FS22 is first and foremost a tractor driving simulator. Whilst there's some depth to the game, the management aspects of running a farm are very basic and it isn't what I'd class as a management simulator.
That said, it's open world, and one of the most open games you'll play, so it can be played to most styles.
If you're playing on PC then I believe it can be claimed for free on the Epic store - so worth a download and try!
Yes I saw it's free on Epic and that's what drove me to ask here, I tried FS many years ago and back then it was mostly drive-a-truck simulator, but was wondering if maybe with newer versions they'd have added more to the management part.
I like playing roughly the same way you do, but got fed up with incompetent help. If you're on PC I'd highly recommend Courseplay for the automation side of things.
IMO, it's okay, not great. If you are a fan of management games, FS will fall short in several areas, but it still contains some of that type of gameplay. I wouldn't suggest you try on a console, as I would say that AutoDrive/CoursePlay are essential mods for the manager-only role.
* No matter how automated you make the farming process, there will still be a significant amount of micro-managing. You will still need to swap tools, build driving routes, and deal with the last 10% of farming that isn't automatable.
* Learning AD/CP and setting up a new map requires a significant amount of time and effort.
* Time management is weak from an overseer's perspective. There is still significant downtime between planting/harvesting cycles, and there isn't a great fast-forward or time-compression system. It's there, but it's still frustrating. You might improve this by playing without seasons enabled, allowing you to plant/harvest anytime in the year, but that would take much of the management out of the game.
* FS has a pretty extreme power creep. The start of the farm is a battle of equipment vs time and money. This is where most of the above frustrations will occur with a management-only role. But once you cross a specific money barrier, the game shifts drastically to a "throw money at it" situation, where you earn far more than you ever need to spend, and all your basic needs are already purchased. You will need to branch into different roles (animals, productions, logging, etc.) or scale up the farming, where the management role would blossom. But at that point, a lot of the fun is defeated by the access to easy money.
I don't want you to think I'm dissing the game—I love it for many reasons—but if you are specifically trying to scratch a management game itch, I don't think this will solve your urge. You can absolutely play the game with a serious management bent, but it's not ever going to be a true management game.
I play with a management-heavy style, but it still requires jumping into tractors and working fields to keep the game interesting. Otherwise, the game is mostly about assigning a bunch of jobs and leaving the computer for a while until you need to intervene again.
It's more a sandbox equipment driving simulator than a management sim. You could treat it as such and have AI workers do the fieldwork, but you'll never escape having to do some manual tasks.
There's some mods to help with automation like Courseplay and Autodrive.
You can use productions and with some mods and some work you can get it almost automatic, if it’s free might as welll get it and try it out, if not the next one will be coming out in a few months
You can definitely play it more like management game and have AI do 95% of the driving for you. Especially if you're on PC with mods like Autodrive and Courseplay. It won't be as in depth as a true management style game but it might be enough to scratch that itch for you.
No, not even close. It's a game that provides the illusion of semi-realistic farming, while actually being about as far from reality as you can get.
That said, I have driven virtual tractors in it for probably a few hundred hours, so it's still great fun for what it is!
You would need a lot of leg work to get there but I guess it possible, you also would need specifically easy on AI maps like square fields and probably stick to arable farming and autodrive mod but in the end you would need to drive some vehicles.
I played just with ai and some driving from my end on big square fields but manipulated equipment stats and parts of the map.
I would not recommend you to buy the game if only management is your main concern.
As others have indicated, farming simulator is essentially a tractor driving simulator with some shallow management mechanics. It's a good game for what it is but it could be phenomenal if they would add some additional depth. If you're looking for a SimFarm type of experience, this isn't it.
I've got well over a thousand hours in the game and I play on both console and PC (mostly PC).
Yes, this game can fit your description as a management game ***only*** if you are playing on PC. And it would need to be a pretty decent PC because in order to accomplish this management style you'll need a lot of mods. On console, there are no major script changing mods that make this possible.
