Spunky Dogg Farms & Forestry

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Mwal
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Re: Spunky Dogg Farms

Post by Mwal »

Looks good
Bryan83
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Re: Spunky Dogg Farms

Post by Bryan83 »

My namesake is complete and it looks fantastic.

Nice work, old chap.
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Spunky_Dogg
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Re: Spunky Dogg Farms

Post by Spunky_Dogg »

Bryan83 wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 2:52 pm My namesake is complete and it looks fantastic.

Nice work, old chap.
Thank you, I'm glad you like it :biggrin2: I'm very critical of myself and I admit it looks good. Took me long enough, lol. But, like I've said before, nothing was wasted. I didn't cheat and skip steps in the process and I'm proud of myself for sticking to the plan.
See you up the road!

- Spunky Dogg Logging
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Spunky_Dogg
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Re: Spunky Dogg Farms

Post by Spunky_Dogg »

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The new egg processing facility along Copperhead Creek is pictured.

Hello Spunky Fans!

Happy Sunday! After six in-game days, our project to construct a new egg processing facility is complete. Located on the banks of Copperhead Creek and off U.S. Route 83 in the heart of No Man's Land, this facility can house up to 500 chickens.

As usual, the process to build something like this is pretty involved. Earthwork was very intense on this project, which included mowing the overgrowth, clearing trees, leveling ground and pouring an access road. We're pretty proud of how it turned out, even though it doesn't have any residents (chickens) yet.

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Arriving for another day of work.

Even with the main project finished, we're gonna be here for a little while longer. After some thought (okay, MUCH thought), we've decided that this would be a good location for our second town site, Possum Gulch.

There will be more of the same (mowing, ground clearing etc.) to do for this, but it doesn't appear as extensive as when building the egg plant. The plan has always been to start our farming operations next spring with the beginning of Year 2.

We've done some preliminary work on the farm, but there's still a lot to be done. Do I feel we could still meet our goal? Yes. Do I wish we could have had a little more time? Yes. This project took longer than anticipated and there's still some roadwork projects to get to.

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Work, work money made.

All-in-all, things continue to move forward in No Man's Land, which is all we can really hope for. We're in early Autumn now and winter will be here before you know it, so the pressure's on for us to finish these roads before we're frozen out for the season.

As always, thanks for reading and see you up the road!
See you up the road!

- Spunky Dogg Logging
Mwal
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Re: Spunky Dogg Farms

Post by Mwal »

I think you now are going to need a copperhead road, looks good!
Bryan83
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Re: Spunky Dogg Farms

Post by Bryan83 »

Lot to be proud of there, Spunky. Nicely done.
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Spunky_Dogg
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Re: Spunky Dogg Farms

Post by Spunky_Dogg »

Image
Possum Gulch is coming together.

Hello Spunky Fans!

A small-ish update for you tonight and that is the first look at Possum Gulch, our second town site on No Man's Land. From the official description:

"Located at the intersection of U.S. Route 83 and Deere Run Road, Possum Gulch serves as the home to No Man's Land's egg processing plant and power station. There is a dairy/farm shop in town, as well as a small mechanic's shop complete with gas pumps."

As you can see by the screenshot above, there is a large concrete area across the road from the main part of town. In all honesty, I'm waiting for the multifruit market that's in console testing to see if it will work well with this area (if the slot count isn't too excessive that is). Otherwise, I've had thoughts about some sort of outdoor market area with either homes or apartments.

Speaking of the slot count, I've got 76 left at this point. I know it's been expressed in here the hope for the return of the Fort Donaldson State Recreation Area. I can tell you that I will try and make it work, although it may be a fraction of the size of the original. That may be a Year 2 project as we're in mid-Autumn now and I still have yet to do any field work at the farm.

As I mentioned previously, the goal is to be putting crops in the ground next spring, as well as begin purchasing animals. Time is not my friend right now.

To that effect, we have begun a slow withdraw of equipment from Possum Gulch, with only a few pieces of machinery and trailers remaining. My hope is by the end of the day that is shown in the screenshot (present day), our business there will have concluded.

I also happen to notice that we are nearing 10,000 views on this thread, which began on August 16, 2020. It's amazing to me the traction it has gotten in roughly seven months. I thank you all for following me on this journey and your interest overall.

That's all for now. Have a blessed week and, as always, see you up the road!
See you up the road!

- Spunky Dogg Logging
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DEERE317
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Re: Spunky Dogg Farms

Post by DEERE317 »

Looking good!
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Spunky_Dogg
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Re: Spunky Dogg Farms

Post by Spunky_Dogg »

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It has begun.

