Fortunately, simply purchasing animals sends them to their respected area of the map - a fact that infuriated me due to in part to its simplicity as well as lack of explanation. Unfortunately, the information provided is scarce, and more advanced options such as raising livestock aren’t explained in any detail. In addition to the training missions, there are hint icons littered throughout the farm to help as you progress through the introductory hours. Before you start selling your milk, eggs, vegetables and perhaps offer some sacrificial livestock to Ceres, the Roman Goddess of agriculture, you’ll want to follow the eleven tutorials provided, as these basic lessons cover most of what you’ll need to get started.
Any budding root vegetables or muddy gloves? Do you have a storage shack full of seeds and soil?įor the sake of this review, let’s just assume that you’re an aspiring agriculturist. Do you see a poster of a Schlüter Super Trac 2500? How about a graph showcasing the USDA vegetable crop sales across key states in 2012? Go ahead and check outdoors if you’re more of a closet-harvester. If you’re confused about how such a thing is determined, simply take a look around your room. If you’re new to the experience, you should probably consider yourself a true agriculture enthusiast before jumping aboard the Grimme Tectron.
If you’re a veteran of the PC version of Farming Simulator, you should expect much of the same, albeit without the multiplayer functionality and surprisingly active Mod community. After all, this isn’t Harvest Moon and you won’t be socializing with the townsfolk. You see, farms aren’t typically a fun thing. Truthfully, you won’t be doing anything inherently fun or outlandish in Farming Simulator 2013, because as the name suggests, Farming Simulator is a game in which you simulate a farm. Shoot, you won’t even be building a customized farm or making outrageous financial gambles with your crop earnings. In this game, your goal isn’t to kill your friends or slay a dragon.
I walked away from my 15 hour experience with virtual calices aplenty, but unfortunately not much else. While the backbreaking labor has been replaced with its digital equivalent, at times it feels as if your fingers had touched the greasy hood of a rumbling tractor. Sure, my take on the song may not be as well-received as the classic approach, but if there’s one thing I learned from Farming Simulator 2013, it’s that farming isn’t as fun as those rhyming lies would have you believe. Here a crop, there a crop, everywhere a crop-crop, Old McDonald lost his farm partly due to his inability to correct multiple “contaminated soil” violations per the Department of Agriculture, but also due to an insurmountable debt as a result of a recent harvester purchase, E-I-E-I-O. For a new field here, and a new field there. And on his farm he took a loan, E-I-E-I-O.