Recent reviews by Fauz

This is a conundrum for me, as on one hand, I feel the game has finally reached where it should have been many years ago, (better late than never, I guess), but on the other hand it reached the level I had long desired just as I was phasing out of gaming altogether.

Nice timing.

I've been playing this since FS 2011 and I've enjoyed its innovations despite it being a slow trickle. I would say, if you were looking to try this game out of curiosity, now would be a good time. I think it has reached a level that could keep you engaged indefinitely if you're willing to try new strategies. There is plenty of room for creativity.

The major part I enjoy is the open sandbox nature, yet, I've also had days where I desired more directed mission/contract objectives, which there are but limited. The Platinum expansion has some new types, but I'm trying to stick to the base game in this review.

The production logistics add a whole new level and can perhaps give you purpose in your work other than to make a quick buck. I've always wanted to have more options for my raw materials, such as logs. This helps. It opens doors for the modders too. It also doesn't add any obscene levels of micromanagement either.

On the downside, and this is more of a problem with myself, is that as I get older I am not as patient with micromanaging certain tasks. For instance, I don't mind mowing down a forest with a harvester but I'll be darned if I will get into a forwarder and start picking up the logs one by one. This needs to be automated by a hireling and I'm not sure why it hasn't been done yet. Autoload mods are available, though.

When you're managing a massive enterprise, you want as many tasks as possible to be "autonomous". The further you grow your empire the more automation is needed. When it comes to the farming aspect it is almost all hands-off, eventually. Almost. The forestry portion is still very much hands-on, though.

This game is absolutely top notch. It has evolved, though slowly, into an A-list game, surpassing some well-known A-listers. Imagine that.

This says something. It's a serious statement.

It says that sometimes we don't feel like killing and destroying everything and we'd rather relax and produce.

It's relaxing.

It's therapy.

A Facebook ad drew my attention to this game. Being an X-Com fan, this peaked my interest. I like the cartoony superhero approach to this theme. I enjoyed the customizing and comic book story line. I look forward to playing more of it and will report back here as I learn more about the game.

The Farming Simulator Series is an ever-evolving franchise as well as being continuously refined. Each release brings forth new graphics enhancements, new features, new game mechanics, but overall it's the same game. Each year along with all the new points comes the questions of "why wasn't this added yet" and "did they release this seemingly unfinished" product.

Not unique to the FS series, a lot of games appear to be released falling short of their vision and ambitions probably due to time and budget constraints. Sometimes it's painfully obvious. Other times, it appears as though they rely on the modding community to make up for their shortfalls. It may even be strategic. They may be just focusing on what is needed to get the game out and leaving the rest to the modders.

To properly set the tone, I like FS19 and I expect to put in a many hours as I possibly can, having two jobs and a wife.

So the criticism here isn't simply to bash Giants or this series. It's simply to help push this already great game to an even greater game, where it should be.

Let's start off with addressing the multiple bug issues. This is quality control and quite often the best beta test is the initial release. So, despite all the bugs, some having affected me, they WILL be addressed and therefore, I don't want to talk about them. I want to focus on design and direction.

MAPS:
For the first time, Giants has produced some high-quality maps with textures, details, and an ambiance that really immerse me. The layout appears to be good, but I'll only know for certain once I'm several hours into the map. It's even been said, these new maps are almost GTA quality. That's saying a lot. I have noticed a severe absence of trees, but that's likely to prevent overwhelming weaker machines. For me, I have to customize my map, adding more forest and trees before I'll start. It really enhances the immersion for me.

EQUIPMENT:
Of course the tractors and such look even better than before. Every release, they'll improve the detail and textures as the player's hardware also improves. Are many different types of new equipment but very little of it dramatically changes the players farming strategy.

FEATURES:
New crops, better chicken management, horses are added. Nothing exciting, but they're very much welcomed.

BUILD YOUR OWN FARM:
FINALLY... I've always wanted to start with nothing. No ability to get a loan. Oonly has a chainsaw and a pickup truck. Then go dominate the map. Still can't quite do that but close enough. For now. The different game modes and improved contract work make this far more enjoyable.

