Maintenance/Farming Simulator 19

Farming Simulator 19 replaces the daily maintenance cost for Vehicles and Implements (which was used in Farming Simulator 17) with a new, voluntary Repair Cost.

All Vehicles and Implements in the game suffer damage slowly over time, losing their effectiveness. Vehicles lose Horsepower as their condition degrades, whereas Implements lose Maximum Work Speed. Repairing a machine back to perfect condition costs a fraction of the machine's original purchase cost (up to 1%), depending on how damaged the machine is. Machines can be repaired at any time from the Garage menu, but cost much less to repair at the Store or Workshop.

All machines in the vanilla version of FS19 suffer damage at a rate of 100% damage per 16 hours (about 0.00173% per second), but only while moving or working. Idle machines do not degrade at all, no matter how long they remain untouched. Vehicles and non-fieldwork Implements degrade twice as fast when driving on a field. All machines degrade at least 5 times faster than the base rate while doing actual fieldwork.

Allowing your machines to degrade results in slower, weaker vehicles and tools. This leads to higher consumption of Fuel and other materials, and slows down all fieldwork. Keeping machines in good condition saves a lot of money in the long run.

Note: Collisions do not cause damage to any machines.

Concept

Farming Simulator 17 handled vehicle maintenance costs as a fixed, daily expense. Each vehicle had a set value for maintenance, which had to be paid every single night - regardless of anything. If you bought two tractors of the same model, and only used one of those tractors, you would still have to pay the same amount for both.

Farming Simulator 19 replaces this system with one that takes into account the actual usage of each machine, and also allows you to decide when to pay the price for maintenance - or even whether you want to pay it at all. This is done by tracking not only how often a vehicle/implement is used but also how they are used, and slowly degrading the machine correspondingly. The player is incentivized to pay the repair costs because the machine becomes less efficient as it degrades, essentially costing more in the long run if left un-repaired.

Degradation

Every Vehicle and Implement in the game has several important values that determine how quickly its condition degrades:

1. Wear Duration: The base time it takes for this machine to fully degrade to 0% condition.
2. Field Multiplier: A multiplier applied when this machine is moving across a field.
3. Work Multiplier: A multiplier applied when this machine is "working" (see below).

Base Degradation

Each time a "degradation tick" occurs (the interval changes depending on many factors), the game tests each machine you own to see whether it should degrade. If the machine is not moving nor working, no degradation occurs. Otherwise, the machine will degrade by a tiny fraction, corresponding to the time it spent moving relative to the Wear Duration.

 Degradation per "tick" = Wear Duration / Time Spent Moving * 100%

For example, if a machine in perfect condition has a Wear Duration of 8 hours, and it has been moving for 2 hours, it will degrade by exactly 2/8*100% = 25%. Its condition will therefore go down to 75%.

Note: All machines in the vanilla game have a Wear Duration value of 16 hours (exactly twice the value listed in the XML files).

Multipliers

Depending on what a Vehicle / Implement is doing when the game decides to check for degradation, the amount of damage applied to that machine could be worse than just driving around. The Base Degradation rate is multiplied by a factor that takes into account where the machine is driving, and whether it is "working".

The formula:

Degradation per "tick" = Base Degradation * (Field Multiplier + Work Multiplier)

Field Multiplier

If the machine is moving over a field - regardless of what is growing on that field - a Field Multiplier is applied. The value of this multiplier is specified in the XML file for each machine model. In the vanilla game, all models seem to have a Field Multiplier of x2.

This multiplier applies to both vehicles and the implements being carried by them. Even if the implement is not connected to a vehicle (e.g. when carried on a Low Loader), it still counts as moving over a field.

As a result, driving on roads or grass may be better for your vehicles and implements than crossing fields in a straight line - so long as the time it takes to bypass the field is less than twice the time it takes to cross the field itself.

