Today we’re proud to announce that Professional Farmer: Cattle and Crops Version 1.0 has been released.

"This is the seed for the new generation of agricultural simulation. But as befits a good farmer, the field will continue to be tended and cared for so that the game grows and develops well. Because we still have big plans for our "field" - this is just the beginning!

Here is the extensive changelog that will make your screen burst:

Changelog:

NEW Become a farmer:
Over 50 comprehensive tutorials explaining the entire game and procedures
Scenarios for an exciting start in agriculture
Numerous information on real agriculture by the Landwirtschaftsverlag Münster

NEW Career vs. Sandbox Mode: It can be decided per savegame whether it should run in sandbox or career mode.
The sandbox mode has no restrictions (for performance reasons there are still maximum level values for vehicles, animals and staff, but these correspond to the highest level value you could get).
In career mode, the maximum number of vehicles, animals and employees is limited as before based on the profile’s XP. In addition, vehicles - except for a small starting fleet - must be unlocked by completing scenarios. This is displayed on the corresponding vehicle page in the shop.
The restriction is defined in the vehicle - so it is also possible for modders to limit their vehicle in their career.
Once set, savegames retain their mode and cannot be changed by "Save as" or similar.
Old save games are handled as sandboxes.

NEW New profile and savegame menu
New design
Better clarity, more space for the savegames
Direct creation of an empty savegame (previously a new save game could only be created via "Save as")
The selection of savegames is now done by clicking directly on the slot (previously separate button)
The savegame active in the selected profile is marked with a tick
The savegame active in the whole game is yellow and marked with a tick

NEW New languages: Spanish, Italian, French, Polish and Russian
NEW TerrainGrid storage optimizations: Saving is now much faster and save games are much smaller
NEW Vegetation & trees now move according to real wind data
NEW Steam Achievements added. Will be synchronised with the game's own achievements. Only available for newly created profiles.
NEW Helper AI:
The AI ignores the collision with objects that have an optional collision (e.g. trees)
In harvest tasks with a combine, the drivers now wait at parking positions next to the field if they’re not full after emptying the combine
If several drivers are waiting next to the field, the one with the highest fill level starts first
When the driver is almost full when chopping, he warns the chopper with the horn and by switching on his rotating light
AI workers automatically refuel diesel

NEW Straw and hay bales can be fed using the MixKing
NEW Hay drying revised:
New parameters sunshine hours (incl. cloudiness), temperature and wind force have a direct influence on drying
Now the exact amount of rain is considered in the calculation

NEW Menus and interface:
Main menu revised
Areas updates
Areas have received tooltips
News display redesigned
New design for profile, settings, mod and credit menus

Employees and potential employees on the market have received portrait images
Main menu: Welcome tour when starting the game for the first time
Map selection menu redesigned and revised
Settings menu has a new design
Mod window in main menu revised
Menu soundtrack
In transport task mode, loading/unloading direction and FillType are automatically selected depending on what the loading point has set and what was set at the previous station
The UI is now always rendered in the native desktop resolution, if you select a smaller resolution it is only used for rendering the world (new standard in C4 7.0)
Fonts are rendered via Slug 5.0, making them sharp in all resolutions
New screen marker showing the direction and distance to the next mission target or autopilot target
Money, date and time in in-game menus
Exiting the map or game: dialog box with the option to save, not save or cancel. Both in the free game and in the scenarios

NEW Vehicles can be towed away using a tow bar
New machine: tow bar, which must be bought in the shop
Can be attached to any vehicle via the radial menu, or directly to the towing bracket
On other tractors it is attached to the front of the towing point
If the tow bar is attached, nothing can be attached to the front three-point hydraulic system at the same time - and vice versa

NEW Physics level "Realistic" now works with real values again, the old "realistic" level is now called "medium”

NEW Map
Contractor south of the sewage treatment plant
Roads and paths get wet when it rains
Fog is back again and has been reworked together with Atmospheric Scattering
Machine purchase: New spawn points (BGP, animal trader, ...) with individual delivery costs
Wild animals in the Albergtal added
Animals flee in case of collision with player or vehicles
Wild animals flee from the player

