Farming Simulator 25 News

It's not a secret anymore, that the ground in Farming Simulator 25 will deform. But you want some details, don't you? Well, go and get some!

Alongside new screenshots visualizing how the ground will deform, Senior Software Engineer Eddie Edwards from GIANTS Software will go further into detail on how it actually works.



Eddie, tell us about you and your position first - what’s your role?

I’m one of the Senior Engine Programmers for Farming Simulator. I’ve been at GIANTS since the early days of FS13. I created the original PlayStation 3 port, and I have been responsible for other ports of the GIANTS Engine to PS4, PS5, Switch and iOS. I’m very much “the PlayStation guy” at the company, but I also work on cross-platform engine technology such as Density Maps, rendering, shader compiler, some physics, audio, etc.  

There’s not much in the GIANTS Engine that I haven’t worked on to some extent over the last 12 years! And in particular, of course, I created the new technologies that bring us ground deformation for FS25 - the improved Density Map system, the new terrain geometry system, and the terrain virtual texturing system.

[h2] [/h2][h2]Firmness & Viscosity[/h2]
How the Ground Deforms

Depending on the ground type, the deformation and compression of the soil is dependent on multiple factors. Take a look!





Which factors define how the ground deforms?

Eddie: A number of factors affect this. Firstly, every ground type has a different level of “firmness” and “viscosity”. Tarmac cannot be deformed at all, for instance, while mud can be deformed a lot (due to different “firmness”), and driving on snow instantly crushes it, while driving on mud causes it to compress over a longer time (due to different “viscosity”).  Also, if the ground is wet, this affects the deformation as well.

Which vehicle you are driving also affects the deformation - the weight of the tractor and the width of its tires both affect the reaction of the terrain. And a slower-moving vehicle will sink faster than a fast-moving vehicle.

How does ground deformation affect gameplay? What will players “feel”? 

For the first time, FS25 gives a real physical response from the terrain - you will feel the tractor bumping over the ground, and you will see it creating ruts and tracks, and if you go back and drive over those ruts and tracks you will feel the effect from them as well. 

It is also harder to steer if you have dug into the ground, just as it is in real life. Driving in rain will be more difficult than driving when it is sunny. Your tire configuration now has a greater effect, too, and you may need to consider which tires are best to use for different seasons and different types of field work.

[h2] [/h2][h2]The Fun of Plowing[/h2]
Plowing on another level

While the deformation on the soil is individual to the machines, their weight and other conditions, one field activity in particular will probably feel a whole lot different in Farming Simulator 25.

What kind of machines/equipment will showcase ground deformation best? 

Plowing is a new experience now - the plow creates real physical furrows which can not only be seen more clearly on screen but also affects the tractor when driving over them.  Also, machines with caterpillar tracks come into their own now, as they can handle uneven ground so well.

 
[h2]Want to know more?[/h2]
Let's talk performance, visuals & challenges!



What were the technical challenges in implementing ground deformation?

The ground deformation works on a grid size of 12.5cm which works out to 16K x 16K for a 2km map (that’s 256 megapixels - the map itself is only 4 megapixels). There were various technical challenges with storing this data efficiently, and also with processing the data efficiently, for instance when tools like cultivators or plows work on the fields, and when vehicles drive over the fields and react to these fine-scale bumps and ridges.

There is also a “procedural” level of ground deformation, which is mapped with geometry in a similar way to how the terrain is texture-mapped with images, except it runs on the CPU instead of on the faster GPU, so we had to heavily optimize this code.

How is ground deformation data stored and managed?

Since ground deformation works at a higher resolution than we’ve dealt with before we wanted to save memory in areas which are not deformed (e.g. on rocky mountains, or in places where the player has not yet been), so we created a “sparse” version of the Density Maps.  This stores tiles of data only in regions where deformation actually exists. Furthermore, to reduce memory footprint even more, the tiles are all compressed, using a more advanced version of the existing Density Map compression that we’ve used in the past.

Additionally, to support fast operations on this high-resolution data we created a Density Map Processing Unit (DPU) which is like a little GPU emulator that runs on the CPU, and is capable of performing operations on Density Maps at much higher speeds than previously.  It can actually be programmed using our in-house shader language, although this feature is not used in FS25 yet.

