Ballydorn Farm

[cwattyeso]

Yes they will work fine for all of that.

Ok, that's good to hear. I really like the looks of that map from the videos. What IS the complaint, then? I know blue_painted tried to explain it to me but I'm so new to the game concepts that it still went over my head.

Without proper field definitions you won't have contracts on fields, and AI workers will also have issues working fields. What this also means for players playing on maps is that the fields you don't own never change, as the AI don't work them which means crops don't get planted and harvested and if you have withering on eventually all the fields you don't own just become a horrible withered mess. Just makes what should be a very pretty and beautiful map to play on the total and complete opposite.

[jasonbarron]

Yes they will work fine for all of that.

Ok, that's good to hear. I really like the looks of that map from the videos. What IS the complaint, then? I know blue_painted tried to explain it to me but I'm so new to the game concepts that it still went over my head.

Without proper field definitions you won't have contracts on fields, and AI workers will also have issues working fields. What this also means for players playing on maps is that the fields you don't own never change, as the AI don't work them which means crops don't get planted and harvested and if you have withering on eventually all the fields you don't own just become a horrible withered mess. Just makes what should be a very pretty and beautiful map to play on the total and complete opposite.

Oh my, that does sound pretty horrible. Glad I know that now before investing a bunch of time on it.

[Ritchie]

It's really not that big a deal, I wouldn't let him put you off the map.

[Illinois Farmer]

I think you will be able to work around it just fine. Cwattyeso is a very picky and impatient.

[BreadedVirus]

Yes they will work fine for all of that.

Ok, that's good to hear. I really like the looks of that map from the videos. What IS the complaint, then? I know blue_painted tried to explain it to me but I'm so new to the game concepts that it still went over my head.

Without proper field definitions you won't have contracts on fields, and AI workers will also have issues working fields. What this also means for players playing on maps is that the fields you don't own never change, as the AI don't work them which means crops don't get planted and harvested and if you have withering on eventually all the fields you don't own just become a horrible withered mess. Just makes what should be a very pretty and beautiful map to play on the total and complete opposite.

Shame the big fields on Oakfield don’t have contracts. Those harvesting contracts would be great pay outs...

Nevertheless a very nice map.

[jasonbarron]

Well, I'm pretty new to the game but it seems that contracts are a poor substitute for working your own field(s). I suspect that investing heavily in forestry equipment from the outset would be smarter than working AI fields, and I know that planting/preparing on slow or normal and then speeding time up through the growth phases is preferable, if speedy revenue is the goal.

[Illinois Farmer]

With seasons I have done more fertilizing contracts cuz there is a lot of down time and they pay really well on welker.

[BreadedVirus]

For the fields that are not used, I just plow or cultivate them with a worker while I’m busy. That way the fields don’t have the stubble on them...

[norfolk farmer]

It's really not that big a deal, I wouldn't let him put you off the map.

Totally agree with that.

[cwattyeso]

Before everyone jumps on me and attacks me, let me say I love the Ballydorn Map, it's the one I currently have installed and setup on my Server. It has all the features and functions a player, multiple players want and need. The fields all have contracts, the fields are all defined correctly. It's definitely an A-Rated Quality Map. I would definitely recommend people download and play this then some of the maps in the official modhub which don't work correctly and haven't been made correctly. You can make a very detailed and beautiful map on the surface, but if you don't spend the time making sure the below surface stuff is correctly made and implemented on a map, you're doing yourself and the players a major disservice.

As for the people who want to label me "very picky and impatient." because I bring attention to maps which don't support the very basic features of the game, something which when you check the modhub guidelines should get the maps failed in testing by Giants and returned to Author. No matter how you want to look at it, maps that don't have contracts and don't support AI workers are broken, and they shouldn't be released until those basic elements are implemented. If they do get released and players like myself discover these issues and create a Bug Report here on the forums for the map, then the very least is that Giants and the Author should respond to it and fix it ASAP.

[cwattyeso]

Well, I'm pretty new to the game but it seems that contracts are a poor substitute for working your own field(s). I suspect that investing heavily in forestry equipment from the outset would be smarter than working AI fields, and I know that planting/preparing on slow or normal and then speeding time up through the growth phases is preferable, if speedy revenue is the goal.

It's not about Speedy Revenue and certainly in my case playing on a Server in Multiplayer, players don't have the option of speeding up time or growth, as only the admin can do that. So when you have worked your own fields, and are waiting to get to the next stage, then contracts offer players the ability to keep working and keep earning money. Also there are always going to be players that don't like particular tasks or jobs, so won't do them. So for example I have some players that don't do ploughing or cultivating, so whilst we have fields that need that doing, they will go off and do fertilising or harvesting contracts instead. Also very rarely do I or a server want to start a map by owning every field and every bit of land. We start out with the starting farm with it's starting one or two fields and build up. This means to keep everyone busy, there does need to be contract work undertaken, because you can't have 10 players all working one field. As for Forestry that may be an option for some people, but for me and my servers it's not because we don't ever do forestry. We not interested in that side of things because the game is Farming Simulator and not Lumberjack Simulator. So for me when looking at maps and considering which I'm going to play or which I'm going to use then a map having the absolute basic support for Contracts is crucial.

[Ritchie]

Trouble is Cwattyeso you are looking at mods in the wrong way in my opinion. You seem to see it like mod creators owe you something, whereas the reality is they are free to create the maps however they see fit. You have fairly specific requirements for a map because of your multiplayer server needs. There are contracts on the maps you talk about, just not on every field which is true of several maps. Doesn't make them unplayable and certainly doesn't stop plenty of folks enjoying them.

[cwattyeso]

Yeah but then you have the problem on those maps with limited field contracts that when you buy those fields, you lose access to contracts forever on that map. Which then removes a complete element of gameplay. I appreciate there are players that play this game and never ever do contracts and don't care about them, same way there are players that never hire a helper and do all the work themselves. That's fine they play the game the way they want and enjoy. However there is a difference between what a Map Maker makes for their liking and what Giants Stipulate in their Map Guidelines. Yes Map Authors are free to make maps how they want and look how they want and we encourage them all to do this, however the bottom line on Giants Guidelines is that maps must support all base game features and functionality. So a Map Author who releases a map where there aren't contracts available on every field or where AI workers can't be hired or employed, is not following the Guidelines. Giants then perhaps take fault here for letting maps pass through testing, which clearly have not been play tested correctly to discover these missing features and functionality. Like I say I have no problem with what Map Authors do on the surface on their map, they can do whatever they want there, set it up, lay it out, add what decorations they want etc. However the basic functionality of the map, the stuff you don't see unless your in the editor, the gameplay stuff that makes the map work should be standard across every map.

[norfolk farmer]

Keep on making it harder for map makers and see where we end up.

[Ritchie]

He's like a dog with a bone, can't see things from anyone else's point of view. This is just the next buried trees for him. Given that he blatantly called any modder who used buried trees on their map as "lazy" it's probably safe to assume he thinks the same about field contracts.