My system: i7-4790K, 16GB RAM, GTX 970. Game is installed on an SSD.
I’m playing the game on very high settings with the AA set to 2x. Using 4x AA things look too blurry and everything loses too much sharpness for my liking. I get a consistent smooth 60fps at 1080p with no stuttering which for the record is something that oddly happened now and then in FS17.
Early screenshots gave me the impression HDR and Depth of field would be a bit overkill, but I’m happy to say it’s very tastefully done. The way the machinery has this whole edge lighting effect looks seriously cool and the individual lights and beacons on vehicles are much nicer than FS17. Materials look more realistic too. Some nice touches are the reflection on the glass of the cab and the illumination of gauges. Mirrors are also greatly improved and quite usable.
Vehicle handling took some getting used to compared to FS17. I always play with an Xbox controller and it seemed a bit off to begin with. Things took more effort and in some cases it felt more awkward to accelerate or brake. But this wasn’t consistent… the Case Axial Flow combine harvester turns on a dime with no acceleration or braking issues, yet the NH TX32 feels sluggish and takes forever to reverse. It may be intended by the devs to reflect older machinery but it is a slight annoyance. Possibly it’s a controller dead zone problem and it might be worth experimenting setting the dead zone to 0% for everything.
The forklift tends to accelerate too fast which means you sometimes bump into pallets when trying to load them. In my opinion it should be much smoother and less jarring. Just like previous games some of the trucks start behaving like you’re driving on ice at high speed, but it’s only an issue if you keep your foot down and drive like a lunatic. Truck interiors are improved.
I found the Mahindra to be heaps of fun and it has this insane sensation of speed if you just want to take a break from crops and mess around for a bit.
I love the suspension all the vehicles have and there is just the right amount of it when driving in cab view conveying that feeling of bouncing around without making you feel queasy.
The “Invert Y Axis” option is a bit problematic. Initially the option didn’t seem to save, so for the first hour or two so I was suffering. It worked on foot but not in cab and also not in external camera view. After doing a contract it seemed to correct itself but the cab view Y Axis is still the wrong way around.
The new interface took some getting used to but is very modern, clean and non-intrusive. The mini map is actually useful due to it being far sharper.
I really like the sounds. In FS17 I really didn’t like the Case tractors at all but in FS19 I loved the sound of them. Ambient sounds are also an improvement and increase immersion. You can hear gulls, wind, dogs barking and many more.
The game has lots of nice little touches such as the way the crops bend as you walk through them, same thing with the grass. Dirt looks more realistic on the vehicles too.
Fuel consumption actually now feels like something you have to pay attention to, unlike FS17. I’m pleased FS17’s daily vehicle maintenance has been removed and you now only pay for it when your vehicles require it, but if you leave it too long the costs increase. The vehicles don’t degrade especially fast either.
Game mode/difficulty starting money is odd when playing Farm Manager, since that mode is the only one where you have a 250K loan. Why not put that in the hardest difficulty instead Giants since it’s so easy to pay off when you have 1.2M.
I really like the two growth stages of weeds but I think they occur too fast. As an example I plowed and cultivated field 1 but did not seed, then I did a contract harvesting field 5. Playing at 5x speed, 6 hours elapsed in game and when I returned my field was full of weeds. I would think 24-48 hours before weed growth might be a more sensible setting.
Speaking of contracts I really prefer them to FS17. No more doing 80% of the job and being paid. If you want to harvest the entire field for a client, you can. It always used to drive me nuts with an entire row of a crop left when the mission complete box displayed. Do that in the real world and you’d be fired fast. Having to drive the leased equipment to the job is also great because I disliked the way things teleported instantly in FS17. Contract payments are fairly sensible too. No more time limits means you can swap to other tasks when you need to sort something out.
The dog was a much touted feature and to be honest doesn’t serve any purpose. Sure it looks nice and makes you farm feel more homely but it’s a pity it won’t retrieve the ball you can throw. At least you can pet it, which is funny.
I like the birds, specifically the crows. I thought they just flew up from the crops but they actually wander around the fields which adds much needed life to the map.
Same goes for the train, I never use it but it makes the area feel populated.
As for the map, well to be fair I really like Ravenport. I’ve been lucky enough to go to the USA three times in my life. My view as a Brit is that this map is sort of American, in the sense that it incorporates elements from various states all in one area, but to an actual American that will be really odd. Since the map doesn’t covey the real vastness and emptiness. There are no miles and miles of fields which I think will disappoint some American players who probably expect the mid-west. I can understand the reason behind it because Giants have to make areas attractive so everything has a lot of artistic liberties. This in itself is no bad thing because it means you have some eye candy when travelling to the shop and back. In addition it offers fun touring with the Mihandra or horses (haven’t tried them yet).
I personally love the map because I enjoy the variety of contrast on offer for what is is and it also has quite a GTAV Los Santos outskirts feel to it. It’s fair to say that the devs put a lot of effort and thought into this whether you like it or not. I find it infinitely preferable to Goldcrest Valley which never felt the slightest bit American and that drive to and from the shop was incredibly dull and felt like I was always going to Tesco or Lidl. Ironically there is a sign to Goldcrest on the road which made me chuckle.
Now on to the build your own farm option. This is something I always wanted in Farm Sim and now it does feel like my farm is really my own. The idea is a good one but the implementation feels limited at present due to a lack of options. Ideally it needs more usable buildings, storage sheds, as well as trees, fences and gates. Weirdly on the EU map the decorative buildings are more useful to store small vehicles or implements so it’s a shame the American ones didn’t get that treatment too. Another problem is that the Ravenport map doesn’t feature much flat land so it can be tricky to set up your buildings to look aesthetically pleasing. It’s like you only have one real area you can build in because if you deviate from that everything gets raised up and deforms the terrain in a nasty way.
Then you have the terraforming costs which means badly placed buildings on slopes make the price skyrocket. I can understand the realism of this feature but I suspect it will really annoy new players. If the maps were flatter and had less clutter I think players would get more mileage out of placing things.
I actually set up my farm near the lighthouse at the top of the map and for the size it is I guess it sort of works, but if I expand later it will look really odd.
There’s a lot I still haven’t tried yet but hopefully my feedback is useful. Cheers for reading.