For speed, the whole system (data compression, DPU operations, and procedural generation) is written using native SIMD instructions (SSE4.1 or AVX2 on PC and consoles, and NEON on ARM-based Macs).  There is far more SIMD-optimized code in this version of Farming Simulator than we’ve ever had before.

Tell us about how you optimized deformation physics for performance.

In previous versions of Farming Simulator the custom vehicle physics was dealing with terrain at a resolution of 0.5m. With terrain deformation and displacement, the resolution is now 0.125m - 4x greater in each direction, or 16x as many triangles.  This made our wheel vs terrain collision detection 16x slower, so we wrote a custom implementation of this for FS25 which is approximately thirty times faster than the old code, so overall our vehicle physics is now about twice as fast as before, even with all the new features.

The new physics code involved some quite heavy math and numerical analysis - fortunately I have a Master’s Degree in Mathematics, which helped me a lot on this task!

How does the game handle visual transitions for ground deformation?

Another new feature for FS25 is the terrain quadtree mesh, which enables high resolution triangle rendering near the player but uses a lower resolution further away - there is no need to render the deformed geometry when it is hundreds of meters away. 

The geometry smoothly morphs from deformed to not-deformed some distance from the player.  However, this transition is quite well hidden because of another new technology in FS25, which is the terrain virtual texture system. 

Although deformation is not rendered in the distance using triangles, it is still shaded and rendered into the terrain texture (using a graphics technique called normal mapping). So the deformation is still clearly visible, even on distant areas where the rendered triangle count is very low, and you can see the tracks left by the AI vehicles even if you are watching them from half a kilometer away!

What do you personally like most about ground deformation in the game?

It was a very rewarding experience to implement all these new technologies, and I love the fact that the result is not only a better visual experience for the player, but also that it interacts with physics and gameplay in such interesting ways, making FS25 a much more interesting and realistic “simulator” than ever before!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2300320/Farming_Simulator_25/


By pre-ordering Farming Simulator 25 (all versions), you get the MacDon Pack with five highlight machines on top!


[h2]Want More FS25? [/h2]


Want to know more about Farming Simulator 25? We bet you do. There are still a lot of things we have yet to reveal - so stay tuned for more in the weeks leading up to its release on November 12th. Check out our FarmCon presentations for more details!

Farming Simulator 25 features a small ensemble of characters to talk to - NPCs. If you decide to talk to them. Let's learn more about them and how they work.




We wanted to make the towns a bit more lively, so you can meet a handful of virtual people, brought to life by real voice actors. Each character has their own personality and area of expertise. Because we were able to create the characters without drawing developer resources from other game features, we added them as a side bonus.

To provide especially new virtual farmers some touching points in the form of guidance, they offer some advice and help for the farming basics. If you want to know more about them, you can just casually talk to them and see what spontaneously comes to their mind. Sometimes they might ask what you think.

They may also need a helping hand and offer you some contract when there's something to be done in the neighborhood.




As is traditional in farming, the farm is passed down from generation to generation. In this case, however, Grandpa Walter isn't passing the farm on to his son, who would normally be next in line, but wanted to explore another life away from the countryside.

Walter will share some of his experience and tell you more about the history of the family farm, and send you to his trusted, old friend and helper if you require assistance for modern agriculture.

I’m doin’ this for a while now. Despite all the modernization, there are still farmers sitting on tractors, right? My own grandfather, yes I had one too, he was old-school. And I mean it in the actual definition.

He did everything on horseback. Plowing, sowing, getting to town and delivering his produce to the market. As did most of the others. Horses were the backbone of it all.

Back then, a significant portion of his farm was about horse breeding and selling strong, healthy mares and stallions to other farmers.

Then, tractors became a thing. Slowly, at first. Then, more and more horses were retired from plowing duty.

Having been the trusted friend of Walter's for more than 30 years, Ben can tell beginners more about the farming basics. How to sow and harvest crops, operate the machines for the various field working steps, and more. He's always near at the starting farm.

Well, since your grandfather slowed down, he didn't really bother with the latest machines and did a lot of stuff... well, in an "old school" kind of way.

That's probably why he sent you to me. I'm an avid reader of all those agricultural magazines, you know. Old, but still learning…

If you come to me, I can help you make sure everything grows well in the fields.

