Plowing, cultivating,power harrows, and subsoilers.

[ShadowRaven♿]

So what exactly is the usage difference between these 4 objects considering they all have the same descrpition?

[Mod Sloth]

Cultivators and harrows seem to function the same, and plows and subsoilers are the same except the subsoilers can't create fields.

[Waggy]

Plowing is required by an optional setting every 3 harvests on some plants and every harvest on other plants.

Cultivating is required after harvesting to remove left-overs before sowing a new crop, unless you use a "direct seeding" seeder or a cultivator-seeder contraption. Power harrows are a form of cultivator, they're more compact since they use engine power and are perfect to combine with a seeder to create a relatively cheap cultivator-seeder alternative for the poor starting farmer.

Subsoiler is a less aggressive type of plow which will satisfy the plowing requirement and generate a "cultivated" field condition, ready for seeding.

[rolahtor]

Originally posted by Waggy:

Plowing is required by an optional setting every 3 harvests on some plants and every harvest on other plants.

Cultivating is required after harvesting to remove left-overs before sowing a new crop, unless you use a "direct seeding" seeder or a cultivator-seeder contraption. Power harrows are a form of cultivator, they're more compact since they use engine power and are perfect to combine with a seeder to create a relatively cheap cultivator-seeder alternative for the poor starting farmer.

Subsoiler is a less aggressive type of plow which will satisfy the plowing requirement and generate a "cultivated" field condition, ready for seeding.

you are a hero this reply is a godsend

[the.lovewyrm]

They have a greater impact IRL, with some (hot) debates over their pros and cons (soil compaction, mud/clay like conditions with rainwater, etc.
In the game they're simplified and more of a roleplaying choice.

[Usedfireball]

Where I farm IRL not many people use a plow anymore, too slow. Rippers (other term for subsoilers, although generally run only slightly deeper than a plow, where as a true subsoiler might be 2X the depth of a plow.) are very common here, as they are wider and can be run faster than the old plows, but take a lot of HP to pull.

If this game was anything like RL you could also create a field by spraying herbicide on an area of grass, and direct seed into that ground later. (no-till) Even a normal field cultivator can be used to work up an old hay field. The reason the game requires a plow for that is the plow cuts the plant roots and buries said plants under the dirt it turns over. A subsoiler acts more on the dirt below ground, lifting and fracturing compaction zones. They won't cut many roots off in the process. The field cultivator will cut the roots but won't bury much.

This game is a far cry from actual agriculture, but does its best to simulate what goes on. Anyone who actually farms will see the difference however.

[Bromstine]

Since this is already undead…

Originally posted by Usedfireball:

This game is a far cry from actual agriculture, but does its best to simulate what goes on. Anyone who actually farms will see the difference however.

Well, it's a casual simulator, unlike a real, say, flight simulator. It does its best to simulate farming while still making it a fun game.
I do wish it had more options to make it more realistic. All the sims should have a whole metric ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of options to go from "casual very arcady" to "why try, the bank will foreclose on my farm in no time at all anyway". ;-) So that everyone can set up his/her preferred level of realism and pain. :D

Another similar sim I play is ETS2/ATS, and there too: have settings where, say, the map is done in a way like MS' modern flight sim does, from real world data, so 1:1 scale, and your tours are also 1:1, so if you drive a 10 hours tour, you *will* have to play for 10 hours (you can save at any time though). AS AN OPTION, of course (and then I'd like a bit of anonymous telemetry and see who plays at this extreme level of realism). Along with, of course, all the other realistic bit: real amounts for pay and fees, real driving hours regulations, real "you're 2 minutes late, we won't take accept the delivery"… each and every one of these to be turned on and off at the player's discretion.

[joridiculous]

ETS(2) and ATS isnt real time. One hour in game is 10 or so minutes real time.
You can set it to real time afaik. You can also play FS in real time if you pleases.

[Bromstine]

I didn't say ETS2/ATS were real-time, I said I'd like it be an option (it isn't, you cannot change the timescale in the default game). And your timescale is wrong too: it is not one hour to 10 minutes, it's… variable. 1:3 (one hours = 20 minutes) in cities, 1:19(ish) on the highway. And some other scales in other places.

[Great Sage Equal of Heaven]

Disappointed that FS is 'nothing like' agriculture, I thought I was learning something