PATCH 1.2
Landscaping! About time! This is a feature I will really enjoy. How could they have implemented it better? By attaching the landscaping code/script to the machines. I want to level ground with a machine not a mouse cursor. That would be the ultimate feature to this game.

BEEFS:
Ok. Maybe it's just me, but I guess I compare things to a vision I have. There are things to me that seem obvious and how and why they've been neglected will just give me ulcers if I spend too much time thinking about it.

- Decorative placeable objects: I don't mean the "trees and shrubbery" and such.I mean the buildings and "garages" and sheds that are purely decorative. Why are these decorative and not functional? There are barns, houses, shacks and sheds... and you want me to buy these for what? In fact, one of the barns is completely finished on the inside, with amazing textures, but can't you open the doors to get in and use it. I would really LOVE to see these "decorative" objects be patched with completed and functional versions. Also... why one house?

- Bushes/Shrubs: Sure the landscaping tool can remove them, but why can't I mow them? This is something that should have been added in FS15. Mushrooms... mow them. Or pick them.

- Certain objects: I love the junked car carcasses and other junk lying around. What I would love even more is being able to pick them up and move them or have them taken to the dump. I like the idea cleaning up my yard.

- Logs to Lumber: The modders have done it. Why hasn't this been implemented into the core game yet? So many things can be done with lumber.

I'll add more later.

This is the best release yet and I will be putting hours into it once a few mods kick in and I find a good map.

This game, as was it's previous incarnations, is an absolute joy to play. I love the depth and immersion as well as all the available mods to tweak it the way you want it. I'm a little tired of the human/alien dynamic though and felt that the expansion packs just got weirder, but perhaps that's just how the story goes.

What I would really like to see, and this is off in a different direction, is a Marvel Agents of Shield featuring some Marvel superheroes too. That would really be cool.

A few hours in...

So far... I haven't encountered any game breaking bugs. They exist and will likely be patched. The best beta testing comes after release.

I enjoy this game a lot. Love the logistics and management depth. It's something I always wished in Farming Simulator, the game I would normally play. This is a game I see myself playing a lot.

I'll update this review more as I go along.

[538 hrs on record, in 4 months, vs FS15 being 280 in two years]

Let me start off by setting the tone.

I've played since FS11 and despite the radical inclusion of forestry in FS15, which I enjoyed very much, I was still very bitter towards GIANTS and their progress from 11 to 15. I felt their added features lacking, their improvements lacking and overall vision or direction absent. Their DLCs quite often were obvious money grabs, rather than any real addition to a player's farming strategy.

Odds are, they were a small but up and coming software development team which accomplished what they could, considering they were also creating smaller versions of the game for the Android and iOS platforms. Maybe they were spread too thin.

This year, they release FS17 with a $45 price tag, up from $29 in the past and I couldn't help but facepalm myself. I sarcastically thought, "Let me guess, we'll have MORE TRACTORS" as a way to justify the new cost.

24 literal gameplay hours into it, and I have to say, it has caught up to most of my expectations. Kudos for bringing this game up to speed and making it almost worth the $45. It's about time.

The game mechanics haven't changed a whole lot. It seems like midway through FS15, before they fleshed out all the bugs, they cloned it and started making FS17. This would explain a lot of the bugs that were resolved late in FS15 showing up in FS17. Currently, the "jitter bug" prevents me from doing forestry unless I use autoload trailer mods.

So what's the deal?

Missions have changed. Previously we had delivery and mowing missions. I didn't mind the delivery ones, but they were sorta boring. The mowing missions I enjoyed. They're now gone, which I don't think is right. They should come back and with more variety.

Now, we have missions where we are maintaining other farmer's fields. Thing is, you can't hire anyone to do it. You have to do it yourself. I would prefer to be able to hire, even if it meant it would cut into my profit.

