------------------- Farming Simulator 2009 Guide ver. 1.0 by Playbahnosh Copyright © 2010 ------------------- ----------- Legal crap ----------- This Guide may not be changed or reproduced, and is provided "AS IS". You may not use this Guide to get money, you cannot sell, rent, lease or anything like that, that is illegal. The things written in this document are as accurate as possible, but I'm only human, I can make mistakes. I take no responsibility for any damage caused by the content of this document, so use it at your own risk. Things written in the Guide are subject to change without further notice, so seek the most recent version. I delete hate-mail, so don't even bother. Contact rules in the Feedback section. The only sites allowed to host this Guide: - GameFAQs(www.gamefaqs.com) - SuperCheats(www.supercheats.com) - Neoseeker(www.neoseeker.com) If you found this document on another site, they are hosting it without my permission and are subject to imminent orbital bombardment. If you brake any of these rules, I'll kill you with flamethrower. Thats about it. --------- Contents --------- 1. Intro 2. Controls 3. Missions 4. Career Mode 4.1 The PDA 4.2 Your Farm 4.3 Vehicles and Equipment 4.4 Crops 5. Becoming a Farmer 5.1 Growing your first crops 5.1.1 Cruise Control 5.1.2 Plowing and Cultivating 5.1.3 Seeding 5.1.4 Fertilizing 5.1.5 Harvesting 5.1.6 Selling the Grain 5.2 Advanced Farming 5.2.1 Hiring Workers 5.2.2 Buying New Equipment 5.2.3 Grass and Hay 5.2.4 Baling 5.2.5 Automating the work 6. Side-Missions 6.1 Gathering Bottles 6.2 Working at the Gardening Center 7. Mods 7.1 Installing Mods 7.2 GIANTS Editor 7.3 Tips and Links 8. Questions & Answers (FAQ) 9. Feedback /----------\ | 1. Intro | \----------/ This is a guide/FAQ for Farm Simulator 2009, also known as Landwirtschafts Simulator 2009. I did my best to detail every aspect of the game and explain everything there is to know about how to play the game and have fun while doing it. The sections are loosely tied together and written to be read in order, but you can read just the sections that interest you, look in the Contents. You can also jump to individual sections by using the search function and typing in the number of the section ('3.' for Missions and '5.1.2' for Plowing for example) and hitting the Find Next button until you see the section header. If you are just looking for some particular answer, try the Q&A section, there is a good chance you'll find your answers there. The things written here are as accurate as possible and all based on my own personal experience in the game. My methods are by far not the 'only' or the 'best' ways to go about playing the game. You are not required to follow this guide to the letter, in fact, I encourage you to experiment and try different methods, everyone has a different play-style, the most important thing is to HAVE FUN! Everything is here to get you started, but there are still incomplete sections, I might update them in the future. The guide is written for absolute beginners, using mostly layman terms so everyone can understand what I'm saying, so please don't write me about the absence or incorrectly written agricultural lingo. English is not my first language, I'm Hungarian, I did my best to clean up the guide but there may still be some errors in grammar and wording, sorry about that. If you can't understand something, feel free to write an email, and I'll try my best to answer your questions (contact rules in the Feedback section). If you find a discrepancy in the guide, stuff that is not in your game or, in fact, missing from the guide, that may be because you are using a different version of the game than me (different release, patches). This guide is for the unmodded 'vanilla' game, so please don't ask me about specific mods (more on that in the Mods section). Now, let's get on with the guide, shall we? /-------------\ | 2. Controls | \-------------/ The game, by default, is controlled with the keyboard and mouse. Some of the keys are context sensitive and may do other things than described here, I will explain them in detail in their appropriate section. Also, mods may have different key assignments, more on that in the Mods section. For now, here is the basic keyboard layout: ESC - Menu F1 - Show/Hide help text W - Accelerate S - Brake/Reverse A - Turn Left D - Turn Right E - Enter/Exit vehicle TAB - Change vehicle F - Lights ON/OFF 1,2,3 - Cruise Control T - Refuel (near pump) Shift - Run (on foot) Q - Attach/Detach equipment, dump grain (near grain vent) Shift+Q - Detach equipment group G - Switch between attached equipments V - Lower/Raise equipment X - Fold/Unfold equipment B - Turn equipment (ON/OFF) J - Raise Front-loader N - Lower Front-loader K - Tilt Front-loader up M - Tilt Front-loader down H - Hire/Dismiss worker I - PDA P - Shop 9 - Zoom on map C - Change camera Mouse and arrow keys - Rotate camera Mouse wheel - Zoom camera One important feature is the F1 key, you can turn on the in-game help with it. It will list the usable keys for the current vehicle you are in and the implement selected, it is a very handy feature. You can also use certain gamepads and wheels to control the game. In the Gold edition you can also customize your keyboard layout and use more controllers. /-------------\ | 3. Missions | \-------------/ The game has two modes of playing: Career and Missions. First, let's see the missions. This section contains some tutorial tasks and a few others. They are pretty boring and rather useless, so other than learning the controls for the first time or trying out farming implements, you shouldn't bother too much with them. The loading screen for each mission describes what you need to do and how, so I won't repeat that here. Some of the missions involve driving around with the tractor on an obstacle course or through checkpoints, this is a way to learn how to drive vehicles in the game, but you'll do that a lot anyway so it's pretty pointless to drive around dodging shopping carts and tires or whatever. Some missions require you to drive harvesters or use different implements attached to your tractor, like plows, fertilizer sprayers, etc. These are good to familiarize yourself with the different equipment needed to grow crops and harvest them, but again, you'll use those implements fairly often in the game anyway, and learning by doing is the best way to do it. Missions have a time limit, if you run out of time, you fail the mission, but if you finish the task fast enough you can get medals. This is pretty much all there is to it. If you want, you can replay missions to get the best time and reach gold in every one of them but there is no reward for that so why bother. With missions out of the way, let's see the real deal... /----------------\ | 4. Career Mode | \----------------/ This is what you'll be playing in Farm Simulator. In Career mode, you get your own farm and a whole island to explore. It's up to you what you do in the game, it's basically sandbox. There is no story or campaign, so don't expect anything fancy. In the Menu, press the Career button, and choose a save slot for your game. (The game will always be saved to this slot and you can load it from here. You can start new games using the other slots and play them while having your other saves intact.) Then you need to choose a difficulty setting, Easy, Normal or Hard. As far as I can tell, there is not much difference between between the difficulty settings, save for one important thing: the price of crops. In easy mode, you can get as much as $5000 for a ton of crop whereas in Hard mode, only around $500. Plus, in Easy and Normal mode you get some starting crops pre-stored in your silos, and of course the starting capital is higher in Easy an quite low in Hard. The Normal mode is smack in between the two in terms of money and stuff you start with and also grain prices. You start at your farmhouse. You can see little 'i' icons in front of you, walk over them to read them (you can find many of these scattered around the island, walk over them to read the tips). So, you inherited a farm, cool. Also, you got some machinery. You can see your starting equipment standing out in the yard. It is as follows: - an old, rickety tractor - a small plow - a small cultivator - a small sowing machine - a small sprayer - a small weight - a small tipper - a dozer shield - an rusty, ancient harvester - header for the harvester You have everything you need to start becoming a full fledged farmer. First, let's see your PDA. ============ 4.1 The PDA ============ Pressing the 'I' key brings up your PDA, a very important tool in the game, full of information and statistics. Pressing it repeatedly brings up new screens and eventually closes it. The first screen is the map/GPS. It shows your location on the island. It also shows the numerous landmarks and places of interest, such as the port, machine shop or the mill. You can go explore the island if you want, but I advise against using your starting tractor to do it. It is slow as hell and has limited fuel reserves, so you are better off on foot until you can buy a fast tractor. There are homes, windmills, chapels, lighthouses, a skate park and some other misc. landmarks around you can visit, but there are some notable places of interest on the island: * Your Farm: Your very own farm is located in the dead center of the island. This is your base of operations. There is a paved road to the north and dirt roads to the other directions. * The Port: It is located north-east of your farm. You can sell every type of crop at the port, but at a low price. You can also see ships moving about. Just follow the paved road east until you see the entrance, the gates will open up as you approach and you can drive in. * The Brewery: It is north of the port near the village. The Brewery buys wheat and barley usually at a good price. Just follow the paved road east, then turn left at the intersection and go through the village until you see the sign. The grain vent is in the back. * The Mill: It is the tall building with the silo due east of your farm, little to the south of the port. It buys wheat, barley and canola usually at a good price. Just follow the paved road from your farm, pass the Port and the road will turn southward, follow it until you see the tall building, that's the mill. You can also use the dirt road heading east from your farm, it takes you straight to the mill. * The Machine Shop: It is far north-west of your farm, marked as "FENDT" on your PDA. This is the place you can buy and sell vehicles and equipment. Follow the paved road north then turn left at the roundabout and follow the road to the west until you arrive to the machine shop. There is a small blue circle at the entrance, walk into it to enter the shop. * The Gardening Center: It is north of your farm, a little far, it is marked by roses on the map. It has a mission for you. You can read about it in the Side-Missions section. Head to the Brewery, then drive past it and follow the road to the north. * The Supermarket: It is due west from the Gardening Center, just follow the road. The Supermarket is also part of a side-mission. * Fields: There are field all around the island, and they are all yours. You can cultivate and grow crops on any of them. At the start of the game, some of the fields already have crops or straw on them, you can harvest and use them freely. These are the most noteworthy places. You can also zoom out on the map with the '9' key. The next screen is the weather report. It shows you the predicted weather for next few days. Surprisingly, weather has no effect on anything in the game, except for harvesting (more on that later). The next screen contains the current prices of the four crops at every selling station. The little arrows show the trend in the prices: If it's green and points up, that means the price of that crop is rising. If it points down, the price is falling, and if it points sideways, the prise is stagnant. It is very handy to determine where, when or even 'if' you should