Please tell me your guesses.

[faruk9154]

Do you think the dynamic soil will come to FS21?

[bossmanslim]

No, I think the game engine would need a complete overhaul for that to happen. The limiting factor for FS are the console platforms, which make up a significant chunk of FS sales. The PS5 is slated for end of 2020 and I'm sure the Xbox will be close to that time as well. I highly doubt either of those platforms gave Giants early info allowing them to design FS21 for PS5 specs; therefore we're all still limited by the PS4 specs. Maybe FS23 on the PS5 will allow for a new game engine that can support dynamic terrain.

[faruk9154]

No, I think the game engine would need a complete overhaul for that to happen. The limiting factor for FS are the console platforms, which make up a significant chunk of FS sales. The PS5 is slated for end of 2020 and I'm sure the Xbox will be close to that time as well. I highly doubt either of those platforms gave Giants early info allowing them to design FS21 for PS5 specs; therefore we're all still limited by the PS4 specs. Maybe FS23 on the PS5 will allow for a new game engine that can support dynamic terrain.

Perhaps the necessary information is provided. We don't know that.

[cwattyeso]

Not unless it is done really well and to a high quality. These mod maps that currently have Dynamic Mud, just seem to appear as though the vehicles are sinking through and falling through the map. There would need to be actually proper mud, animations and stuff, so it looks more like Mudrunner when you drive a vehicle. I appreciate what the modders have tried to do though, just a shame the engine can't fully support what they want to achieve.

[faruk9154]

Not unless it is done really well and to a high quality. These mod maps that currently have Dynamic Mud, just seem to appear as though the vehicles are sinking through and falling through the map. There would need to be actually proper mud, animations and stuff, so it looks more like Mudrunner when you drive a vehicle. I appreciate what the modders have tried to do though, just a shame the engine can't fully support what they want to achieve.

Then the dynamic soil for this game engine is something like impossible

[OlavEmil]

In today's state, yes. But the difference between modders and Giants, is that while the modders have to work with what they have, Giants are free to develop their engine as they like, which is exactly what they are doing for every new release.

My guess is that we will not see much development in the dynamic ground of FS. That said, FS21 should be a release with main focus on features (FS19 was mainly focused on looks and graphics), and the feature releases tend to be quite substantial. Just look at FS17 and forestry.

I would be pleasantly surprised to see proper dynamic ground in FS21, but I won't write it off as impossible.

[SJ_Sathanas]

I highly doubt it. My pc is pretty low spec by modern standards, though much better than a console, and it works pretty hard with Mudrunner. I doubt we'll see anything even close to Mudrunner within 10 years unless (somehow) Farm Sim manages to become a AAA title.

[this_is_gav]

While MudRunner shows the shape of the ground can be largely dynamic, there some limitations which will restrict or limit GIANTS from adopting such a model any time soon.

• MudRunner only has to model the area directly around the player. The rest can be cached away until the player again is within a certain distance of it. Once it has changed state, it will stay in that state until the player returns. Farming SImulator is very different in that the ground is constantly evolving all across the map (ground state and growth state). Each in-game square metre could have a different state to all the others around it, and the game has to keep track of that on the fly. Add a huge dynamic ground to that (which would need to be on a far more accurate scale than 1 square metre) and it's easy to appreciate it would inundate most systems.
• I'm not 100% certain on this, but I assume MudRunner has selective dynamic areas - I don't think the whole map is dynamic. This is the way that other farming game also does dynamic ground.
• Anywhere near MudRunner effects would be way over the top for most areas of the world. Hypothetically it would be good to customise just how muddy/sticky ground could be if (when) it is added (perhaps though GEO-style mods), but I'm not interested in spending hours trying to dig a machine out of the mud. I'm sure some spend so long in the game that they'd like that level of realism, but 90% of the player base wouldn't want to spend hours in real time dragging a 15 ton hulk of metal out of a hole, when in reality it's just as likely to get stuck again a few metres away. If it were up to me it would be much more subtle, where mud allows vehicles to slide laterally when mud is around, allows for a slight squidgy height variation, full ploughing replication (eg not just the furrows, but also those around the edges of fields, where there's usually a furrow separating the worked field from the verge). Intentional height variation (levelling or whatever through use of a backhoe/digger/etc) might be a nice touch a few would use though.
• The other issue is that it would need to be tied to the weather system and seasons if included. So it would get wetter or drier with prolonged wet or dry spells (and potentially wind too), so it wouldn't just be mud which needs to be modelled, but also a more crumbly dry surface system too, where for example the furrows mentioned above would partially collapse when driven over them with heavy equipment, not in the squidgy way that mud would collapse.
• All of the above is based purely on single player. Multiplayer would add further complex headaches, not least the vast level of constantly changing additional data it would necessitate.

When you break it down it's quite easy to see why it would be quite the nightmare to implement a true dynamic ground to any decent level.


Dynamic ground will have to come to FS at some point, but beyond an extremely neutered version I really can't see it coming any time soon. It would be a huge undertaking.

[MrSquealypig]

I don't think it will ever happen, even if consoles become powerful enough to handle it, just because it could cause so many game-breaking glitches if not done properly