Questions re: Seasons Mod

[REN56]

Hi all... a couple of questions about the “Seasons” Mod... (PS4 & FS19)

I haven’t tried using the “Seasons” mod yet, but I’m finally going to give it a try. (Wish me luck, I’ll probably need plenty of it! LOL)

* EDIT = ANSWERED (Thank you all very much!)

(1) SNOW = From what I’ve seen looking at some videos and screenshots - am I correct that with Seasons mod installed and used - I should not expect to see any snow showing on exposed vehicles, machinery, tops/roofs of buildings, trees, etc. - but just expect to see snow showing and accumulating on fields and roads as well as see snow particles falling from the sky, and to see snow tracks from tires showing (as long as snow is ON at default layer setting in the settings). Is this correct?
(I didn’t see *any* snow showing on any exposed vehicles, machinery, or on the tops/roofs of farm house & buildings, etc. - in the videos I saw, I only saw snow showing on roads, paths, fields, etc. as well as snow particles falling from the sky.)

* EDIT = ANSWERED (Thank you all very much!)

(2) SETTINGS: DAYS/LENGTH = From what I understand about the Seasons Mod, 9 days is the standard, default “length” (perhaps also the most recommended for the best overall experience & results with this mod). I know that I wouldn’t want to go shorter in days/length. The question would be - would I want to go any longer than 9 days? I like to do all of the farming tasks myself and not hire/use any “AI helpers” (I’m probably stupid for doing it this way, yes, I know, lol) Based on this (not using AI helpers, and instead doing all of the farming tasks myself) - would I likely benefit by using a longer days length in settings than 9 days? Or just stick with 9 days? What’s your advice, Seasons-experienced guys & gals?

* EDIT = ANSWERED (Thank you all very much!)

(3) GEOS = If a map was made that included its own specific “Geo” made specifically for that particular map - Will there be any conflicts or issues *if* I choose to use some other “Geo” of my choice on that particular map?

* EDIT = ANSWERED (Thank you all very much!)

Many thanks in advance for any/all replies.

Happy Holidays & happy farming everyone!
- Robert-

[Noraf]

3 : geo mods will override map with built in geos, witch overrides seasons inbuilt geo. So using a geo mod will give you that data.
2 : Different taste for different players.
Personally, i play one Eiersholdt, a 4x map, and play with 6 day seasons, and 3x speed. I don't fast forward, i sleep every night, and unless in harvest season go to sleep before midnight. I sleep til atleast 0630. And tend to my animals twice a day. I mainly use a helper during harvest, running one combine, while i run the other, and also do carting. Also sometimes, if i got a lot of plowing to do, i might run an ai with a plow on one field while i work another. I usually don't have any problems doing it this way. ( it's a standard setup for all my savegames), but i have ended up loosing quite a bit of crops once due to heavy rain in the harvest window. **** happends.

1: Regarding snow on buildings, it depends on the mod maker, if a snowmask have been added to the roof. I haven't seen snowmasks on any maschinery yet, and not sure if it's possible. Would probably have been done if it was, so don't expect snow covering them. The little barn elfs are buissey keeping the equiptment snow free!

[norfolk farmer]

Be careful using a different GEO if a map has extra crop types as often they have a GEO built in too suit, Sandy Bay for example did cause problems if you did.

[Noraf]

That's a good point

[Mwal]

Be careful having more than one geo or map with built in geo in your mods at once as there have been all sorts of issues reported here with that as the problem

[REN56]

Be careful using a different GEO if a map has extra crop types as often they have a GEO built in too suit, Sandy Bay for example did cause problems if you did.

I was planning to have another go at the “Stone Valley X2” map. It does have Alfalfa and Rye, so maybe that’s not so ideal then for a trouble-free first time try with Seasons.

[REN56]

Be careful having more than one geo or map with built in geo in your mods at once as there have been all sorts of issues reported here with that as the problem

I don’t want to screw things up... so, to be clear, are you sayin, to be safe and avoid possible problems, to not have multiple Geo mods installed period - even if they’re all “unchecked” when loading a map? Or did I misinterpret/misunderstand?

[Mwal]

I guess I’m on pc so I just move them out of my folder all together. I haven’t tested the unchecked vs. checked thing but I would lean on the side of caution and only download what I’m using especially with geos as they are pretty tiny files and take very little time to download

[blue_painted]

I've never had a problem having multiple GEO mods in the folder.

