My purpose here is not to complain about what isn't. The game is great. I've got almost 300 hours in my steam account, and that isn't idling with a tractor in the field. I love farming, grew up on a farm in central US, and still go back twice a year to help with the planting and harvest and I love playing this game. I love driving tractors back and forth and everything associated with farming that is in this game.
I'd like to see what the community thinks about the future of this game and where it is going with new major additions. Because what I see is a really nice game, but it isn't really a simulator. Farming to me is all about tough decisions, and this game doesn't really simulate any of those. I would love to see added to the game some features that make the game more life-like. I pretty much only know corn/soybeans, so that is what I will use as examples.
I'll just list the ideas I have up here, I talk about my reasons for the changes lower on in a different section.
Planting - Ability to adjust depth, planter down-force and seed spacing. Also have weather with soil temperature and rain impact the surface layer and impact yield. These would all make for the same difficult decisions farmers experience. Some years the weather is perfect. Some years you need to plant shallow, because the crop has to go in by a certain date, it has been rainy, and rain is looming, so you need it to break through before it rots below the surface. Cool graphics for some of this stuff would be awesome, but it isn't even needed. The soil mod does a lot of cool things, but I want to also add the planting/weather decisions.
Growing - Have some sort of popup when you get near a growing field to display fungus, disease, insects or other weeds or the need for fertilizers with certain crops. They wouldn't even have to add the graphics for this, just run the numbers under the surface.
Harvest - For combines have basic setup features that you need to change for each crop. Stuff like setting the threshing cylinder speed and spacing and adjusting the straw walkers. Have moisture % for the crops that affects grain storage and grain weight. Moisture also affect combine performance. Lets also have trailers weigh on scale before and after instead of magically getting paid for an amount of grain that is some how known, and the sell point can take a sample of your grain so you can get paid based on quality of grain (too much chaff, too high moisture).
Improved finance mechanics - Ability to take out grain contracts, being docked when selling based on moisture or having grain too heavy with chaff. Option to have yearly salary taken out for yourself to simulate real life expenses.
Reasons for the changes: You don't have to read all these, I listed as spoiler because I wanted to explain some of the farming intricacies for those who don't know but wanted to leave this long-winded part out for those who already understand it all.
Planting is a very critical and tedious process. With a crop like corn taking so much nutrients out of the ground, spacing is critical. So with all but the newest top of the line planters you want to plant a field with as many straight rows as possible. Otherwise, every time you turn, the outside rows are spaced out further than they have to be, and the inside rows are spaced closer than ideal this causes yield loss. A simple matter on a rectangle field, but what about curvy ones, what way planting gets you the most straight rows? Depth is also critical. With corn, you need the entire crop to break up out of the ground within 24 hours. If any plants take longer, they are permanently stunted growth and this severely impacts yield for that plant. Like talking about the difference between producing one ear of corn instead of 3. This makes it important to have a level seed bed for the planter so it isn't bouncing all over the field. This makes running a no-till planter where you don't cultivate before hand a bit more in-depth. You want to have enough down force so you planter isn't bouncing all over the place, but you also don't want to too much otherwise it compacts your soil. You also don't want to drive too fast because speed effects planter singulation. Singulation is the effect of one corn seed dropping, every six inches, and only one seed. Speed up too fast and you get too many misses, or it drops multiple seeds instead of one (wasted money). Slow down too much and the same thing happens, every planter has their sweet spot. With newer vac planters, some of these problems are better, but they still have their limits. The weather also adds their own challenges. Corn is a warm weather crop and does best when planted after soil temperature rises above 50 deg F, otherwise it can get shocked and impact yield. So you cannot plant too early in the spring, you have to wait for the ground to warm. Corn varies based on hybrid you plant, but we planted mostly 110 day corn. We have to harvest before the winter, so we cannot just wait for the weather to be perfect. You have to plant by a certain day, otherwise the sunshine hours isn't as long when the corn is growing, and it is still growing somewhat in the fall when temps cool off. This forces tough decisions based on weather. Planted crops can also be subject to flooding or shock if a cold rain comes right after planting. If you cultivate or plant when ground is too muddy, you create a hard crusted layer on top that makes it harder for crop to bust through (at least in our soil type), hard downpours can also have same effect. Sometimes the weather forces you to plant when not perfect conditions. Sometimes you have to replant after a rain that floods a section of a field. You are always needing to check the weather when planting.
