The hired help in 22

[njuska11]

Yeah there is not much time left i hope giants pull this one trough with the helpers... They are in dire need of changes we know this for atleast 10+ years now do we....

[norfolk farmer]

It's not going to be the sounds for FS19 all over again, is it? We were meant to get the gearboxes for FS19 but they weren't happy at the time so in the end we got a sort of bodge that was far worse than FS17's sounds.

I really hope history doesn't repeat itself with the helpers in FS22.

That's been my concern and I hope that I'm proved wrong, but if big improvements were coming I would have expected that to be hyped up given the complaints about how it works now.

[michaelr]

I really wish GIANTS would teach hired helpers about the concept of headlands.

Start by going 3-4 times around the edge of the field, then “fill out” everything inside this area. If there is an obstacle, go around that a few times and continue until every piece of land inside the field boundary have been worked.

Wide sprayers and fertilizer spreaders would only need one headland.

I feel this would work well for almost every task.

Only exception would be ploughing, where you usually do the headlands last, but in this particular case the hired helper could just leave room for the headland and finish with that part.

[njuska11]

I really wish GIANTS would teach hired helpers about the concept of headlands.

Start by going 3-4 times around the edge of the field, then “fill out” everything inside this area. If there is an obstacle, go around that a few times and continue until every piece of land inside the field boundary have been worked.

Wide sprayers and fertilizer spreaders would only need one headland.

I feel this would work well for almost every task.

Only exception would be ploughing, where you usually do the headlands last, but in this particular case the hired helper could just leave room for the headland and finish with that part.

A good idea would solve alot of issues

[FarmBoss]

I really wish GIANTS would teach hired helpers about the concept of headlands.

Start by going 3-4 times around the edge of the field, then “fill out” everything inside this area. If there is an obstacle, go around that a few times and continue until every piece of land inside the field boundary have been worked.

Wide sprayers and fertilizer spreaders would only need one headland.

I feel this would work well for almost every task.

Only exception would be ploughing, where you usually do the headlands last, but in this particular case the hired helper could just leave room for the headland and finish with that part.

I suggested this for 19, and was met with arguments from the usual suspects. Hopefully Giants has figured out how to do this in 22. We'll have to wait and see

[DEERE317]

Only issue I can see is weird errors/glitches when starting on field that has already been worked partially (or where you/someone else is already working)

[BulletBill]

There was a simple AI worker mod back in Fs 13/15 which added simple functions to the default AI workers.

You could make it skip a set amount of passes/lanes, so ideal for working with multiple machines in the same field.
You could also set a headland working width, the worker would then stop that amount of metres from the headland.

It was simple to use, and although not as complex as some here seem to want in an AI worker, it was a massive improvement over the default workers.

It even had fixed the combine driving/reversing into the crops.

I guess the issue GIANTS have is consoles... without a mouse or keyboard, it limits how they can implement it an awful lot.

As the mod script mentioned above used an overlay HUD and mouse to work.

[norfolk farmer]

I guess the issue GIANTS have is consoles... without a mouse or keyboard, it limits how they can implement it an awful lot.

The age old problem, a chain is only as good as it's weakest link.

[george.earlslight]

I guess the issue GIANTS have is consoles... without a mouse or keyboard, it limits how they can implement it an awful lot.

The same excuse was circulating concerning manual gears/groups, but here we are with FS22 having gears.
I think it's only about spending the time to implement this, or maybe a conscious decision as to not automate the game too much.

It's hard to imagine that Giants can't write a competent AI driver, when Courseplay can do it with 1-2 talented developers.

[this_is_gav]

It's hard to imagine that Giants can't write a competent AI driver, when Courseplay can do it with 1-2 talented developers.

But CoursePlay isn't a hired helper replacement, it's just a means of automating along fixed paths. It would be dreadful if GIANTS replaced the hired helpers with CoursePlay - imagine the complaints from more casual players if they had to set up CoursePlay paths just to quickly cultivate a field!

No, I think GIANTS have to come up with a more sophisticated AI system at some point soon (FS25), incorporating certain mod functions perhaps (eg Follow Me and a form of GPS, maybe with a simplified CoursePlay for carting) along with a more flexible and adaptable AI which can go around objects (not missing 1/3 of a field because there was a telegraph pole or weight or something in it) and detect and work headlands and work windrows. If that means that each field has a pre-calculated area with pre-calculated routes for certain jobs then so be it - I'm sure we can all deal with it while it pauses for a second to scan a field whenever needed (perhaps if a field is extended or shrunk).