sell the stuff you just harvested. The last one is the statistics screen. Here you can see information about your game and the status of your farm, such as how much grain you have in storage, the amount of fuel you used and how respected you are. If you press 'I' again, it closes the PDA. ============== 4.2 Your Farm ============== There are various buildings and stuff around your farm. There is your farmhouse, barns, silos and some other stuff. Let's look at them: * The Barn: The barn is large building right next to your farmhouse. It has a conveyor belt for bales. You can make bales from hay and straw, transport them to your farm and load them on the conveyor with the front-loader, it will transport them up and drop them in. You get a small amount of money for each bale dropped into your barn. * The Grain Vent: The grain vent is right next to the green silos, look for a concrete slab on the ground with grates on them. You can unload crops from tippers here into your silos to store them. Drive onto the vent with the tipper (with some grain in it, obviously) hooked to your tractor, slowly. When the end of the tipper is above the grate, a green icon with a tipper symbol will appear on your screen. Press 'Q' to unload the grain. Press 'Q' again to lower the tipper again when it's empty. * Grass/Hay Pit: The pit is right between your silos, you can see some hay/grass already in them. You can dump the cut grass or hay gathered with the forage wagon here to get some money. Just back up with the forage wagon into the pit (the one with some green grass in it) until you see the dump icon and press 'Q' to dump the stuff. * The Silos: There are four silos, each with a different crop sign on it. You can load your stored grain into tippers for transport. Just drive your tractor with a tipper hooked to it under the silo with grain symbol you want to load. When the tipper is right under the silo, it will load the tipper, then you can transport the grain somewhere else. * The Fuel Pump: The pump is right next to your silos and the storage hall, look for a large white tank near the hedge. You can refuel your tractors and harvesters here. Just drive up to the pump, and when the icon appears, press 'T' and wait for the fueling to be finished. Refueling costs money. IMPORTANT: If you vehicle runs out of fuel while out in the field, it stops dead, and you can't do anything. The fuel indicator is in the lower right side of the screen, if it turns red, head home and refuel ASAP. (If you still manage to run out of gas, just save your game, exit, load it again, and all your vehicles should be fueled again.) You also have you farmhouse, two storage halls, where you can keep your machinery, some hedges, a dumpster, etc. These are not important for gameplay, but you can check them out nevertheless. =========================== 4.3 Vehicles and Equipment =========================== There are two types of vehicles and various implements and equipment at your disposal. Let's see: * Tractors: Tractors are the main workhorse of your farm, you'll be sitting in one most of the time. There are two mounting fixtures, one on the front and one on the back. You can hook up implements and equipment to the fixtures to use them. Tractors come in various shapes and sizes, but the rule of thumb: the more expensive it is, the better it is. Better tractors are faster, heavier, stronger and have more horsepower and fuel capacity. More horsepower and weight means you can pull heavier implements and tippers (small tractors will tip and fall over or won't even budge with heavy implements hooked up). Being faster and having a bigger fuel tank means faster transportation and fewer trips to the fuel pump, that saves you a lot of time. Also, faster tractors can be used to explore the island better, and are essential for gathering hard to reach bottles (Side-Missions section). One exception is the tractor with the front-loader. You'll need this to perform certain tasks around your farm, like transporting bales and moving stuff, and it is essential for a side-mission. The front-loader comes with it's own unique implements but can use other ones as well. * Combines (Harvesters): The combine harvester is the one you'll use to harvest your crops from the fields. It is a large machine that uses a spinning header to gather and cut the crops, then it strips and stores the seeds in a tank and deposits the leftover straw at the back. They also come in various versions, and again, the more expensive, the better. Bigger and more powerful combines can use wider headers (faster harvesting), and have more fuel and grain capacity. You can load the harvested grain from the combine to tippers for transportation using the extendable arm. Combines and headers are sold separately. * Plows: The plow is the dash-shaped implement with the large blades on it. It is used to turn and shuffle the soil deeply in preparation for planting. The large blades are lowered into the ground and pulled with the tractor to turn the soil. You can also use it to remove any leftover crops or straw from your fields if you don't need them. You can hook up plows to any tractor (usually at the back). These come in different sizes also, bigger for faster plowage. You must plow (or cultivate) your fields before planting! * Cultivators: The cultivators is the rectangle shaped implement with the blades and rollers. It is used to shuffle and loosen the top layer of the soil before planting. The blades are lowered into the top soil and in combination with the rollers it loosens the ground for the seeds. Cultivators can also be used to remove crops or leftover straw/hay. It can be hooked up to any tractor (usually at the back). Again, the bigger the better. You must cultivate (or plow) your fields before planting! * Sowing machines (Seeders): Look for a wide implement with rake-like straws along the back. Sowing machines are used to plant crops into the cultivated field. Pulled by a tractor, the seeder draws small grooves into the ground and drops seeds in them then turns some soil over them. Any tractor can use seeders (usually mounted in the back), and they come in different sizes also, the bigger the..yaddy-yadda. Without planting, nothing will grow on your fields (except grass, about that later). You don't need to fill you seeder, seeds are bought automatically, the cost of the seeds will be deducted from you account. (Some mods use a different approach, look in the Mods section.) * Sprayers (Fertilizers): Sprayers are used to spray liquid fertilizer (or pesticide, but that's not in the game without mods) on your fields. Look for a yellow implement with a large white tank. Fertilizer helps your plants grow and give a better yield of crops when harvesting. It is essential to spray your fields to maximize yield. Hook it up to a tractor, drive out to your field, extend the arms (if it has extendable arms), turn the sprayer on to start the flow of fertilizer and apply liberally. You can tell if you fertilized a field by looking at it, parts of ground already fertilized will turn to a darker color. Don't worry about spraying too much, you can't spoil the crops, and fertilizer is also free in this game and you don't have to fill the fertilizer tank either, it's unlimited. You can spray before or after planting, just make sure you do it before your grain is ready for harvest or it won't have any effect. * Mowers (Grass Cutters): This is the big brother of the average lawn mower. It's the flat implement with yellow "skirts". Hook it to a tractor, lower it, turn it on and you can mow the grass on your field. There are two types in game, a small one and a big one. For maximum mow(n)age, you can use two movers hooked to your tractor at the same time. * Forage Wagon: The forage wagon is a large trailer with gathering rollers on it's belly. Towed by a tractor it gathers cut grass and hay from grass fields. Hook it up to a tractor, turn it on and drive around your freshly mowed field to collect the grass. You can dump the gathered stuff at the grass pit on your farm. * Rotor Tedder: This implement is used to shuffle and turn the mowed grass, so it can dry better. It has many rotating forks in line to turn the grass. In essence, it makes hay from grass, which you can press into bales. Just hook it to a tractor, lower it, turn it on and drive around the cut grass to shuffle it. * Rotor Windrower: It is essentially a giant rake. The rotating blades rake the grass/hay into tight lines (windrows), so the forage wagon or the baler can collect it better. Just hook it up to a tractor, turn it on and carefully drive around your field so you leave nice straight lines behind for easy collection. * Quad Baler: This big machine collects hay or straw and presses it into rectangular bales. It's the big green-ish trailer with the rollers on it's belly. Jut hook it to a tractor and collect the hay/straw with it. When it gathers enough stuff, it deposits a bale on your field. You can collect the bales later and transport them to your farm. * Tippers (Grain Trailers): These trailers are used to transport crops around. There are three kinds in the game. One trailer can hold only one type of grain at the same time, you have to first dump whatever you are carrying to load a different crop. The bigger ones hold more grain, but keep in mind, that they are also much heavier (especially when fully loaded), you need a lot of horsepower to pull them. Small tractors will struggle or won't even budge if you hook a giant trailer on them. You can load them from combines or the silos, and you can dump the grain at the grain vent on your farm or any of the selling stations on the map. You can also hook trailers together to transport more or different kinds of crops at the same time. Note, however, that even the strongest tractor in the game will struggle to pull two of biggest tippers hooked to it when fully loaded. * Front-Loader Equipment and the Shield: The bale spikes, the pallet fork and the shovel is for the front-loader tractor. You can hook these only to the front-loader on that particular kind of tractor, no other vehicle can use them. With the bale spikes, you can pick up bales and put them on the bale trailer or the conveyor at the barn. Just thrust it in the bale to pick it up. With the pallet fork, you can pick up pallets or other stuff and transport them around, it is needed for a side-mission (look in the Side-Missions section). The shovel attachment is not used for anything as far as far as I know. The dozer shield is also pretty useless, I haven't used it for anything in the game. It is supposed to help you remove obstacles from your fields, like rocks and tree-bits, but I yet to see a field with obstacles on it. Around it, sure, on it, no. You can just as well shove stuff out of the way with your tractor or some other implement, you don't need to use the shield for that, and it isn't much to look at as decoration either, so you should probably sell it. * Weights: There are three kind of weights sold in the game, you get a small one at game start. It is used as a counter-weight on tractors, so they don't tip when a heavy implement is attached at the other end, it keeps the tires on the ground when accelerating/braking/turning. If you use a heavy implement, just attach a weight on the other end and it should balance the load nicely. In my experience, you also have to lower the weight ('V' key) to be effective. The small one is pretty useless, and the barrel is a bit overkill, so use the medium weight, it is good for just about everything in terms of balancing. So these are the machinery at your disposal. You get some rickety starting equipment at game start, but I suggest you save up and buy better and bigger gear as soon as you can. The vehicles and equipment doesn't age, degrade or break down, so you only have to worry about having enough gas in the tank. Now, let's see how can you become a great farmer... ========== 4.4 Crops ========== There are four kind of crops in the base game. You can plant and harvest any of them freely. Let's