Since it’s St. Nicholas’ Day, we have a bug fix and performance update for you today, as announced. Included are changes for the AI, modifications for the interface and some machines, e.g. the sound of the Jaguar and the tractors as well as the handling of the MB Trac.

We have made multiple improvements regarding the performance and expect an average increase of the frame rate up to 100%. On the one hand we have reduced the number of visible objects at a distance (LOD), on the other hand we have reduced the video memory consumption by optimizing textures and shadows.

There is a new ultra setting for textures and a warning is issued when the graphics card doesn’t have enough dedicated video memory. For the ultra setting you should have a graphics card with at least 3 GB VRAM.

We would like to emphasize that there have been severe performance problems with the Aero Theme Manager under Windows 7. This application is now being switched off temporarily by our game which can lead to a doubling of the frame rate.

Further improvements, bug fixes and changes can be found in the changelog as always.

The team at MBB wishes you a nice St. Nicholas’ Day!

Changelog:

• LAUNCHER UPDATE: the launcher has been updated to version 0.4.6 and can now delete obsolete files that are no longer required by the game

• NEW: Differential lock: all vehicles now have a locked differential and now manage better in rough terrain

• NEW: You get a warning in the graphics options if there isn’t sufficient video memory for the desired texture quality

• BUG FIX: The AI navigator has been reworked, the AI traffic doesn’t drive across fields any more

• BUG FIX: Performance problems with an active mission marker have been resolved

• BUG FIX: In the trading window you can now immediately perform the action with the start button, before you first had to select an amount

• BUG FIX: The Jaguar doesn’t tilt forward when braking

• BUG FIX: The Jaguar doesn’t eject chaff any more when it is being started

• BUG FIX: Problems with the height of attached machinery on the farmyard have been fixed

• BUG FIX: Plowing with the Arion is possible again

• CHANGE: A LOD system for vehicles has been introduced. Some elements are faded out at a distance, this leads to significant improvements when multiple vehicles are visible at the same time

• CHANGE: The VRam usage has been reduced. Textures on max level only use 2.62 Gb instead of 3.57GB

• CHANGE: Under Windows 7 “Aero” is being turned off when the game is being started, this provides a better framerate

• CHANGE: An additional texture quality category has been implemented, now there are low, medium, high and ultra

• CHANGE: The handling of all vehicles has been reworked. New transmission- motor- and physics adjustments deliver a more realistic driving experience

• CHANGE: The Jaguar’s motor sound has been reworked

• CHANGE: The Arion’s and Axion’s motor sound has been reworked

• CHANGE: The chasers don’t block the field entrances any more, they look for a roadside parking position without impeding the chaff cutter on his way to the field

• CHANGE: The reload and respawn buttons in the vehicle fleet view have been implemented again

• CHANGE: Some steps in the missions can now be skipped. Additionally there is a chest/console command “skipCondition” to skip running mission steps

• CHANGE: The season one mission has been reworked