Waiting for the crops to grow is less intensive, but you cannot be absent either. Miss a fungus or let a weed grow for too long and even once sprayed it can already have impacted yield. With corn, it is also proven that the corn getting a nitrogen boost at critical times during the growing stages gives another boost. Also weather can impact here too. Maybe a heavy hail came along and beat down your crops? Hope you had crop insurance.
Combine basics: The grain enters the combine from the head, through the feeder house and enters the threshing cylinder. Basically everything is forced through a small space. This is where in corn, you set the spacing basically so that the cob barely fits through, so all the kernels of corn are stripped off. Then everything enters the back of the combine and floats down a series of straw walkers where big stuff is caught and eventually spit out the back, while the small stuff falls down the bottom and eventually gets put in auger back to grain tank.
So set the cylinder spacing too small, and you smash the cob into small bits and start crushing the corn. This means that you lose smashed kernels of corn out the back of the combine, and get little pieces of cob in the grain hopper. You also want to set the back of the combine just right so you spit out all the junk, but keep the kernals of corn. Every year when switching crops or just first starting, it is a careful process of initial adjustments, then you stop and walk the field behind the combine counting the grain you see per square foot. Then you can calculate your loss/acre and adjust accordingly. Maybe you see crushed kernals, maybe you see too many cobs in the grain hopper. Eventually you get it right and it is good for the rest of the field. But different seeds/hybrids have different sizes. Switching fields of corn will still have you double checking to ensure you aren't spewing $$ out the back of the combine. The good farmers do this. Sometimes the big farmers have enough money and crops they can afford to lose lots and not care. Sometimes the big farmers don't have the time to get everything perfectly because they have to harvest everything before it freezes. Decisions, decisions. Moisture is also a HUGE factor in harvest. If you harvest too wet, then you will get docked in pay when you go to sell the grain or it costs extra to store yourself due to having to dry. If you have too many cobs or chaff in with the grain, the grain elevator docks your pay. Too wet and it will rot in your storage if you let it sit. If you try to harvest too early in the morning, soybeans cut on the cutting head do not flow in correctly (unless belt fed head). Soybeans are horrible as you basically have to stop early evening when harvesting, otherwise they just bunch all together on the head, then feed into the combine all at once plugging it or burning belts badly as the combine cylinder slips under the strain. Even corn with a heavy dew or recent rain can clog up a combine as everything sticks together and the insides just do not work as good. Newer combines and tech can help some of these problems, like belt fed heads instead of the old fashioned augers that bring everything to the middle.
Harvest time also brings about other decisions. Most small farms do not have enough storage for the whole harvest. So they can either sell the excess immediately, or most grain elevators have something called a price-later option. During the harvest, grain prices are typically lower than the rest of the year because that is when all the crop comes in. Most elevators will allow you to "store" your grain there with them, crediting you an amount based on weight and moisture and quality, and then you can "sell" it to them whenever you want, whenever the price is good. They charge you a monthly storage fee for this. You also have the ability to take out a contract in the spring or summer if the harvest is good. You say that you promise to sell them an X amount of grain in the fall at the current price of grain. If you sell half your crop off in the summer when the prices are high, who cares what the price is in the fall?
Conclusion
I know there are a lot of great mods out there that help make it better, but I'm not here to talk about them, so please no remarks about "just go create a mod yourself and stop complaining". I think the stuff I want would be too deep for a mod, unless I'm incorrect which in that case, I'll start learning how to mod myself.
So I ask you guys, the community: Do you think the game will ever ave any of these real farming simulation ideas, even if they are less complex than what I list? I think stuff like this will add much more to the game than just new tractors or equipment. They've made a lot of wonderful improvements and I'm just excited to see what comes next.
Last edited by FarmkidD2 on Wed Jul 29, 2015 4:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.