take a look: * Wheat: You certainly know this crop. Wheat is light brown-gold colored crop that is usually either planted in spring or fall and harvested in fall or spring respectively, but there are kinds of wheat engineered to be planted all year around. The harvested grain is usually ground into a fine powder we know as flour, then mixed with other ingredients and baked into bread, other kinds of baked goods, cookies, cakes, cereals, fermented into drinks and lots and lots of other stuff. In the game it's a very basic crop, doesn't yield much money but every selling place buys it and it is one of the crops that produces straw after harvesting. * Barley: Beer and whiskey, oh yeah! :D Barley is a darker brown-gold colored crop, very similar to wheat in looks, planting and harvesting. The most important thing is: barley is the main ingredient of beer, whiskey, vodka and many other kinds of drinks because of it's unique enzymes. First it is germinated in water and turned into malt, then the malt is mixed with other ingredients, cooked, fermented and the end product is usually a good alcoholic drink. It can also be roasted, like in the case of Guinness. Of course barley is also used food, though not as widely as it used for drinks :) In the game, it is a good all-around crop, with average yield and prices at every selling place, and usually goes for a nice sum at the Brewery (figures :)). It is also a crop that, along with wheat, leaves straw after harvesting. * Canola (Rapeseed): Rapeseed is a bright-yellow flowering plant, that produces small, oily seeds. The in-game version, Canola, is a trademark for a hybrid variety of rape initially bred in Canada (thanks, Wikipedia ;)). After harvesting, the seeds are pressed to squeeze the valuable oil from them. Rapeseed oil is very versatile stuff, used as vegetable oil for foods and cooking, as animal feed, and most recently as bio-diesel for cars. The in-game use of canola is somewhat limited, as it doesn't leave straw after harvesting and only the port and the mill buys it, but it's easy to grow and harvest and usually goes for a very good price, so it's a good crop for the beginning of the game when you don't yet have the equipment to produce and handle bales. * Corn (Maize): (To clear up the naming hassle, this crop in the game is what you may know as maize, or sweet corn.) Originally indigenous to Central America, this grass (yes, grass) grows high stalks and produces cobs with seeds known as kernels. It is now the most widely produced agricultural crop in the whole fracking world! It's very sturdy, frugal, energy-efficient, tolerates all kinds of climates and weather, and easily grows just about anywhere on the globe. Maize is the most versatile of all crops, it is used everywhere in modern society and in high volumes, it contains high volumes of starch and sugars. Food, animal feed, bio-fuel, plastics, chemicals, medicine...you name it. It is the most used animal feed on the planet for it is insanely cheap and high in energy. As food, it can be eaten straight from the cob, cooked, roasted, ground into flour and baked, as popcorn, vegetable oil, starch, etc. In human consumption, however, the most important contribution of maize is High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), an artificial sweetener, thickener and humectant, it's cheap and easily produced. It is used in almost every foodstuff you see on the shelves of a supermarket (go check it). As versatile and awesome as corn is, in the game it's a pretty lowly crop. You can only sell the grain at the port (at a quite low price), you need a special header for your combine to harvest it, and it doesn't even leave straw for baling. You can grow it just for the sake of it, but it's not a really good investment. That's all I can tell you about the crops. There are many mods out there that add more crops to the game, so if you want to grow something else, check them out (look in the Mods section for tips). Now, you know everything you need to start becoming a good farmer. Let's see how you can do just that... /----------------------\ | 5. Becoming a Farmer | \----------------------/ So, you really want to be a farmer, huh? Well, in Farm Simulator '09, just like in real life, it's not an easy job. In this section, I'll tell you how to start out as a farmer, how to work the fields and grow your crops and how to make some unearthly amount of dosh. When you start your fist game, I suggest you first familiarize yourself with the controls if you haven't already played the missions, they are not as hard as you might think. Turn on the help by pressing F1 and leave it on, it will come in handy. It will list all the usable keys for the current vehicle you are in and the attached and selected implement too. Wander around (W,S,A,D), check out your farm and the sights. Then hop into your tractor (E) and drive around some (W,S,A,D). When you are comfortable with driving the tractor and the combine, check out the implements sitting out in the yard, the plow, the cultivator, etc. Try hooking them up to your tractor (Q) and drive around. Don't forget to fuel your tractors and combines regularly! If the fuel counter run into the red, immediately head home to the fuel pump! Drive up to the pump near the hedge, and when the icon appears, press 'T'. You can also explore the island, but I advise against using your the starting tractor to do it. It is slow and has a small fuel tank, you are better off on foot for the time being (you can run by holding Shift). Be careful about driving into water, because your character can swim but your vehicles can't! If it gets dark, turn on the lights on the vehicles so you can see better (F). You also have a flashlight on your person, so you can use it when on foot. ( You may find bottles lying around, you can also pick them up, look in the Side-Missions section.) When you are finished with exploring, let's get some work done! If you started an Easy or Normal game, you should have some grain in your silos. I advise selling them for a bit of starting cash. Hook up the green tipper to your tractor. Now, open your PDA and turn to the price listings. Look for the crop that sells for the highest price. Now look around and find the silo of that crop, it should be easy, each silo has it's crop's symbol on it. Drive under the silo and load the tipper with grain. Drive to the selling place that gives the highest price for your crop and dump the grain to the grain vent there. Drive over the grain vent, and when the tipper's back is above the grate an icon will appear, stop and press the 'Q' key to dump the grain and get your money. (You can find tips on finding the selling stations in the PDA section of this guide.) You can sell everything from you silos. This will get you some quick cash, but don't buy anything just yet. Let's grow some crops first. ============================= 5.1 Growing your first crops ============================= There is small field right next to your farm to the south-east with grass growing on it. This is the easiest one to start on, because it's small and very close to your farm, but you can use any of the fields (there is also a small one a little to the north of your farm). Don't worry about thrashing the grass, you'll grow some more awesome crops in it's place! :) --------------------- 5.1.1 Cruise Control --------------------- But first, let's talk about the Cruise Control (or CC for short). Every vehicle in the game comes equipped with it and you can use it whenever you want. What it does, that it keeps your tractor at a pre-programmed speed, so you don't have to mess with the accelerator and the brake to drive at a steady speed. It has three gears, you can activate each of them with the number keys 1, 2 and 3 above the letters (not on the NUMPad!). The first gear (1) is the slowest. It is ideal for plowing, cultivating, seeding, harvesting and for delicate operations, like transporting stuff with the front-loader or bales with the bale trailer. It is slow as hell, but it keeps you tractor and the implements/trailers hooked to it fairly level on the ground and lessens the chance of accidentally capsizing the whole getup when you make sharp turns. The second gear (2) is the medium setting. It is already too fast for many things, like plowing or seeding, but it will give you adequate speed for faster operations, like spraying, mowing, or baling, but it's not the maximum speed so you'll have more control over driving and grip on the ground. However, there is higher chance of tipping over when turning, so be careful about sharp turns. You can also use the second gear on your starting combine when harvesting, but it is too fast for the bigger ones. The third gear (3) is maximum speed. It will crank out every horsepower of the vehicle and you'll be whooshing along at top speed. It's the same as holding down the accelerator (W), but once pressing '3' it will stay on, so you don't have to hold your hand on the key. It is good for things when you want to go fast, like exploring the island, going to get your purchase from the machine shop, driving around for kicks or when transporting grain. When hooked to a full tipper, do take care when driving at CC3 because turning and driving on uneven road can send your tractor and trailer flying or tipping over, and you don't want that. Sharp turns and off-roading is pretty dangerous at CC3, so be careful. ------------------------------ 5.1.2 Plowing and Cultivating ------------------------------ Before you can plant anything, you first have to prepare the field. Hop into your tractor and hook up the plow to the back. Now, it's important to know, that plowing and cultivating is equal in the game. It doesn't matter if you plow or cultivate but you do have to do one or the other! (You can do both, if you want.) For this example, we will use the plow for now. Drive out to the field and position your tractor on one of the corners of the field, parallel to its edge. Now, drive forward onto the field until the plow is just over it. Select the plow with the 'G' key if it's not already selected. .............| .............|<-edge ....field....| .............| ...........__| ...........||| ..........@xx@ <-tractor ............/| ___________/_| ^plow Make sure the plow's end points away from the edge of the field, if not, turn it over (B). Lower the plow (V), and slowly start driving forward, parallel to the edge of the field so you draw a nice straight line on it. Notice how your plow changes the ground behind you to a dark grey-ish color. Don't drive too fast, or the plow will fall off! You can use the first gear of the Cruise Control (press the '1' key), it will keep your tractor at just the right speed for plowing, you only need to steer. The tractor will swerve a little left-right, so you need to keep it straight by steering. When you reach the end of the field, stop and lift the plow (V). Turn around and position the tractor so you'll plow the next 'row' just near the strip you plowed. Now turn the plow over so it points to the opposite direction (B). plow _________V___ .........\.##| ..........\##| ........@xx@#| tractor->||##| .........--##| ...........##| ...........##| ...........