How do you keep it interesting?

[eight_lugs]

I’ve got where I’ll download a fancy new mod and play with it for about 10 minutes then quit.


How do y’all keep the game interesting? I’ve tried arable, forestry, and animals. Just get bored super quick.

[CMDRTAKEDOWN]

Roleplay and having an imagination. Mods can only get you so far before the boredom sets in.
Try and start off small and don't cheat by having heaps of money right at the start. Do most of the work yourself don't rely on having workers doing most of the tasks.
I learned that in FS13 on P.C where I had everything going on and I just had to sit and watch and decide on the seeds to plant. It was great seeing all the tractors and harvesters working away. After awhile that got really boring and dull.
I got FS13 on console and had a blast doing everything by myself and ended up being a lot more fun.
My wife didn't think that much of the game when I had it on P.C even though I kept trying to get her interested in it. Wasn't till I was playing on console and having her sitting next to me and seeing how fun it was she started to play as well.

[adammac5858]

I agree, roleplaying is big for me too. And now we have a Community Trader forum to buy and sell used equipment, it is a lot of fun to interact with other virtual farmers! Check out the topic here. There's a link in the OP.

viewtopic.php?f=963&t=154083&sid=91238f ... dbe34e6786

[vondeylenfarms]

Like ready said...start small and earn the money and play the market. As you earn more, you build your farm up and add machinary and more ground. I have not tried role-play yet as I'm on console...it's hard to find older players on there that play and have a beer or 2 lol

[EyesJoshuaMF]

Money cheat is the big fun-killer for me. When I have no financial aims it takes any feeling of progression out of the game.

I’m still yet to get bored on my 200h Oakfield save. Oxy’s maps (And bb’s on 17) are the only ones I can have a long play through on, because there are so many opportunities, such as cows, sheep, silage, arable, and they all take considerable time to get through. The realisticness of a map keeps things exciting too for me. So far I’ve progressed like this....
1) silage, contracting and sheep
2) silage, dairy and contracting
3) silage, dairy and small arable
4) silage, growing dairy, far more arable.

The excitement of expanding these sections and seeing change over time is what keeps me from boredom.

[george.earlslight]

You don't mention a platform, but if you're on PC Seasons makes it much more interesting.

[Barrcott]

Same as the other posters , the larger maps no longer hold interest for me so maps like 'medowgrove',marwel & a few polish maps do keep me interested due to being much more hands on rather than just going to a field & getting a worker started

[FarmBoss]

Looks like you've done everything that interests you. For some people, the game just becomes stale due to repetitiveness, and no new activities. Mods are generally just more of the same, which is probably why they don't hold your attention for long. It may be time to try another farm game, or another genre all together.

[JohnDeere77]

Progression is everything to me. I’ve played 140h and has yet not had the economy to buy an additional tractor. The loan in the start is eating up 100k of my yearly (seasons) 160k income. No contracting either. In my seventh season and a few seasons away from buying my second field. A bit forestry during winther and some roleplaying is also included.

[OlavEmil]

You don't mention production. Try downloading a good production map and give it a go. This changes the gameplay quite, as you will have to plan your crops for what you want to produce, and do forestry to get materials, not just for sale.

I'm currently getting into Hopfach by LS-Modcompany: https://ls-modcompany.com/filebase/file ... opfach-v1/

[PrincessJessi84]

what I have done in the past on pc is play other farming games.. there r a few out there and they all have a different focus which makes them fun in their own right.. enough time playing the others and I remember what makes fs shine and it ultimately draws me back in as fs offers a lot that the other farming games available don't..

but honestly, I think the freedom fs allows is what makes it get stale after awhile.. there are no goals or anything like that.. so I think probably the best thing is to make your own rules and don't violate them no matter what.. to me it adds a bit of extra satisfaction.. like buying a harvester.. if u start off with 50 acres, a huge loan and/or just having a ton of big stuff, and then get a new harvester.. what have u really done? but start off with a tiny field, no big bank account and appropriate sized equipment.. Then when u buy a new machine, u really feel like u have done something..

also playing small and slow I find it more tempting to try other methods and crops and stuff.. bored? do a sugarcane harvest or potatoes.. borrow a cotton harvester from the neighbor and see if u cant make a couple bales for some profit.. use bags or a loader to load seeds and stuff into your machines.. just little stuff.. I got SUPER bored in fs17.. almost stopped playing the game entirely.. then I discovered small realistic farming in game and ive been mostly content since.. now finding a long term map.. that's a different problem all together lol

[Harada]

now finding a long term map.. that's a different problem all together lol

Know the feeling!

[fenixguy]

Play a different game or do something else for a while. You'll find you get the itch back after a week or two without it.

I rotate between FS and Kerbal Space Program. Both of which can get stale after a month or so of playing. Then I may play a story-driven game for a week. I even *gasp* go for days at a time without playing any video games.

[Harada]

Play a different game or do something else for a while. You'll find you get the itch back after a week or two without it.

I rotate between FS and Kerbal Space Program. Both of which can get stale after a month or so of playing. Then I may play a story-driven game for a week. I even *gasp* go for days at a time without playing any video games.

Started playing F1 2019, maybe when seasons is released for console I will return to FS.

[chedly_farms]

I'm just prefacing that I am on console, but to answer the question, there are many things.

First: Map! I need to have a good, "real feeling" map. I don't hire workers, so field shapes need to be unordinary. Square field kill my interest faster than anything. A field with odd shapes keeps things interesting. Nice scenery when I am working a field is a must. *beating a dead horse alert* Marwell and Osina are perfect for me. Osina blows me away the more I play it. And the lighting just before sunset is amazing. Either way, I need to feel like the maps are lived in. I need to be "immersed" in them as a well known map maker puts it.

Second: Play Style. Speeding through jobs and cutting corners just to buy the latest and greatest, just to use it for 10 minutes before you get bored of it is terrible in my opinion. I take my time. No shortcuts, if I can help it. Making hay takes 2-3 game days. I won't ted or rake hay until at least 24hrs after I mow it. I simulate seasons as well to slow everything way down. I might go 15-20 game days without turning on growth. I set my cruise control to 7-11 mph in field and around the farm and 18mph (with car traffic) on roads. No cutting through hedges or fields. I don't use auto loaders for bales. I haul pallets of fert/seed/lime to my fields. I make the most of my experience as possible.

Third: Animals. Nothing breaks up the grind like animals. I only give my cows and sheep as much food as they can eat in a day. Cows get fed morning and evening. Eggs get picked up every morning and taken to the sale point. Horses get ridden usually at first light. I would get bored of just doing arable farming pretty quickly.

Forth: Equipment. I don't rush to play the newest mods. I work them in slowly. Everything I do takes time. I bought the John Deere cotton DLC two months ago. I planted cotton on my map about 3 weeks ago, I won't be using the John Deere cotton harvester for at least another 3 weeks. I still haven't saved up the funds to buy it. I don't take out loans if possible. So saving money is the only way to buy. So everything required hard work and not wasting money. This "in game year" I already purchased a Xerion. I plan to sell my milk truck for a semi/trailer, plan to buy the JD cotton stripper, and a forage harvester of some type. So I still have to save up 1.4 million pounds yet. Actually have 400k at the moment, with 500,000 liters of grain in storage waiting for the price to spike.

Fifth: I enjoy farming. This is the key. I enjoy farming. I enjoy the monotony of it. It can be boring at times. But that is why I like it. For me, the endless back and forth of working a field is therapeutic. It's my place where everything works the way it should, because it's a game, programmed that way. If you don't enjoy farming and the boredome that comes with it, this game will never entertain long term.