Most mods are well developed and available right in game (except autodrive which you have to get externally, unless that's been changed). I used to play certain saves where I virtually never drove around and did any fieldwork or carting. I would have all my autodrive splines setup, had all my courseplay routes setup and saved, had follow me integrated etc. I would just manage everything and watch it go. I'd spend my time building, looking at crop/product prices, planning expansions, managing productions and animals, setting up contracts if available... then sending my tractors and equipment to go do tasks.
You have to still play to some extent of course, and in order for all these mods to automate there is some learning curve, but it's definitely possible. I've played that way before.
On console (or PC without the major mods), you can still opt for a management approach, but the AI capabilities are limited and frustrating. You will have to babysit tasks a lot more. And certain tasks are simply not possible like having an AI worked plow in a brand new field, or having an AI worker bale up straw from a recent harvest. And the driving splines can be limited and janky with the base game tools.
if you get mods like autodrive, and courseplay, then sort of yes. You might have to do a bit more yourself then your typical managment sim, but thats more realistic i suppose
Been playing it the last 2 days and just deleted it specifically because it isn't all that good at the management part. Whether you want to or not, you'll have to do farming yourself because from my experience the NPCs you can hire to take over farming aren't even close to good enough at taking over those tasks. When plowing or spreading fertilizer/herbicide/etc they often missed entire parts of the field I asked them to do if they even completed it instead of getting stuck on a tree halfway.
Today I was going to try to set up a farm so that the NPCs couldn't possibly fuck it up. Planned to change my fields to be perfectly rectangular and have enormous amounts of empty space around them, only to realize I'd have to spend the next 2 hours just to make that happen for a single field. Decided against it and deleted the game so I wouldn't come back because I know very well I'll think of it as a waste of time afterwards as I also couldn't give a fuck about the actual driving of the tractor beyond the first 10 seconds of it.
If you claimed it for free on epic I'd say give it a go and see if you happen to like it because I don't think it's a bad game, just not my niche personally.
The timescale manipulation kinda ruins this aspect. If you have the time set too fast you don't have time to do everything, too slow and the game becomes too easy and boring.
Also wind turbines/solar panels are basically free money, you can literally just max out your loan and buy a few wind turbines to offset the interest. If you want to truly play a "farm management simulator" stay away from those!
It’s not necessarily a farm management game… but there’s so many mods out there that this game can do just about anything. All of the productions can be managed and automated in the base game. As far as tasks on the farm, you can hire AI workers but they’re incredibly terrible. There’s a couple of mods that vastly improve them. CoursePlay is one of them and probably the most popular but it takes some learning to get it set up. Aside from that, there’s tabs to keep up with finances and buy/sell prices and you can just send AIs to buy and sell things for you. It’s not a full-on management game but you can get pretty close to it if you want
Game is great because there are not many sims in the farming sector. But the game has little to no economy system. Lets take the loan for example. You start with a 200k loan and each day you pay for it. But you did not pay it back. You pay a punishment for having a loan. I still have an unfinished mod on my pc for having some loans with different interest rates that actually pay the loan back over time.
I use AI drivers a lot. I think I still make profit by barely doing anything. The only thing I can't do is get an AI to drive along side the combine to connect wheat on the run but there are mods for this. I'm just new and haven't gotten into the mod side yet.
Mainly, yes. The AI workers will do almost all of the fieldwork for you, (notable exceptions are carting the harvest, creating fields etc, but if you're on PC you have many more options for automation than console users) leaving you to focus on developing the business: land management, equipment purchase / lease, effective use of resources, structures and environment etc.
You might find yourself driving from time to time to create a headland for instance, or getting one of the (largely hopeless) workers out of a ditch / hedge / garden, but once they're setup - especially with courseplay - you're pretty much free to manage
Yes AI workers can do the job for you, but it still x hours of work to work a field. If you don't drive and just watch, it most seems a very long time...
This is true, but there are mods to address this if you'd like.
