full block of leaf litter for 16 Wastepiles.

 

  • Added compatibility patch for Immersive Woodworking:
    • Disabled IWW's compost barrel recipes in favor of mine.
    • Added Recipe: 2 compostable Bark (any but tanning bark) to 1 Rot/3 DPD for 2 Wastepiles.  This can be 2 different types of bark or the same.
1.2.1 jackscomposting
4437 Oct 28th 2024 at 12:18 AM JacksComposting_1.2.1_Simple.zip 1-click install

Corrected new composting recipes to actually work.

1.2.0 jackscomposting
260 Oct 27th 2024 at 1:10 AM JacksComposting_1.2.0_Simple.zip 1-click install

Corrected the intended math logic with the following:

  • Doubled the quantity of the outputs for all Organic Wastepile grid recipes.
  • Doubled the output for both Compost barrel recipes
  • Added a third barrel recipe for 16 wastepiles -> 20 days -> 4 compost
1.1.0 jackscomposting
396 Oct 21st 2024 at 11:22 PM JacksComposting_1.1.0_Simple.zip 1-click install

Added recipes to convert Hay Beds and Thatch Roofing into Organic Wastepile.

1.0.0 jackscomposting
317 Oct 21st 2024 at 1:13 AM JacksComposting_1.0.0.zip 1-click install

Initial Release.

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18 Comments (oldest first | newest first) (threaded | flat)

Katakora, Sep 16th at 1:01 AM

i havnt tested if it works, but i assume not, would there be a compatibility for leaf litter? been enjoying that mod together with decidous trees and would love being able to use leaf litter in place of grass/thatch too

JackRob , Jul 26th at 6:11 PM

Seems to work fine in the latest update, 1.22.5.  Updated the latest file with the 1.22.5 tag to reflect this.

JackRob , Dec 20th 2025 at 6:36 PM

Kournin

A good suggestion.  I'll keep it in mind next time I come back to this mod.

Kournin, Dec 20th 2025 at 2:54 PM

I would love to be able to compost my piles of fern. If you happen to look for updates ideas :)

Antar, May 16th 2025 at 5:14 AM

Not sure if it's intentional, but it's cool that this mod is compatible with Wear and Tear. You can mix in the sawdust you get from sawing planks into organic waste piles.

HaraiseTenshi, Apr 4th 2025 at 7:36 PM

Guess I will have to check into that then thx.

JackRob , Apr 4th 2025 at 12:04 PM

HaraiseTenshi

I did a quick test and things are still working as intended.  You likely have another mod modifying the recipe, since the 64 stack is the vanilla recipe for compost.

HaraiseTenshi, Apr 4th 2025 at 7:21 AM

Looks like there is a bug as it works fine with the 16/32 and 48 sized stacks but when filling a barrel with 64 pieces it seems to want to create only a single piece of Compost within 5 days.
On v 1.20.7

Auro, Dec 5th 2024 at 12:57 PM

Nice!

JackRob , Dec 4th 2024 at 11:41 PM

Auro

Just noticed that 1.20-rc just released.  So I'll be checking all my mods to see if any changes are needed and update or add new tags as appropriate.

P.S.  To respond to your previous comment: I've been thinking about it, and I think adding a dedicated composting bin might be out of my skillset, but I will think about incorporating Primitive Survival Worms somehow.  However, I'm working on a bigger project at the moment, so it'll be some time (if at all) before such content updates appear.

EDIT: On initial testing, everything with this mod seems to work fine.  So I'll add the tag until I find otherwise.

Auro, Dec 4th 2024 at 8:30 PM

Is it working on 1.20?

Auro, Nov 14th 2024 at 5:22 PM

I was using Thatch Expanded, but this is is a lot more realistic and immersive, I compost in real life with grass clippings and food waste

If you want to expand this mod please add a composting bin that has a larger capacity, and has support to primitive survival worms

Echoweaver, Oct 31st 2024 at 1:06 PM

I am really enjoying this mod. Being able to compost in smaller quantities and with less rot is a nice QoL improvement.

Echoweaver, Oct 27th 2024 at 4:19 AM

Thank you! I'm excited to play with this mod.

JackRob , Oct 27th 2024 at 12:45 AM

Echoweaver

You know I had this really stubborn mental blind spot that you removed that I was literally diluting the rot with grass, but didn't realize till now that I did not increase the quanitity of the output.  Let me fix that, and serious thanks for bringing this up.

EDIT:  Uploaded a new file to correct this now, will update description later.  Now it properly takes 32 rot for 64 wastepile, so twice as much compost per rot than compared to vanilla.

Echoweaver, Oct 27th 2024 at 12:25 AM

I love the idea of this mod, but I'm struggling with the math. If there is one rot per wastepile and 64 wastepiles for 8 compost, this mod produces half the compost per rot than the base game. Considering how much effort it is to produce compost, that seems like a huge hit to output for the sake of immersion.

Torvinoid, Oct 21st 2024 at 6:00 AM

Almost makes me wish for some kind of food scraps mechanic for added realism. Looks like a good mod, will download later :)