I'm having a blast with the game so far. The improvements over FS13 are pretty dramatic in a lot of areas. The vehicle modeling is vastly improved, showing far more detail and complexity in various areas. The cabins now have fully-functioning side mirrors and all the dashboard dials are fully animated. Combined with the new lighting engine, the collection of vehicles and equipment are far more gorgeous than they have any right to be in a mere Sim title.
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On the downside, the environments look largely the same as FS13. You can notice sharper texture work all around (buildings, stone walls, etc.) but harvest-ready wheat, canola, corn, etc. seems carried over from the last game. The biggest offender is the draw distance, which hasn't changed much. I know it can be difficult to render natural environments with expansive, flat planes that stretch on forever, but the graphical fill-in render distance feels way too short.
It's not all bad on the environmental front. There's been numerous upgrades as well. Vehicles leave tire tracks behind them and kick up dust. Harvesting fruit is now fully animated (instead of simply disappearing when collected, it's now cut-down and pulled through the rotating header blades). Similarly, treated soil is now animated when plowed and cultivated, showing churning dirt under the blades instead of a simple texture swap in FS13. Vehicles now get muddy with prolonged use. A handy high-pressure sprayer allows you to manually wash them off. I do think the dirt accumulation happens way too fast though. I like effect, but your equipment can get completely covered in mere minutes. I'll be looking forward to a mod that stretches out dirt accumulation over a longer period.
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As advertised the physics engine has undergone a full overhaul. Vehicles now have weight to them. You can feel it when you're pulling heavier equipment and your speed pulls back when riding up inclines. Equipment is now power-rated, meaning low-rpm tractors can not pull larger loads as there's a minimum threshold they must meet. Overall, the machinery feels heavier and more substantive, like they stick to the ground vs. flying off on the slightest whim in FS13. There's also been an upgrade in the audio dept. as engine sounds are deeper and more guttural, adding to the sense of authenticity.
Side missions are handled more intelligently in the new game. Instead of having them pop up at pre-set intervals, you instead travel job boards located around the map and pick from a list of job opportunities. You still have lawn-mowing and pallet delivery missions, but they've also added 'great demand' requests for various grains. Picking when and what you want to do makes you feel more in control of collecting extra coin when needed.
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So all in all I'm really enjoying my time with Farming Simulator 15. It's just as Zen & relaxing as ever, only this time out if feels entirely Bigger, Better, & More Bad-Ass. The game feels like it's come into its own and is finally in the Big Leagues. It's met all my "upgrade expectations" that were set in motion during the initial media rollout and info dump regarding new graphics and physics engines. Honesty, when standing FS13 and FS15 side by side, I can't help but think about the all-around qualitative leap from Euro Truck Simulator to Euro Truck Simulator 2. ETS2 was a breakout hit for SCS Software that had enough crossover appeal to even help legitimize the oft-stigmatized Mundane Vehicle Simulator (tm.) genre with the masses. I'm now wondering if it's FS15's turn to make a similar leap in awareness and appreciation. Seeing it sit at #1 on the Steam Top Sellers chart every day since release has been a positive nod in that direction.
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Side note: Been playing for over 7 hours and I haven't even touched the new Logging feature set, so I have no feedback in that regard. I've never been into money-cheat mods, opting instead to build my empire up from the ground floor, adding to my fleet piece by incremental piece. I'll get there in due time. I'm in no hurry.