Many new environment objects added
New traffic vehicles
Seed pallets added on the farm to store surplus seed temporarily
Added two dedicated fertilizer stores at the unloading point on the farm
New mission "Welcome to the farm" added as an introduction to the farm

NEW Options
Warning popup when vegetation settings are too high
Setting to ignore maximum speed for field work. If enabled, machines keep working even when driving too fast
New option: Vehicle and player camera optionally collide with vehicles, bales, animals

NEW Vehicles:
[list]
New machine: Bressel und Lade Silageroller XL for compacting the silo
New machine: Transport trailer for Claas Direct Disc 520
All vehicles have cruise control indicators in the cockpit displays
Deep tracks (from getting stuck) can be compensated with cultivator and plow
Vehicles can sink in on wet fields. In addition, grip in damp conditions has been massively reduced. So you can dig in mud again
Vehicles take evasive action if road is too narrow
When an Implement is in attaching range, an append-icon is displayed. This can be (de)activated in the options.
Field entrances are "blocked" by drivers until they have passed them. This prevents traffic jams or collisions at field entrances
New standard road speed for helpers: 50 km/h. Can be overwritten in XML with [tt]<maxHelperSpeed transport="30" />
[/tt]
Vehicles can now be recovered at different locations via the vehicle menu
Warning if vehicle will run out of fuel soon
Vehicle tires now also have a collision but only inside the rim

NEW Editor:
OBJ Exporter for the Editor

NEW Rendering, HDR, PBR
HDR ACES tone mapping
Integrated C4 7.0 Renderer
Revised PBR implementation
Standard cubemap replaced by an HDRI


BUG FIX Vehicles
Revised sounds of all vehicles
Motor noises no longer suddenly jump in volume when doors are open
Draft Force Fixes: Attachments that are pulled have new resistances. Seed drills etc. are now treated differently than deep cultivators or plows
Position of Capsules Shapes is now identical to the position of PhysX
Hammer SilageKing now also unloads while driving
Stapel VT18000 had not loaded the set application rate correctly
When loading a savegame, attachments and cutters are now attached correctly at the saved position
Implements should be correctly attached after loading from a savegame
Buckets hang more firmly on the front loader
Hammer TransferKing unloading on left side: Doors are opened the right way around, particle system is visible again
Wrongly assigned QuickSlot item in Claas Axion removed
When unloading the Hammer MixKing with the U key it could happen that the unload animation was not finished
When attaching the Claas 521 trailer to the Tucano there are no more collision problems
Stapel VT18000 boom can now always be attached correctly
Claas Volto, Claas Liner, Claas Quadrant and Stapel VT18000 now turn themselves completely transportable on autopilot
Lemken Juwel: Soil particles no longer float in the air
The Lemken Azurit now sows again after loading a savegame
Dammann booms no longer lifted after loading
Claas Quadrant: CabControl for bale ejection now visible from outside when player is on foot
Machines like the Stapel barrel can now be filled to 100% (previously 99.5%)
The particle system of the Jaguar no longer shoots against the side of the loader wagon
Rauch Axis is again able to fertilize after loading a savegame
Round weight no longer tips over when spawning/resetting
Three-point hitches: Float position in lowered position corrected (e.g. Arion 530 with Juwel)
Headlight colors adapted
Deutz 7250: Handbrake icon and neutral gear indicator fixed in display
Ignition key animations fixed in Deutz and MB Tracs
Lemken Gemini can be unloaded at the farm
The front axle of the Deutz 7250 is no longer tilted
Hammer corn sowing unit: shaking animations reduced
Hammer TransferKing opens the doors correctly when unloading on the left
Köckerling Rebel Classic: fixed shaking animations
Claas Volto: Particles are visible again after loading a game
Tracks no longer remain on the headland when sowing

