Is anyone still playing On FS17?

[BulletBill]

The latest mod for FS17 is dated 01/04/2018, so they still test mods. It's more about are there still modders working for FS17 or failed the latest mods or on what position they are in testing. There are many mods for FS19 and all together have to be tested and have to pass the Tests. That takes time.

Those were mods submitted before FS19 was released but were never finished testing them.

They completed testing them after FS19 was out and pushed them out for release.

But a fellow modder recently asked one of GIANTS staff could he send an FS17 mod into test and was told "no".

[ltl.vamp]

OK

[Lindydanny]

I wish they would do some more testing, nut I realize that is not realistic.

Still, we have quite the catalogue of mods for 17 in mod hub and elsewhere. Too bad I'm on console (and need to remain) and cannot get access to ones outside of mod hub.

[BulletBill]

One of the frustrations of a 2 year game cycle as there was still plenty of room for improvement in FS17.

Saying that even if GIANTS went down a method like SCS do with ETS, where they just keep patching and updating the base game, you still have it where mods become obsolete and need updating to work with newer patches.
So that part of it will never change.

[eric21]

I actually got bored of fs17 around spring last year, if you cycle a game for 3 years or more, alot of the fan base will get bored. So most can companies have 1 year cycle 2 year cycle. To keep people interested. There's a quote from JW which I will put up later which is pretty much correct

[pingu]

I wouldn't be surprised if a majority of those buying FS are mostly done with it after a few weeks/months. And then, after weeks of not playing, they may start it up again just to kill some time. Maybe they find some new interesting mod, and play around a bit with it. Then they forget about it again and play other games that has been released. That's how I see a lot of people I know treat most of their computer games. Those players are bored and 'finished' with a game well before it is even six months old. They don't care one bit about our FS19 complaints regarding realistic farming operations or weird graphics/sound or half-broken terraforming features. They won't even try to get some help if they have issues. They just shrugs and move on. Hardly any of those care about any FS forum, so we may not think they are for real. But I guess they are the ones bringing in the big money for GIANTS. So don't count on GIANTS caring one bit about people still playing FS17 or why they do it.

As BulletBill wrote, even minor updates along the way in constant-update kind of cycle will eventually break things that requires mods to be fixed. And then we need the original modders to be there months after months, year after year, willing to fix their mod if it breaks. With a more traditional cycle with big new versions every 2-3 years, I guess most mods released after the first major bugs been ironed out will continue to work for the rest of the versions lifetime.

[Eggski]

Yes I'm still playing 17,

I posted long before 19 turned up in reply to some comments that 19 will be brilliant, I said that it will be the same as 17 when it came out, bugged and a downgrade to the outgoing version.

We get spoiled by the work of the brilliant modders that build and improve the base game and make it something else completely.

When 17 came out I was playing a heavily modded version of 15, a new base game could not touch it so I carried on with 15 for nearly a year before finally getting into 17, now 19 is out and once again I'm playing a heavily modded version of 17, nearly all the savegame spaces are taken up with the likes of Bulletbill and others great work along with hundreds of machine mods, 19 simply cant compete.... as yet.

I dare say in time 19 will be all it can, it shows promise and the way 17 went with Giants working with modders can only move it along but for now 19 gives me a headache.

[pingu]

Are the possibilities to mod FS19 the same as for FS17, or has anything previously 'mod-able' been locked down so that it is impossible (or, extremely difficult) to change? Things like ground textures, sky, HUD... Many complained directly about the jerky motions of shadows, the brightness of the world, and the weird haze looking at distant objects. Can modders change any of this?

(Apologies if these are really stupid questions, but I have zero hand-on knowledge about the modding of modern games.)

[BulletBill]

With regards the jerky shadow issue that is part of GIANTS new graphics upgrade on there engine. In the bug report section Lethian said it would not be fixed, that it was just the way it was supposed to work.

The DOF blur can be turned off on PC by enabling Dev mode and turning it off in the ingame console.
However there is no way to force it off. This blur is great for map makers who don't want to spend ages making detailed map borders as the blur hides it all. If you like detailed map borders then its a negative.

