Another FS19 Video

[muzickmage]

And? I have downloaded tons of maps I immediately deleted because I didn’t like them. If that is the only data point, it is meaningless. There are no public metrics for retention rates for any mods. It’s safe to assume GIANTS has some idea, but no you or me or anyone else here.

And? How do you like to drive 10 min over map just to get to the cows?And then another 10 min to get to pigs?
You can see treads on this forum and figure out most popular maps. And if Giants will ask us to vote on animal locations spreaded or next to main farm what do you think answer will be? Come on , man.

In addition to looking at which maps are more popular, we can also consider which modders are more popular.... such as Stevie. Stevie is one of the more popular map modders for FS, and if you'll notice, Stevie always puts the animals on the homestead farm. And... just to add - not once have I experienced any lag worth complaining about while using Stevie's maps. And that's with all the addons that Stevie put on his maps. Just look at the homestead for Beaver Creek, or Pine Cove Valley for example. If Stevie can do it, so can Giants. Especially when Giants' maps aren't nearly as busy as Stevie's are.

In my opinion, Giants doesn't spread the animals across the map to decrease chances of lag, but rather, to help make the rest of the map look less empty. If Giants put all the animals on the homestead farm.... what would they put on the rest of the map?

The part of bothers me the most about the animals being tossed all over the place is that Giants don't even make an effort to have the idea more attractive or pleasing for the end user (us the players). If Giants wants to place the animals all over the map... ok... fair enough. But make it more interesting. Create a cool cow farm. A nicely organized pig farm, etc. Right now, we get a Giants map with not only the animals thrown in all over the place, but also, the fields look just a unorganized. Giants could simply create a cow farm of cows + 5-6 fields. Put a house there to make it look family run, and maybe a green house or two, then repeat the process with the pigs and sheep.

But Giants don't do that. Instead, we get something like the sheep tossed on the side of some road beside a telephone pole and a bunch of trees (Sosnovka), or mixed in near some grain buildings in town (Bjornholm).

I would mind less traveling 10 minutes across the map to get to each animal if when I got there I had a cool farm to setup and use. But taking the time to travel to the sheep just to find them on some deserted piece of land off the side of some road... I mean OMG... what's that about?

I prefer to have all the animals on the homestead farm. But... I am willing to compromise. If Giants wants to spread them out all over the map, then ok, organize them better.

[Dusty1424]

I couldn't have said it better myself , there doesn't seem to be much thought put into the space allocated to the animal zones , or making the areas more attractive or functional looking , still luv the game though , but room for improvement

[Smith Modding]

How does it take 10 minutes to get to the animal pens? What maps are you playing?

[muzickmage]

How does it take 10 minutes to get to the animal pens? What maps are you playing?

Well first of all, you must be asleep at the wheel if you don't yet realize that the 10min thing was a figure of speech. However, if you wish to get technical......

I just did a test on the Giants default map Gold Crest Valley.

Using the starting tractor: New Holland 8340
Left farm at 6:42
Arrived at pig food troth at 6:43 (continued to sheep)
Arrived at sheep troth at 6:45 (continued to cows)
Arrived at cow troth at 6:47 (return to farm)
Arrived back at farm house at 6:49.
...... total trip time in minutes: 7

Keep in mind as well that this time measurement doesn't include a full trailer slowing down the tractor, or stopping to feed them. It just the time measurement from one troth to another on a drive by/don't stop journey.

Now to get a better idea as to what the economic value of each minute is in-game try harvesting a field and see how much of it you can complete in .... 7 minutes. Then instead of saying.... it only takes me 7 minutes to make it from the farm to each troth and back to the farm again.... say wow.... I can harvest a whole freakin field in the time it takes me just to travel to each of the animals troths.

[Smith Modding]

Jeez... no need to get all worked up about it. It's a game, and your opinion. Other people have different opinions.

[Corstaad]

The travel time isn't debatable. Its more about if people find this portion of the game enjoyable. I've come around to enjoying the logistic side of spreading the map out. If they didn't have travel included it wouldn't give value to travel speed which is trending in all of the machinery business in real life. To me this gives value to equipment that may seem unnecessary when comparing it to alternatives. Some sort of customized home farm from the start would go a long way.

[muzickmage]

Some people like the whole "drive here and there" thing and some don't.

For me, the travel thing is fine.... when needing to buy something new, or sell stuff. I don't expect the stores and sell points to also be on my farm. Plus I like to travel to pick up my new animals rather than have them delivered. So I have reasons to travel in the game.

I'm not a big fan of having to chase after the animals too. But, as I suggested in an earlier post, i'm willing to compromise if Giants would just offer some better oganized sub-farms for us to travel to instead of traveling to find the sheep on the side of some road in the middle of nowhere.

Look at the animals in Estancia. They pretty much have zero setup. They are just parked out in the middle of nowhere with nothing.

EDIT: Merging my last 2 posts.....

When considering map modders, I think (IMO) Stevie is the only modder that organizes the animals with great respect. And I don't say that because he generally puts them all on the homestead farm. But more so because ... if its a Stevie map you know fair well the animals will be setup very very good (regardless of where he puts them).

And I think (also in my opinion) that one of the key points that makes his maps so popular that a lot of other modders don't seem to catch on to.

I've downloaded many maps that had me almost ready to start playing them until I check out the animal setup. They (the modders) don't seem to take into account that there are a lot of people who like the animal part of the game.