The problems seem to occur when the GEO built into the map supports new crop types but you then select another GEO from the mod-list when starting the savegame which *doesn't* support the custom crop types.

[Dudeguy]

Be careful using a different GEO if a map has extra crop types as often they have a GEO built in too suit, Sandy Bay for example did cause problems if you did.

I was planning to have another go at the “Stone Valley X2” map. It does have Alfalfa and Rye, so maybe that’s not so ideal then for a trouble-free first time try with Seasons.

[dimi]

Regarding the seasons length, this also massively depends on the size of machinery you use in relation to the amount on land you own. If you use implements with massive working withs and you just have two medium fields then 3 days is plenty, even if you do it all manually without workers. If other hand you use 3 meter equipment on some huge field on a 4x map then even a 24 day season might not suffice.

I usually use equipment that is fairly small for the fields I own, and since I also like having animals and like you I don’t use workers ( except for the forage harvester), I find that 9 days is a good place to start, although sometimes I start at 6 days. However when later in the savegame if I buy more land, I will also increase the season length. I always do this in winter to avoid problems, and also because that is usually when I buy fields.

[norfolk farmer]

Be careful using a different GEO if a map has extra crop types as often they have a GEO built in too suit, Sandy Bay for example did cause problems if you did.

I was planning to have another go at the “Stone Valley X2” map. It does have Alfalfa and Rye, so maybe that’s not so ideal then for a trouble-free first time try with Seasons.

If the map has one I would stick with that, if it hasn't pick one that supports additional crops otherwise I believe the additional crops default to behave like barley meaning for example you won't get multiple cuts from alfalfa.

[Mwal]

Someone made a geo for the stone valley map called stone valley geo so I think that would be a great place to start, download both and you know everything is compatible.

[REN56]

Someone made a geo for the stone valley map called stone valley geo so I think that would be a great place to start, download both and you know everything is compatible.

Yes, that’s correct. Sorry, I’d forgotten (I’d already snagged it from ModHub). ‘FarmCatJenkins’ (if not mistaken) made a Geo specifically for use on the Stone Valley X2 map.

[REN56]

Regarding the seasons length, this also massively depends on the size of machinery you use in relation to the amount on land you own. If you use implements with massive working withs and you just have two medium fields then 3 days is plenty, even if you do it all manually without workers. If other hand you use 3 meter equipment on some huge field on a 4x map then even a 24 day season might not suffice.

Since I’m not using AI helpers and doing all of the work myself, and it seems like I typically find myself on maps that have lots of medium-large sized fields and open space, since I often shortcut across fields instead of following the roads all the time (Welker Farms, Mercury Farms, Stone Valley X2, Goldcrest Valley, Lone Oak, among a few others, but typically USA maps) and I’ve been known to buy & work *all* of the fields on the map... I therefore typically go for the machinery & implement options that provide the most storage capacity and have the widest working widths, while also balancing the dreaded slot count limitation on the PS4. I don’t work with any of the animals. I don’t do missions. I just work the fields that I own. I typically play with game settings of Real Time (typically working throughout the nights on maps where there’s enough light at night), Fast Plant Growth, Plant Withering off, Crop Destruction off. I don’t limit myself to a tight $ budget. I “role-play” it as if I inherited a lot of $ and decided to retire and start farming. I can picture a whole lot of folks here on the forum absolutely cringing at all of this! I’ve worked with the animals, done forestry, & I’ve done countless missions (Platinum Trophy on PS4 for FS19 for those into trophies). I’ve tried to push myself to try everything that’s in FS19 to do. The only thing I haven’t yet done is work with Sugarcane. I haven’t previously done “Seasons” or “Precision Farming” - I’m feeling brave, lol, so those are the 2 things I’m planning to tackle now. And if I cut a field down small enough to manage sugarcane, I’ll finally tackle that, too. I’ve been “role-playing” as an “organic” farming setup (no herbicide, no granular fertilizer, limiting myself to using lime, manure & slurry). I look at many of the UK maps - so many are really amazing looking - but I still gravitate back to US maps. I need to break this habit, as well as force myself to work on maps with smaller sized fields using smaller sized equipment. Anyway, I know this is wayyyy more info than needed relative to those reading through this thread.