I really, really love Farming Simulator. I've been addicted for years now and play every new release for dozens upon dozens of hours. I just wish I could convince more people to give it a try. I get it that it's complicated and seems boring, but once you get into it, it's amazing satisfying and fun. With that in mind, for day 129 of Eric Vs. 365, I'm going to share my tips for new players on how to make the game more fun and accessible to hopefully help folks finally jump in to the farming fun. Click to read more and watch.
The first thing that has to be said is that Farming Simulator 19 CAN be played as a hardcore realistic simulation of farming, but it ISN'T the only way to play. It doesn't always seem that way, though, since most of the most popular Farm Sim streamers and YouTubers play it straight and realistically, but you don't have to play that way and the game offers a ton of options and features to make it appealing to players of all skill and interest levels. I suppose I should also say, however, that the game is still a little slow and tedious and monotonous even after taking advantage of these accessibility features, but I find it fun and even relaxing because of this and I think if people actually give it a shot they'll discover that to be true for themselves as well.
Tip #1 - Take Advantage of Options To Make It Easier - The Farming Simulator games have a wealth of options to make the game easier. Make the economy easier. Speed up plant growth so you can harvest more often and have more fun. Use the option to speed up / slow down time so you don't spend so much time with nothing to do (or trying to play in the dark). Turn off the need to plow / fertilize / weed / etc. so you can spend more time on fun stuff. It's cool the game is realistic and has all of this stuff, but it's a pain and not especially fun, so don't be afraid to turn it off.
Tip #2 - Use the A.I. Workers - The smartest thing that Farming Simulator does is that you can hire A.I. workers to do pretty much all of the most tedious and boring jobs around your farm. I'm sorry, but cultivating and planting and harvesting huge fields at 6 MPH is freaking boring, so hire A.I. workers to do that stuff. You'll still have to manually do a lot yourself, too, such as moving equipment around, emptying A.I. harvesters when they get full, delivering your crop to buyers, cutting down trees to clear land for new fields, plowing to create new fields, and much more. Raising animals is also basically 100% manual as well - feeding, watering, cleaning up, delivering the products they produce, etc.. The idea is that you use the A.I. workers to do the boring stuff while you do the fun and satisfying stuff. You'll go crazy otherwise.
Tip #3 - Play With Mods - Farming Simulator 17 and 19 both feature downloadable mods that can dramatically alter your experience with the game. Mods include new equipment, new maps, gameplay improvements, and even infinite money options. I highly, highly recommend playing with any and all mods you think look fun and interesting. And don't be afraid to use the "Government Subsidy" infinite money mod. I feel like the game is most fun when you can just buy whatever you want and do whatever you want, so having the freedom and flexibility to just play with everything and get to the fun part ASAP isn't a bad idea.
Tip #4 - Buy Big Equipment - Whether you play legit or use the infinite money cheat, the best way to play is to get bigger equipment as soon as possible. Wide seeders and giant harvesters and huge trailers make everything much more efficient and less tedious so getting the biggest stuff you can get - as long as it isn't TOO big for your current fields - makes the game a lot more fun. The big equipment is just cooler, anyway.
Tip #5 - Build Wherever You Want - One of the best features of Farming Simulator 19 is that you are no longer limited to buying pre-set fields and only building on specified lots. In FS19 you not only buy the fields, but the land around them and even plots of land that don't have any fields at all. You are then free to transform the land however you want. Combine existing fields together. Cut down trees to make room for entirely new fields. Use the sculpting tools to level hills or raise mountains and anything in between (including building sick ramps or race tracks or whatever else you can imagine). Place you animal pens wherever you want. Build roads. Place storage buildings and shops and sheds wherever you want. No other Farming Simulator has allowed you to alter the map and just do whatever you want.
Tip #6 - Don't Be Afraid To Ask For Help - Let's face it, the game is still quite complicated even if you take advantage of all of the tips to make it easier since you still need to know what equipment does what and how to connect one thing to another. The game has a tutorial mode that will teach you everything (though it is kind of dry and boring) as well as a fairly extensive help menu that will tell you what you need to do to raise and deliver different crops or take care of the various animals. And you can, and should, just look up online how to do things if you get confused. This isn't Dark Souls. You don't have to be afraid to get help if you need it. No one is going to think less of you.
The real key to having fun in Farming Simulator is to just figure out what you actually enjoy doing and do that. Not all of the crops are equally fun. Some of the animals are a time consuming pain. Some of the fields are awkwardly shaped and not fun to work on. You don't have to do everything and buy everything and experience everything. Just do whatever you find to be fun. And that is my ultimate point - the game can be very fun if you just give it a try and let it get its hooks in you. It gives you lots of options and tools to play the game however you want to make it as fun as possible, so give it a try.
Disclosure: A product code was provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: A product code was provided by the publisher.
