[Basics] Settings & New Save Game

Welcome to your first lesson of the Farming Simulator Academy! Today we’re setting up a new save game, including recommended game settings for beginners. Let’s start!

Choosing the difficulty

This one is obvious: Let’s start the game in ‘New Farmer’ mode. Meaning, you will start with a farm including some fields and buildings, a selection of machines and enough money in your bank account to get started. 

Choosing the map

There are multiple maps to choose from. They differ in terms of terrain, field sizes and shapes, and, of course, the general atmosphere. Choose where you want to play. There are maps inspired by American and European environments. 

In Farming Simulator 22, you have three maps to choose from. See the trailer and more information for each map in the respective article:

Tip! You can find even more maps on the official ModHub!

Recommended Game Settings

Let’s take a look at the game settings to find a balance between casual and challenging choices, depending on your preferred style and experience.

First, switch to the ‘game settings’ tab in the game menu when your save game is loaded. Let’s go over the most important settings.

  • The Timescale should be set to real time or up to five times faster when doing field work like sowing fruit. If you stumble here and there, it’s fine. Try to get done as much as you can in a day. Either slow down time further, or get bigger machines later to do it faster!
  • Economic Difficulty affects things like crop prices. The lower the difficulty, the easier you earn money. Feel free to choose the ‘easy’ mode if you want to make progress faster.
  • AI worker refill contains multiple options when using a helper. If you set those to ‘buy’, your helper will automatically stock up on the resources he needs - meaning less micromanagement for you.
  • Seasonal growth requires you to plant and harvest according to the crop calendar. If you’re not fast enough with the harvest, you risk ruining your crops. This option limits your flexibility, but increases realism. We recommend starting with seasonal growth deactivated if you’re new to Farming Simulator.
  • Tip! A month can last between one and 28 days. Choose what feels right for you. Find out more in our seasons tutorial!
  • Crop destruction means, your crops can be destroyed by driving over them with a tractor. We advise you to turn this off in the beginning or, set up your tractor with narrow tires.
  • Periodic plowing will require you to plow your fields once in a while to keep yield high. The box in the right bottom corner will tell you when it’s time. Starting out, it can be a chore and takes time. Turn it off if it hinders you from learning other things - or leave it to the helper. 
  • Field stones appear during cultivating and plowing. They can be dug up and will be left on the field. You need to remove them to continue. Deactivate this option if you’re new and want to focus on the basics, first.
  • Lime and Weeds are more important to get an authentic farming experience and will bring variety to the gameplay. Leave them on, as our lessons on sowing crops will take them into account. 
  • Snow falls in winter, and adds to the challenge: You have to get rid of it on your paths and roads. If seasonal growth is deactivated, you should deactivate snow, too. You can also disable snow individually and still use seasonal growth.

Well done!

Congratulations, you set up your first save game and can start farming. We recommend continuing with the subsequent lessons to make your entry into the world of Farming Simulator a bit easier. Stay with the Farming Simulator Academy, and you’ll become a top-notch virtual farmer in no time!

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