Work Multiplier

While the machine is doing work, a Work Multiplier is applied. The value of this multiplier is specified in the XML file for each machine model. In the vanilla game, all models seem to have a Work Multiplier of x5.

The term "work" differs from one type of machine to the next. A machine is considered to be "working" when the following conditions are met:

• All fieldwork tools: While the implement is having an actual effect on the field below it. For example, a Plow is considered "working" whenever it is turning bits of un-plowed field into plowed field. If the plow happens to pass over an already-plowed piece of field, it has no effect - and therefore is not considered to be "working".
• Loading Wagons: While the implement is lowered and turned on, even if it isn't doing any actual work.
• Tree Planters: While the implement is lowered, even if it isn't doing any actual work.
• Stump Grinders: While the implement is touching and grinding a tree, stump, or piece of wood.
• Wood Chippers: While the implement is processing a piece of wood (creating Wood Chips).
• Loading Tools that can pick up materials: While carrying any amount of any type of material, including objects that are made of materials (Bales and most Pallets).

Additionally, all Vehicles are considered to be "working" whenever their hydraulics are active (giving power to an Implement or other attachment).

Effects

As soon as a Vehicle or Implement degrades below 100% condition, it begins to suffer penalties. The type of penalties suffered is based on the type of machine. The penalty becomes stronger as the machine's condition continues to degrade: At 99% condition the penalty is insignificant; at 50% condition the penalty is at exactly half its full strength; and at 0% condition the penalty is at its worst.

Vehicles

Damaged Vehicles suffer a reduction in Horsepower, as well as increased consumption of Fuel.

At 100% condition, the vehicle outputs exactly as much horsepower as advertised at the Store. At 0% condition, the vehicle outputs 30% less horsepower than the listed amount. Reduced Horsepower means that the vehicle is not as strong as it was when first purchased. It might struggle to tow implements that it used to tow easily, and may become unable to operate certain implements altogether. Acceleration is also affected (especially with heavier vehicles), meaning that the vehicle will take longer to reach full speed, especially when driving uphill. The engine will be under much more stress than normal, resulting in increased Fuel consumption.

In addition to the fuel wasted due to the Horsepower reduction, a vehicle's condition also affects Fuel consumption directly. At 0% condition the vehicle consumes 30% more fuel per hour than at 100% condition - even when the engine is not under any stress at all.

Note: The maximum speed of the vehicle itself is not affected by its condition.

Non-Working Implements

Implements that do not perform "fieldwork", such as Tippers and Shovels, do not suffer any negative effects from being damaged.

Fieldwork Implements

Implements that do "fieldwork", such as Cultivators, Sprayers, Harvester Headers and so forth, receive a penalty to their maximum working speed when their condition is below 100%. At 0% condition the Implement has a maximum speed of only 70% its listed value.

This obviously makes all fieldwork slower, but also has an impact on any implement that expends materials at a constant rate, e.g. Sprayers. Since the rate of expenditure is constant, but the work speed is reduced, a damaged implement will waste more material working the same field.

Sowing Machines

Additionally to the speed penalty, all types of Sowing Machines expend Seeds at a higher rate when damaged. At 0% condition they waste 30% more seeds on the same amount of land than they would at 100% condition.

Harvesters

Harvesters that are set to create Straw Swath produce 30% less straw when they are at 0% condition.

Forage Harvesters

Forage Harvesters also seem to produce less material as they work, though more research on this is required to determine the exact effect.

Sale Price

The Sale Price of any damaged machine is reduced when that machine is damaged. The sale price of the machine is reduced by the amount of money it would take to repair that machine.

Checking Machine Condition

There are several ways to check the condition of each machine you own.

HUD Condition Gauge

When you are inside any vehicle, a speedometer appears in the bottom right corner of the screen. At the top-left side of the speedometer is a gauge (with an icon of a wrench next to it) that shows the vehicle's current condition.

When the gauge is a full green bar, the vehicle is at 100% condition. As the vehicle's condition drops, the gauge slowly empties.