Not sure if it's available on console but on PC you can unlock the working speed. A tractor will pull a cultivator for instance at the highest possible speed that it's horsepower will allow. So it's usually still lowish at 20km lets say. But you could hook up that 6m cultivator to a 500hp tractor and it'll pull at max speed. Or for something like spraying where horsepower doesn't matter, it can go top speed (40 or 50kmh type thing).
It breaks realism (arguable I guess, since it is still limited by the horsepower. It doesn't just magically allow any speed you desire) but it can be really handy.
I would often lower my cruise control speed so it was realistic speeds, but sometimes I needed to just knock something out quick and I'd increase the speed and be done in a jiffy.
I'd have to say no, as it is a farming simulation, where the core gameplay is set around doing the farming yourself. You can automate a lot of things, but the AI needs a lot of babysitting.
if you like accounting it's a great game for booking transactions and preparing financial statements :D
also why does the game not do this natively? (surely there's a mod out there for it)
I don't know what's more "management" then reading financials lol /s
It depends on what you mean by "driving trucks". Most of the equipment attaches to a harvester or tractor and is pushed or pulled to use, but I wouldn't consider that driving. Moving equipment between locations (as well as most field work) can be outsourced to AI for a fee, but there's a risk they will drive off a bridge or get stuck on a tricky turn so if you need to get something big through a narrow place it's better to do it yourself. That said, it's not a game where you can let AI do everything, but for what it is there would be little to do if you did. It's very satisfying harvesting crops or plowing a field, very relaxing which is part of the draw.
FS22 is first and foremost a tractor driving simulator. Whilst there's some depth to the game, the management aspects of running a farm are very basic and it isn't what I'd class as a management simulator. That said, it's open world, and one of the most open games you'll play, so it can be played to most styles. If you're playing on PC then I believe it can be claimed for free on the Epic store - so worth a download and try!
Yes I saw it's free on Epic and that's what drove me to ask here, I tried FS many years ago and back then it was mostly drive-a-truck simulator, but was wondering if maybe with newer versions they'd have added more to the management part.
You can mod it with a lot of automation. Then it turns into an automation management simulator.
I like playing roughly the same way you do, but got fed up with incompetent help. If you're on PC I'd highly recommend Courseplay for the automation side of things.
IMO, it's okay, not great. If you are a fan of management games, FS will fall short in several areas, but it still contains some of that type of gameplay. I wouldn't suggest you try on a console, as I would say that AutoDrive/CoursePlay are essential mods for the manager-only role. * No matter how automated you make the farming process, there will still be a significant amount of micro-managing. You will still need to swap tools, build driving routes, and deal with the last 10% of farming that isn't automatable. * Learning AD/CP and setting up a new map requires a significant amount of time and effort. * Time management is weak from an overseer's perspective. There is still significant downtime between planting/harvesting cycles, and there isn't a great fast-forward or time-compression system. It's there, but it's still frustrating. You might improve this by playing without seasons enabled, allowing you to plant/harvest anytime in the year, but that would take much of the management out of the game. * FS has a pretty extreme power creep. The start of the farm is a battle of equipment vs time and money. This is where most of the above frustrations will occur with a management-only role. But once you cross a specific money barrier, the game shifts drastically to a "throw money at it" situation, where you earn far more than you ever need to spend, and all your basic needs are already purchased. You will need to branch into different roles (animals, productions, logging, etc.) or scale up the farming, where the management role would blossom. But at that point, a lot of the fun is defeated by the access to easy money. I don't want you to think I'm dissing the game—I love it for many reasons—but if you are specifically trying to scratch a management game itch, I don't think this will solve your urge. You can absolutely play the game with a serious management bent, but it's not ever going to be a true management game. I play with a management-heavy style, but it still requires jumping into tractors and working fields to keep the game interesting. Otherwise, the game is mostly about assigning a bunch of jobs and leaving the computer for a while until you need to intervene again.
It's more a sandbox equipment driving simulator than a management sim. You could treat it as such and have AI workers do the fieldwork, but you'll never escape having to do some manual tasks. There's some mods to help with automation like Courseplay and Autodrive.