I agree with you, which is kind of why I made my post.
I was considering the changes I suggested above while driving home today. Are most of what I want doable by modding? I don't have any modding experience, but I figured out how to operate a nuclear reactor in the Navy, so how hard can modding be? Joking aside, I'd like to hear from some with modding experience how possible this kind of stuff is to do with mods, because I can learn anything and I want this stuff so bad I'll teach myself if the community doesn't think Giants will ever get around to this kind of thing.
FarmkidD2 wrote:My purpose here is not to complain about what isn't. The game is great. I've got almost 300 hours in my steam account, and that isn't idling with a tractor in the field. I love farming, grew up on a farm in central US, and still go back twice a year to help with the planting and harvest and I love playing this game. I love driving tractors back and forth and everything associated with farming that is in this game.
I'd like to see what the community thinks about the future of this game and where it is going with new major additions. Because what I see is a really nice game, but it isn't really a simulator. Farming to me is all about tough decisions, and this game doesn't really simulate any of those. I would love to see added to the game some features that make the game more life-like. I pretty much only know corn/soybeans, so that is what I will use as examples.
I'll just list the ideas I have up here, I talk about my reasons for the changes lower on in a different section.
Planting - Ability to adjust depth, planter down-force and seed spacing. Also have weather with soil temperature and rain impact the surface layer and impact yield. These would all make for the same difficult decisions farmers experience. Some years the weather is perfect. Some years you need to plant shallow, because the crop has to go in by a certain date, it has been rainy, and rain is looming, so you need it to break through before it rots below the surface. Cool graphics for some of this stuff would be awesome, but it isn't even needed. The soil mod does a lot of cool things, but I want to also add the planting/weather decisions.
Growing - Have some sort of popup when you get near a growing field to display fungus, disease, insects or other weeds or the need for fertilizers with certain crops. They wouldn't even have to add the graphics for this, just run the numbers under the surface.
Harvest - For combines have basic setup features that you need to change for each crop. Stuff like setting the threshing cylinder speed and spacing and adjusting the straw walkers. Have moisture % for the crops that affects grain storage and grain weight. Moisture also affect combine performance. Lets also have trailers weigh on scale before and after instead of magically getting paid for an amount of grain that is some how known, and the sell point can take a sample of your grain so you can get paid based on quality of grain (too much chaff, too high moisture).
Improved finance mechanics - Ability to take out grain contracts, being docked when selling based on moisture or having grain too heavy with chaff. Option to have yearly salary taken out for yourself to simulate real life expenses.
Reasons for the changes: You don't have to read all these, I listed as spoiler because I wanted to explain some of the farming intricacies for those who don't know but wanted to leave this long-winded part out for those who already understand it all.
Planting is a very critical and tedious process. With a crop like corn *zensiert* so much nutrients out of the ground, spacing is critical. Otherwise, every time you turn, the outside rows are spaced out further than they have to be, and the inside rows are spaced closer than ideal this causes yield loss. So with all but the newest top of the line planters you want to plant a field with as many straight rows as possible. A simple matter on a rectangle field, but what about curvy ones, what way planting gets you the most straight rows? Depth is also critical. With corn, you need the entire crop to break up out of the ground within 24 hours. If any plants take longer, they are permanently stunted growth and this severely impacts yield for that plant. Like talking about the difference between producing one ear of corn instead of 3. This makes it important to have a level seed bed for the planter so it isn't bouncing all over the field. This makes running a no-till planter where you don't cultivate before hand a bit more in-depth. You want to have enough down force so you planter isn't bouncing all over the place, but you also don't want to too much otherwise it compacts your soil. You also don't want to drive too fast because speed effects planter singulation. Singulation is the effect of one corn seed dropping, every six inches, and only one seed. Speed up too fast and you get too many misses, or it drops multiple seeds instead of one (wasted money). Slow down too much and the same thing happens, every planter has their sweet spot. With newer vac planters, some of these problems are better, but they still have their limits. The weather also adds their own challenges. Corn is a warm weather crop and does best when planted after soil temperature rises above 50 deg F, otherwise it can get shocked and impact yield. If you cultivate or plant when ground is too muddy, you create a hard crusted layer on top that makes it harder for crop to bust through (at least in our soil type), hard downpours can also have same effect. Sometimes the weather forces you to plant when not perfect conditions. Corn varies based on hybrid you plant, but we planted mostly 110 day corn. We have to harvest before the winter, so we cannot just wait for the weather to be perfect. You have to plant by a certain day, otherwise the sunshine isn't as long when the corn is growing, and it is still growing somewhat in the fall when temps cool off. This forces tough decisions based on weather. Planted crops can also be subject to flooding or shock if a cold rain comes right after planting. Sometimes you have to replant after a rain that floods a section of a field. You are always needing to check the weather when planting.