##| ^^already plowed Now, lower the plow again and drive slowly (Cruise Control 1). Try to stay near the strip your already plowed. You can check while moving by zooming out and tilting the camera down so you see the plow and the strip behind you. Try not to leave unplowed tracks between your strips, go back and correct any mistakes after you finished with the field. Rinse and repeat until you plowed the whole field edge to edge. Don't worry if doesn't look too pretty, has some bent lines, unplowed patches or you accidentally ran off the edge here and there. You'll get the hang of it soon. (You can remove the sawtooth-like unplowed spots your plowing leaves on the edge by plowing a strip on the perpendicular edges of the field.) ------------------------- 5.1.3 Seeding (Planting) ------------------------- The field is prepared and ready for planting! (In reality, this is when you would cultivate the field after plowing, but since in this game plowing and cultivating does the exact same thing, you don't have to do it.) Drive back to your farm, detach the plow and hook the sowing machine to the back. Drive back out to your field and, again, position your tractor to the edge of the field just like before with the plow and select the seeder if is not already selected (G). Let's plant some canola first, there is little work with it and sells nicely. Select the canola seed by pressing 'X' repeatedly until you see the canola symbol. Now, lower the seeder and turn it on (V,B), then drive slowly along the edge (CC1). When you reach the other end, lift the planter, turn around, lower the seeder and seed the next row just like you did it with the plow. Repeat until you seed the whole field. Notice how the cost of the seeds are continuously deducted from you account as you plant the field. Great job! The field is plowed and seeded, and you may already see the green sprouts of your work! ----------------------------- 5.1.4 Fertilizing (Spraying) ----------------------------- Okay, let's give the little plants some power boost: Fertilizing! Now, fertilizing is entirely optional, you don't have to do it, but without it you won't get the full yield of crops from your field. You can spray before or after planting, but only after plowing or cultivating. If you decide to spray after planting, like I do, make sure to do the spraying BEFORE the field is ready for harvest, or it won't work! Detach the seeder and hook the sprayer to your tractor. Drive out to the field and get in position like before. You don't have to lower the sprayer, just turn it on to start the fertilizer flowing (B). Now, drive in rows, just like you did with the plow and the seeder, and fertilize the whole field. You can drive faster now, but I advise against going too fast because your driving will become more erratic. A little slower for more control is better, use the second gear on the Cruise Control (2). You can tell which parts you already sprayed by the color of the ground. Parts already fertilized turn into a darker color. Don't worry about spraying too much, you can't spoil the crops and the fertilizer is unlimited and free. You are done! Great job! You just plowed, planted and sprayed a field all by yourself! Now all you have to do is wait for the crops to grow, ripen and become ready for harvest. This may take some time, so be patient. ----------------- 5.1.5 Harvesting ----------------- You can tell if a crop is ready for harvesting if it turns into a brown-ish color. Also, your combine can't harvest unripe crops, so don't worry about accidentally harvesting prematurely. So, your crops are ripe and ready? Now, you'll literally reap what you sowed! But first, let's check the weather report. Interestingly enough, weather doesn't have any effect on anything in this game, save for one very important aspect: harvesting. Your harvester won't work in rain or hail, so don't even bother going out to the field with the harvester when it's raining or snowing (hail, whatever, it looks like snow to me). Always check the weather report on your PDA before you decide to harvest and the little weather icon beside the clock up on your screen. If it shows rain or hail, don't go harvesting. It is usually accurate, and will save you a wasted trip with the harvester. If the weather is good, hop into your combine and attach the header. Drive out to your ripe field and position your combine as you did with the tractor, but don't drive onto the field yet. Lower the header (V) and turn it on (G). (You can just press 'G', it also lowers the header). Now drive slowly (CC1 or 2, I prefer 1 for more control) in the rows as you did before and harvest the ripe canola. Notice how the grain tank is filling up (the % display below the fuel meter). Harvest the whole field. If it fills to 100% before you are finished with the field, stop, turn off the header (G) and extend the grain duct (B). Now switch to your tractor (TAB), and attach the tipper (if it has grain in it, empty it into the grain vent). Drive out to the field and park the tipper just below the harvester's grain duct. Switch back to the harvester (TAB) and the grain should start flowing to the tipper, notice the % meter decreasing. (If not, try repositioning the harvester or the tipper, the business end of the duct must be above the tipper.) Empty the grain into the tipper, drive it back to your farm and dump the load into the grain vent. When harvesting bigger fields, you may need to do several trips with the tipper. Later you can buy bigger tippers and combines so fewer trips will be enough. When you are finished with the field, empty the harvester fully into the tipper and dump every ounce of crop into your silos, then drive the harvester and the tractor back to your farm. This is it, you are done! Great work! You just grown and harvested your first batch of crops! You are a full fledged farmer now, pat yourself on the back! :) All that remains is turning the grain into money. ------------------------ 5.1.6 Selling the Grain ------------------------ Selling your crops might not be so straightforward as it might seem. Opening you PDA and turning to the price listing, you may notice the little arrows near each crop's price. These represent the trends in the pricing. The green, upward pointing arrow means, that crop's price is rising. The yellow, sideways pointing arrow means, the price is stagnant and the red, downward pointing arrow means, that the price is dropping. Also, when you start a new game, note the prices of each crop. For Easy mode, it should be around $2000, $1000 for Medium and around $500 for Hard. Prices change daily, so be sure to check them every day, and watch the trends. When a crop's price goes up considerably (like double the base price), consider planting that crop, moreso if the trend arrow points upwards. You can sell these crops straight from the fields, so you don't dump the grain to your silos, but take them straight to the selling place from the harvester. If you planted a crop that sells at a low price at the moment, don't sell it right away, especially not if the trend arrow is pointing down. Store them in your silos, wait for the price to go up and sell then. Playing the "grain stock market" is especially essential on Hard difficulty, when every little bit counts. Also note the three selling places: the Port, the Brewery and the Mill. The Port buys all kinds of crops but at the lowest price. You can only sell maize at the port, so there is no breathing room there, but if you can, don't sell any other crop here. The Mill buys wheat, barley and canola, at a medium price. This is place where you'll want to sell canola, since it gives the best price for that. The Brewery only buys wheat and barley, but at the highest price, so you should sell these here if you can. Making smart decisions when selling your crops can yield your a lot more money in the long run, so be sure to keep watch on the prices. This is all you need to know to work the land, plant and harvest crops, and make money in the game. You can figure out the rest of the in-game features on you own, or you can read on, and see what is still there to discover in the Advanced Farming section. ===================== 5.2 Advanced Farming ===================== Here, you'll find other stuff to produce and do on your farm beside working the fields. Baling, working with grass, buying new equipment and using the autopilot is all here. This is not really essential stuff, but it's FUN, and can make your life easier on the farm. First, let's see how can you work and relax at the same time... --------------------- 5.2.1 Hiring Workers --------------------- You don't have to do all the tedious farm stuff all by yourself in this game, you can hire paid workers to do the work for you! Cool, huh? Hiring a worker is basically an autopilot. It will come in handy especially on large fields. You can activate this feature with the 'H' key. It sounds awesome, but there are some important limitations. First of all, workers can only do some types of jobs, not everything, and can only work on fields! They can't transport stuff from A to B, so you can send them to sell grain or get purchased stuff, sadly. They can only only work on fields, use plows, cultivators, seeders and harvesters, nothing else, but this should be enough to get most of the workload off of you. To activate this feature, hop into your tractor and hook any of the mentioned implements or get into your combine and attach a header suitable for the job (maize or other crops). Drive out to the field you need the work done on, and position your tractor or combine to the edge of the field as you would do when doing the work by yourself. Make absolutely sure the vehicle is lined up as parallel to the edge of the field as possible. Now, lower/turn on the implement or the header and press the 'H' key. The auto pilot, let's call him Bob, will take it from there. You can't control the vehicle while Bob is working, but you can watch nevertheless. You can also leave the vehicle or switch to a different one, Bob will do his job on his own. He will drive in a straight line and work whatever implement is hooked up. When at the end of the field, he will lift the implement, turn around, lower it, and do the next row automatically, then the next, until he is finished with the field, then he simply goes home. You can also dismiss Bob whenever you like by pressing 'H' again. He is payed continuously while he is working, which is deducted from your account, just like the seeder. Now, this sounds awesome in theory, but sadly, Bob is pretty under-educated, and does his job with a considerable margin of error, in short, he is fracking retarded. When you don't line up your vehicle perfectly, he will deviate from the edge and leave a wedge shaped strip of unworked land there. You can correct this by starting Bob and staying on the vehicle. When you see him deviating from the edge, just dismiss him, turn a little and hire him again. Do it until he is going in the direction you want him to, he should do the rest of the rows fine from then on. A good method is to do the first row yourself, and only hire Bob to do the rest of the field. He also tends to randomly turn in the wrong direction when he reaches the end of the field and start working an already worked row (or outside the field), then he realizes that row is already done and just stops. Sadly, you can't do much about this, just check on Bob regularly and if you notice he is turning in the wrong direction, stop him, line up your vehicle on the row and start him again. It's a little tedious, but still better than doing it yourself. You also have to watch out for obstacles around the field. Bob needs room to turn around at the edge of the field, and if there are obstacles in the way, like stones, trees, other vehicles, he may run into them and hang there doing nothing. Like I said, he is a little 'special'. There is a rescue script in place, so when he is obstructed by something, he will back up and try to find another way, but that does not work every time, so try to use Bob on fields clear of trees and obstacles at the edges or do those parts yourself and hire Bob afterwards. There is a little trick I just recently learned to avoid the obstacle-hang, it works with tractors and combines too: _______ Work the first row on the edges of the field yourself, like a |#######| box. Like when you need a field cultivated, hop in a tractor and |#.....#| cultivate the edges of the field, you can do two rows to be sure. |#.....