BUG FIX Field cultivation and plants
BUG FIX Swath is now deposited on the field even at higher speeds
BUG FIX To improve work on headlands, fruit destruction by the tires no longer occurs during sowing
BUG FIX Plants that can regrow after cutting only start grow after a certain number of days
BUG FIX Helpers AI & Autopilot
Animal transport with helpers is now savegame compatible
Transport tasks are now save game compatible
Transport task from template: Load/unload selection was not saved/loaded
Drivers no longer overtake harvesters when driving downhill and rotate less
Drivers now pause again at the end of the lane when the user is controlling the harvester
After loading a savegame, drivers with full trailers do not wait their turn on the field to drive home, but drive immediately to the unloading point
Drivers no longer randomly lose their affiliation with a task on a field
Driver no longer drives into the harvester when changing sides
When harvesting, drivers now also check if it would not be more sensible to drive behind the harvester when following left/right
The position calculation of the driver is no longer dependent on whether the harvester has just engaged reverse gear
When harvesting with two AI drivers , the second waiting driver is no longer sent to the field entrance while the first one unloads the combine
Savegames with active harvesting task with yourself as the driver: Unloading stations are no longer lost
After completion of the harvesting task, drivers drive correctly from the field to the unloading point
Drivers who are at the unloading point when loading a savegame no longer stop there
Parking vehicles at the roadside no longer block AI vehicles or helpers
Helpers now load and unload correctly in transport tasks
Helper stops again during unloading
Transport Task: Helper no longer circles around loading point
When harvesting, choppers/combines now also harvest the first headland track correctly. The transition from headland to field tracks has also been optimized
Lacotec LH 2 can now be used in harvesting tasks
AI drivers should no longer circle on the field
During harvesting, the chopper now also detects collisions with attachments when resetting
Drivers waiting at the edge of the field are also sent home when a harvesting task is completed
Navigation optimized at multiple road intersections
AI / Autopilot can now also start from the shelter on the farm
Drivers who are in a savegame on their way from the silo to the field do not unregister from the task
The autopilot no longer loses its path when loading a savegame
When performing a (animal) transport task, the quantity already transported is now saved in the savegame
Feeding and BGP filling tasks can no longer choose the port silos
Field work task does not stay on GettingReadyForWork after loading from savegame & Field work does not start from scratch in savegame
Fixed numerous crashes while saving and loading tasks
Harvesting task: task with user as tractor driver now working
Drivers now also take the cutting unit into account when taking evasive action
If you drive behind the harvester as a driver, it no longer honks and does not stop when you’re too close
Field work with several helpers: The headland is worked again by the first helper
Field work with helpers no longer starts from the beginning after loading a savegame
Calculation of the duration of field work and harvesting tasks corrected. The working width is now also correctly taken into account
When harvesting, the driver no longer pauses when the field is finished

BUG FIX Map
If no weather data is specified in the map XML then the default data will be loaded
Brick and stone pavement now use real Normal Maps
Gates, fences: collision with machines fixed

BUG FIX Menus and Interface
Duplicate and faulty tanks removed from statistics menu
Fixed wrong message text for employee payday
Gamepad: fixed mouse position and click position for resolutions larger than Full HD
Fixed crash when switching between controller and keyboard in mission window
Minimap: Fixed scaling to 4K resolution
Scaling and zoom of 3D display in vehicle menu fixed
Vehicles in series ("model selection") are now sorted better
When fast forwarding the background will be solid and cover the whole screen
Mission texts, trader entries, controls info and minimap in the field menu are no longer rendered above other elements when scrolling
"Restart the game" appears in the selected new language if it has been changed
XP correctly formatted in notifications
Fixed numerous translation errors in the menus
Better support for longer text in tabs in in-game menus (wrapping into two lines)
Quickload (default: F9) works again
Settings in the options menu are no longer applied immediately, but only when "Save" is clicked
Changed settings are now also saved when you are in another tab of the options menu
Fixed faulty "FillType not compatible" message in transfer window
Better menu display at non 16:9 resolutions
Fertilizer calculator: display of imperial units and values corrected
Delete transport task: notification text corrected
Hints during the creation of a harvesting task improved

BUG FIX Graphics and rendering
Shadows of LODs are no longer rendered permanently
Textures are only on Ultra by default when 4 GB of VRAM is detected. In total Ultra consumes about 3.7 GB VRAM in the Albergtal with running machinery. Using the “high” settings, 2 GB of VRAM is sufficient
Improved SSAO quality
Less vegetation popping bugs when switching between vehicles

BUG FIX Bales have the correct weight again
BUG FIX Repayment instalments of a loan are no longer billed more than once
BUG FIX Flashlight in first person view no longer darkened

