The main farming simulator that most people know is the Farming Simulator series by GIANTS Software. But there are a bunch of copies, such as Actalogic’s Agricultural Simulator. This wasn’t supposed to be a review.. but it ended out that way….
Review
There are 2 main differences between this and the Farming Simulator range. First off, the actual crops/tractor work is quite limited. You can do it, but it’s a real waste of money, and time. In Farming Simulator the main goal is about the tractor work. Farming Simulator has animals, but it’s quite limited in that respect. Agricultural Simulator has tried to be different here. The animals in AS2011 gain far more attention. You buy, fatten up and sell the animals, thus turning a profit. There are many more breeds of animals than FS2011 or 2013. FS2011 had 1, cows, FS2013 introduced sheep and chickens… Agricultural Simulator 2011 has Cows, Bulls, Sheep, Goats, Donkeys, Geese, Deer, Rabbits, Horses (?!) ..there are more but I can’t remember them off the top of my head… Each one has it’s own breeding cycle and demand.
In terms of crops, there are more here too, there are the main 4, Maize, Wheat, Barley and Canola (Which all make an appearance in FS2011-FS2013), but then there is Rye, Oats, Buckwheat, and I’m sure there are more, I’ve just not unlocked them yet… The fields require a bit more work than in Farming Simulator, they all need ploughing between crops, (you can just cultivate the stubble in for FS), then cultivating, fertilising (Can choose manure or artificial) and seeding. Then you can spray the crops while they’re growing to do.. something.. not sure what it changes, probably just yield. Lots more work there! There are AI that can help out, they’re slightly more in-depth than in FS as well. You hire workers from a list, and they can be assigned a job, tractor and machinery. They’ll then take these from the vehicle shed, drive to the field, do the job and return the machinery. They can also be trained up with machines, allowing them to.. do something.. possibly work faster. They’ll do all the main crop work, including harvesting, but you’ll have to drive the trailer to empty the combine after they filled it.
The grain can be stored in a silo, and sold from there, but if you take it to a factory or depot you can get more for it. In Farming Simulator, you take your products to one of 4 or so buyers, and you can see the price in the PDA, so allowing you to choose the best price. AS2011 you don’t have a PDA like that, so you have to load your trailer and pick one. The price might be high or low, so you’ve gotta weigh up driving to the next one to check their prices, at the cost of the fuel to get there. Each place will only accept a certain amount as well, so no more selling millions of tonnes to the pub anymore…
The machines appear to be all CLASS machinery… Clearly the only company that’d give them a license to reproduce their vehicles in game…
Graphics wise, AS2011 is far from optimised. It has more graphical depth, the tractors for example, get dirty from use, there are tyre tracks in the ground where you’ve driven. This improved graphics (Over FS2011, or indeed FS2013) come at the cost of hugely increased graphics card hunger… Unreasonably so, it’s like I’m running 5 copies of Skyrim at max res. I work on remote sensing data, where you’ve got BIG satellite images, which have to be processed and analysed, and it doesn't use up half the RAM and graphics RAM as AS2011….
Overall, Agricultural Simulator has much more depth than Farming Simulator, but it lacks the fun of Farming Simulator, it is much more of a serious business management game than a fun “OO argh! Get off my land!” kind of game…
I can’t really compare it that well really, I like them both at different times, if I’m missing the farm and tractors I’ll play Farming Simulator, but if I’m in the mood for some business management, I’ll choose Agricultural Simulator.
Overall I’d give Agricultural Simulator 2011 a 7/10, it is good, but it’s the graphics try a little too hard in some areas (Mud) and leave the other things (Like the terrain & trees) looking naff and very odd..
Farming Simulator 2013 gets an 8/10. It is a much more polished and balanced product, but lacks the depth of Agricultural Simulator 2011.
Agricultural Simulator 2011 is available from Steam
Farming Simulator 2013 is also available from Steam
Review
There are 2 main differences between this and the Farming Simulator range. First off, the actual crops/tractor work is quite limited. You can do it, but it’s a real waste of money, and time. In Farming Simulator the main goal is about the tractor work. Farming Simulator has animals, but it’s quite limited in that respect. Agricultural Simulator has tried to be different here. The animals in AS2011 gain far more attention. You buy, fatten up and sell the animals, thus turning a profit. There are many more breeds of animals than FS2011 or 2013. FS2011 had 1, cows, FS2013 introduced sheep and chickens… Agricultural Simulator 2011 has Cows, Bulls, Sheep, Goats, Donkeys, Geese, Deer, Rabbits, Horses (?!) ..there are more but I can’t remember them off the top of my head… Each one has it’s own breeding cycle and demand.
In terms of crops, there are more here too, there are the main 4, Maize, Wheat, Barley and Canola (Which all make an appearance in FS2011-FS2013), but then there is Rye, Oats, Buckwheat, and I’m sure there are more, I’ve just not unlocked them yet… The fields require a bit more work than in Farming Simulator, they all need ploughing between crops, (you can just cultivate the stubble in for FS), then cultivating, fertilising (Can choose manure or artificial) and seeding. Then you can spray the crops while they’re growing to do.. something.. not sure what it changes, probably just yield. Lots more work there! There are AI that can help out, they’re slightly more in-depth than in FS as well. You hire workers from a list, and they can be assigned a job, tractor and machinery. They’ll then take these from the vehicle shed, drive to the field, do the job and return the machinery. They can also be trained up with machines, allowing them to.. do something.. possibly work faster. They’ll do all the main crop work, including harvesting, but you’ll have to drive the trailer to empty the combine after they filled it.
The grain can be stored in a silo, and sold from there, but if you take it to a factory or depot you can get more for it. In Farming Simulator, you take your products to one of 4 or so buyers, and you can see the price in the PDA, so allowing you to choose the best price. AS2011 you don’t have a PDA like that, so you have to load your trailer and pick one. The price might be high or low, so you’ve gotta weigh up driving to the next one to check their prices, at the cost of the fuel to get there. Each place will only accept a certain amount as well, so no more selling millions of tonnes to the pub anymore…
The machines appear to be all CLASS machinery… Clearly the only company that’d give them a license to reproduce their vehicles in game…
Graphics wise, AS2011 is far from optimised. It has more graphical depth, the tractors for example, get dirty from use, there are tyre tracks in the ground where you’ve driven. This improved graphics (Over FS2011, or indeed FS2013) come at the cost of hugely increased graphics card hunger… Unreasonably so, it’s like I’m running 5 copies of Skyrim at max res. I work on remote sensing data, where you’ve got BIG satellite images, which have to be processed and analysed, and it doesn't use up half the RAM and graphics RAM as AS2011….
Overall, Agricultural Simulator has much more depth than Farming Simulator, but it lacks the fun of Farming Simulator, it is much more of a serious business management game than a fun “OO argh! Get off my land!” kind of game…
I can’t really compare it that well really, I like them both at different times, if I’m missing the farm and tractors I’ll play Farming Simulator, but if I’m in the mood for some business management, I’ll choose Agricultural Simulator.
Overall I’d give Agricultural Simulator 2011 a 7/10, it is good, but it’s the graphics try a little too hard in some areas (Mud) and leave the other things (Like the terrain & trees) looking naff and very odd..
Farming Simulator 2013 gets an 8/10. It is a much more polished and balanced product, but lacks the depth of Agricultural Simulator 2011.
Agricultural Simulator 2011 is available from Steam
Farming Simulator 2013 is also available from Steam
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