But at some point the AI needs an overhaul. I include road traffic and pedestrians in that too, so the traffic and hired helpers carting can interact, behave at junctions and pedestrian crossings and things. The unmentionable game (still, despite the devs pulling the plug) could do a lot of that (not especially well admittedly, but their dev team was even smaller than GIANTS).

The controller button shortage is a fair complaint currently (especially on some steering wheels), but there's nothing to stop GIANTS offering a command wheel for less common functions, keeping the most common functions to dedicated buttons or combinations (ideally customisable by the player).

Ultimately for all our wishes and hopes, most of that won't be possible if GIANTS can't expand their dev team, and they've still been unable to fill core programming jobs which must have been advertised for at least 6 or 7 months now - any longer and the next game will start to suffer. At some point they're going to have to look to expand elsewhere if they can't attract the staff to Zurich and Erlangen.

[Mwal]

I personally would like to see them incorporate an auto drive type system before courseplay, I think that would allow the player the ability to run any piece of equipment they would like.

[DEERE317]

For the no mouse thing, the console version already has a “cursor” for menus last I checked (SealyP videos)

[njuska11]

I agree with gav they need more programmers and if they cant find them in switzerland they need to look elswhere its seems that they are severely understaffed in that area...

[george.earlslight]

It's hard to imagine that Giants can't write a competent AI driver, when Courseplay can do it with 1-2 talented developers.

But CoursePlay isn't a hired helper replacement, it's just a means of automating along fixed paths. It would be dreadful if GIANTS replaced the hired helpers with CoursePlay - imagine the complaints from more casual players if they had to set up CoursePlay paths just to quickly cultivate a field!

I agree, it's not the easiest thing to use. I'm probably biased from my own experience with it, although I think it could have a place in vanilla FS.

No, I think GIANTS have to come up with a more sophisticated AI system at some point soon (FS25), incorporating certain mod functions perhaps (eg Follow Me and a form of GPS, maybe with a simplified CoursePlay for carting) along with a more flexible and adaptable AI which can go around objects (not missing 1/3 of a field because there was a telegraph pole or weight or something in it) and detect and work headlands and work windrows. If that means that each field has a pre-calculated area with pre-calculated routes for certain jobs then so be it - I'm sure we can all deal with it while it pauses for a second to scan a field whenever needed (perhaps if a field is extended or shrunk).

But at some point the AI needs an overhaul. I include road traffic and pedestrians in that too, so the traffic and hired helpers carting can interact, behave at junctions and pedestrian crossings and things. The unmentionable game (still, despite the devs pulling the plug) could do a lot of that (not especially well admittedly, but their dev team was even smaller than GIANTS).

The controller button shortage is a fair complaint currently (especially on some steering wheels), but there's nothing to stop GIANTS offering a command wheel for less common functions, keeping the most common functions to dedicated buttons or combinations (ideally customisable by the player).

Ultimately for all our wishes and hopes, most of that won't be possible if GIANTS can't expand their dev team, and they've still been unable to fill core programming jobs which must have been advertised for at least 6 or 7 months now - any longer and the next game will start to suffer. At some point they're going to have to look to expand elsewhere if they can't attract the staff to Zurich and Erlangen.

I also agree with the above.
This is useful feedback for Giants, especially the command wheel/submenu.
I'm baffled as to why they're not implementing it, considering how many functions can be hidden behind it.

Lights -> Context based on type car/truck/tractor -> low, high, work
Signals -> Left, right, hazard, beacon
Implement -> Front, rear, second rear, all -> fold/unfold, lower/lift, power on/off
Guidance -> Set A, set B, Enable
Helper -> Headland number, lane skip number

The list could go on. I see no reason why we need to have a specific button for each action.

[FarmBoss]

More programmers would likely result in more unfinished features rather than focusing on what they already started. They need discipline more than new programmers. They need to quit shooting for the stars, because they keep missing.

Imagine if they weren't giving us production chains. They could have focused what they already have.
Hired Workers that could work a field completely, stay within a field, and avoid obstacles, without the need for player intervention.

Giving us a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and expecting the modders to fill the gaps is starting to get noticed even by the diehard defenders.