CHANGE Map
Silos sections can now be opened and covered section by section
Flags from Landwirtschaftsverlag placed at the cooperative
Road network:
Three-way intersections have received correct and optimized turning lanes
Path widths on field paths reduced
Narrow curve south of the farm optimized
Vehicle dealer entrance optimized
Paths at the port optimized
BGP exit navigation paths optimized
Cooperative: entry and exit navigation paths optimized
Sewage plant: entry and exit navigation paths optimized
Spawn point orientation and connections fixed

Distance fruit colors revised
Building doors open earlier (Trigger enlarged)
All old missions removed from the sandbox and career mode game
Texture blending of the soil between "cultivated" and "plowed" improved
Weather: rain blocks more finely divided, roads get wet earlier

CHANGE Vehicles
Lemken Juwel is now raised before rotating
The speedometer display in the HUD takes the Imperial vs. Metric settings into account and shows km/h or mph
Machines no longer work outside the speed limit when driving yourself
The cruise control now also works downhill by actively braking
All vehicles have received increased street speeds
All vehicles have received increased reverse speeds
Claas Disco work speed increased to 15 km/h
Camera height adjusted for better model and seating positions
Better position detection of the attachments in the radial menu
The turning radius of the Tucano has been reduced, e.g. field 14 can now be harvested without colliding with the fence
Bressel and Lade buckets: green changed to gray (current B+L color)
Bressel and Lade buckets: prices adjusted
MB Tracs: center of gravity and weight distribution adjusted
Placing the Vario 930 on the Claas 521 trailer has been improved
Vehicles that are not compatible with a target tank or trader no longer open the transfer window
All machines and their functions are now fully translated
Lemken Juwel: unfolding and rotating can no longer be performed twice in a short time
Vehicles can also be refuelled via the menu, if you do not have enough money for a complete tank
Claas Tucano can now mix grain
Vehicle and equipment rental prices were increased
Joskin Betimax RDS (both), Lemken Juwel (all): decal dirt now corresponds to vehicle dirt
When an empty machine enters a load/unload trigger, "Load" is pre-selected
Physics performance improved for many machines
Lemken Gemini can now be emptied
Added tow pin hitch on Deutz 7250
Animal sale: “Unloading” is pre-selected when there are animals in the trailer
When attaching machines, the lower links of the tractor are lowered and the upper link is adjusted correctly
The camera no longer collides with optional collision objects (banks, trees...)

CHANGE Player level and attributes adjusted
Maximum quantities for vehicles, animals, employees adjusted
Maximum level of the player increased to 10

CHANGE Menu and Interface
Vehicle debug window cleaned up
New mouse cursor for better visibility
Options menu: Language selection moved up and highlighted visually
C4 Intro video volume reduced
Xbox One and 360 controllers: custom icons for “View” and “Menu” / “Start” and “Back”
Improved rental button and slider in vehicle and employee menu
Zoom speed of minimap with gamepad reduced significantly
The “Attach Failed” dialog shows more details
When buying / selling at the trader, the total price is now displayed
At the farm gas station, the purchase window no longer shows the amount of fuel in the tank, since it is unlimited
NotificationWindow now closes automatically after 60 seconds
UI scale: minimum value set to 50%
The setting "Only edit own fields" is available again in the difficulty options
Numerous tooltips added to the options menu
The Sleep Window now shows the target date
Brightness setting in the graphic options now goes from 0 to 100, with default value 50

CHANGE Helper / AI / Autopilot
When drivers continue after pausing and the distance to the target is greater than 50m, a new course is calculated
Parking positions for waiting drivers have been extended so that drivers from the back of the queue can also drive to the field first
Harvesting task with yourself as driver: harbor grain trader is now supported
Field cultivation task: travel speed increased when changing tracks
Drivers drive a larger arc around the crop in the field and prefer turning maneuvers over the field boundaries instead of driving into the fruit
Field work with several helpers: If an additional helper reaches the field, all others pause their work until the new helper has reached his or her path
Lemken Gemini and Dammann Land-Cruiser can be loaded in transport task at the water/liquid fertilizer dealer
AI vehicles drive closer to the center line on small roads
Speed adjusted on dirt roads
Adjusted the parking positions of the helpers on the whole map, so the drivers are no longer in the way at the field entrance
If "Always full throttle" is deactivated, the AI still uses full throttle
Drivers: fewer collisions when changing from “driving behind harvester” to “driving left/right”

