Longer development

[redglasses]

A longer development cycle can and will make the game better in a couple different ways. Better launch, longer time for development, having a longer time in a finished state, etc.

[CMDRTAKEDOWN]

4 years so they have plenty of time for R&D and testing, and polish. End up with a lot better quality than what we have had in the past.

[DeereJason]

I agree that longer would be best but I doubt that will happen. I had read somewhere that the only title that Focus invests development costs into is FS. Then, looking at their financial numbers, while not their biggest title, FS general and platinum releases are the biggest earners at the end of each year.

Taking that into consideration, the platinum edition is a given each year. Unless they can figure out a way to add another big DLC in year 3, I doubt much will change.

At the end of this year we will likely see Claas which should be the last big brand to be added. There are a few others but probably none that will draw that much attention.

I'm more than a bit disappointed with FS19's game play. Giants has fallen behind on what their development should have been. They've leaned too much on the equipment side of things. They are quick to show off brands and pieces but it's a house of cards.

The next new consoles are still in development so Giants may benefit from an extra year so they can really work on a better engine. The game needs a major facelift. They can't keep milking out the same old thing. Depending on the mods added, players may be willing to stick with FS19 for a while if a new title doesn't live up to the advertising.

[theMavric]

I've played since FS15 and this one has held my attention the longest. Having a blast with it.

I do see a lot of comments saying that it's disappointing. Why is that? Just curious on your personal thoughts.

[Doc3d]

Giants biggest issue (and also it’s greatest plus) are the mods. The base-game is just that: a base to work from. All content that has any longevity are mods, generally speaking. So, do Giants keep milking the same old engine, while our fabulous modders create the content? That has seemed to work so far for them, so why not? I would also argue that certain mods are well beyond what giants themselves produce, so we might actually get better content this way than if Giants themselves were to create the same mods.
Seasons is a great example of a mod that (in my opinion) would not be half as good if giants themselves were making it. They would have to compromise to the point of the mod having no soul, stripping away the deeper levels to make it more user friendly, thus destroying the actionable mod in the process.
On the other hand, if Giants developed a brand spanking new engine to build upon, the base game could benefit greatly from it, you would however loose a lot of the modders by x-ing out all their knowledge of the engine. New modders would eventually evolve and the game might be better off, but it would take a lot longer for the quality mods to start showing up..

So it is quite a dilemma for Giants. For my money I think a new engine is warranted and I do think Giants need to step up their game with a higher pace from year to year.

[george.earlslight]

I'd definitely prefer to wait 3 or 4 years and pay 3/2 or double the price for the game if It'd have big changes like proper traffic and rival farms, soil compression and mud, base storage for seeds, fert, liquids etc.

[RODHA]

There would be no difference whatsoever.

[wombles]

They don't add that much to the game with every new release, for it to have a three year or longer time frame. I definitely won't be purchasing the next one, unless there is a big change to the game.

[IceUul]

I think 3 years would be perfect cycle. Let's say, if FS19 would have come a half year later, with decent 6 months beta testing period,
it would be much better game.
Also i would like to see more DLC-s instead of just fast switching to next game.
I am thinking why players need to wait half year, till Giants get this game fixed? This time it took almost 6 month to get bugs fixed
and machinery added as mods what was missing from base game.
Next time i am not going to this trap anymore, if Giants release FS21 end of the next year, then i will pass, until the game is ripe
or switch to one another game (can't say name here), this other game has all the features what i am missing in FS series

First let's see what we got with FS19 (over FS17 base + DLCs):
- Better graphics - really big jump, if all turned up and playing with 4k monitor
- Better driving physics - few flaws, but machinery feels now like real simulator, not arcade anymore like FS17
- New Crops - two new crops, not much, but Cotton is nice one
- Claas and John Deere machinery - i think everybody have waiting for these (i know Claas not out yet, but will come to FS19 in future).
- placeable system - flawed, but works and nice add-on.
- horses and dogs - half implemented, so not a good feature.
- Weeds - nice feature!
- New machinery from various manufacturers

But that's it, this we get with 2 year cycle, so 3 year cycle would bring you more or also bug free game?