Waiting for the crops to grow is less intensive, but you cannot be absent either. Miss a fungus or let a weed grow for too long and even once sprayed it can already have impacted yield. With corn, it is also proven that the corn getting a nitrogen boost at critical times during the growing stages gives another boost. Also weather can impact here too. Maybe a heavy hail came along and beat down your crops? Hope you had crop insurance.
Combine basics: The grain enters the combine from the head, through the feeder house and enters the threshing cylinder. Basically everything is forced through a small space. This is where in corn, you set the spacing basically so that the cob barely fits through, so all the kernels of corn are stripped off. Then everything enters the back of the combine and floats down a series of straw walkers where big stuff is caught and eventually spit out the back, while the small stuff falls down the bottom and eventually gets put in auger back to grain tank.
So set the cylinder spacing too small, and you smash the cob into small bits and start crushing the corn. This means that you lose smashed kernels of corn out the back of the combine, and get little pieces of cob in the grain hopper. You also want to set the back of the combine just right so you spit out all the junk, but keep the kernals of corn. Every year when switching crops or just first starting, it is a careful process of initial adjustments, then you stop and walk the field behind the combine counting the grain you see per square foot. Then you can calculate your loss/acre and adjust accordingly. Maybe you see crushed kernals, maybe you see too many cobs in the grain hopper. Eventually you get it right and it is good for the rest of the field. But different seeds/hybrids have different sizes. Switching fields of corn will still have you double checking to ensure you aren't spewing $$ out the back of the combine. The good farmers do this. Sometimes the big farmers have enough money and crops they can afford to lose lots and not care. Sometimes the big farmers don't have the time to get everything perfectly because they have to harvest everything before it freezes. Decisions, decisions. Moisture is also a HUGE factor in harvest. If you harvest too wet, then you will get docked in pay when you go to sell the grain or it costs extra to store yourself due to having to dry. If you have too many cobs or chaff in with the grain, the grain elevator docks your pay. Too wet and it will rot in your storage if you let it sit. If you try to harvest too early in the morning, soybeans cut on the cutting head do not flow in correctly (unless belt fed head). Soybeans are horrible as you basically have to stop early evening when harvesting, otherwise they just bunch all together on the head, then feed into the combine all at once plugging it or burning belts badly as the combine cylinder slips under the strain. Even corn with a heavy dew or recent rain can clog up a combine as everything sticks together and the insides just do not work as good. Newer combines and tech can help some of these problems, like belt fed heads instead of the old fashioned augers that bring everything to the middle.
Harvest time also brings about other decisions. Most small farms do not have enough storage for the whole harvest. So they can either sell the excess immediately, or most grain elevators have something called a price-later option. During the harvest, grain prices are typically lower than the rest of the year because that is when all the crop comes in. Most elevators will allow you to "store" your grain there with them, crediting you an amount based on weight and moisture and quality, and then you can "sell" it to them whenever you want, whenever the price is good. They charge you a monthly storage fee for this. You also have the ability to take out a contract in the spring or summer if the harvest is good. You say that you promise to sell them an X amount of grain in the fall at the current price of grain. If you sell half your crop off in the summer when the prices are high, who cares what the price is in the fall?
Conclusion
I know there are a lot of great mods out there that help make it better, but I'm not here to talk about them, so please no remarks about "just go create a mod yourself and stop complaining". I think the stuff I want would be too deep for a mod, unless I'm incorrect which in that case, I'll start learning how to mod myself.
