GPS in Farming Simulator 25 – What is it, and what will it do?
GPS in Farming Simulator 25 – What is it, and what will it do?
Farming Simulator 25 is just around the corner – after a three year wait, November 12, 2024 will mark the release of the most advanced farming simulator game yet. As usual, each new release comes with plenty of new features: one of such is the inclusion of GPS, which should make tedious farming tasks just a little bit easier. It’s been one of the most requested features for years.
On FarmCon 24, an event focusing specifically on the game series, the developers have shared some information and hints on how the system will work, and what benefits it will bring. People are really excited: after all, it’s a brand new feature!
Well…Not really. Since this feature is very common in various high-end farming equipment, and modding is an incredibly important part of Farming Simulator, GPS has been readily available as a community mod. In fact, many players have been genuinely disappointed that GPS wasn’t included in FS22 already: or that it wasn’t included with any additional DLC or any other update. While this is an obviously welcome chance, it also feels overdue.
The good news is, with GIANTS Software taking their time, there is a lot of optimism that GPS will work a lot better than the official mod. With the latest news, it appears that the developers will improve on the existing mod functionality, such as setting the right route for AI workers, who usually struggle with such tasks. Even when working by yourself, GPS should be helpful in setting the correct trajectories for machinery, which means better crop planting, and less waste of various useful resources.
While previously, GPS was only accessible to those who actively used mods, now it’s a stock option on Farming Simulator 25. It was about time.
GPS announcement for FS25
FarmCon 24, a Farming Simulator event, has featured plenty of interesting information about the game, including the GPS feature. It wasn’t much – but we have seen an AI worker working with GPS turned on. With the enabled GPS mode, you not only see it on the HUD. White lines, showing the upcoming direction of the machinery, are shown on the field. This is probably going to be helpful to players, looking to make sure that their machinery is going to move exactly as planned, not only making tasks simpler, but also giving some additional peace of mind.
What will GPS bring to FS25?
There still isn’t much information on what the exact GPS features will be: so we can’t confidently say what effect they will have on the game. There are plenty of features we expect the game to have, and plenty of inspiration comes from existing mods, such as VehicleControlAddon, GPS++, CoursePlay, and more.
With the official functionality, we expect GIANTS to mix the best of both worlds. This means advanced features from the existing mods, coming together with the increased functionality, AI improvements, and overall optimization from the official game developers. Therefore, with some GPS involved, even the players who haven’t used it before, should be able to reap the benefits. Here’s what some of them could be:
- More, higher quality crops, due to correct trajectories.
- Increased efficiency of AI workers, and scalability of your farm – letting you grow a massive farm much easier.
- Time saving for big tasks, and less boring manual work
- Fewer waste of valuable resources, such as seed, fuel, and fertilizers.
Many seasoned FS players swear by GPS, for these exact reasons. But even they have some issues with the existing mods, as it takes time and skill to master how they work. With the built-in GPS, we expect that a lot more people will use this functionality, making their farming gameplay more accessible, and more fun.
Will the existing Farming Simulator GPS mods become useless?
Mods like Courseplay or GPS++ have been community darlings for years now, and for many people, the addition of GPS to Farming Simulator 25 even feels a little bittersweet. It is still not known what exact features will be missing from the official GPS add-on, and whether the existing GPS mods will still have something to offer to its previous user base.
This is why it is important to certainly say that the existing Farming Simulator GPS mods will become redundant. However, as they have a big user base, and many people don’t like change for the sake of change, we can expect these mods to still be used by many of Farming Simulator 25 players. CoursePlay, for example, offers a lot more than just GPS – and with the official modders getting their hands on the latest game, we look forward to any improvements they will bring to the GIANTS Software version of GPS.
