NPC field work assigns player-owned land (Alex Chen plow on Field 48)

[WizardlyPayload]

Summary

Playtest (Wizard, 2026-08-02): Alex Chen, Agronomist (SeasonalCropStress + NPCFavor NPC) ran a tractor + plow on player-owned Field 48, then left the cab and kept wandering that field. Relationship label showed Neutral. Active Favors UI had unrelated NPC favors (Mrs. Henderson, Hans Bauer, etc.) — this was not a player-accepted plow favor.

Expected: NPC daily field work stays on NPC / neighbor fields, not the player's farm.
Actual: Agronomist treated player Field 48 as her work field.

Suspected root cause (local clone)

NPCSystem:findNearestField (src/NPCSystem.lua) picks the geographically nearest field from g_fieldManager.fields with no ownership filter (player vs NPC/unowned). Scheduler / NPCAI:startWorking then spawns fieldwork equipment via getFieldJobType + spawnFieldWorkVehicle / startNPCFieldWorkOwned.

Field UI at the time: owned by player, peas Harvested, weed growing, needs lime — so job type can read as open (till/plow) after cut/stubble.

Related design notes

Tracking notes already document temporary farmland ownership flips so AIJobFieldWork can run (borrow player farm id). That path assumes NPC fields; nearest-field assignment can land NPCs on land the player already owns.

Repro (as observed)

1. Suite with NPCFavor + SeasonalCropStress (Alex Chen present).
2. Be near / own Field 48 (or any player field that is nearest to Alex's spawn/path).
3. Wait for her work schedule / vehicle mode hybrid|realistic.
4. Observe plow combo on player land; after exit she continues wandering the same field.

Ask

• Exclude player-owned farmland from findNearestField / assigned work fields (or only assign fields belonging to the NPC's intended neighbor farm).
• Confirm she leaves player land when the job ends (still wandering after leaving the tractor).

Evidence

Wizard screenshot in session: floating name Alex Chen, Agronomist / Neutral, Fendt + red plow on Field 48, FIELD INFO Owned by: You.

[github-actions]

Hey @WizardlyPayload, welcome to the village! 🏡

Thanks for opening this issue — the neighbors have been notified. @TheCodingDad-TisonK will stop by as soon as possible.

While you wait, please make sure you've included:

• You are running the latest version of NPC Favor (visible in the mod manager)
• Your issue includes the relevant [NPC Favor] lines from log.txt
  • Log location: Documents/My Games/FarmingSimulator2025/log.txt
  • Search for [NPC Favor] and paste the relevant section here
• If this involves a specific NPC (Mia, Hans, etc.) — note their name and what quest or interaction triggered the problem
• You have searched existing issues to avoid duplicates

Note: Issues without a log snippet are difficult to investigate and may be closed. A log is almost always required to reproduce bugs.

[TheCodingDad-TisonK]

Confirmed at source. Your root cause read is correct.

NPCSystem:findNearestField walks every entry in g_fieldManager.fields, keeps the geographically nearest one, and returns { id = field.farmlandId, center, size }. There is no ownership test anywhere in it. So whichever field happens to be closest to the NPC's home or spawn point wins, and if that is your Field 48, Alex Chen treats it as her work field. The wandering afterwards follows from the same assignment, npc.assignedField is still pointing at your land once she leaves the cab.

Worth noting the mod already knows how to make this distinction elsewhere. There are entry.ownerFarmId ~= playerFarmId checks in the location selection path around NPCSystem.lua:803 onwards. The field picker just never got the same treatment.

On lane: I am calling this a fix rather than a feature, so it is fast track and does not need a design pass. The README states the premise as neighbours who "work on their fields with their own machinery", so NPC daily field work staying off player land is intent that was already decided, not new intent.

One caveat for whoever picks it up, so the fix does not create a second bug. findNearestField is not only used by the daily work scheduler. NPCFieldSentry.lua:58 notes it also resolves the field for a harvest favor, and favors legitimately can involve the player's land. So the ownership filter belongs on the scheduled work assignment path, not blanket inside findNearestField, or accepted favors on your own fields will stop resolving.

Also picking up your second ask: the post job wandering needs npc.assignedField cleared when the job ends, otherwise she keeps treating it as her patch even once the filter is in.

Labelled bug and npc, queued for the build side. Thanks for the clean report, the file and function names made this a five minute confirm.