The brightness can be played around with but as of yet no one has come up with a massively better looking settings. Oxygendavid has tweaked some of the settings on his upcoming Marwell Manor map which do look better than the default.

Modding on a whole for 19 is just different. Some things are better, others are not. Modders just have to work around them.

[Preble 818]

I'm stuck somewhere between not wanting to go back to 17 and not being really interested in 19. Finally got a switch for Christmas so I'm busy with Zelda atm. The fact that one of our best modders in BB isnt liking it is depressing. Tbh as excited as I was about being able to place the animals where we wanted, I never thought about how much I would miss the beautifully layed out animal farms we had in 17. I hope like crazy modders can figure out how to still create these farms because to me the map is empty without them. Yea I know we can build our own now. But we dont have many functional placeables. I dont want to complain too much so I'll stop but I've had a feeling of disappointment that I've never had with a new release. Hoping for improvements. I'm glad for the people who love it so far. Something is just off for me.

[hun3]

I'm stuck somewhere between not wanting to go back to 17 and not being really interested in 19. Finally got a switch for Christmas so I'm busy with Zelda atm. The fact that one of our best modders in BB isnt liking it is depressing. Tbh as excited as I was about being able to place the animals where we wanted, I never thought about how much I would miss the beautifully layed out animal farms we had in 17. I hope like crazy modders can figure out how to still create these farms because to me the map is empty without them. Yea I know we can build our own now. But we dont have many functional placeables. I dont want to complain too much so I'll stop but I've had a feeling of disappointment that I've never had with a new release. Hoping for improvements. I'm glad for the people who love it so far. Something is just off for me.

You re not complaining at all, I feel the same way. I mean its called simulator for a reason. How can you simulate real life when you put 300 cows into a tiny square pasture?

[Preble 818]

Well thanks for that and I agree. Would have made more sense to be able to turn fields into pastures and place the feed triggers, then have the capacity be related to the size of the field. Or something long those lines.

[RODHA]

The brightness can be played around with but as of yet no one has come up with a massively better looking settings. Oxygendavid has tweaked some of the settings on his upcoming Marwell Manor map which do look better than the default.

I'm so frustrated with that lighting engine and how it works.
My only hope was modders like you would be able to adjust that to be more subtle.
And I felt really happy when I heard and saw that David managed to do a decent job with it.
I hope all map modders go that way and tweak that stupid lighting engine.
I really don't know how it was even approved in the first place.

[pingu]

@BulletBill

Thanks for the explanation.

Sad...

[The Dude]

I’m a console player -

Still playing 17 nearly everyday, like I played 15. Also play 16 and 18 when I travel. Given the forum posts on 19 which I’ve been watching for several months, I’ll be playing 17 for a few more years and waiting for 21 to come out lol.

I haven’t bought 19 and won’t until the posts turn a bit more favorable. Not expecting a perfect game, but from the posts on 19 there seems to be a lot of....... challenges. I have no doubt that the community of modders with come in and make 19 better as they always do. But getting to that point will take some time, so why play it now I say? The money’s not the issue to me, my view is simple on this: Is the new game better than the old? My view is no, right now. Might as well wait and see what happens and continue farming on 17.

To me - 17 blended an even amount of play ability and graphics, neither are perfect but the blend is good making 17 a fun, easy and reliable game to play. Sure it has limitations, all console games do but I think a good mix was achieved given what a console can do. And yes I remember the early version of 17 as ....... challenged also. Learned my lesson then.

For what it’s worth have had several friends ask me if they should buy 19, knowing that I’m a self proclaimed professional cartoon farmer lololol. Told them no and to wait at least 6 months. Directed them to FS forum posts to make their own opinions. And to consider buying 17 as it’s price reduces and or buy a used 17 game.

I sincerely hope 19 improves quickly. Until then I’m fine without riding a horse or throwing a ball to a dog. I’ll continue painting my tractors and equipment green and farm on 17.