So I ask you guys, the community: Do you think the game will ever ave any of these real farming simulation ideas, even if they are less complex than what I list? I think stuff like this will add much more to the game than just new tractors or equipment. They've made a lot of wonderful improvements and I'm just excited to see what comes next.
Every one has a different opinion, and that is fine. If all of these things were added it would make a simple enjoyable game confusing, and complicated. I do not have hours upon hours to sit down and play this game, I enjoy the pickup and play aspect of it. Now if what you previously mentioned could be a choice as in turning each one on and off, then that would be fine. Sometimes making a game more in depth by adding little bits, and pieces does not always make it more fun, or enjoyable.
The key here is accessibility. While yes what you suggest would be more a true sim and some will find it fun the majority of the current market that buy this game would shy away from it. Accessibility equals money and a much larger demographic, even console sales that they could not even look at if it was a true simulation and that is why there are mods to help push it in this direction for PC (only) players and only a few of the total number of them at that go for the really hard core mods.
If they wanted to stay a very small niche simulation maker they would have gone down this road, but they were looking to make a sim for the every man and woman that may like to have a fun, relaxing go at fake farming, as well as play with all the big noisy machines.
I love the game as it is now and own it on PC and PS4 as well as every DLC they can pump out and a lump of mods for the PC version and while I would not object to some more options like forced crop rotation, seasonal planting, animal breading/sales and so on, as well as a few more tech bits, the game is fine as it is for what it is and the proof is in the sales.
There are some more tech filled farming simulations out there, but sadly are so unstable and bug filled that one is likely to shy away due to this and while Farming Simulator 15 may not tick all the boxes for everyone, it is the best we have and still a lot of fun, just treat it as a fun, relaxing game based on farming and you may enjoy it more, at least until one comes out that is more what you are looking for.
Yeah, I had those thoughts in mind also. I forgot to mention that they should also put options in the menu to turn off advanced simulation. I guess the bottom line is that none of these options would help them make any more money so they will never do any of them and leave them to the modding community.
Like I said in the beginning, I do still love to play the game as it is, I just see all the potential, and wonder where they are really going with it in the future. I guess based on the money factor it will be more along the lines of expanding the game to draw in a bigger crowd. Maybe they could at least add stuff like driving on crops destroying them, setting harvest speed at 3 MPH instead of 6 MPH and stopping to get weighed before and after dumping when selling grain.
I'm happy for all improvements towards realism, even if it doesn't make it more complicated.
EDIT:
I'd still like to hear how approachable these ideas are from modders. I'm highly motivated to learn how to write scripts if the end goal is reasonably achievable by a determined person.
It must be tricky to make a simulator game, trying to make it advanced enough for people who know their stuff about farming like FarmkidD2 or myself, but still simple enough that it appeals to a slightly broader audience.
It is already on the harder side for many people, as you can see by the questions on here about why can't X implement go on Y tractor etc.
Also it is a time thing, I enjoy being able to get a good amount done in one session, I'm not sure I would like it so much if it was slower and more complicated.
I guess most people who know enough about farming for this game to be too simple, can always get jobs driving tractors and things in real life.
I have just been talking to local contractors recently sorting out driving jobs for this spring for harvesting grass silage, and planting Maize.
Sort of like playing a super advanced 3D version of Farming Simulator, but I get paid for it!
Playing on PS4 and PC.
I7 3.5Ghz, 8GB RAM, GTX960 2Gb graphics.
There is a game out there that I have that incorporates some of those things and a whole lot more--irrigation sprinklers, market fluctuations, weather, 7 different animals you can breed , fruit trees etc., but it is not a simulation game where you drive the equipment. It is a management game that just uses mouse control. Completely different than this game but I play it when I get bored with this one and then come back when I have had enough of that one-I won't name the game here but if you PM me, I will tell you. There was one poster on here early on that was getting bored with just doing the same thing over and over and over and over again on FS 15 that wanted the info and he hasn't been back since so he must really be enjoying it. It has a couple bugs--no vehicle to haul the sugar from the sugar factory to the bakery to make cake-is one of them but I just don't grow sugarcane to make into sugar-you just have to sell it at one of about 15 different markets you have available as sugarcane. You will probably play both games as I do--but then I am "addicted" to both of them since I used to farm in real life at one time.