#| This creates a nice little safety margin around the field that |#######| needs working. This way Bob won't drive off the field at all, thus ------- avoiding any obstacles on the edges and he is much less likely to # worked turn in the wrong direction! I tested it, it works great! . unworked (Thanks to Vampirecat019 from the LS-UK forum for the tip) Aside from the little malfunctions, Bob seems to do his job alright most of the time. He is pretty disastrous with the plow, but he is good with the planter and quite proficient with the harvester. In the case of the harvester, Bob is intelligent enough to stop when it starts raining or snowing and continue the work when the weather clears up. He also extends the crop duct when the harvester is almost full to signal you, so you can go and collect the load. When the combine gets 100% full, he will stop and wait for you to unload the grain to a tipper, so he can continue to work. When Bob is on brake (ie. not working for whatever reason) he is not paid, so don't worry about paying overtime to the lazy bum. Bob is a good way to multitask right at the beginning of the game. For example, when he is harvesting your field, you can start to cultivate or plant another one, or transport some grain to the port. --------------------------- 5.2.2 Buying New Equipment --------------------------- By now, you should have some money saved up, so let's see how to spend it wisely. Your rusty, ancient starting equipment is pretty embarrassing, not to mention actually being detrimental to efficiency, so you'll need to buy some new vehicles and implements as soon as you can. You can open the shop screen with the 'P' key. Go ahead, browse the inventory and look at the different vehicles and stuff. Notice the information written under each entry, for tractors the horsepower, etc. Don't buy anything just yet! Note, that the purchase price is fixed, but the selling price is not! The amount of money you get from selling stuff at the store depends on your reputation. You can raise your reputation by doing side-missions, take a look at the Side-Mission sections to learn how. Your % of reputation basically means you get that much % of the full price when you sell an item to the store. The higher it is, the better! First of all, you'll need a better tractor, it is essential for pretty much everything in the game. Your starting tractor is slow as hell, has a small fuel tank and it's weak. You might want to buy a better one as soon as you can afford the next model on the list, but don't do it! Open the shop list and look for the best model of tractor, it is the Fendt 936 Vario, the Black Beauty edition :). The price tag is fracking insane, I agree, but trust me, you NEED this tractor. It costs $220000, so this is the amount of cash you are aiming for now. You should already have part of the money from selling your starting grain and your very own first harvest. Now, I know it sounds stupid, but continue to work with the old, rickety crap for now, cultivate, seed, harvest, sell, you know the drill. Continue until you have the money for the 936. If you ALMOST have the money, sell some things, like the dozer shield, the weight or either the plow or the cultivator, whichever you use less, you don't need both of them anyway. If you only need just THAT much, you can even sell your old tractor. Just be sure not to sell anything important, like the seeder or the harvester. When you have the money, open the list and click the 'BUY' button near the Black Beauty. A message should notify you to collect your purchase at the machine shop. Don't worry, you don't have to walk all the way there, the shiny new beast is yours now, so you can just transfer over with the TAB key, and bring her home. Congratulations, now you own the most badass agricultural vehicle in the game :) It's fast, strong, has a huge fuel tank and can pull just about anything at full speed short of two of the biggest tippers hooked together and fully loaded. Now you can do some real heavy-duty work with this baby! Your next purchase should be new farming implements. That shouldn't be too hard, most of them cost only a fraction of what that black stallion did. Buy a big cultivator or plow, a big seeder and sprayer, so you can work your fields in no time. Also buy the biggest tipper, the 936 can easily handle it. That will save you a lot of time when transporting grain around. Money should start flowing like never before with these new toys under your hands. With that said, you should start saving up another $297000. What for? Why, you still need a new harvester, don't you? That rusting piece of scrap metal can't keep up with you new implements. The Fendt 9460 is the best combine in the game, save up for it and buy it as soon as you can. Don't forget to buy the biggest header and also a corn header, so you can harvest maize. Sell all your old junk, you won't need them anymore, there is no reason to keep them around. Now, with you new machinery, you should start cultivating and plating the bigger fields, like the one due south of your farm, and you'll be raking in some serious cash in no time! First, you could harvest all the fields around the island that has crops already on them for some free money. With these new toys, it should be cakewalk. Now you have the best machinery money can buy, you have a steady income, let's see what else is there in the game... -------------------- 5.2.3 Grass and Hay -------------------- I set the grass into a separate section, because while it is technically also a crop, it is one hell of a lot different than the others. The basics are the same, you choose a field, cultivate and plant the grass as you would any other crop, but what comes after is something else. When the grass is fully grown, it will have small flowers in it, indicating it's ready for mowing. Buy a mower and a forage wagon in the shop and get them back to your farm. Attach the mover, go out to your field, lower the mower and drive around the field to cut the grass. When you are finished, go back to the farm, with the mower, switch it to the forage wagon, go back, turn the forage wagon on, and drive around the field to collect the grass (every little green star-like grass-bit). When you are finished or if the wagon is full, drive back to your farm and back the wagon into the grass pit (it's near the silos at the south end of your farm. When the icon appears, you can dump the grass and receive a healthy dose of green for your greens. Gather all the grass and dump it in the pit. For easier gathering, you should consider buying a rotor windrower. Hook it up, go out to the freshly cut field, and drive around in nice straight lines to rake the grass into tight windrows, you can collect these strips better and faster with the forage wagon. Now, the biggest difference with grass is, that you don't have to cultivate and seed again after mowing (but a little spraying won't hurt). It regrows after some time on it's own, so you can mow it again. It's easy money. Not as much as growing crops, but easy. You can also make hay out of the grass by drying it. Buy a rotor tedder at the shop, hook it up and use it on the grass right after mowing. The tedder turns the grass over, so it can dry better, but essentially it turns grass into hay. Hay is worth more than regular grass, especially pressed into bales, but you can also collect it with the forage wagon. Speaking of bales... ------------- 5.2.4 Baling ------------- Straw and hay is also a valuable commodity in this game. Sitting out in the field won't get you any money, so you need to turn straw and hay into transportable little rations called bales. You can do that with a baling machine. In the vanilla game, you can only create rectangular bales by using the quad-baler. But first save up a healthy amount of money, because you'll need more than just the baler. When you have enough cash, buy a front-loader tractor and at least the bale fork implement for it. You can raise/lower the front-loader with the 'J' and 'N' keys and you can tilt the implement up and down with the 'K' and 'M' keys. That's it. You'll need some practice to be able to use the front-loader, it's quite hard work. Also, buy a quad-baler and a bale trailer, take them home. Now, plant a bigger field with wheat or barley. You can also bale hay (not grass), the principle is the same, but for this example, we'll use straw. After harvesting, you should have the straw on the field deposited by the harvester in nice straight patches. Hook the baler to your tractor and take it to the field. Turn the baler on and drive along the straw patches to collect the straw. Notice, that the rows of straw left by the bigger harvesters is just as wide as your baler, so you'll have to be precise when pulling it. You can use CC2 for baling, but it takes practice. At first, use CC1. After some gathering, your baler should eventually start depositing bales on the field at regular intervals. It takes some straw and time for the bales to be made, so don't worry if the baler doesn't start dropping bales right away. When you are finished baling the whole field, head back to the farm. There will be some bale parts left in the baler, don't worry about that. Unhook the baler and attach the bale trailer, drive it back to your field. Now, switch to your new front-loader and attach the bale fork. Drive it out to the field also. Don't use the front loader to pull the bale trailer, just use the black beauty. (The reason for this is, you probably noticed that when you hook an implement or trailer to your tractor, there is some jumping. Well, you will absolutely, positively want to avoid any jumping with a fully stacked bale trailer, at any fracking cost!) Now you have to load the bales onto the bale trailer to transport them back to your farm. Of course you can lug the bales back one by one with the front-loader, but that's stupid. Park the bale trailer on a more or less flat piece of ground (don't unhook it!) and switch to your front-loader. You can pick the a bale up by simply thrusting it with the bale fork, lifting it up and lugging it to the bale trailer. Tilt the fork downward to plop the bale onto the trailer. As retarded as it seems, you'll have to do this one-by-one. Try to stack the bales evenly on the trailer, and as stable as you can. Don't stack them too high, or they will fall off easily. When you are finished, switch to the trailer-pulling tractor and take the bales back to the farm. Drive VERY carefully, don't go faster than CC1 or your meticulously stacked bales will be all over the place in no time. And NO SHARP TURNS! If possible, use the paved roads, the dirt roads are ridiculously bumpy. Yes, there will be swearing and hair pulling, and you most certainly will lose some bales (and nerves) during your first few trips with a stacked trailer. A few minutes (and Xanax) later, you will arrive to the farm with at least some bales still on. Park the trailer next to the barn and switch to your front-loader again. Now, pick the bales from the trailer, or alternatively, ram the trailer, so the bales fall to the ground and pick them up from there, your call. Lug the bales over to the conveyor at the barn, and drop them on the belt. The belt should transport the bales into the barn, and you'll hear a 'ka-ching' every time a bale is safely inside. Check your money counter, it should raise nicely as you drop the bales in. Drop them all in and call it a day. Bale-physics simply suck in this game, there is no denying it. Bales tend to fall off the fork, the trailer and even the conveyor, so you need to pick them up again, and again and again...that alone is a fracking nightmare, because you need to thrust the bales from a very specific angle to pick them up, otherwise you just kick them around. Baling is undeniably the most frustrating and nerve-shattering part of the entire game. Unless you have the Gold Edition and the Auto-stacker (but even if you do), this is one part of the game you'll most positively want to use mods for. Look in the Mods section for some nice tips on the baling subject. But first, let's see how to be at many places at once... -------------------------- 5.2.5 Automating the work -------------------------- With your new equipment and farming know-how, you'll be a rich son of a gun in no time. You might want to start expanding your farming operations, but you can't be at many places at once...or can you? The Hire Worker button (H) can be used many times at once on different vehicles. By hiring Bob and his colleagues, you can automate most tasks on the farm...well, more or less. As I said before, the workers are not too smart, so their use is quite limited, but they can help you a great deal with some clever planning. You don't have to do this of course, and it could get really confusing, but if you feel up to it, and have the cash, you can do it. First of all, you'll need to buy some additional equipment from the store. Buy at least one new tractor, it doesn't have to be the top model, one or two levels above your starting tractor is fine. Workers never go faster than CC1 when on the field anyway, but the tractor should be strong enough to pull heavier implements. Also buy a new combine and a header, but you'll need the best models from this group. If feel up to it (and have the money to burn), you can buy more tractors, and also, cultivators plows, seeders, combines. Especially on large fields, one worker might not be enough to do the work in a reasonable time. Now, you can work many fields at once! You'll need some skill in positioning workers and switching vehicles fast. Firt of, attach cultivators to two tractors and take them out to the field (one-by-one). Now, position them as you would, but to opposite ends of the same field. Like this: e->|.......