CHANGE Performance: spikes reduced by better caching of the shaders in the warmup phase after loading a map
CHANGE Shovel controller improvements for pushing silage in silos
CHANGE Silo compaction improved
CHANGE Bale handling improved by using a better piercing position of the forks’ spikes
CHANGE Animals can now turn left/right a little better
CHANGE Animal noises normalized and volume lowered
CHANGE Age of employees limited at recruitment
CHANGE Removed unused FillTypes
CHANGE Added ambient sounds for doors, gates etc
CHANGE Graphics
Atmospheric Scattering improved and connected to the fog generator from the Weather Controller. The old fog has been completely deactivated
Better performance when rendering trees


NOTE Some panels still have minimal problems with Cyrillic text in terms of text width recognition
NOTE Because of the Capsule Shape changes AI characters do not get over curbs
NOTE Console variable $allowCheats 0 or 1 If you want to use cheats like "goldencrops" you have to set $allowCheats="1" before. If this variable is set, you will not be able to achieve achievements like in other games. The reason is that Steam Achievements can also lead to Steam Trading cards which have an actual value within Steam. (Steam Policy)"

Dear CNC friends, players and supporters,

We are on the home stretch to a huge milestone in the development of Cattle and Crops. On Oct 15 2020, version 1.0, which we all have been waiting for, will be released. This is an exciting moment for all those who have supported the game, some of them for years, because it will turn the crazy idea of creating a professional simulation as close to reality as possible — from the community of fans of agricultural games — into a tangible reality.

We now also have a clear picture of what will be included in V1 at the start and what unfortunately will not make it into the game by then. Of course, this is the question that is of great interest to you as supporters of the development, some of whom have been with us for several years. And that's why it's also important for us to openly discuss with you the goals that have been achieved, but above all those that have not yet been achieved.

Many of you have already supported us in the context of our Kickstarter campaign in 2016 and with this leap of faith you have contributed significantly to the financing of the project. In the course of the campaign, we have also described our goals regarding the content of V1. Without a doubt, these goals were also the impulse for you to support the project. Therefore it is even more difficult for us to inform you at this point that we are not yet able to deliver the following content planned for the start:

Multiplayer: In the Kickstarter campaign we included the multiplayer. We had already informed you in a statement on December 5th, 2019, that it will not be released for V1, because we have to concentrate on the work on the AI drivers first.

Stretch Goal 1: Multi Language (French, Italian, Polish, Russian, Spanish) is for the time being available in a basic version and has been extended to the new tutorials and scenarios. Other languages (Czech, Danish, Dutch) are not yet implemented. The missing languages as well as a revised version of the current languages will follow after V1 or will be completely translated.

Stretch Goal 2: "The Golden Voice" (voiceoOvers for English, German and French) unfortunately won't make it into V1. Due to the extensive new content in tutorials and scenarios we have to do the basic translation first.

Content: There will be no more maps or machines beyond the machines already delivered with the fieldwork package (v0.9.6) for the release. We are aware of the fact that you would have wished for "nicer" news especially concerning this aspect. But the extremely time-consuming creation and "ingaming" of new assets had to be put on hold in favor of working on enhanced gameplay content. So we are all the more thankful for the already many great machines that have been created from the community and are available at modhoster. Of course we know that these are no replacement for other machines we have created. But at least these mods will hopefully keep you busy for a while.

Exclusive Backers Tractor: To all of you whose Kickstarter package includes an exclusive one - we didn't forget you, of course! Unfortunately, because of the time-consuming creation the same applies here as already written above (content). We will hand you the tractor!

Launcher: With the release we will discontinue the launcher version of Cattle and Crops. The effort to manage and support multiple download platforms will be too much work — at the latest with the release of the console versions — and therefore we decided to end the launcher support with this release. For all those who are still using the Launcher, you have the possibility to generate a Steamkey in your Cattle and Crops account and activate it at Steam.