There are a few more crops, 1 more live stock (pigs), chickens haven't changed and lots of tractors. There are even two useless trains. Well, useless on the Goldcrest Valley map. Two little loops around the center of the map. Regardless, it will make for great maps by the modders. Goldcrest Valley is an awful map. How is it that modders make better maps?

Despite my gripes... I'm really addicted to this game.

And with the $45 price tag and $19 DLCs... they'd better be making a phenomenal FS2019.

In the past, I've played previous trucking games and found them to be mildly amusing. The graphics were simple, the game mechanics were simple, the driving was monotonous, and the scenery was often boring.

I can't speak on Euro Truck Sim 1, but I can tell you Euro Truck Sim 2 is very entertaining. I don't even like driving, but I love playing this game, listening to the internet streaming radio stations and often pausing to take screenshots of places I've been. The business management is fun and immersive. The customization of the trucks is beyond my imagination. The variety of trucks is limited, but there is mod support to go unlimited.

The DLCs which expand east and north are HIGHLY recommended. You'll be in awe as you drive through Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Lots of eye candy.

I do not regret getting this game.

I bought this game early on, being a Farming Simulator player. I was hoping this was going to be as fun. Unfortunately, the controls between Farming Sim and Construction Sim were so different, it was difficult to adapt and some of it even counter intuitive. I mean, why can\'t we have a free camera on all the time using the mouse to rotate and maneuver?
Initially, I was having difficulty reassigning keys. I\'d remap my keys but they weren\'t working. For the longest time, I was fed up and regretful having bought this game, but someone told me that many bugs had been fixed, so I gave it another shot.

It does look like it\'s working better. For me it\'s actually playable. I\'ll play some contracts and see if there is hope for this game. If they do come out with a 2017, please allow the controls to be fully configurable. I want to be able to set it as close to the FS series as possible.

I purchased the rest of the DLCs, seeing how it seems playable now. I\'ll modify my review later on when I get more hours into it.

This game has the potential to be a Minecraft killer, if it plays it's cards right.

It is still early in development, so I reserve my criticisms.

I love the game so far and enjoy the development put forth. They're still laying the foundation to this game, but what I'm seeing so far is very encouraging.

[What I'm hoping to see when the time is right...]

Once the core foundation of the game is complete, I would like to see the game or an available option for the game, for adventure and exploration. Meaning, I would like to be digging and discover bones, or ancient architectural artifacts, pyramids, obelisks, etc.
It would be cool to collect bones and if you have enough of the same type of animal, you could reconstruct a skeleton. Or find various artifacts that you can combine together to solve puzzles.

This may not be the direction they want to go.

I hope there is a mod for this theme though.

I think what motivated me the most to write a review was the lame negative reviews.

First off, I feel I must set the proper context for this review. This game is early in it's evolutionary journey. I see much potential in this. There are features missing or not setup it seems, but nothing big.

- The game seems lacking, in tucks and map, however they're working on it. The licenses are all that is left for the trucks and the maps are part of the ongoing evolution of the game, ETS2 style.
- The game is essentially an ETS2 total conversion. Is that bad? No. Why fix what isn't broken?
- Traffic appears to have some improvement. It still has the blind driver that stupidly runs into you once in a while.

The game has a western US feel to it, driving through California or Nevada. It feels more immersive than ETS2, I find. I'm not far into it, but I enjoy a relaxing drive while listening to the radio.

Suggestions?

My brother was suggesting tandem trucks, box trucks, maybe even expand into tow trucks and big rig tow trucks. I won't mention map expansion as I understand that is the long term plan.

Though I feel like I'm asking way too much for this next idea, but I would love to be able to get out of my truck, walk around, inspect & secure the load, Bring the feet down to disconnect the trailer, hook up any applicable cables/hoses... etc.

I remember the game, Rig'n Roll. It was more story oriented, but I enjoyed it. I liked the story feel to that game. It added a little personality.

A suggestion for SCS, which could generate some extra income:
Implement real advertisements on billboards around town and highways. Lots of potential for some passive income. It could help keep DLC costs down. Or free.

I think ATS has a very bright future.