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Farming sim 'Cattle and Crops' hits Steam Early Access, has Linux support

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If you're after a slightly more realistic farming sim, as in one that's not 2D pixel stuff, Cattle and Crops [Steam, Official Site] certainly seems interesting.

Correct me if I'm wrong, I did look, but this might be the first "proper" farming sim to be made available on Linux. I didn't find anything else like it, so that's progress I guess. Earlier today, the game released on Steam and it's currently still in-development, so it's an Early Access title. The good news, is that Linux support is already there and it works reasonably well.

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Disclosure: The developer sent over a key for me to take a look.

I will start by making one thing clear, it's really quite early-on in development from what it seems. There's a fair bit in the game already, but it's rough. Surprisingly though, what's in there already is actually quite good. Take the settings as an example. There's three different field of view sliders: one for first-person, one for cockpit view and one for the "chase camera". I'm a big fan of that, since I find a lot of games have them set too low for my liking. We also have different sound sliders for: inside vehicles, outside vehicles, sound effects, music and so on. The attention to detail, allowing you to change so many individual settings makes me quite appreciative of it.

It does thrusts you in without so much as a single tip or pointer, so you're left to figure out the interface and everything yourself. There is a tutorial line to follow, so you're not entirely left to your own devices. It's just the basic start that needs a little in the way of a helping hand. Something as simple as telling you to hit right CTRL to enable the mouse, to actually interact with the interface. I managed to quickly familiarise myself with the basic controls, as it thankfully provides a proper controls menu, so I set off on my quest to plant some crops and raise some animals.

There's quite a lot to explore too, just don't end up in a river like me:

It took me quite a while to get back on the road…

Jokes aside, it's actually not bad at all. I've found it to be quite a peaceful and relaxing experience. I'm shocked really, as I never got the hook with such farming simulation games, but then I've said that about a lot of games until I've properly tried them.

There's a silly amount of adjustments you can do inside vehicles. Moving the steering wheel up and down, adjust your mirrors, open doors, sunroof and so on. It's actually a little crazy the amount of little details the developer has put into it, especially sweet when driving in cockpit view to be able to adjust so many parts.

There's some good realism here too, your vehicles actually make tracks in the fields and when it's raining you will slide about a little bit. It's also similar to the truck simulators, where you can end up jackknifing your trailer which can be a little amusing.

As time passes, I've been carefully attending my fields going through the tutorial missions. I think I'm doing a pretty reasonable job for a first time farmer, zooming out tells a slightly different story…


I didn't want any crops in that space anyway, it's where I'm going to park my butt on a chair and drink a cold one to appreciate my work.

It's damn nice the amount of view you can get with the camera too, from being inside your vehicle right up to a good bird's-eye view to appreciate how badly you're actually doing.

Without realising it, well over an hour had passed and it didn't feel like it at all. Weird how engrossing these tasks are as you're learning the game, as time just vanishes away while preparing fields. Naturally, it's a very slow game, so it takes quite a long time to really do much of anything.

I'm actually looking forward to seeing this game progress, it has a lot to love already, but to be clear it's early days yet. Performance is a bit wobbly, it bounces around anywhere from 30FPS to over 100FPS at times, but overall it feels okay. I'm sure that's something they will work on once more core content is in and when they've polished up other parts of the game.

You can find Cattle and Crops on Steam.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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inlinuxdude Feb 13, 2018
So, is there animal agriculture in this or no? The title would seem to indicate so, but I don't see anything in this review, or on the steam store indicating so. I'd love to play it if it is just tractors and fields.. :D
Liam Dawe Feb 13, 2018
Quoting: inlinuxdudeSo, is there animal agriculture in this or no? The title would seem to indicate so, but I don't see anything in this review, or on the steam store indicating so. I'd love to play it if it is just tractors and fields.. :D
From what I understand yes, however I have yet to experience that part of it. It's a slooooow game
inlinuxdude Feb 13, 2018
Quoting: liamdawe
Quoting: inlinuxdudeSo, is there animal agriculture in this or no? The title would seem to indicate so, but I don't see anything in this review, or on the steam store indicating so. I'd love to play it if it is just tractors and fields.. :D
From what I understand yes, however I have yet to experience that part of it. It's a slooooow game

Thanks Liam.. I asked on the game page on the steam community..
belisama Feb 13, 2018
QuoteCorrect me if I'm wrong, I did look, but this might be the first "proper" farming sim to be made available on Linux. I didn't find anything else like it, so that's progress I guess.

I'm pretty sure it is. I scrutinize all the farming-themed games pretty closely and this is the first Farming Simulator-esque title I've seen for Linux.
Eike Feb 14, 2018
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Quoting: GuestWhen you think Germany the first thing you think of is farming.

As a German, I'm not sure I get it. This is a joke, right?
BlackBloodRum Feb 14, 2018
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Interesting. It's good to see another variation of games on Linux in the form of the first Farming Simulator!

I may not be getting this, farming sims are not really my thing. But having said that I said the same thing about Euro Truck Simulator, got it at a discount and now play it quite often. I also purchased American Truck Simulator day 1 of release (it supported Linux).

So I may get this anyway, just to check it out. We'll see.

But I'm happy to see it supports Tux! Sadly however this means that there won't be a "Linux Support" thread in the forums with some fun arguments between Windows and Linux users as to whether the game should support Linux.
Eike Feb 14, 2018
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Quoting: BlackBloodRumBut I'm happy to see it supports Tux! Sadly however this means that there won't be a "Linux Support" thread in the forums with some fun arguments between Windows and Linux users as to whether the game should support Linux.

You really don't get enough of those? :S:
Xpander Feb 14, 2018
Is there Wheel support? Did you try with your wheel?
skinnyraf Feb 14, 2018
I spent way too much time in Farming Simulator a while back, hoped for Linux support in their most recent version and refused to purchase it for Windows. I am so glad that Cattle and Crops works under Linux, definitely considering purchasing it.

Now, if only we had a proper train simulator...
razing32 Feb 14, 2018
Quoting: Eike
Quoting: GuestWhen you think Germany the first thing you think of is farming.

As a German, I'm not sure I get it. This is a joke, right?

I think there is a meme related to that :

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