4 year cycle is not good, i think there would be not enough DLC-s and income to Giants, so they do not have money to hire
people to develop this game. Also modders and players get bored and switch to another games.

Giants needs to not listen the Focus Home too much and release the game when it is ready, if it takes longer, then use
the time to make more DLC-s, not enough machinery to put inside? Always can do placeable DLC or something that
does not need licensing.

[DeereJason]

....I am thinking why players need to wait half year, till Giants get this game fixed? This time it took almost 6 month to get bugs fixed
and machinery added as mods what was missing from base game...

...Giants needs to not listen the Focus Home too much and release the game when it is ready,...

I think you hit on so.e good points. The current cycle takes a half year to get it fixed. The next 6 months getting mods and the platinum DLC, then the final 12 months anticipating the next release...presumably to fix everything wrong with the previous release.

All that said, money floats the boat. Since they are s smaller operation, they rely on Focus. Unfortunately, its about generating in a sales cycle. Add a few tweaks and roll out a new release to do just that.

There should have been a progession to something bigger over the past few releases. Instead, promises of better AI and enhancements have only led to more disappointment. It seems as though they are chasing old ghosts and, sometimes as a result...creating new ones. This only makes the list longer.

At this point, a fundamentally new approach is in order. On console, FS19 is eerily comparable to FS15 with previous generation consoles with its limitations. I don't need to hear the "switch to PC" chatter. If half the sales come from console, it should perform there. Giants needs to top playing to one audience and expect funding from another. Be decisive, genuine, forthcoming and self-reliant. This far, the approach seems to be "keep quiet and all will be okay". All hype when a new release is coming and dead silence afterwards.

[livesea72]

Three years seems right, 30 months of development time and 4-5 months of bug fixes and integration and testing of new features.then about a month to get day one patch together.

[Tomazius96]

What about developing concept such as SCS software uses for the development of ETS2/ATS ? They are constantly developing, improving, addding new features. You buy base game, they keep updating it in lets say 3-5 moths periods. And finance they companies with different DLCs and expansions.

I kind of wish Giants would take such approach to developing. Its more modder and user firendly. That way you dont end up, with useless version of mods and FS every 2 years. They could do whole bunch of updates and DLCs (like South American DLC, or Australia DLC, or SugarCane DLC, John Deere DLC, AGCO DLC, Placables DLC, USA style DLCs etc.) ž
I wouldnt mind paying few more bucks for a solid base game that gets constantly improved.

Just a thought? Whats your view on this guys ?

[FarmBoss]

They won't be changing their cycle. They will keep the 2 year cycle, because it provides them with income every year, base game, which they semi-complete with patches, and then the platinum dlc. Despite what some people might think, they don't care about their customers themselves, they only care about how many customers they have.

[theMavric]

It's pretty commonplace in today's games to start out small and release more features along the way as DLC. It brings people back and creates more revenue streams. Releasing a "Platinum" or "Game of the Year" edition is basically saying the game is at the end of it's development cycle, but it will still continue to receive support.

With Seasons coming and the Platinum edition following shortly thereafter (which may include the Seasons upgrade for console users as well as a separate DLC for those who already have the game, who knows), the game will pretty much be at the point where there is nothing else left to improve that modders can't fix or add themselves. Bethesda proved that was a highly successful model, and many many game development companies have followed suit.

Of course, this is all entirely speculation but it's my prediction. I have a feeling once Platinum drops then Giants will start working on the next series. FS19 brought a slew of new business relationships for them, which means we may be seeing a LOT more diversity in the equipment in the next game, as well as environments that don't feel generic.

[bossmanslim]

4 years seems about right as modders are going to burn out and then the game will tank because the base game is missing quite a bit.