My Apology for Making a “Clapped” Map
Dear DR Modding Community,
I come before you today with a heavy heart. After deep reflection, at least one sleepless night, and the wisdom of a few loud keyboard warrior mapping experts, I have to confess:
Carroll Iowa 4X is clapped... allegedly
That’s right. Instead of making a 4x map full of neat little rectangles that the game engine could process in under a minute, I went and chose an area full of terraces, waterways, and curved field edges. Instead of respecting the GPU’s feelings, I gave it far more to crunch through during shader compiling. It worked just fine in FS22… but somehow, I made it worse, and it had absolutely nothing to do with FS25, the Giants game engine, or the absolutely busted precision farming code. I know… Truly unforgivable.
Why the Engine Slows Down
Here’s what’s really happening.
When you load into any Farming Simulator map, the engine has to:
Compile shaders for every terrain layer and material... and all the combinations of each of those layers.
Process field state transitions — the boundaries, edges, and growth-stage permutations of every field.
Initialize Precision Farming layers if enabled (soil maps, nitrogen maps, etc.).
On a small 1x map with straight or blocky fields (like the stock giants maps), the number of transition permutations is relatively low. The game can breeze through it quickly.
With a 4X map there are 16x more calculations and with a map that has hundreds of curved fields, terraces, and waterways — the number of permutations skyrockets into the 10s of thousands if not 100s of thousands. Each curve and irregular boundary increases the matrix of possibilities the engine has to solve. That’s why shader compiling takes longer. It's a common problem within the game engine universe and isn't limited to Giants. It’s not a bug. It’s not sloppy mapping. It’s literally how the game engine functions.
Size Matters... but Apparently Geometry Matters More
A few critics tried to hold Carroll Iowa up against other FS25 maps, but those maps have relatively straight, simple fields. Carroll has hundreds of curved, terraced, irregular outlines. It's just not comparing apples to apples.
I’m sure those other maps are realistic for their regions, and I have nothing bad to say about them. They honestly look like nice maps. But the truth is, those maps fields have simpler geometry. Comparing maps only on size while ignoring field shape shows a lack of understanding of how the FS engine actually works.
And just to prove that all these big words actually mean something: I tested the same Carroll terrain and assets with nothing changed except field geometry. I got exactly what I expected. With simplified fields, the initial map load times dropped to under a minute and buying fields or loading soil maps took just seconds — performing as well or even better than some of the very maps it was compared to. Same terrain, same textures, same objects. The only difference was geometry. The proof was indeed in the pudding… whatever that means.
The Real Apology
I’m sorry I picked a real-world location where the fields are too interesting for the game engine to process instantly. Next time I will dumb it down. I should have known better to think Giants would have made the engine better and not worse.
I’m sorry I gave the shaders more to calculate than they could handle without a coffee break... but in reality that was really mother nature and farmers over many years who created those field shapes not me. My crime? Was trying to replicate that within a game engine thats severely lacking.
And lastly, I’m sorry I made a map detailed enough that certain people want to play it so badly they get upset and go all internet gangsta (yes with an A) just because they had to wait a few extra minutes.
But here’s what I won’t apologize for: giving you both options.
That’s right! You now get to choose between the two versions:
Simple (Anti-Clapped) Version for speed.
Realistic (Still unfortunately clapped, depending on your definition of clapped) Version for authenticity.
Both will keep being updated, because I care about all of you guys and the experiences you’re having... yes even those critics. I guess I'm just a nice guy. So no, Carroll isn’t clapped. If anything, now it’s double-clapped:
One clap for performance.
One clap for realism. 😉
Final Word... to whoever is still reading this
To the handful calling Carroll Iowa 4X “clapped” — thanks for the laugh. To the rest of you, I will never be perfect, my maps will never be perfect, nor will I ever pretend to be perfect or feel that I am better than anyone else… I'm just a guy who enjoys making FS maps since FS15 and giving those to the community to enjoy. I will always be honest, speak facts and try to give you guys the best maps I can… even if that doesn’t always get the Kevin/Karen stamp of approval. And if somethings broken (that I can fix), I will do my best to fix it. Thanks for letting me have a little fun with this post and as always thank you for being such awesome supporters, I couldn’t do this without you.
