In Voidtrain by HypeTrain Digital, seeds are the core requirement for growing organics on your train after organics were removed from ambient void loot. You obtain seeds primarily by catching schools of small void fish, rolling tokens in depot slot machines, looting chests, and destroying Chapter 2 infection turrets.
Once you harvest your first seeds, you can establish a self-sustaining loop. Adding compost from a Rofleemo Toilet to your garden beds guarantees you receive the seed back every time you harvest a fully grown crop.
Primary Method: Catching Small Void Fish
The most consistent early and mid-game source of seeds is catching the small void fish that swim in schools alongside the tracks. Many players mistakenly hunt the large void shark for seeds, but official developer statements confirm the shark is classified as a hostile monster rather than a standard void fish. The shark drops items like fat and research samples, while small schooling fish provide seeds, leather, and fat.
Developer Niko confirmed that small fish flee from stray gunshots. If you fire standard single-shot weapons near them, the school disperses before you can score kills. To harvest them efficiently, use one of three verified methods:
- Catch by hand: Engage the train brake to come to a full stop. Leap off the trolley into the zero-gravity void and swim directly through the schools using sprint (Shift). Interacting with them by hand lets you gather several fish in 5 to 6 minutes without scaring the entire group.
- Reel in with the Grappling Hook: Fire your grappling hook directly into the pack. A single grapple launch can catch 1 to 3 fish at once, pulling them directly toward you without burning ammunition.
- Blast schools with a Shotgun: If you prefer ranged hunting, wait until you craft or acquire a shotgun. A wide pellet spread eliminates multiple fish simultaneously before the school has time to scatter.
In official Patch 1.02, the development team significantly increased the base seed drop chance from small void fish, making manual gathering far faster than in earlier game builds.
Alternative Seed Sources
Beyond hunting schools of fish in the void, you can acquire regular and strange seeds through stations and combat encounters:
| Source | Location | Requirements | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Void Fish | Open Void | Hand catch, Grappling Hook, or Shotgun | Primary early source; yields regular and strange seeds, leather, and fat. |
| Depot Slot Machines | Train Depots | Depot Tokens | Spend tokens earned from clearing enemy soldiers to roll for random resources, including seeds. |
| Infection Turrets | Pathway Infections (Chapter 2) | Combat Weapons | Hostile organic turrets that target players and the train; destroying them drops seeds. |
| Supply Chests & Crates | Floating Islands & Depots | Exploration / Winch access | Random bonus loot inside puzzle rewards and station storage containers. |
Depot slot machines offer a quick alternative if you have surplus tokens from clearing soldiers at outposts. Inserting tokens can award lumps of scrap metal, iron bars, leather, or seed bundles, though rolls remain subject to random chance.
How to Plant Seeds and Create an Infinite Seed Loop
Growing crops requires unlocking and constructing garden beds on your train car platforms. Gardening is introduced through a secondary quest in your journal.
- Construct a Garden Bed: Build the garden bed structure on a wagon platform using crafted bolts and basic train materials.
- Plant the Seed: Equip your organic seed or strange seed and place it into an empty garden slot.
- Water the Bed: Collect water from your automated Water Condensers and pour it onto the soil. The garden visually reflects each growth stage along with a countdown timer.
- Apply Compost for Guaranteed Seed Returns: Fertilize the plot using compost produced by the Rofleemo's Toilet module (unlocked via a secondary quest after departing the depot on path 10, utilizing chemicals).
Unfertilized gardens carry only a partial chance of returning a seed upon harvest, which can slowly deplete your seed supply. Adding compost provides two major mechanical benefits: it shortens the growth stage timer and guarantees a 100% seed return rate. Once compost is applied regularly, your farming setup becomes a closed-loop system where you never need to hunt void fish for replacement seeds unless expanding to new plots.
Automating Seed Farming with Rofleemo
As your train technology advances, you can remove manual farming tasks by assigning Rofleemo crew members to specialized modules:
- Botanist's Station (Research Phase 15): Assigning a Rofleemo to this workstation automates garden bed duties. At perk level 1, the Rofleemo plants stored seeds, applies water, and harvests mature crops. At perk level 2, the worker autonomously applies fertilizer. At perk level 3, the station gains a chance to produce bonus crop yields per harvest.
- Trainkeeper's Station (Research Phase 21): Automates utility tasks, including hauling water to refuel Lootcatcher Nests across the train.
- Rofleemo's Toilet: Consumes chemicals to produce compost, supplying the fertilizer required by the Botanist's Station to keep the seed return guarantee active.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you craft seeds at a workbench?
No. Seeds cannot be manufactured directly on workbenches or lab stations. They must be collected from void fish, depot slot machines, infection turrets, or recycled through fertilized garden harvests.
Why do void fish swim away before I can hit them?
Small void fish have high movement speed and are programmed to flee when they detect gunfire. Single-bullet weapons like pistols frighten the school away. Stop the train and swim into them to collect by hand, use a grappling hook, or fire a wide-spread shotgun blast.
Does the void shark drop organic seeds?
No. The void shark is an aggressive predator rather than a void fish school. Defeating mutated sharks yields fat, red research samples, and metal components, but they are not a viable source for farming garden seeds.
What do you grow from strange seeds?
Planting strange seeds in your garden beds yields specialized crops like mushrooms and unusual flora, which can be harvested for unique recipes such as Mushroom Salad to feed Rofleemo crew members.
