What is the realistic way to play?

[Riven326]

Flip the tractor over from time to time.

[Jagtractor]

I've always wanted to try not quick-swapping between tractors, other things. But time is my enemy and although that playstyle is fun, it wastes too much of my very little gaming time that I get. That's actually why I've stopped playing seasons. I miss the trees changing and other such things. But it presented too much downtime and I was fast-fowarding all the time to get to my next job. Not a big deal once in a while, but I found it happening more often than not.

[ASOLANDRI]

Flip the tractor over from time to time.

[Kamiko]

I don’t upgrade engines after the purchase of the vehicles. If I need more HP, I sell the current tractor and buy the one with the bigger engine.

I'm sorry for the dumb question from city girl, who knows nothing about machines, but you don't/ can't upgrade your engine in the tractor irl?

I'm not asking about pimping machines just for the sake of it, of course.

[Eische]

I don’t upgrade engines after the purchase of the vehicles. If I need more HP, I sell the current tractor and buy the one with the bigger engine.

I'm sorry for the dumb question from city girl, who knows nothing about machines, but you don't/ can't upgrade your engine in the tractor irl?

I'm not asking about pimping machines just for the sake of it, of course.

It depends on the tractor.
A physical engine swap might be too complicated as the interfaces don't match up most likely or there is not enough room underneath the hood.
I've never seen someone doing this on European tractors. On some older tractors engine and transmission are forming the main frame. Newer tractors have a dedicated main frame where everything gets mounted on. So it might be easier. But still engine and transmission need to fit to each other.

Most modern tractors have the same engine installed for multiple power levels. Software only is limiting the power level in this case. If you pay someone (most likely an official dealer of that brand), he can switch your tractor to another power level. Same is true for other machinery as well.

[Kamiko]

thank you for the info!

[ASOLANDRI]

thank you for the info!

Its also the same thing on cars, & semi trucks. Take the 2018 Lizard Pickup facelift as an example, and lets say you want to change the vehicle to a technology pack like LED Lights, you would need to sell the existing truck to the shop, and buy the same one but with the tech pack.

[hun3]

I'm on console, this is the following mods I use

• Seasons

• Precision Farming

What are the ways to play realistically?

Step 1: Get a PC version of the game.

[Two_Wolves]

I think the only way I could play this realistically, is if they add VR capability.

Yeah if they added that feature that'll be nice

They actually have something you may be interested in...
I saw it on FarmSimGuy's YouTube. It's called the Tobii Eye Tracker 5.
A bit expensive for me, but it's worth looking into.

[PrincessJessi84]

There are lots of things you can do to play more realistically without a single mod installed. More than a handful have been suggested here. I do a lot of little things to make the game familiar to what I have done/seen/learned irl.

Ok for one thing, doing everything the most expensive and hardest way possible isn't always realistic. Take a simple engine upgrade to a tractor. Like going from say 335hp to 350hp. I am not "installing a new engine" to get 15hp. I have a degree in automotive repair and was certified a handful of years ago. Most farmers or similar I have ever known absolutely know their way around a garage. It comes with the territory for most. You don't put food on the table by paying some out of company/family mechanic big money to replace hydraulic lines. And honestly, lots of extra power can be earned on pretty well any engine made, gasoline or otherwise, with some aftermarket or machined, bolt on parts. No need to even tear down the block! My point is, IF realism is key for you, researching some things can go a long way. Welkers hasn't kept the largest production tractors in the world running by replacing an engine or even a whole tractor every time something breaks or needs upgraded.
Another big thing for me is, SLOW DOWN. Sure, in the real world, farmers have a ton to do. But they don't do it all at once. Other than beating weather, or dealing with sick animals, I have never really seen a farmer "rush". All in all most established farmers would know what work needs doing, have been planning big changes for a long time and just kind of go with the flow of what needs done otherwise. Don't rush thru the game. Irl farming requires patience. They don't drive everywhere like its a formula race. They don't needlessly wear out expensive equipment running it harder in the field or even on the road/yard than it needs to be. Gas cost money, take your foot off the throttle a bit. Drive and operate implements like they can break and you would have to pay for it. And they certainly don't run around their home town in search of money like a thirsty influencer. Relax and enjoy the farm. It is a game after all.
I could go on but I am sure people will have lots of really good tips. Just remember to have fun.

[Massey44]

I think its easier for me to comment on the main things I do unrealistically when playing. First is the Lizard 6M/9M that goes at 11mph, mainly because its a huge timesaver and while I can certainly plow with a moldboard plow just fine I wouldn't want to do a field larger than 4 acres with it. Next is Store Deliveries but I justify it due to the fact I have to pay a fee. The Multifruit filling station is something I always use because its convenient and I loathe moving pallets around and find that even the liftable ones are too time consuming.

I often tab between vehicles and I should use manual attach mod but I find it doesn't always work well with some modded equipment and it also causes user error leading to situations with my trailer not being able to move because I forgot to connect the air hoses. Rolland autoload bale trailer is quicker and cheaper than the Anderson bale loader. Quick Bale mod because the vanilla bale wrapper takes too long and bores me and it also has a wider pickup.

The last thing is a Precision Farming exploit because if you plow you don't get weeds but you can still max environment score by using a sprayer with See & Spray and you just need to use it once on the field even though it never uses any herbicide. Just lately I've been skipping that entirely because I don't want to pay 80K for a sprayer I won't use providing I plow and live with having an environment score in the 80's.

[Kamiko]

I could go on (...).

Please do! That's interesting.

[LittleWatt]

Oh boy. Depends on how much time you want to waste. Realistic is very subjective in a game. Call your own shots.

[dogwalker1]

Notwithstanding all the above, 'realism' took an unrecoverable hit for me when they decided to leave out all the Seasons gameplay effects other than the crop calendar. Feels kind of like a sham even calling it Seasons. Keeping an eye on the weather and planning work around it felt rather realistic to me! As did the whole crop rotation component of it (now, a real farmer might chime in to tell me that with modern fertilization technology crop rotation isn't so much a thing anymore, I dunno, but it certainly added an interesting component to gameplay and gave you a reason to grow a variety of crops.)
Edit: Just found that there are mods called Rain Pain and Crop Rotation that may go a long way to remediating my disappointment. Crop Rotation is not on the in-game mod-hub but Rain Pain is. Have to check those out further...