Stevie is one of the few modders who shows great care for this part of the game as well. I wish other modders did the same. I wish Giants did too but that's a whole new argument lol.

[Princeguardian]

Just throwing this out there but for a good chunk of fan base (console players, you know the other people), we have no idea who stevie is so... gonna need a little better explanation than stevies maps are the only ones worth playing. And no this isnt a crack at stevie, im sure his stuff us wonderful but i have nothing to base it off of.

[farmer giless]

The problem for me is the maps, they are just the same thing year after year with limited options for modder to change the system of it.

I would like to see the day when they have maps where you can cross onto other farms, like a real open world simulator. You could drive over to another farm and help out if they wanted. I know this sounds like multiplayer but it isn't because it's only on 1 small map working on 1 farm. It would seem much better if it was a open world area rather than a boxed of area.

[Nigelbilt]

Basically, different people like different things. Good job cracking that code :/

[Smith Modding]

^^^

[muzickmage]

Just throwing this out there but for a good chunk of fan base (console players, you know the other people), we have no idea who stevie is so... gonna need a little better explanation than stevies maps are the only ones worth playing. And no this isnt a crack at stevie, im sure his stuff us wonderful but i have nothing to base it off of.

Stevie is a map modder that I stumbled onto back in the FS15 days. The first map I used of his was "Ringwoods". He created many maps, and modded equipment/implements for both the FS15, and FS17 game. You can visit his Facebook page using the link below.......

....... https://www.facebook.com/StevieFSMods/

Or... simply type in google search: Stevie maps

Stevie is pretty much the mod master of "gameplay". Nigelbilt stated above.... "Basically, different people like different things. Good luck cracking that code." ..... Well, Stevie did exactly that. He cracked the code of people's interests by simply creating well balanced maps. No matter what your interests are in the FS game Stevie maps are setup for it.... because he made sure every gameplay section of the game was setup so it didn't matter if you are a different type of player than anyone else. His maps are ready for your interests as well.

Do you like logging? Stevie maps are always setup perfectly for logging. Do you like working the fields? Stevie maps are always very well setup with nicely placed, and nice sized fields. Do you like playing the animals part of the game? Stevie maps offer the animal section great respect as well. Plus, Stevie maps generally always come with loads of added gameplay features and options.

Stevie = Well balanced maps, with great gameplay options/features.

This isn't true with most other modded maps by different modders. I have downloaded seemingly countless maps, a lot of them really great (if you're considering one idea or the other). I have a map download where the logging is amazing. The scenery is just wow. Its a blast to drive the map with it's breathtaking country feel. But... as great as the map is for scenery and logging. The map is of poor quality when it comes to the field setup and the animal setup. There's hedges all around the fields messing up the AI workers.... which also prevent you from joining fields if you wished to. And the animals.... well they're ok I suppose. It's noticably not a Stevie map.... because the map lacks balance. It lacks equal care and organization in each of the gaming areas so that it doesn't matter what your interests are or aren't.

Stevie wouldn't have put the hedges there messing up the AI, and stripping you of the freedom of joining fields. And Stevie would have setup the animals with much more respect.. so when you clicked into the map.... its ready. Let your eclectic gameplay style be challenged.

[Nigelbilt]

I mean Pine Cove was alright. People like different things. You are making it out like dudes maps are the best ever. I’m sure many people think they are amazing. I am also sure many people thing they are just ok. I guarantee many people don’t like them. That is kind of the way it works.

[muzickmage]

I mean Pine Cove was alright. People like different things. You are making it out like dudes maps are the best ever. I’m sure many people think they are amazing. I am also sure many people thing they are just ok. I guarantee many people don’t like them. That is kind of the way it works.

I absolutely agree. Some people may like his maps, and some people may not. My point is simply... his maps offer more balance when it comes to how things are setup.

When creating a map for public use, as you pointed out... different people have different interests. That needs to be taken in account when designing a map for the public. Having a map with an awesome scenery, and well laid out fields is really great. But some people like logging as well. And some people like the animal part of the game.

If you don't put equal care in each of the game gameplay sections (ie; farming, animals, logging) then your map is going to be more so great in one area but maybe not so much in another area. This is the problem I find with most modded maps. There are a lot of really good modded maps out here.... but, more so because of one idea or the other. It's difficult to find a map that is well balanced with each area of gameplay setup nicely so that it doesn't matter who is clicking into the map.

Edit to add:
...... This is my complaint with Giants' maps that I hope to see better organized in FS19. More so with the animals. If Giants is going to spread the animals all over the map... fine. But damn... at least put some design effort into it. Just don't toss the sheep off the side of some road beside some telephone pole (Sosnovka). Or out in the middle of a desert looking wasteland near nothing with nothing (Estancia).

[IseOlen]

I would not call Stevies maps balanced. They all lack real challenge as everything is made too easy. You can make tons of money with:
1. Digestate to processor that creates 2xfert+fuel. Sell the produce. This creates humongous amounts of money.
2. BGA takes in digestate, gives you money and then you get the same amount of digestate out for free. Perpetum mobile right there.
3. Woodchips. The large machines you can drop whole trees into. At the same time woodchips prices are often way too high.

But - I still play some of those. Mainly when I want to feel like a manager - I set up gazillion CP courses to automate everything and then try to get the highest number of minions running at the same time.