Bootdancer47 wrote:There is a game out there that I have that incorporates some of those things and a whole lot more--irrigation sprinklers, market fluctuations, weather, 7 different animals you can breed , fruit trees etc., but it is not a simulation game where you drive the equipment. It is a management game that just uses mouse control. Completely different than this game but I play it when I get bored with this one and then come back when I have had enough of that one-I won't name the game here but if you PM me, I will tell you. There was one poster on here early on that was getting bored with just doing the same thing over and over and over and over again on FS 15 that wanted the info and he hasn't been back since so he must really be enjoying it. It has a couple bugs--no vehicle to haul the sugar from the sugar factory to the bakery to make cake-is one of them but I just don't grow sugarcane to make into sugar-you just have to sell it at one of about 15 different markets you have available as sugarcane. You will probably play both games as I do--but then I am "addicted" to both of them since I used to farm in real life at one time.
Thanks but I do have plenty of management/strategy games already. It does sound really fun and might eventually come back to you, but I'm really enjoying driving around simulation style.
BullFarmer wrote:It must be tricky to make a simulator game, trying to make it advanced enough for people who know their stuff about farming like FarmkidD2 or myself, but still simple enough that it appeals to a slightly broader audience.
It is already on the harder side for many people, as you can see by the questions on here about why can't X implement go on Y tractor etc.
Also it is a time thing, I enjoy being able to get a good amount done in one session, I'm not sure I would like it so much if it was slower and more complicated.
I guess most people who know enough about farming for this game to be too simple, can always get jobs driving tractors and things in real life.
I have just been talking to local contractors recently sorting out driving jobs for this spring for harvesting grass silage, and planting Maize.
Sort of like playing a super advanced 3D version of Farming Simulator, but I get paid for it!
Yeah, you will never be able to please everybody. I don't think it is too simple though. I mean it is simple, but it isn't boring. Every farmer I know loves to be out driving their tractor up and down a field for hours. It is peaceful and relaxing and that is what I get from the game and that is what makes it fun. I just think it would be more fun if they add even a few other factors also.
It is quite apparent that they listen to or at least watch what the community does. I've never been big into this community, so I'm not sure if the players made repeated requests on the forums, of if Giants just payed attention to what the mod community was doing, but I don't think it is any coincidence that they added forestry and physics to the game for 15, when those were some of the most popular mods for 13. I guess I'm wondering if there are enough people out there clamoring for more simulation like I described to ever make it into the game. If not, I'm wondering where they will take the game next. Does anybody know if they have released any information about the next version?
FarmkidD2 wrote:[..] but I figured out how to operate a nuclear reactor in the Navy, so how hard can modding be? [..]
Funny as it may be, there is a little bit of difference between 'operating' some equipment, compared to actually 'designing, manufacture, assemble and test' said equipment. - "Modding" should be seen as the latter.
"Modding" is also not just one 'single skill', but several different skills; 3D-modelling, texturing, animation, sounds and (possibly the most difficult ones) geometrical mathematics (in 3 dimensions) & computer programming (e.g. "scripting").
FarmkidD2 wrote:I'd still like to hear how approachable these ideas are from modders. [..]
Some of your suggestions may be possible, though others are mostly impossible for modders to influence in the game, due to some LUA-scripts not being publicly available and therefore very difficult for modders to understand and modify in a safe way.
All of your suggestions for improvements require good "scripters"; ones who have a very good understanding of - or are able to read and understand - the existing public available LUA scripts, and the interest/motivation to "make something for the game"... which potentially could turn out to be non-functional (or "nerf'ed"?) when the next official patch or new version of the game comes out.