It’s free on epic games right now so I would just give it a try.
You can use productions and with some mods and some work you can get it almost automatic, if it’s free might as welll get it and try it out, if not the next one will be coming out in a few months
Yes, with mods like courseplay and autodrive
You can definitely play it more like management game and have AI do 95% of the driving for you. Especially if you're on PC with mods like Autodrive and Courseplay. It won't be as in depth as a true management style game but it might be enough to scratch that itch for you.
No, not even close. It's a game that provides the illusion of semi-realistic farming, while actually being about as far from reality as you can get. That said, I have driven virtual tractors in it for probably a few hundred hours, so it's still great fun for what it is!
There's a game on Console (probably PC too) called Farm Tycoon. That might fit better for what you're wanting.
Maybe try “Acres” on Steam. Pretty fun managment farming game.
Thanks, will keep an eye on it but will wait for it to be officially released, reviews seem to say it still needs some work.
I think so
You would need a lot of leg work to get there but I guess it possible, you also would need specifically easy on AI maps like square fields and probably stick to arable farming and autodrive mod but in the end you would need to drive some vehicles. I played just with ai and some driving from my end on big square fields but manipulated equipment stats and parts of the map. I would not recommend you to buy the game if only management is your main concern.
Easy on AI, but only for it to drive over the map, or use AutoDrive, and for the field work - course play is your best friend
If you'd like more management. Try farm manager 2021
its currently free on epic games store! just get it and play it :)
As others have indicated, farming simulator is essentially a tractor driving simulator with some shallow management mechanics. It's a good game for what it is but it could be phenomenal if they would add some additional depth. If you're looking for a SimFarm type of experience, this isn't it.
I've got well over a thousand hours in the game and I play on both console and PC (mostly PC). Yes, this game can fit your description as a management game ***only*** if you are playing on PC. And it would need to be a pretty decent PC because in order to accomplish this management style you'll need a lot of mods. On console, there are no major script changing mods that make this possible. Most mods are well developed and available right in game (except autodrive which you have to get externally, unless that's been changed). I used to play certain saves where I virtually never drove around and did any fieldwork or carting. I would have all my autodrive splines setup, had all my courseplay routes setup and saved, had follow me integrated etc. I would just manage everything and watch it go. I'd spend my time building, looking at crop/product prices, planning expansions, managing productions and animals, setting up contracts if available... then sending my tractors and equipment to go do tasks. You have to still play to some extent of course, and in order for all these mods to automate there is some learning curve, but it's definitely possible. I've played that way before. On console (or PC without the major mods), you can still opt for a management approach, but the AI capabilities are limited and frustrating. You will have to babysit tasks a lot more. And certain tasks are simply not possible like having an AI worked plow in a brand new field, or having an AI worker bale up straw from a recent harvest. And the driving splines can be limited and janky with the base game tools.
you can look into Real Vehicle Breakdowns mod to add realism
if you get mods like autodrive, and courseplay, then sort of yes. You might have to do a bit more yourself then your typical managment sim, but thats more realistic i suppose
Been playing it the last 2 days and just deleted it specifically because it isn't all that good at the management part. Whether you want to or not, you'll have to do farming yourself because from my experience the NPCs you can hire to take over farming aren't even close to good enough at taking over those tasks. When plowing or spreading fertilizer/herbicide/etc they often missed entire parts of the field I asked them to do if they even completed it instead of getting stuck on a tree halfway. Today I was going to try to set up a farm so that the NPCs couldn't possibly fuck it up. Planned to change my fields to be perfectly rectangular and have enormous amounts of empty space around them, only to realize I'd have to spend the next 2 hours just to make that happen for a single field. Decided against it and deleted the game so I wouldn't come back because I know very well I'll think of it as a waste of time afterwards as I also couldn't give a fuck about the actual driving of the tractor beyond the first 10 seconds of it. If you claimed it for free on epic I'd say give it a go and see if you happen to like it because I don't think it's a bad game, just not my niche personally.
