Apple Tree Care System

[drowsiestprince]

As a way to slightly balance and make apple trees more interesting, I think a system to caring for them in a way beyond what you do for vanilla trees would be fun to introduce.

Starting off with the introduction of two new phases (much like the zap apple, but to a lesser extent). When you first grow an apple tree from a sapling, they start off looking very similar to a normal tree, no apples. They will transition into the budding stage where the leaves grow flowers. These flowers can be pollinated by bees. Eventually, the tree will transition into the final stage of producing apples. Bucking the tree releases the apples, and the cycle repeats. I imagine this process being a bit on the slower side, but can be sped up with earth pony growth magic, and the help of pollinating bees. (A helpful item to add for this process being a bucket, which if placed underneath an apple tree, automatically catches any apples bucked from it.) The flowering phase produces falling petal particles, similar to how the cherry blossom trees do.

Flowers can be sheared to be obtained, and shearing a tree when it first blooms after being planted initially is necessary to make sure it produces healthy apples and not rotten apples. Shearing the flowers sends it back to the first stage. (Based on actual orchard care.) The sheared flowers can be worn, or placed on the ground as a decoration similar to cherry blossoms.

As suggested in #229, the addition of the vampire bats as pests would be an important addition to this system. Fending off pests like those bats and others that spawn occasionally could be an interesting feature.

Along with this, the introduction of the canon apple blight disease (mentioned in #146 ) could be something to look out for, functioning the same as how I suggested in the issue above.

Both of the suggestions above could kill the tree if not handled, resulting in the tree dying and leaving behind a leafless husk. (#308 ) Perhaps watering the trees could also be necessary, and made easier by the implementation of watering can and sprinkler items? Sprinklers could automatically water the trees with a combination of redstone timing and a source of water a block beneath the block they're placed on.

I also believe a fun feature to add would be crossbreeding. Most commercial types of apples do not grow naturally in the wild, and I think it could be very fun to have various crafting combinations of the apples of a few base types to produce seeds for new types. Different flavors could perhaps have different benefits regarding saturation and whatnot.

Altered variations on this system could be fun for other fruit trees.

[drowsiestprince]

Additional suggestion for the humor of it: bucked apples can fall on a passerby's head and cause an itty bit of damage. This unlocks the advancement "Who's a Silly Pony?" in reference to both the G1 Applejack theme song and a few scenes from G4.