Radical prices and rewards

[xent]

Dear Devs,

Can you help me understand the economy in this game? So yesterday when playing I noticed large shifts in pricing, I bought a field for 24,5k of 1,87 Ha, after harvesting and bailing I got a total of 12k, so about half of my money back. When I was looking for a new field a 1,35 Ha it was gone cost me 22,5k, and today it worth about 15k.

The same this is happening with the Shop where the Truck cost 20k, but then boosts to 48k, and 1 hour in-game later to 33k, it seems that when Prices are in Blue letters they are more expensive. Same with missions, some times I get 2,5k to fix something, other times I am lucky if I get 400€ for the same amount of work

[COmtns]

I believe you've answered your own question, or at least understand the system that's in place. Each item has a price range and the price fluctuates up and down, usually cycling about every two weeks. The ranges are rather extreme, which ideally would be toned down, but it's easy to live with as long as you know a good price. I've only seen prices change each new day and never in the course of a day. Other examples are the new combine, which has a range of 89,000-132,000; cooked eggs and condensed milk going between 6.xx and 9.59. As for the the machinery, they all seem to be tied together, meaning all items will be at their respective low points and high points on the same day.

I'm not sure that the fixing missions fall into this category, though. They generally seem to pay you in relation to the amount of work needed. Sometimes the payment seems low, so maybe this has a market range as well. I just haven't noticed that.

[xent]

Originally posted by COmtns:

I'm not sure that the fixing missions fall into this category, though. They generally seem to pay you in relation to the amount of work needed. Sometimes the payment seems low, so maybe this has a market range as well. I just haven't noticed that.

I see it alot in Repair missions.

It's only frustrating because i don't see much progression in the game, I'm in April now and I still can't afford anything new. I was able to repair my house and get all animals and 4 fields but having to wait 2 months for a field to give me half of its value and then make the calculation that it will take me a full year just to be able to get Tractor + Trailer or the Harvester is not a happy thing to look forward to.

[COmtns]

I just started playing this game about a week ago after having bought it last January, but waited for some of the bugs and frustrating issues to be resolved. Anyway, I'm around 52 hours in at this point, so I just went through the grind. The grind part is dealing with the slow tractor. I think it was about the 43-hour mark when I could first afford the combine, so yeah, you'll be in some pain for a while. A small green trailer was my first machine purchase, which was at the start of the second season. After 3 harvests (having 4 fields first year and 5 fields starting at the second harvest at the start of year 2), I have all the new machinery now except for the baler and manure spreader, and the 4th harvest at the end of the second year will put me into easy living and no challenge the rest of the way.

The combine should be your second purchase after the green trailer (or 2), then the tractor after that. The combine gains you considerably more yield, but even if it didn't, the far less unloading stops makes it the best choice. Also, I'd recommend planting canola only until you get what you're after. The high sell price is about 1,040, which I've seen once, but I've seen it max out at 950 a few times before dropping. It has a higher yield than peas.

You could speed things up if you simply make a quick trip to gather eggs every morning (no milk, since that's a bit more time and half the money) and keep up with your greenhouse (growth every 2 weeks), and sell at the high water mark (9.59 for eggs and milk), and sleep with some missions thrown in. I've done that for a couple periods while waiting for the crops to grow.

[AdvancedFollower]

Originally posted by xent:

Originally posted by COmtns:

I'm not sure that the fixing missions fall into this category, though. They generally seem to pay you in relation to the amount of work needed. Sometimes the payment seems low, so maybe this has a market range as well. I just haven't noticed that.

I see it alot in Repair missions.

It's only frustrating because i don't see much progression in the game, I'm in April now and I still can't afford anything new. I was able to repair my house and get all animals and 4 fields but having to wait 2 months for a field to give me half of its value and then make the calculation that it will take me a full year just to be able to get Tractor + Trailer or the Harvester is not a happy thing to look forward to.

Once you have bought a few fields, progression really speeds up. Don't waste time doing other things around the farm at this stage. Just sow, sleep a week at a time, harvest, sow again (winter crops), sleep, harvest etc. I went with Canola only, since you get paid more without having to bale.
Start with the green trailer (the one that fits on the old tractor), this will make selling grains much more efficient. Then, when you can afford the new harvester, you can actually sell the trailer if you want. The harvester itself has a fairly large capacity, and it drives much faster than the old tractor (faster without cruise control).
Also, don't spend your social points on machinery. Hire workers to be even more efficient (have workers plowing 3 fields while you work on the 4th etc.).

By in-game year 3 I could afford anything I wanted in the game so it was more a matter of restricting myself for Roleplaying purposes