\ \.........|<- the other edge d |__...../ /.......__| g |||....field......||| e @xx@..../ /......@xx@<- the other tractor 7|HH.....\ \.......HH| / |HH_____/ /_______HH| tractor ^^cultivator Now, position the two tractors as precisely as you can. Start both of them quickly (start one, jump to the other, and start that one too). You might need to correct their courses at first, it might involve some jumping back and forth between them, but usually after the first row, they can be left alone. The two of them will cultivate the whole field in much less time, and if all goes according to plan, they will meet somewhere in the middle. They are smart enough, so they won't ram each other when they get close, one will allow the other to pass. The work will be done in considerably less time, even if you need to manually correct some mistakes the did. On VERY large fields, you can use even more of them, by positioning some additional tractors around in regular intervals on the field. There will be more micromanaging this way, since they do tend to turn in the wrong direction or hang on an obstacle, but you can use the box trick to avoid that (look in the Hire Workers section). You can also do this with harvesters, in fact, that's an even better idea, to use more harvesters on large fields. You can start them in an L shape (you can also do that with tractors). Position one on the edge of a field, and position the other one on the perpendicular, opposite edge, to be on the two ends of an L shape. ___________ ||X..........| Xs are the combines/tractors and the arrows show ||...........| the direction they are facing. They will do the rows V|...........| in a rectangular fashion so the workable region |...........| gets gradually smaller. If they meet at the end of the |__________X| field, they are smart enough to let each other pass. <--- There is an even better trick to save even more time! You need two tractors for this. Start a cultivator worker on a field, give him some headway (so he'll have time to turn around at the edge of the field) and send another tractor with a seeder after him on the same row. The first one cultivates, and the second one coming after him plants the field immediately. Hell, you can even use FOUR tractors, like in the first example above, start the cultivators in opposite edges of the field and send seeders right after them. You'll cultivate and seed a large field in fracking minutes this way, you only need one pass with the sprayer and it's done. But you need perfect precision in positioning the tractors, because the seeder is the same width as the planter, so any deviation from the course is bad. It's a little hard to learn, but worth it. I tried these methods and they work, but I cant stress this enough: don't put too much faith in the workers, they do tend to mess up from time to time, so if you are worried about that, just use one at a time or do the fields yourself, it's your call. Now see the last part of the gameplay... /------------------\ | 6. Side-Missions | \------------------/ There are two side-missions in the game, if you can call them that. Both are for raising your reputation. As I said, reputation controls how much money you get when you sell vehicles and equipment to the shop. The more reputation % your have, the more % of the full price you'll get when selling something. Purchase prices are fixed, sadly, so you won't get discounts even with a high reputation. You can raise your reputation by gathering bottles and disposing them to the selective-disposal bin, or do some work for the Gardening Center. ====================== 6.1 Gathering Bottles ====================== There are empty bottles all around the island, 100 in total. Some of them are in plain sight, some of them require some searching and some of them are in impossible-to-get-to looking places. To collect a bottle, you just have to touch it while on foot. You can't collect bottles while in vehicles. If you gathered some of them, go to a selective-waste bin, there a few of them on the island, and they are also marked on your PDA map. Dump the bottles in the bins to receive some money and +1% of reputation for each of them. You can get to 100% reputation by gathering all the bottles. Most of them are near landmarks, buildings or other objects, like houses, windmills, park benches, buoys, there are some even around your own farm. Some of them are on the sides of roads, paved and dirt alike, and some of them require some thinking or working to get them. I suggest you look into every nook and cranny, landmarks, tiny islands, bottles can be practically anywhere. They are always in places you can get to, so don't look in totally impossible places, like the top of cargo ships or barns, under water or stuff like that. !!HERE BE SPOILERS!! !!SKIP THIS SECTION IF YOU WANT TO FIND THEM YOURSELF: !! !!For some of them, you'll need to use your tractor or the front-loader. !!One particular bottle is on the top of a red cargo container at the port. !!You can get it by parking your tractor as close to the container as !!possible, really, really close. This way, when you exit the tractor, you !!should be on or inside the container. Position the tractor so the driver's !!side door is right next to it, then exit the vehicle, the bottle should be !!yours now. Alternatively, you can use the front-loader to scoop the bottle !!down from the container, then you just need to pick it up. You can use these !!methods for other bottles like this, like the one on top of the guard !!post at the port, or the cow statue. !! !!Here is a link to map with all the bottles marked(black dots): !!http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/5673/wyk3btc2.jpg !! !!This is the only map I know, so don't ask me for a replacement when the !!link gets broken. !! !!SPOILERS OVER!! The bottles are not all that hard to find, with a little searching and clever thinking you should be able to get them all on your own. ==================================== 6.2 Working at the Gardening Center ==================================== For this one, you'll need the front-loader and the pallet fork attached to it. Drive to the Gardening Center far north of your farm, it is marked by roses on your PDA map. You'll need to transport some pallets of fertilizer to the Supermarket. Drive around the back on the left side and find the green sacks stacked on pallets (not the red ones). Pick them up with the pallet fork and carefully drive to the Supermarket a little to the west. Put down the pallets on the square marked by the striped line. You will receive some money and reputation for each pallet delivered. You can transport them one by one, or all three of them at once, though the latter needs some insane skills in driving and front-loader handling. I haven't tried this, but I heard it's faster if you use the bale trailer. Park the bale trailer on the side of the road and stack the pallets on it with the front loader. Pull it to the Supermarket and place them down on the square from the trailer. It's not a very tough job, but it does require some skill. It's pretty boring, but a good way to boost your reputation. /---------\ | 7. Mods | \---------/ 'Mod' is short for 'Modification', these packages add new stuff to the game, maps, functionality, etc. They are usually not official add-ons, but made by members of the player community and are freely downloadable from various sites. In Farming Sim '09, mods usually add new vehicles, implements, trailers, new buildings and maps. The vast majority of the modded vehicles and implements are modeled after real-life agricultural equipment (one of these might even be used on a field near you as you read this), usually from big name manufacturers, like New Holland, CLAAS, John Deere, Kverneland, HORSCH, Pöttinger, etc...and of course Fendt. Since this is a German game, most of the mods are also from German fans, therefore modeled largely after German and European-made agricultural equipment. There of course player communities in other countries too. Mods come in different varieties, both in complexity and quality. Since these are player made content, the quality of the mods are not always good, meaning botched textures, defective functions/animations, etc. But there are some REALLY well done mods, with awesome graphics and detail, usually copying a real-life implement down to even the dust particles on it. You just have to try them to see if you like them. Most of the frustrating annoyances and problems (like baling) can be fixed by installing a few mods, not to mention adding more variety and realism. The modded stuff can usually be bought at the in-game shop, they will be at the top of the list, so you don't have to search for them. The Hire Worker does not work with all the modded implements, but there are some of them your workers can use. (There are even modded AIs for the workers, so they'll be more smarter and do more things in-game.) Also, mods usually have their own set of control keys. These are usually listed in the in-game help if you hook them up and select them, and also in their readme or description. Some mods even come with their very own control panel in-game. Now, let's learn how to install mods... =================== 7.1 Installing Mods =================== Rule of thumb: ALWAYS make backup copies before you overwrite something! Saves, maps, everything! You'll be sorry if you didn't and something goes wrong! To install mods, first you have to download them from somewhere. Look in the Tips and Links a little bit down. Pre-packaged mods usually come in .exe or .zip format. The easiest way if it comes in .exe format, a single file. It has the mod packaged inside and it has it's own installer. All you have to do is run the .exe and your mod is installed. That's all. Next time you fire up the game, your installed stuff should be in there. When it comes in .zip format, save it to your disk, but DON'T unpack it! There is a folder where the game keeps the mods. Go to your Documents folder and locate FarmingSimulator2009 in My Games. In it there is a "mods" folder, open it. Alternatively, navigate here: "C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Documents\My Games\FarmingSimulator2009\mods\" (This is for Windows XP by the way, I don't know Win7, Mac and stuff like that, but I think it should be in your Documents folder on those OSs too.) Now, copy the .zip file into the 'mods' folder. You are done, the stuff should be in the game next time you start it up. Uninstalling these mods is also easy. Sell every instance of the mod in question in-game, be it a vehicle, implement or something else. If it's gone, save your game and exit. Now, navigate to the 'mods' folder, and delete the .zip file of the mod you want uninstalled, that should do the trick. Next time you load your save, it should be gone. When the mod comes in a format other than .exe or .zip (usually .rar), it usually means it's not pre-packaged or it's a mod pack. Open up the archive (if it's .rar, with WinRAR or something that handles RAR files) and see what's in it. If there are only .zip files, that usually means they are multiple mods, just extract the archive and copy the ZIPs to your mods folder. If you see various other files and directories inside the archive (like .i3D and .xml files), that means it's a map or not a pre-packaged mod, but something you'll have to put in the game yourself using the GIANTS Editor or it may involve some other method. Read the description on the site you downloaded it from, or the readme if the package has one. Maps. Installing maps is a different matter. Player made maps are installed by overwriting the base map that's in the game. That usually goes like this: Navigate to the folder you installed Farming Sim '09 to (usually in Program Files), and locate 'maps' inside the 'data' folder. Make a backup copy of the entire 'maps' folder, this is important! If something goes wrong and you don't have a backup, you'll have no choice but to reinstall the game! Now extract the files from the mod's archive into your maps folder, overwrite when prompted. Start the game and start a new career, you should be on the new map now. Old saves rarely work on modded maps. There might be a different method used in some cases, always read the description or the readme! There are mods, that you need to put into the game yourself using the game's editor... ================== 7.2 GIANTS Editor ================== There are certain mods, usually buildings and other features, that can't be installed pre-packaged for some reason or other. You need to put these into the game yourself. The mod's description on the site or the readme should contain instructions on how to install these mods, but it usually involves messing around in the GIANTS Editor software. You can modify just about anything in the game world with the editor, import modded stuff and you can even create new things yourself if you know a little 3D design. Now, I have to tell you, that I haven't used the editor much, so there is little I can tell you about it, but here is what I've figured out so far: First, install the GIANTS Editor from your game disk, it should be on there. (If not, you can find it on the GIANTS website, download it.) Now, go to the 'maps' folder inside the Farming Sim installation directory and make a backup copy of it, this is important! Open the editor. Now in the editor go File -> Open... and navigate to your 'maps' directory. There should be a 'Map01.i3D' file there, highlight it and press Open. Wait a little until it is loaded. You should see the left side list populated with entries and see the game world with some weird lines and markers and stuff. You can look around by holding down the Alt key and using your mouse buttons. Hold down Alt and then hold down your left mouse button, now you can look around, and holding down the right button you can zoom. You can select buildings and stuff with your mouse, this should wire-frame that object. There is a barely visible (very thin lines) ball-like object revealed when you select something, it has three arrows in it, a blue, a green and a red one, it has three circles around them, also red, green and blue. You can move the object around by clicking and dragging the arrows (X,Y,Z axis) and rotate them by clicking and dragging the circles. You can also delete them with the Delete key. You can move or get rid of obstacles, trees, stones from the edges of your fields for example, so the worker can finally do it's job unobstructed. There is a small button on the menu bar, with a green hill and white arrows, this is the terrain edit mode, if you click it you can sculpt the terrain. You can raise terrain with the left mouse button and lower it with the right one. You can also import new things into the world, but I'm not really sure about the proper method so don't take my word for it, read the mod's readme or description. As far as I can tell, you need to unpack the downloaded mod's archive. In the 'maps' folder, there is a folder called 'models', inside it there are folders named 'objects', 'buildings' and such. If you downloaded a new building, copy the archive's contents (it should be one single folder, usually the mod's name) into the 'buildings' folder. Now go to the editor and go File -> Import..., then navigate to the directory you just copied into 'buildings'. There should be a .i3D file there, select it and press Open. Now, look at the left side list, and search for the name of the object you just imported, it should be on the bottom somewhere. Click on it. Your object is already in the game world, you just can't see it, press Crtl+F and your object should jump right in your face, you can now move it to it's place or whatever. When you are finished messing around, save the map and exit the editor. Now fire up your game and load you save. If you didn't mess it up too bad, you'll now see the changes you made in game, enjoy. If the map becomes corrupted, just restore your backup of the 'maps' folder. That's it. That's just about everything I know about the editor, I can't teach you how to use it properly, sorry about that. I might update this section if I learn more in the future, but don't hold your breath :). You can find tons or tutorials and instructions all around the various Farming Sim (LS) communities and of course Youtube. Here is a link to the official online help for the GIANTS Editor: http://gdn.giants.ch/editor.php?editor=onlineHelp And here is a link to a quite good instructional video on how to import new buildings into the game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQyMtKySB-8 (The links might be broken by now, please DON'T email me about fixing them! Google is your friend ;)) =================== 7.3 Tips and Links =================== The following tips are just that, tips, you don't need to follow them, these are only mods and stuff I found to be interesting or adding something I like to the game. * Arcusing AutoStacker: First of all, if you don't own the Gold Edition of the game, you need to get the Auto-stacker. Baling is a nightmare in the base game, so you'll definitely want to do something about that. The Arcusin AutoStacker is a bale trailer, that stacks quad-bales automatically on the trailer and ties them down, so they don't fall off during transport. Just extend the collecting arm and collect the bales. When full, drive back to the farm, you can now unload the bales in a nice straight stack. It works great! You can get it here: http://lsportal2009.com/?p=216 (Note, however, that the v2 only works with the standard baler in the original game. If you want to stack modded bales, you need the v1!) * Bale-Shredder: Even with the AutoStacker, loading bales into the barn one-by-one is quite a hassle. You most positively need a bale-shredder to go with the AutoStacker. A bale-shredder is basically a hole in the ground that 'shreds' bales. You can back up to the hole with the AutoStacker and dump the bales in there. You'll receive your money just as if you had loaded them into the barn. There are many kinds of shredders around, just search for them and you'll find one for sure. You'll probably need to install them with the GIANTS editor. Most of the modded maps already come equipped with one. There are modded base maps you can download that only have the barn replaced with a shredder, nothing else modified, so you'll be able to use your old saves with these. * Cultivators, Plows, Seeders: The base implements are nice, but they are pretty small, and it takes ages to work a large field with them. Therefore, you'll need some new, modded implements. The HORSH Terrano and Pronto are great cultivators/seeders, they are in the Gold Edition, but if you don't own that, you'll need to download them as mods. Also, there is the 'JohnDeer NoTill Seeder', which is a seeder that doesn't need cultivating beforehand to work. Many of the modded seeders are a little more realistic, so you actually have to fill them with seeds from your silos if you want to plant, I think this is a great detail. * Sprayers: The base sprayers are pretty boring and non-realistic, so you may need some modded ones. Modded sprayers work just like the base one, they raise the yield of you fields the same amount, but they are more realistic and fun to use. They usually need to be filled with fertilizer/pesticide/whatever from a modded silos or tanks to work, and the refill costs money. Plus, they have many other features. The DAMMANN Profi Class and the Amazone UX 5200 are excellent sprayers. You'll also have to download the pesticide tank (trigger), so you can fill them up. * Dung, Manure and Fertilizer: If you prefer a more traditional method, there are mods for dung and manure. There is a modded manure vat(trigger), you can fill up modded manure tankers from it, tow it with you tractor and spray some yummy liquid sh*t all over your fields. There is also a dung pit. You can fill manure dispensers/trailers with some chunky animal cr*p and distribute it around your fields. Thank god the smell is not modded in :P For a more modern approach, there is also a synthetic-fertilizer silo. You can fill up fertilizer dispensers from it and fertilize your fields with more style (and less reeking). These mods work just like the regular sprayers in the base game, they maximize the yield of your crops. * Trailers/Tippers/: There is a vast, I mean VAST library of trailers and tippers available to transport just about anything you want. There are hoppers for new crops, portable pesticide/fertilizer/manure/dung tanks so you can transport them and have on-site refill. There is even a service trailer I know about, that is a portable fuel tank you can use to rescue vehicles that have ran out of gas far from the fuel pump, and there are vehicle transport trailers you can use to do the same or transport new equipment home from the shop. You just have to search around and find the trailers you like, there are literally hundreds of versions out there. * Vehicles Tractors, combines, sports cars, forklifts, dune buggies, airplanes, you name it, there is a mod for it. Literally hundreds (if not thousands) of modded vehicles are at your disposal from just about every side of the globe. John Deere tractors, CLAAS harvesters, IFA trucks, Mercedes sports cars, you can find just about anything if you look real hard for it. They are usually well modeled and have extensive control options. Extended Cruise Control, gear shifting, opening doors/windows, work-lights and other features. Awesome! Personally, I like the Black Beauty, so I don't really use vehicle mods. I tried a few, but they turned out to be too much hassle to use, impractical or simply broken for whatever reason. Maybe you'll have better luck than me :) * Hangars, Silos, Other Buildings: Your farm and it's buildings might start to feel a little too small after you get a sizable fleet of vehicles and mods. Luckily, you can download larger garages for you vehicles and storage hangars for the implements and trailers. There are also new kinds of silos that you can use, some of them are built into buildings for compact placement. Barns can now have more or less real livestock in them now with mods, cows, chickens, etc. They are not used for anything, but great decoration. There are also other types of buildings in different shapes and sizes to store vehicles, implements, bales, cows, fire hydrants or whatever the hell you want, you just need to search around. Sadly, most of the buildings can't be installed as .exe or .zip mods as of the time of writing, so you need to put them in with the GIANTS editor. I can't think of anything more at the moment. Here are some links you might find useful: * http://www.landwirtschafts-simulator.de/ The official site of the game. You