Hello Spunky fans!

At some point this afternoon (Sunday), this thread passed the 10,000 views mark. Thank you to the awesome, awesome people who continue to check in and follow this corner of the internet.

What's new in this update? Turns out a lot.

As you can see by the screenshot above, we have finally turned our attention to the farm itself with Spunky Dogg Farms version 2.0. It's a bit more spread out than the original, which kinda gives it a bigger feel, but I think I like this better than the original.

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The new version of Spunky Dogg Farms will look a bit different from the original, but hopefully will still feel like home for the longtime followers of the thread.

We're planning for three fields for our first year of farming (in actuality, Year 2 in-game after taking a full year to fill out the map), so I'm still debating on the location for Field 3. Our plan is to have wheat (which will help our chicken operation), oats (for our horses) and a cash crop (most likely soybeans, but that could change).

The overall goal, like I've mentioned previously, is to be totally set up and ready for next spring. The good news is we've got pretty much 99 percent of the equipment we need to get started, minus a bale trailer perhaps.

I mentioned (I believe) in my previous post that I was concerned with the slot count as far as bringing back the Fort Donaldson State Recreation Area. Thanks to some equipment wheeling-and-dealing and doubling up on some vehicles, I was able to increase my available slot count from 76 to 95 and maybe I can wiggle that a bit further.

I'm wanting to give myself some room for pallets and other things that generate come harvest time or with animals. I'm thinking of leaving 50 slots available for that, so the challenge is making the Fort Donaldson SRA work with 45 slots.

Challenge accepted.

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As our philosophy of "Nothing wasted" says, the grass was harvested before the field was plowed.

We've just started late Autumn now, so I'm sure the days before winter arrives are numbered. I need to do some logging around the farm to start the preparation process for Year 3 and what that will look like.

As always, thanks for reading and see you up the road!

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Early morning tractor delivery.
See you up the road!

- Spunky Dogg Logging
Bryan83
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Re: Spunky Dogg Farms

Post by Bryan83 »

Looking good, Spunky. If you need a good old tractor, I've got a John Deere 8960 I could sell you.
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DEERE317
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Re: Spunky Dogg Farms

Post by DEERE317 »

Isn’t it in need of a transmission...? :lol:
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Bryan83
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Re: Spunky Dogg Farms

Post by Bryan83 »

DEERE317 wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 5:19 am Isn’t it in need of a transmission...? :lol:
That's the 8760.
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DEERE317
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Re: Spunky Dogg Farms

Post by DEERE317 »

Bryan83 wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 10:34 am
DEERE317 wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 5:19 am Isn’t it in need of a transmission...? :lol:
That's the 8760.
Right... :lol:
FS15 & FS19 Platinum Edition PC (and War Thunder, Gaijin is way worse than GIANTS ever has been accused of being)
FS Comunity Trader: https://fs19communitytrader.freeforums.net/
Desktop: i5-9400f, RTX 2060, 8gb RAM, 256gb SSD.
Laptop: Pentium Silver N5000, UHD605, 4gb RAM, 1tb HDD.
Deere, Fendt, Claas, and sometimes the rest of Agco.
Phila
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Re: Spunky Dogg Farms

Post by Phila »

Fab work! You inspired me to fiddle around on no mans land again...
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Spunky_Dogg
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Re: Spunky Dogg Farms

Post by Spunky_Dogg »

Image
Working on our new log cabin hideaway.

Hello Spunky fans!

Welcome back for a Memorial Day weekend update. This is kind of going to be a two-part post consisting of an update on the farm and also a bit of a philosophical discussion on Farming Simulator and Gold Rush: The Game, which just had its console release on Friday after being out on PC for nearly four years.

First, the farm. As you can see by the screenshot below, we've been working on adding a little lob cabin hideaway in the woods across the pond from the farm and generally clearing out some of the smaller trees on the property.

All three fields have been plowed and limed and are prepped for winter, with snow on its way according to the long-term forecast. We've also been mowing the shoulders of both sides of U.S. Route 83 as another pre-winter chore.

We have purchased our first animals, two horses named Charlie and Khan. Charlie is a horse we renamed, while Khan is the computer's randomly-generated name and when the computer comes up with something like that on its own...yeah, I'm not changing that, lol.

Other than that, we're about as ready as we can be for winter. I think we may have actually carved out enough time to start work on the Fort Donaldson State Recreation Area, which is our next major project on the list.

