GIANTS Software - Forum

Nice update on the farm, Spunky.

Now if I may wax philosophic for a moment about your comparison...

Having never played GR:TG I can only go on your word about it. Having that said, I think in your assessment about what the 2 developers could learn from one another holds merit. At least the points are logical. As to mining in a farming simulator game, I'm not sure how broad of an appeal that would carry, or how it fits into what the FS franchise is all about. I suppose the same could be said about forestry (don't get me wrong, I think it's awesome that I can remove a PITA tree that may hinder field work, or even clear land for a placeable) but at the end of the day, forest management is a form of horticulture and at least has that tie in to the game. You yourself point out that GR:TG is something of an esoteric endeavor, but I suppose if the community expressed interest that it may be something Giants ought look into, but I think a big concern would be if you give a player too many options, it begins to look haphazard. And then for us console players, we fight that slot count monster all the time, and now we would have to spend some of those on mining equipment in addition to farming and forestry machines. I suppose as one can direct their gameplay, they may not be in to all 3 areas simultaneously, but it's still a consideration.

In my humble opinion, if Giants were to do mining, then it would be better suited to a stand alone game.

Bryan83 wrote: ↑Sun May 30, 2021 8:30 pm Nice update on the farm, Spunky.

Now if I may wax philosophic for a moment about your comparison...

Having never played GR:TG I can only go on your word about it. Having that said, I think in your assessment about what the 2 developers could learn from one another holds merit. At least the points are logical. As to mining in a farming simulator game, I'm not sure how broad of an appeal that would carry, or how it fits into what the FS franchise is all about. I suppose the same could be said about forestry (don't get me wrong, I think it's awesome that I can remove a PITA tree that may hinder field work, or even clear land for a placeable) but at the end of the day, forest management is a form of horticulture and at least has that tie in to the game. You yourself point out that GR:TG is something of an esoteric endeavor, but I suppose if the community expressed interest that it may be something Giants ought look into, but I think a big concern would be if you give a player too many options, it begins to look haphazard. And then for us console players, we fight that slot count monster all the time, and now we would have to spend some of those on mining equipment in addition to farming and forestry machines. I suppose as one can direct their gameplay, they may not be in to all 3 areas simultaneously, but it's still a consideration.

In my humble opinion, if Giants were to do mining, then it would be better suited to a stand alone game.

Bryan,

Thank you for your thoughts and you make many valid points. I guess the point I was trying to convey was should GIANTS venture into mining, which more than likely is a pipe dream on my part, this might be a route to consider. Like you said, it doesn't really perhaps fit the mold of a farming simulator game and might be better suited to something like a DLC, but my thought process was along the lines of Yukon River and other mod maps that offer mining.

At the end of the day, this was posed merely as a way of generating discussion because a good, healthy discussion benefits all, in my opinion.

I think it’s a pretty natural combination, at least adding heavy equipment related tasks. We do a ton of work for agriculture purposes or that’s just related to it. We also go pretty hand and hand when making gravel or asphalt and usually it’s a farmer who owns the pit or leases it to us. You get a lot of farmers who haul aggregate in the slow times as a way to keep cash flowing and to keep their trucks making money. I would say farming, construction, logging, and trucking are so intertwined they could dabble in a combination of any and have a pretty good end product.

To be honest, I don't know how popular those mining maps are for FS, because I'm on console and those aren't available for console players, but based on the videos and Let's Play I've seen, they look pretty fun.

If I remember right forestry is a branch of Agriculture.

Progress is continuing on the Fort Donaldson State Recreation Area west of Raccoon Corners.

HELLO SPUNKY FANS!

It's time for another update and this time it's one that perhaps some of you have been waiting for in the progress of the Fort Donaldson State Recreation Area.

A few posts back I noted that Fort Donaldson wouldn't be as expansive as it was last time and that's true. Due to slot count reasons, it's a more condensed version this time around, but I feel it's still a fun area to camp and has two sellpoints in the Inn and the Snack Shack (Fritten Fritz) next to the basketball court.

This brings our total sellpoints on our version of the No Man's Land map to 12 and we'll elaborate on that later in this post.


Construction begins.

We started with our first cabin, nicknamed the "Captain's Cabin" due to its own private beach complete with picnic table and fishing stand. We tried to fit more than one cabin in that spot, but it just wouldn't work out.


It's starting to come together.

After the "Captain's Cabin," the basketball court and playground were the next steps. These were both parts of the original Fort Donaldson, but were in different locations the first time around.


Adding the Inn and the outdoor barbecue pit.

The Inn is another carryover from the original Fort Donaldson. We added the barbecue pit for a little extra flavor.


The Snack Shack makes its appearance.

In all honesty, we like the Snack Shack in this spot than its original one. The Snack Shack in the old Fort Donaldson was a bit tougher to access and required backing around a curve.


Timber cutting begins for the actual fort.

So, the obvious question is where's the fort? Well, timber cutting is now in progress to clear a spot for it, which will be beyond the bluffs overlooking the entire area. This will take us several days as there's a lot of trees to take down.


The list of current sellpoints on our map.

I feel happy with 12 sellpoints. If something else good is released on the ModHub, I'll consider it, but I'm prepared to roll with 12 for Year 2.

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

Can't wait to see Ft Donaldson come to fruition. Keep on keepin' on!

Ditto

The Fort Donaldson State Recreation Area, named after World War I flying ace John O. Donaldson, as seen from the roof of the ranger station.

HAPPY SATURDAY SPUNKY FANS!

We are back with another update and we are proud to announce that the Fort Donaldson State Recreation area has been completed! Unfortunately, the fort didn't work out in the area we originally planned for it due to a collision issue with the bluffs and we're not going to level half the hillside to make this work.

Fort Donaldson, named after World War I flying ace John O. Donaldson, contains the following:

• Eight campsites
• Three private cabins
• Two family lodges
• Two beaches (one public, one private)
• Basketball court
• Playground
• Swimming pool
• Bathroom/shower house
• Ranger station near the entrance
• Two sellpoints - Snack Shack and Inn

And the fort itself, which can be explored by the public. The SRA also has separate entrance and exit gates.


One of the family lodges, looking out toward the fort.

We have planted 100 trees in the SRA, which was really the last thing we needed to do other than remove a pile of woodchips from our logging operations. To be honest, we're waiting for the TLX Phoenix update to be released before we do that.

One the trees are fully grown, that will give the SRA its ultimate look, although that will be years away.


The last load (for now) leaves Fort Donaldson.

Elsewhere in No Man's Land, we have purchased our first animals (cows, chickens and sheep) for our operations. The chickens have already started producing eggs, although slowly and we're liking the look of the containers.


Who wants some Spunky Dogg Farms-fresh eggs?

In other farm news, we are at the first day of spring and it's time to start planting. Wheat, soybeans, barley and oats will be our first crops for Year 2 of our operations.

That's all for now. Stay cool out there and see you up the road!

Looking good

Does that rec area include sites with RV hookups? Trying to plan a vacation a little later this year.

Very cool man, catching up on this after a few weeks off the Internet

more ! we want more!

Bryan83 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 4:24 am Does that rec area include sites with RV hookups? Trying to plan a vacation a little later this year.

I have an idea for this, but depends on the slot count to be honest.

Phila wrote: ↑Thu Jun 17, 2021 12:10 am more ! we want more!

Thanks for reading! I'm trying to wait until I have quality updates to put out. I feel I have a responsibility to the readers of this thread to put out interesting content.