can find some information here, links to sites and you can also buy the game here if don't already own a copy. * http://gdn.giants.ch/index.php This is official site for the GIANTS engine, the game engine of Farming Sim '09. You can download the GIANTS Editor from here and some tools required to create new content for the game. You can also find documentation and help for the editor. * http://ls-mods.de/downloads.php This is the best site for high-quality mods. All the mods come in .exe format (self-installer) and are of the best quality I know. Most of the mods I use and mentioned up there came from here. I highly recommend it! * http://lsportal2009.com/ This site has more than a thousand mods in it's database! A vast library of vehicles, implements, trailers, buildings, everything. If you can't find it here, it probably doesn't exists. Just browse to your heart's content. The mods are usually of good quality, but occasionally you can find some not so good ones. * http://www.ls2009-mod.com/ Eerily similar to the last site, this one also has about a thousand mods. They are of good quality, and quite usable. * http://ls-uk.info/index.php?board=4.0 This is the biggest English language Farming Sim community I know. You can find lots and lots of information about just about everything in this game. Tutorials, guides, answers, and of course a great community. You have to register to download the mods from here, but if you just need some info you can browse the forums without registering. You can find even more great Farming Sim and mod sites around the net. There are some really good videos about the game, modding and stuff like that on Youtube and other video sharing sites. As always, Google is your friend :) Happy hunting! Now to answer some Frequently Asked Questions... /--------------------------------\ | 8. Questions and Answers (FAQ) | \--------------------------------/ Here are some questions that some people have asked me over and over, an some I regularly found to be asked around the internet...and my answers to them. If you started reading the guide here, you might not even need to read any more after looking through this section. Let's get started. Q: Where can I download/torrent/pirate this game? A: On that subject, I can't help you. I don't do warez. Don't even email me about it. But you can buy the game in your favorite video game store or online here: http://www.landwirtschafts-simulator.de/ Q: The game doesn't work/freezes/quits/throws errors! What do I do? A: I don't know, I'm not tech-support. Also, the game works fine for me, so I can't help you with stuff like that. Read the game's readme, check the system requirements, install patches, go to the official site or ask around on forums. Eventually, someone might help you out. I'm sorry, but I can't. Q: Where can I download this mod/building/map? I can't find it anywhere! A: Sure you can, just search a little more. Look at the links up in the Tips and Links section, use Google/Yahoo/whatever. If it really exists, it must be on one of the LS community sites. Check, if you have written the name of the mod right, this is a common mistake. Don't email me requesting mods, I don't have them! Q: This mod, I can't install it/it doesn't work/it broke my game! HELP! A: Check out the description of the mod on the site you downloaded it from, also, check the readme or documentation came with the mod. There must be some instructions around how to install your mod or make it work. A common mistake when installing, is copying the modded files into the wrong folder. Check the mod's archive, and if, for example, it has a 'maps' folder in it, copy the contents of THAT folder into your 'maps' folder in the game directory. Apart from that, I can't help you. Maybe ask around in the forums. If it broke your game, just restore you backups (you do have backups, don't you?) Q: I installed this mod, but I can't use it/it's too complicated! What now? A: If you can't use it, I suggest you uninstall it and find one you can. If you insist on using it, there might be a list of controls in the description or the readme file. Also, turn the in-game help on (F1), that should give you some hints. I cannot help you with specific mods, sorry. Q: I downloaded this mod, but it's in another language, I can't understand! A: Some of the mods are translated to English, but many of them are in German, Polish or some other European language. If you can't understand, run the readme or description through Google Translate or something, it's not very accurate but it can help. If you managed to install the mod, look at the in-game help, there should be buttons listed. Try them out to see what they do. If it doesn't work at all, look for another mod. Or alternatively you can learn the language, it's always nice to get to know another culture :) Q: Are there any cheats/trainers for this game? Where can I get them? A: There are no cheats in the game as far as I know, and I don't know about any trainers either. They might exist, but I don't have any idea where, you can search for them. The game is far from being hard anyway, so you shouldn't need any cheats. But if you really want to cheat, there are certain mods out there that qualify as such. 50m wide cultivators/planters, NoTill seeders, tractors that go at light-speed, automatic bale stackers (duh!), and so on. You can also hack the .xml files to reset the prices in the shop to $1, but I don't know how, you must figure that out yourself...you cheat. Q: I can't grow any crops for some reason, what am I doing wrong? A: The correct procedure is cultivate/plow -> seed -> harvest. Plowing and cultivating does the same in the game, but you do have to do one or the other first. Than use the seeder. Also, it takes time for you plants to grow, be patient. Spraying is entirely optional, but it maximizes the yield of your crops. Q: My vehicle ran out of gas while out in the field. It won't budge! A: Yeah, well you should've taken better care to refuel, don't you? You can try to ram/tow/pull it back to the fuel pump with another vehicle, but that rarely works. There is mod you can install, a service trailer (or fuel tanker) that you can tow to your empty vehicle and fuel it up on the field. *sigh* Okay, you can also save and reload your game, you vehicle should be fully fueled, happy now? Q: I managed to capsize/get stuck with my vehicle, it won't move, halp? A: It's real hard to stuck or capsize vehicles in the base game (I don't know about how mods handle that), but it's not impossible. If you have implements attached, try unhooking them, or lowering/raising/folding/ unfolding them to rock the vehicle back to it's wheels. If that doesn't work, ram it with another vehicle to turn it back up. You can also use the front-loader if you have one. If you managed to mess up so badly, that none of these work, just sell the vehicle/trailer/implement and buy a new one. Saving and reloading doesn't work in this case. You could reload an earier save though. Q: I somehow sold all my vehicles/implements and ran out of money. A: I don't know how you even managed to do that, but you can reload your save to correct it. If you even saved your game in this state, you are sh*t outta luck, my friend. Without vehicles, you can't work your fields or get any money. Start a new, career, that's all I can tell you. Possibly in economics. Q: I can't seem to get the hang of this game, it's too boring/complicated/etc. A: Farming Simulator '09 is not for everyone. It's mainly for people interested in agriculture and tycoon/strategy/simulator games in general. If you don't have fun playing this game, don't sweat it. Find another one that you do like playing. Q: There are many discrepancies/inaccuracies in your guide, things don't work as you said they would, what's up with that? A: You could be using a different game version. Install all the patches that are available to the game, that should fix most of your problems. As I said in the beginning of the guide, English is not my first language, maybe I wrote something confusing. Read that section again, and see if you haven't misunderstood something and try again. Some of the more complex tricks require some skill. If you are absolutely sure I messed up somewhere, you can contact me, and I'll correct it. Look in the Feedback section. Q: Your guide is sh*t, your writing is terrible, it's too long/short/confusing, I hate you...and yer momma! A: That's not even a question, now is it? If you don't like the guide, don't read it, that's all. Don't send me hate-mail, I delete it. If you have some CONSTRUCTIVE criticism you want to share, you might contact me, and I might even respond. Feedback section is down there. Q: I really like your guide, it helped me a lot. In fact, it is awesome! Is there a way I can support your work/contribute/show my thanks? A: Thank you! Much appreciated! Really, you enjoying your game because of this guide and the thought that I helped you is payment enough. I don't write these guides to make money, gain fame or anything like that. But if you really insist on wanting to show your support, contact me, and we arrange something :) Q: You have a really cool guide here, I want to host it on my site, may I? A: With some conditions, yes. Contact me and we work out the details. Q: Will you update/correct/add further sections to the guide in the future? A: That might happen, yes. If there will be many errors/discrepancies reported or if I learn some new things about the game, I may do an update some time in the future, but don't hold your breath :) Sooooooooo, this is it! Finished! You've reached the end. That is everything I could tell you about Farming Simulator 2009. If you read this guide from beginning to end, you now know everything I know about the game. I hope I could help you solve your problems and get you started in this excellent simulator. Good luck, and see you on the fields, fellow farmer! ;) Playbahnosh /-------------\ | 9. Feedback | \-------------/ If you STILL have questions about the guide, even after reading through all that, or you have comments, suggestions, you can contact me through e-mail. But first, let's see the rules. If your mail brakes any of these rules, you won't get a response at all! You have been warned! Don't: * Don't ask for warez/download links to the game! I don't do warez. Period. * Don't ask me to send you files. I won't. * Don't ask questions that are clearly answered in this guide! If you are too lazy to read, that's not my problem. * Don't ask me about specific mods, where to get them or how they work. I simply don't know. Go read their description or something. * Don't ask technical questions about the game. I'm not tech-support, I don't know why your game isn't working. There is the readme and various support forums, seek help there. * Don't send ANY attachments! I delete your mail without opening it! If you want to send in-game pictures to show/ask me something about them, upload them to some picture sharing site and post a link in your mail. * Don't send spam/hate-mail. I delete it. Finally, some DOs: * If you are asking a question, please write details. What is working, what is not, what mods you have installed (if any), what are you trying or wanting to do, EVERYTHING relevant. I can only help you if you provide me with enough information. * Please, write in plain English (or Hungarian), and use proper punctuation! I can't reply if I can't decode what you are trying to say. * Please, be patient! I'm not at my computer 24/7, I can't reply instantly. I do my best to reply to every email, but allow me a few days to get back to you. If you don't receive any reply within a week (two weeks tops), that means that either your mail broke some rules or I'm dead. If you accept these rules, you can send your mail to this address: play(nospam)bahnosh[at]freemail[dot]hu Just remove the (nospam) and substitute @ for [at] and . for [dot]. Security measures to avoid spammers. If your mail is okay, you should get your answer soon. Byez! ********* *THE END* ********* Playbahnosh © 2010