We understand that many of you may be disappointed about this. As you know, Cattle and Crops is our first project. To the best of our knowledge and conviction, we have set the goals described there as part of the Kickstarter campaign. With today's knowledge, we have to admit that in many places we underestimated the effort and overestimated the speed with which we can handle the numerous extensive tasks. It is a fact that the high and detailed level of reality that we want to present in the game, initially seemingly manageable tasks can quickly become very complex. But it is not an option for us to simply lower our demands on realism in favor of significantly faster results. We are convinced that this is the reason why you support Cattle and Crops. And that's why we emphasize that the goals we have set for ourselves will remain the same. Even if they are not yet implemented for V1, we will pursue them in the continuous development of Cattle and Crops, and of course you won't have to pay extra for any of the kickstarter goals later on. Please understand, however, that we cannot yet give any concrete dates.

But why are we launching the V1 "now" and not waiting until all the goals are implemented? This decision was not easy for us and is the result of conscientious consideration of all the "pros and cons". Of course, the version we are about to release is not the version we planned to release in 2016 as V1. But in fact it is true that not only one-sided features are missing. On the contrary, in many places we were able to surpass our goals and bring in additional extensive and valuable content that was not even on the schedule. We are now at the point where we believe we can release a game that will give you and many new players a great, motivating and educational gaming experience. In the last few months we have put together a package with a lot of new content that will be available for everyone when the game is released.

In the following, we will give you an overview of the features that are already included and go beyond the Kickstarter goals:

Drying system: We have added a complex weather-dependent drying system to the grassland area, which reacts to influences such as temperature, wind and sunshine hours!

Bale physics and handling: When handling hay bales, we have significantly enhanced the physical handling by adding appropriate weights and the possibility of collecting via front loader and bale spike!

Gamepad control for the PC version: Actually it was planned for the console version - but due to many requests from the community we preponed it, so that you can "plow" your fields with the controller on your PC!

Fertilizer calculator: There is not only too little, but also too much of a good thing! The right way to fertilize is a question of dosage - with the fertilizer calculator we give you a tool to calculate how much nutrients have to be applied!

Grain maize incl. cutter: You grow your maize not only for the silo! With the new type of crop and the appropriate machines we expand your possibilities for the cultivation of your farm.

Radial menu control: No stress! With this clever control system we have created the possibility to reach and operate the many functions of the machines comfortably in connection with the Quickbar.

Unloading into silos: Moving silos can be loaded individually and the piles can be distributed and compacted with the shovel!

In addition, you can look forward to the following content with the V1, which was not on the schedule in 2016:

Extensive tutorial mode: We give you about 50 tutorials that can be started at any time via the menu and explain the numerous functions & features in the game.

Career learning mode with certificates and scenarios: In addition to the simple sandbox mode, we have also included a complete career mode! Here you first have to earn certificates (as a result of successfully mastered tutorials) in order to unlock individual scenarios. The multi-level scenarios depict various agricultural tasks in a realistic sequence and at the same time convey well-founded specialist knowledge. In this form and scope this should be absolutely unique in the world of agricultural work simulations!

We will present more details about these two completely new points, which stand for several hours of fun, with the publication.

As you know, we have entered into two partnerships in the course of the last year to support our work. It was part of our learning curve to understand that we can't do the project without a partner as intended. The Landwirtschaftsverlag from Münster is the largest European agricultural publishing house, providing us with extensive expertise and data that will ensure the level of realism we are striving for throughout the game and especially in the new campaigns. With Toplitz Productions from Irdning/Austria we have an experienced publisher on our side, who helps us to better coordinate the many levels of development to achieve a good gaming experience for you. Furthermore, Toplitz will of course mainly take care of the marketing of Cattle and Crops.

In this context, Cattle and Crops will also receive the title addition "Professional Farmer - Cattle and Crops" from V1 onwards, which is intended to concisely describe the content of the game. (For you and the game nothing will change because of this addition to the title, of course!)

We are very grateful to our partners for their support. This will enable us to achieve our goals better and faster.

We hope that this more detailed statement will answer many of your current questions. Furthermore, we are of course available in the forum for further questions, which we will answer - as far as we can to the best of our knowledge.

THANK YOU for your longtime loyalty & support! We are now looking forward to taking the next big step with you! THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING!

Your Cattle and Crops team from Masterbrain Bytes