I was talking to you a short time ago Ravensberg, a map that I defined as the map of the year on Farming Simulator 19. But it could be dethroned in extremis by Untergriesbach, a map released on Christmas Eve on the official modhub. We played there, a little, a lot ... We tell you about it.
Untergriesbach is a large x4 map that teleports you to Germany in a setting that mixes Fellsbrun in Erlengrat. The relief is very marked, wooded, and the 113 plots are of various sizes. Several farms are at your disposal. This is undoubtedly the strong point of the map, and even Giants Software does not do better: the livestock buildings are more than realistic! We can clearly distinguish between a pigsty and a stall. The gratings and feed corridors are wide and allow passage with large equipment. It is the end of the miserable basic enclosures which in no way reflect European agriculture. Here it is the cream of the crop. The stables have real boxes, which unfortunately cannot be used. The door openings are scripted, up to the opening of the slurry pit hatch. In short, at this stage, it's art. Only black spot, only one enclosure for sheep and nothing for poultry. Here it is milk galore.
The cultivation of grass
The modders behind the map have integrated Saisons and Maize Plus mod compatibility. The latter brings its share of cultures and uses for the different productions. But you can play without this mod, the map already incorporates new crops such as mustard (in plant cover), carrots, onions, clover… and several stages of haymaking. And this is where the first reviews fall. Untergriesbach has several types of grass. But why the hell !? Horses eat the same grass as cows in Farming Simulator… And yet not here. Grass is needed for horses AND grass for cows (although “staple” grass works fortunately for everyone). It is not very realistic in the sense that the classic herb is too quickly dried. This does not add anything to the gameplay with horses, which remains based on "single feed + output = $$$". Especially since for each production, it is necessary to manage 3 stages of drying. All without instructions for the player who wants to do without the Maize Plus.
Modders have added "modified" mowers (conditioners) to the shop. They mow AND dry the grass. WTF !? Maize Plus grass gains a drying stage, so far OK. But the classic herb is dried immediately. Bug? We are still looking for why have to establish such cultures and not have to leave the choice to the player to have or not the Maize Plus. The seasons mod does the rest of the job, and much better. In short…
With the friends
In solo, the map is difficult to use as it is large. So we started a multi game, first at 3. And that's where we see the potential of this card. We could summarize by "At 3, we are not tight". The farms, and therefore the activities, are predefined, and in a very nice way. Each player will therefore have their own production (mainly dairy), their buildings, and their starting bank account. Ideally, it is with 16 players that it will be necessary to work. On the performance side, we note a few jerks at times despite our high-end offer at Verygames.
In use
After playing for a few hours with the team, we noticed some gray areas. Aside from the totally confusing grass crops, we haven't seen any grain storage silos, so they need to be placed. Yes, but the relief is disabling and the deformations of the terrain with placeable objects are gross (the fault of the Giants Engine). Let's stay on the relief. It is so marked that it is often necessary to leave tractors of more than 400 HP to go and make a simple mowing of grass. We often find ourselves stuck below a parcel that cannot be ascended with the attached tools.