Neighbor David is not a farmer, but tries to be. He's a beginner. He made some mistakes on the way and will warn others not to repeat them. In return, you may tell him, that it would be better for him to learn operating a baler instead of opening a hotel with wellness treatments, offering people to sleep on fresh hay - which he heard from others is a thing.

Additionally, being from the city, he can explain his perspective on both city life and living in the country and how he learned to really appreciate farming when he put his hands into the soil himself.

Sure, there are reasons for that. Growing practices so we can feed the population with huge amounts of food, for example.

I then learned that produce for mass markets is often harvested before it is fully ripe to withstand transportation and storage, for example.

Refrigeration, humidity control, long periods of storage, and so on. That all of these can affect the flavor and what you can taste and smell.

Never thought about that when I was still your common city boy. But I know now. And I appreciate what I harvest with my own hands even more now.

After traveling the world, Katie came home and took over the animal farm from her family. She is a hands-on person and can explain the basics of livestock farming. If you want to know more about her, she can share some personal stories and anecdotes from her travels.

Most of her anecdotes include animals in some way, and some of her stories are just myths she collected here and there. She's not always serious.

Aren’t you a curious one!

When I was reading about medieval farming, I was reminded that I really loved our farm, and the country life surrounded by nature, animals and livestock.

So I changed my major to agricultural sciences and only minored in history. Can’t escape your families' legacy sometimes, huh?

When I finished college, I traveled the world and worked on farms to see how they were doing things in other countries and cultures.

Noah is the local forester and lumberjack. His main profession is taking care of the forest, making sure it's handled with respect. If needed, he can explain the forestry basics.

But he prefers to talk more about woodcarving, even though his well-crafted objects are usually not as practical as he thinks, and you are free to point out flaws in his designs.

Since he also likes detective stories, he will pursue anyone who leaves an empty can of Fizzy Sprizz lemonade in the forest. Prepare to get a preventative lesson on how to behave in the woods.

This is what some people think of me and my profession, and it fills me with emotions on the negative side. It is important to handle any forest with care and respect to leave its overall structure intact.

I just wanted to make sure that you know that my job is not to eliminate all the trees around here.

We take what we need, we replace it, and we are respectful of the forest and its inhabitants. It also helps David so he can meditate in one of its clearings.

He already got a lesson on littering in the woods. I am a bit skeptical, but I believe him when he says that it fell out of his pocket. He stays under surveillance nonetheless.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2300320/Farming_Simulator_25/

Farmers who are particularly dedicated and involved in their town's community will find a wealth of new building opportunities in Farming Simulator 25.

Whether you just want to start a profitable side business or want to make a lasting mark on the region. Let's take a look at some new construction projects!




In addition to production chains where you produce bread or cakes in the bakery, flour in the grain mill, or canned goods in the soup factory, there are some very special repeatable constructions. Do you remember the piano maker in Zielonka?



Not only will the artisan workshop for finely crafted pianos make a comeback and open branches outside its hometown in Riverbend Springs or Hutan Pantai - if you want to invest in their expansion to new territories. But there are other new businesses waiting for your involvement.


[h2]Historic Wagon Builder[/h2]


Established in Riverbend Springs in 1904, Silver Shaft Wagons still produces some very fancy horse-drawn carriages. Requiring wooden boards as well as fabrics and rope to build one wagon. The final product is one a love letter to craftsmanship - and profitable for you.




[h2]Playground Maker[/h2]


What's a town without a playground, and a playground without toys? Think of the kids! Then help to construct some wooden toy tractors for the local playground in Riverbend Springs by delivering planks and boards.






Riverbend Springs and Hutan Pantai feature even bigger construction projects. Let's call them community projects - big plans of the respective town to build something monumental.

This requires way more time and effort. If your farming operation is not enough for you, and you as a farmer want to shape not only fields but an entire town, this might be your endgame.


[h2]Riverbend Springs: Playground Project[/h2]


There's a rather big project by an absent toy maker, who doesn't tend to finish his big projects himself, but needs some help. He doesn't stop at toy tractors, but his architectural magnum opus is something else. Grandpa Walter and Noah can tell you more about the actual intention of the project.