I have a huge respect for dural and his More Realistic mods for FS2011 and FS2013. In my eyes, he is one of these 'legendary individuals in gaming history'; the ones who single-handedly creates something new, very unique and complex for a game. According to what I've read in his posts since 3-4 years ago, he was, as I understood it, annoyed at the simple (vehicle-) physics the FS2009/FS2011 game presented to the players (particular the handling of bales), so he started out by trying to improve it with the available documentation/scripts that GIANTS offered for their game-engine and game. And, as being said, "the rest is history"... Which today with FS15 unfortunately is true, as I have not yet seen any attempt at upgrading the More Realistic mod for FS15.
So given plenty of motivation and time, anything is possible - just don't quit your day-job.
FarmkidD2 wrote:[..] but I figured out how to operate a nuclear reactor in the Navy, so how hard can modding be? [..]
Funny as it may be, there is a little bit of difference between 'operating' some equipment, compared to actually 'designing, manufacture, assemble and test' said equipment. - "Modding" should be seen as the latter.
"Modding" is also not just one 'single skill', but several different skills; 3D-modelling, texturing, animation, sounds and (possibly the most difficult ones) geometrical mathematics (in 3 dimensions) & computer programming (e.g. "scripting").
FarmkidD2 wrote:I'd still like to hear how approachable these ideas are from modders. [..]
Some of your suggestions may be possible, though others are mostly impossible for modders to influence in the game, due to some LUA-scripts not being publicly available and therefore very difficult for modders to understand and modify in a safe way.
All of your suggestions for improvements require good "scripters"; ones who have a very good understanding of - or are able to read and understand - the existing public available LUA scripts, and the interest/motivation to "make something for the game"... which potentially could turn out to be non-functional (or "nerf'ed"?) when the next official patch or new version of the game comes out.
I have a huge respect for dural and his More Realistic mods for FS2011 and FS2013. In my eyes, he is one of these 'legendary individuals in gaming history'; the ones who single-handedly creates something new, very unique and complex for a game. According to what I've read in his posts since 3-4 years ago, he was, as I understood it, annoyed at the simple (vehicle-) physics the FS2009/FS2011 game presented to the players (particular the handling of bales), so he started out by trying to improve it with the available documentation/scripts that GIANTS offered for their game-engine and game. And, as being said, "the rest is history"... Which today with FS15 unfortunately is true, as I have not yet seen any attempt at upgrading the More Realistic mod for FS15.
So given plenty of motivation and time, anything is possible - just don't quit your day-job.
I guess I should have explained that in the US Navy, they teach their operators everything from nuclear physics, to calculus. They wanted us to be able to calculate everything, remember everything and understand everything before we ever stepped foot in a nuclear training facility. It was equated to equivalent hardness in getting a degree from MIT. During the first 6 months of nuclear training school, we lost 1/3 of our class. Then the next 6 months, we lost another 1/3. Then during the final part we lost another 1/3 because they couldn't apply what they learned on paper to the actual physical reactor. Then I went to a submarine and learned everything all over again because every reactor is different. Then I learned everything about the submarine so I could get my dolphins. Employers who understand what we went through get it. Based on my naval training. I was also able to walk into a factory, read electrical schematics in german with symbols I've never seen before and be able to troubleshoot and fix their printing press and all their other machines. When they didn't give me a raise, I was able to walk into GE and get a job as a field engineer, working for their industrial solutions division (working on large circuit breakers and substations and solar power farms).
I don't say the above to brag, but rather explain my original statement. I meant that based on my life experiences, I know I can teach myself anything I want to learn. The problem is that I'm lazy, and I don't want to do it if I think Giants may implement these features in the next few years. If you guys don't think that there is any chance of these features getting put in the game sometime soon, I'll probably do it on my own. The game is currently still fun enough for me that I feel like I am wasting time modding (I started, but stopped quickly) when I can thoroughly enjoy myself playing it right now. Who knows how quickly that could change. The purpose of this thread is to see what the community thinks, because if people keep telling me that my dream will never be realized, then I might as well start learning now.
EDIT: I meant to say thank you for the information. It is kind of depressing though. I also loved dural and his MR mods, definately legendary. Why don't they make all their scripts available? Would it be too easy for someone to make their own game from it or something?