And now on to the philosophical discussion.

I purchased the console version of Gold Rush: The Game on Friday for PS4. I've been a fan of the Discovery series since Season 1 and have watched every season since then.

The video game is developed by Code Horizon, a small, independent Poland-based company whose largest claim to fame is...you guessed it...Gold Rush: The Game.

The game was actually a Kickstarter project and by the time the dust settled, more than 5,000 backers had agreed to contribute more than $120,000 to get the game made.

It officially released on Steam for PC on June 20, 2017. Let's be honest, video games based on TV series - especially one with a very focused audience - are spotty at best and the game's initial release had its problems with bugs, as you can imagine.

But, Code Horizon learned and it got better as any good video game company should do. It released some DLCs along the way and the console release includes all the DLCs that got released for the PC version.

MrSealyp is currently doing an episodic "Let's Play" series on this over on his YouTube channel, so I would advise you to check it out.

Now, there's some things I think that Code Horizon could learn from GIANTS Software and Farming Simulator in general and if these two developers could partner together, we could have a hell of a simulation game.

Both games feature seasons (although it is a mod now for Farming Simulator, but will be part of the base game for this fall's Farming Simulator 22 release), day/night cycles, camera controls and the control mapping (at least on console) is similar to the two games.

• WHAT FARMING SIMULATOR COULD LEARN FROM GOLD RUSH: THE GAME:

GRTG is a realistic mining simulator, pure and simple. It's not shy about what it is and who it's aimed at. You start out having to acquire a bank loan to lease a plot of ground and some basic mining equipment and as you extract gold, you take it to the blacksmith to get paid so that you can purchase larger and more complicated equipment.

You can purchase excavators, wash plants, wave tables, etc. All the stuff you see on the Discovery series.

1. Hardcore Realism

This is the area where GRTG shines. To make these large machines work, you'll end up purchasing water hoses, generators, electrical boxes, etc. to make these things run. You will also have to contend with equipment breakdowns and random weather events (you can turn these things off in the options menu).

I could see equipment breakdowns as something that Farming Simulator could add to kind of include that extra kernel of realism (and maybe an added challenge?) into the game. Stuff like this, of course, is always part of that gray area for a game in that you want to appeal to those who want a realistic simulation, but not alienate the casual players.

Real-life farmers will tell you that equipment breakdowns are a part of life. It happens.

2. Everything costs $1

This is a setting GRTG has that can be turned on or off and is intended for those who have never seen the TV series or just want to play around with the equipment and figure things out.

Farming equipment can be expensive in-game for Farming Simulator and this option could, like GRTG, help the newbies figure things out while also appealing to the casual players.

3. Mining

This is the biggest - and most obvious - area where GRTG could aid GIANTS. There are already some PC maps out there that offer mining as an option and it seems only a matter of time before this becomes a base-game option, giving Farming Simulator players three "career paths" to choose from (farming, forestry and mining) in deciding their destiny.

Code Horizon has the knowledge and experience to make this work and, for the most part, do it the right way.

• WHAT GOLD RUSH: THE GAME COULD LEARN FROM FARMING SIMULATOR:

1. Licensed brands

Farming Simulator has done well in acquiring licensed brands to include their equipment into the game. Currently, GRTG has no licensed brands (it has "Minatore" on its excavator). Farming Simulator has John Deere, Case and Komat'su, all of which have excavation equipment in their lineups.

2. Map load times

Farming Simulator's load times are actually pretty impressive. The whole map loads at once, which makes loading times between sections unnecessary. This is an issue with GRTG, which requires a few seconds of loading to get from one section of the map to another and this can get annoying and take the player out of the experience.

3. Modding community

Woo boy, is this a big one. Currently, GRTG offers four maps and seven different pieces of heavy equipment to work with and I can see that getting old quickly. In comparison, the modding community has expanded Farming Simulator's base library by hundreds - if not thousands - of vehicles and equipment, with new mods being released five days a week most of the time.

If GRTG would/could incorporate modding, that would take the game to the next level and keep it fresh far beyond its initial release date.

4. Multiplayer

This is one of the biggest knocks I've seen on GRTG in that it is mainly a single-player experience. You can compete against other players for the most gold in a leaderboard-style competition, but you can't have other people working with you on your claim. You can hire workers - like Farming Simulator - but these are NPCs.

My apologies for the long post, but I wanted to share my thoughts here. What do you all think? Feel free to share your opinions below.
See you up the road!

- Spunky Dogg Logging
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