Under construction - nothing to see here yet!

Emotionally prepare yourself to deliver a whole range of resources over multiple stages until this one is finished. We don't reveal it here just yet.


[h2]Hutan Pantai: Temple Grounds[/h2]


To add to the Asian flair, Hutan Pantai wants to rebuild some of the old temple grounds, keeping the aesthetics of what their ancestors once built here.



By the way, there are some collectibles to be found all around the region. They will be displayed in the temples as soon as they are built. We call them Crop Orbs. Because they're orbs - with crops inside.




[h2]Riverbend Springs: Grain Elevator Museum[/h2]


Since Riverbend Springs used to be a place full of good old wooden grain elevators, there's even one left. Unfortunately, it's in pretty rough shape because it hasn't been used in a long time.



As historic as the grain elevator itself, there are various objects of agricultural significance tucked away around Riverbend Springs. How did they get there? Well, there's a history to it. Maybe Walter can clear it up if you decide to talk to him and he happens to bring it up.



As if all this old stuff belongs in a museum - guess what! The old grain elevator, when renovated, will become a museum for these interesting remnants of times gone by.

With Farming Simulator 22, we created some buzz by bringing you bees to improve yield through the advantages of good, old pollinating. For Farming Simulator 25, we really went back to the drawing board in front of the animal pen. Which animals are missing? Worms? Bears? Dragons?

Sadly, those didn't make the cut - neither did Pink River Dolphins, Echidnas, and Leprechauns. But we went through your as well as our own wish list and instantly thought 'okay, we goat this, GIANTS Software! Let’s take the chance by its horns and create something goatally awesome. Water buffalos!'



But let’s not bleat around the bush. You know about the water buffalo already. Check out the Water Buffalo Preview if you don't.

Click for Water Buffalo + Dev Interview

In addition to this mighty animal of South(east) Asian descent, we wanted to give livestock owners another option to choose from. We goat your back, farmers!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



[h2]Good Goats Take Time[/h2]




You want to get goats right and the most complex thing are their legs and rectangular pupils. First, we almost created a Dahu by accident - a mythical creature. You can learn more about it from Katie. Right, you don't know who she is, do you? You'll find out soon enough.

One wrong slider and shorter legs on one side and you have a fantastical beast! Once the legs were up to snuff and we banished the Dahu back to its folkloric existence (or did we?), we had a squad of 2D & 3D artists working non-stop on the pupils. All so these beautiful animals could do what they do best - stare.



Then our artists and programmers build other parts of an anatomically correct goat in different stages from newborn to adult, so you can enjoy one of the most anticipated farm animals! Before we show you the mini goats, here are some real facts about real goats:



[h2]Goats? Great![/h2]

• Goats are incredible climbers. They're known for their agility, even scaling steep cliffs and trees. If you think you're good at bouldering, look at goats!
  
• Rectangular pupils give them nearly 360-degree panoramic vision, helping them spot predators and navigate challenging terrain.
  
• They're curious and intelligent. They can learn how to open gates or manipulate objects. Good to have an eye on them.
  
• Goats are highly social and form close bonds within their herds, or even humans and other animals.
  
• Each goat has a unique voice. Just look at all those screaming goat videos. So not only mother goats could recognize individual goats go by their bleat.

[h2]What more do you want?[/h2]





[h2]New Productions & Products[/h2]




Goat milk is not everyone's cup of milk, but those who like it, love it. Its distinct, slightly tangy flavor is not as sweet and mild as your regular milk from a cow, but that's why it's so unique in taste and profitable in production!



While keeping goats for the sake of it is awesome enough, new productions allow you to process their milk and go for fine goat cheese! It's worth it, you goat to believe it!



Want to try goat cheese for real? Try it with fruits, nuts, honey, and herbs like thyme, rosemary and basil. You can put it in almost every dish just like regular cheese. From salad and stuffed in peppers to pasta and pizza.



[h2]The Man Who Stares at Goats[/h2]




What inspired the decision to add goats to the game?
Goats have been a popular request from our players, especially in certain regions where they play an important role in animal husbandry. They also work well with our production chains and new products that players can craft, making them more interesting for everyone.