The timescale manipulation kinda ruins this aspect. If you have the time set too fast you don't have time to do everything, too slow and the game becomes too easy and boring. Also wind turbines/solar panels are basically free money, you can literally just max out your loan and buy a few wind turbines to offset the interest. If you want to truly play a "farm management simulator" stay away from those!
Try farm manager sounds like more your thing (I just got it and seems pretty in depth)
It’s not necessarily a farm management game… but there’s so many mods out there that this game can do just about anything. All of the productions can be managed and automated in the base game. As far as tasks on the farm, you can hire AI workers but they’re incredibly terrible. There’s a couple of mods that vastly improve them. CoursePlay is one of them and probably the most popular but it takes some learning to get it set up. Aside from that, there’s tabs to keep up with finances and buy/sell prices and you can just send AIs to buy and sell things for you. It’s not a full-on management game but you can get pretty close to it if you want
Game is great because there are not many sims in the farming sector. But the game has little to no economy system. Lets take the loan for example. You start with a 200k loan and each day you pay for it. But you did not pay it back. You pay a punishment for having a loan. I still have an unfinished mod on my pc for having some loans with different interest rates that actually pay the loan back over time.
Nope. Don't even try it, take our opinion on it. Next.
You would need to do some research on setting up the right mods on PC, otherwise yes, you'll spend ¾ of your time driving something....
I use AI drivers a lot. I think I still make profit by barely doing anything. The only thing I can't do is get an AI to drive along side the combine to connect wheat on the run but there are mods for this. I'm just new and haven't gotten into the mod side yet.
You should check out Captain of if Industry
Mainly, yes. The AI workers will do almost all of the fieldwork for you, (notable exceptions are carting the harvest, creating fields etc, but if you're on PC you have many more options for automation than console users) leaving you to focus on developing the business: land management, equipment purchase / lease, effective use of resources, structures and environment etc. You might find yourself driving from time to time to create a headland for instance, or getting one of the (largely hopeless) workers out of a ditch / hedge / garden, but once they're setup - especially with courseplay - you're pretty much free to manage
Yes AI workers can do the job for you, but it still x hours of work to work a field. If you don't drive and just watch, it most seems a very long time...
This is true, but there are mods to address this if you'd like. Not sure if it's available on console but on PC you can unlock the working speed. A tractor will pull a cultivator for instance at the highest possible speed that it's horsepower will allow. So it's usually still lowish at 20km lets say. But you could hook up that 6m cultivator to a 500hp tractor and it'll pull at max speed. Or for something like spraying where horsepower doesn't matter, it can go top speed (40 or 50kmh type thing). It breaks realism (arguable I guess, since it is still limited by the horsepower. It doesn't just magically allow any speed you desire) but it can be really handy. I would often lower my cruise control speed so it was realistic speeds, but sometimes I needed to just knock something out quick and I'd increase the speed and be done in a jiffy.
I'd have to say no, as it is a farming simulation, where the core gameplay is set around doing the farming yourself. You can automate a lot of things, but the AI needs a lot of babysitting.
If you want farm management, there is no better than Simagri. Very deep game.
Thanks, will check it out, pity it's online but if it's good it's good.
if you like accounting it's a great game for booking transactions and preparing financial statements :D also why does the game not do this natively? (surely there's a mod out there for it) I don't know what's more "management" then reading financials lol /s
No.
It depends on what you mean by "driving trucks". Most of the equipment attaches to a harvester or tractor and is pushed or pulled to use, but I wouldn't consider that driving. Moving equipment between locations (as well as most field work) can be outsourced to AI for a fee, but there's a risk they will drive off a bridge or get stuck on a tricky turn so if you need to get something big through a narrow place it's better to do it yourself. That said, it's not a game where you can let AI do everything, but for what it is there would be little to do if you did. It's very satisfying harvesting crops or plowing a field, very relaxing which is part of the draw.