Day in and day out, Farming Simulator 19 is getting the word out. Sometimes wrongly, especially on some Youtube channels. But now, the Farmcon has been there, and with this event, a lot of information has been confirmed. Update with Lars Malcharek, Giants Software.
Giants managed to contain the 1000 participants of Farmcon 18. Fortunately, some information, coming from different sources (Youtube, LS info, etc…) has nevertheless been validated by the Giants team. The release date to begin with. While some merchant sites announced a release for October 2018, Farming Simulator 19 is well planned for the November 20, 2018 on PC, Mac, Xbox One and PS4.
Gameplay
The game will articulate well on 2 different mechanics. You can either start your game in the manner of the old episodes, with farm, tractors, plots, and a starting capital. Either start with more capital and start from scratch. In this mode, it's up to you to create your farm.
On the Farming Simulator official forum, we learn that " Everything is placeable. Houses, stables, silos, workshops, everything. You can choose a random location on the map (say a forest) buy the land, cut down all the trees, remove everything, and place your farm there to start. " The ground adapts to the building you want to place on the map. “We don't want wobbly buildings, [you will place the elements] and the ground will be changed accordingly. "
The mission system has also been revised: new types of missions (transport, etc.), more time limit, and the possibility of attacking a mission in multiplayer mode. You will also have the possibility to bring your own equipment in the manner of an ETA.
The environment
You will evolve in typical settings of the United States, South America, and Western Europe, with therefore 3 maps, including 2 new ones and an improved version of the South American map FS17. If nothing has yet been confirmed (almost) for the dog, the birds will be present and will follow the seeders without however attacking the seeds (we would go crazy otherwise). In-game, the interface has been revised and uses a little transparency.
Machines
The library of available material has evolved and Giants wants to make full use of its revised engine for the occasion. Also, for the moment, the team reports 38 new vehicles. On the other hand, we lose some tools since not all will be transferred to this new opus.
On the brand side, we of course find Fendt and its Ideal, John Deere which was unveiled in the last trailer, but also Samson for the spreading part. All these beautiful people will have the right to an illuminated dashboard, and suspended cabin seats. Still in the cabin, in 3rd person view, the pedals will be animated.
When purchasing motor equipment, the store will be sorted by power and no longer by brand. Before purchase, a 3D view will be displayed in order to see in real time the options you add. You will be able to navigate in this view (Zoom, Pan).
On the modeling side, when a tool is hitched, it will be physically connected by pipes / cables to the tractor, in the case of a seed drill with a hopper at the front for example. Your equipment wears out, and eventually shows physical signs of wear. With this obsolescence, your machines will go slower and cost more.
The zanimos
Like Farming Simulator 17, chickens, pigs, cows and sheep are back in service. However, you will not be able to create a 1000 cow farm if your building is too small. At Giants, size matters. 3 sizes of farm will be available, the largest having no space limit. The plots for your livestock can be modified, and especially enlarged. The developer finally lets the breeding capacities express themselves.
The horses, we had already talked about it before, will also be there, with the possibility of riding them. The dog, we don't yet know what the team has in store for us ...
In the fields
Cotton and oats make their appearance with all the machinery to ensure the harvest. Weeds also complicate things for us, you can finally play the cultivator, and other harrows and weeders. Be careful, however, to intervene, as in real life, at a very young stage of development, otherwise the sprayer will have to be taken out. Giants inaugurates a culture destruction mechanism that can be activated or not. Likewise, crops will bend under the wheels of the vehicles.
With weeds, Giant seems to be setting foot in a complete agronomic system. We already know that it will be possible to lime your land. Will there also be a disease system?
Artificial intelligence and multiplayer
The workers have been improved, although we do not yet know to what extent. Apparently the devs are making sure that the “CoursePlay” mod is still compatible. It will be possible to create competitions in multi mode, up to 4 teams or maybe more.
Configuration for PC gamers
I'm not going to go over the graphics improvements to the game, and refers you to this article. Here are the optimal features to launch Farming Simulator 19:
- You now need a 64-bit OS: either Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10
- A processor frequency of 2,5 GHz with Quad Core, Intel or AMD
- On the graphics card side, you need at least Direct X 11 support; either from an Nvidia Geforce GTX 560, or AMD Radeon HD 7770, with a VRAM of 2 GB minimum… Knowing that these are chips released in 2011 and that at the time we found them supported by 1 GB of RAM, it will probably take a little more to play in good conditions (without however releasing the GTX 1080)
- 4 GB of RAM and 20 GB of free hard disk space
- A sound card if you want to enjoy the environment
- and finally a DVD player if you are not using Steam.