We did some groundwork in Farming Simulator 22: Not only does the soil, like other surfaces, appear more natural and vivid thanks to Parallax Occlusion Mapping, there are also new ground working systems and a lot of new ground textures you can look forward to.
New feature: Mulching
Mulching. The revelation of domestic gardening through questionable overuse of bark chips. But, backyards and home improvement are not what we’re talking about here. Although, the science is basically the same: Mulching improves the soil (and therefore the yield).
In Farming Simulator 22, we use a mulcher attached to our tractor, to cut and apply fresh grass to the surface of the soil when cultivating a grape or olive orchard, for example. After harvesting your crops, you can also mulch the stubble left on the field to improve the yield.
And, because it’s still important to many, you also mulch to guarantee the visual appeal of your grape and olive orchards, as mulching makes everything on your vineyard look nice and clean, too. How wonderful!
Also, there are bigger types of mulchers in the forestry section. They even mulch bushes and tree stumps. (Almost) Nothing will get in the way of mulching, if you apply the correct machinery.
New feature: Stone picking
Leaving the wonderful world of mulching, there’s a hard reality lying dormant in the ground: Stones! When cultivating, or plowing, stones can turn up on your field. Depending on what kind of cultivator you are using, the size of the stones varies. Using a subsoiler, you will dig up some larger rocks compared to your shallower groundwork. Your soil lies in chaos now. Oh, no! But, what now?
When collecting stones with your stone picker, you can even make some additional money by selling them to the debris crusher. Get your revenge on those soil invaders (and even get paid for it)! Before you begin to sow your crops now, you should take care of the stones one way, or another. You can also turn stones off, if you like.
Leaving them on the field will damage your machines. Not only that, your problem will get worse – more and bigger stones will turn up. If you don’t like to collect them, there’s another method to get rid of them – at least the smaller ones. Here comes another ground working mechanic into play, that ties into stones. Yes, stones are the gift that keeps on giving…
New feature: Soil rolling
If you picked large rocks out of the ground, you need to collect them. With smaller stones, turning up after cultivating or plowing, you can also use this spectacular looking agricultural tool called a roller, and simply press them into the ground again. Yes, just roll over them – they had it coming, threatening the well-being of your expensive machines.
Rollers are not just a tool to conceal the rocky consequences of cultivating or plowing, though. After sowing your crops, you gain an additional yield bonus when rolling over, flattening and compressing the seedbed. Considering the type of crop and field size, we’re talking about a considerable amount of money.
There’s also incentive to get your roll on, when you’re a grassland enthusiast. As rolling around on your meadows grants you a fertilizing stage. Mind, that rolling over grass sets it back to the first growth stage – so you should roll over the grass when it’s freshly cut and mowed.
Look at the new ground textures!
We revised basically all ground textures for Farming Simulator 22. You’ll notice more visual diversity. And, when playing with some friends invited to your farm (even via Crossplay), you’ll definitely notice, if those slackers haven’t rolled the seedbed, as the texture looks different from the one where it’s not. Don’t let them get away with lowering your yield!
Above, you see just some examples of the new ground textures in the game. Click on the image to enlarge.
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