What unique behavior will goats exhibit compared to other livestock?
You will notice many new animations from our Character & Animation team, who have done a great job bringing the animals to life. As goats are particularly lively and looking at our improved animation system, we thought Farming Simulator 25 would be incomplete without them. Especially the kids are jumping around like you would expect young goats to behave which is quite nice to watch.

How did you research real goat behavior to design their in-game actions?
One of the benefits of having a lot of people working on Farming Simulator who already had a lot of experience with real-life farming is that it is easier to bring those elements into the game. There's already an underlying sense of what's authentic, and that includes animals like goats when we digitize them.

But to really bring their virtual counterparts to life, we also look at a lot of videos of goats in various environments and discussed their behavior together. In the end, artists, animators, and programmers had to be in sync.

What challenges did you face when creating goats in general?
Goats are active, excited and playful creatures when you follow them around. So, the challenging part here was of course to make their movements look realistic and animate them properly. I think, our team did a good job here and goats add to the liveliness of the farms.

Why do you think goats are impressive farm animals?
Goats in particular like to let you know that they have distinct personalities. As I said before, they are playful. Because they are also incredibly curious and intelligent, always exploring their surroundings, they can be quite challenging livestock to keep. But they make up for it in providing valuable resources like milk, and they’re known for their hardiness in different environments.
[h2]
Thank you for reading this preview. Goat day.[/h2]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2300320/Farming_Simulator_25/

Here’s the thing about rice in Farming Simulator 25: Not all rice is the same. There are two different types - long grain rice and what we just call “rice”. How about we take a closer look at the differences between them?


[h2]Rice Types[/h2]




Rice and long grain rice need different water levels, machines to sow and harvest, and seeds, of course. Long grain rice isn’t sown in water like the other one. Instead, the rice paddy for long grain rice gets flooded AFTER the sowing, not before. But let's start at the beginning!


[h2]Rice Paddies[/h2]




Both types of rice are planted or sown in rice fields (also called rice paddies) - that’s a special type of field deepened to allow for water retention. That's why you require open space on your land.

Via the build menu, you start the creation process. Instead of just placing down a field, you can shape it in any size or form.




[h2]Rice Greenhouses[/h2]




This one is optional - you can buy saplings at the dealership. Or you build a special greenhouse dedicated to cultivating rice saplings. If your agricultural ambitions rely on increased rice production, you should look at growing them yourself.




[h2]Planting & Harvesting Rice[/h2]


Here's the equipment you need to plant and harvest rice: You need a tractor, a cultivator, a specialized rice planter as well as a harvester, and a trailer. Some lime should also be in storage - but for the end of the whole process. Rice fields are pre-limed when you build them, which is why you don't need to apply it in the beginning.



Activate the water pump to flood the field, then plant the saplings. Since the rice planter will take care of fertilization, you don’t need an additional fertilizer spreader like with other crops.

The pump will automatically provide the correct amount of water. Just check your water pump daily to maintain the proper level, or you will lose seedlings and yield. All the water will be soaked up by the thirsty plants by the end of the growth cycle.



When the rice is mature, harvest it and decide whether to sell it, store it, or process it into products. To grow another batch of rice, apply lime to the field and cultivate the paddy after harvesting. Lime is only needed after a few harvests. Check the field info to see if it is needed!


[h2]Sowing & Harvesting Long Grain Rice[/h2]


With long grain rice, you don’t need any water to sow your plant just yet. Long grain rice is sown dry. Just fill your seeder with seeds and start sowing one row after another until the whole paddy is covered.



After that, you flood the rice field and need to maintain different water levels at different growth stages. Don’t worry, the pump will only allow just the right amount of water. Check your water pump daily to maintain the proper level. If you don’t, you will lose some of your rice saplings.



Once the plant is ready to harvest and has consumed all the fresh, yummy water, just head over to your harvester and hop in! Your standard combine with a grain header will do the job.



Sell it, store it, or process it further at select production plants. But we’re not done yet! To cultivate another batch of rice, apply lime to the field and cultivate the paddy with a cultivator.

[h2]Growth Stages[/h2]


[h3]Rice[/h3]


[h3]Long Grain Rice[/h3]


[h2]Coming Soon on the Blog: Maybe Goats[/h2]
[h3]Stay tuned![/h3]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2300320/Farming_Simulator_25/