When the gauge reaches around 25%, it turns orange - indicating that the vehicle should probably be repaired.

Note: You cannot check the condition of an Implement this way, since you cannot enter an implement. Only Vehicle condition can be checked with this method.

Repair Area

Take a machine to a Store or a Workshop, and place it on the marked repair area. Walk over to the glowing icon and hit the "interact" button InteractDefault Buttons: R ?? ??.

This opens a small window that shows several important pieces of information about the object in the marked repair area. One of them is the machine's condition, shown as a green bar. When the bar is full, the machine is at 100% condition. When it's completely empty, the machine is at 0% condition.

Vehicle Overview

A list of all your machines and their current condition can be seen in the "Vehicle Overview" menu. You may open this menu by first opening the Overview menu Overview MenuDefault Buttons: ESC ?? ??, and then selecting the tractor icon on the top row.

The Vehicle Overview shows every machine you own (including both Vehicles and Implements), along with its Age, Work Time, Condition, Lease Costs, and Sale Price. To sort vehicles by condition, click on the wrench icon. Click it again to sort the list in reverse order.

When a machine drops to a very low condition, its condition will appear in red along with an exclamation mark inside a circle. This is simply a way to draw your attention to a seriously-damaged machine - it does not have any special significance beyond that.

Repair

There are two different ways to repair your machines. In both methods, you pay a certain price of up to 1% of the machine's original Purchase Price (see below) to instantly get that machine back to 100% condition. A repaired machine is as good as a completely new machine of the same model (other than its Sale Price, which is not affected by condition anyway).

Repairing at a Store / Workshop

To repair any machine, you may take it to the Store or to any Workshops you have placed on the map.

Place the machine on the marked repair area. Walk over to the glowing symbol and hit "interact" InteractDefault Buttons: R ?? ??. This will open a small menu showing information about the machine you've placed in the repair area, including its current condition. Hit the Repair button Repair at StoreDefault Buttons: Backspace ?? ?? to pop up another small box showing the exact repair cost for this machine. Click "Yes" ConfirmDefault Buttons: Enter ?? ?? to repair the machine.

This method of repairing is the cheapest, but requires you to drive a vehicle / tow an implement all the way to a repair point.

Repairing from the Garage Menu

Alternatively, if you don't mind paying extra money for repairs (see below), any machine you own can be repaired at any time from the Garage view.

To do this, open the Store menu Store MenuDefault Buttons: P ?? ??, select "Garage" View GarageDefault Buttons: Backspace ?? ??, select the item you wish to repair, and hit the Repair button Repair from GarageDefault Buttons: X ?? ??. This will open a small menu showing the repair cost for this machine. Click "Yes" ConfirmDefault Buttons: Enter ?? ?? to repair this machine.

This method of repairing is more expensive, but you can do it instantly from anywhere on the map without having to go to a repair point.

Note: You will only get the option to repair a machine through the Garage menu if its current condition is 70% or less. Otherwise you can only repair it by taking it to the Store/Workshop.

Repair Costs

The cost to repair any machine is calculated by the following formula:

 Repair Cost = (Original Price / 100) * (100% - Current Condition) * Garage Multiplier

The Original Price of any machine is the cost of purchasing that machine from the store, including any and all Upgrades currently installed on it. This even includes color changes you've made to the machine.

The Garage Multiplier is only applied when repairing a machine through the Garage menu, instead of taking it to the Store or a Workshop. It is equal to 1.2, so repairs that are not performed at the Store/Workshop cost exactly 20% more.

Note that the age of a machine does not affect repair costs, nor does the machine's current sale value.

Notes

• As of at least patch 1.3, degradation rates are no longer tied to machine dirtiness. You cannot stop degradation by turning off dirt. You cannot increase or decrease the degradation rate through any menu option.
• Machines borrowed for Missions do not degrade at all, and cannot be repaired.