Sincerely,
DR
Updated versions of both maps are available to Contributor members at the normal link
Comments (23)
Yea, fuck them. Map is fun the work and detail is obvious. I am happy to spend my hard earned money an contribute to helping you continue progressing. They can clap alone in an empty place. Look at your community an ur following......... keep up good work.
Bro, F the haters. Thanks for going above and beyond for your supporters. I must say I absolutely am in love with your map and don’t mind waiting a little bit of extra time for all of your hard work to load in. Seriously am in love with how realistic you built this map man. Thank you for all of your hard work. They subscription is well worth access to the fantastic work you’ve put into this.
Clapped all day long for me, I like the realism and the graphics are amazing, for those who don't like all that there are base game maps to be played. I am not trying to be rude here, but coming to a place that specializes in making maps as real as possible and complaining about the load times is beyond my comprehension. Continue doing you DR, and keep rolling out these clapped maps as I am here for them.
This post made me chuckle. Im glad you have a bit a a sense of humor and don't let the basement dwellers get you spun up. Thanks for the hard work, diligence and openess about the map and your projects. Also, thanks for explaining about the shaders. I didnt know anything about it before. The clown that said the map was clapped, I imagine him driving around in one of those lowered little hondas with a different colored spoiler that has a muffler that sounds like it hasnt hit puberty yet. That wasnt very nice, Im sure, but whatever. Im probably right.
And which is better map lol outta them 2 haha
Wow i love ur map mate dr Modding its well worth every cent so since this update do u have to start again or u can use old save game and ty for amazing maps from Australia keep up with ur great amazing work
Unfortunately, a lot of the updates, especially at this stage will require new save games. What I always recommend is either don't fall in love with your farm build or be willing to go a few updates before switching.
i tried everything but map only shows loamy sand soil types i have even taken every mod out and only loaded map and buildings and required mods and cleared shader cash
DId you try a different field? There are fields in the map that are 100% loamy sand.
I also travel for a living and run an older laptop. When I built it, it was a beast, but those years have passed into memory. Never apologize for quality over quantity , quality wins every single time. Yes it took a while to load but it’s worth it. I missed this map from fs22 and it’s better than ever now.
There's no reason for you to apologize. If people don't like it they why are they playing on the map. Either play it or don't play it and find a square to farm haha . Your maps are detailed and realistic compared to base maps.
I'm on a budget laptop due to travelling for work and I don't mind the loading times or lower FPS in certain areas. This map is definitely worth the little bit of lower performance. Keep up the great work and really looking forward to this maps full release!
I remember those days man! Glad you're enjoying it.
is this available for console? 😆
My left eye is twitching man lol
The yahoos complaining about this map are the same ones who said UMRV had too many trees... Forget em. They're still riding the coat tails of that map from how many years ago...
Clapped or not clapped, I love your maps. You are one of the best map makers out there.
Thanks buddy
It’s ridiculous that at this point the game engine isn’t significantly better. The fact that maps are still encouraged to be flat and square and have no character is just stupidity. The whole point of simulation is realism. Some of us appreciate your focus on immersion and realism. I’ll take that any day over the cookie cutter crap. Plus I just have a good excuse to upgrade from the 3080 now lol. Thank you for making FS wayyyy better!
I agree man. Unfortunately the game has gone more towards "Tractor Driving Simulator" and away from "Farm Simulator". I don't always do the best job, but my goal in every map is to make it feel a little more real, so it feels like more than just driving tractors.
And your apologizing why? Good read but you don't need to explain why you make maps the way you do. They don't like it? Don't play it.
It’s a fantastic map and I for one love the detail. It’s what’s FS needs to address the boredom of plain landscapes. I’m fortunate to have a powerful PC but I’ve always played FS knowing that I will get the best experience by using the most powerful components I can afford. Keep up the great work.
I agree with you. I'm lucky to have the computer (and patience) to play maps in the more realistic variants. But I also remember playing the game when it was even less optimized in FS15 on a Toshiba business laptop lol. So I also feel for the players that struggle. When I made UMRV for FS17 I had to look straight down at the top of the tractor to even play it. If I tried to look around, the game was at like 7fps.