On March 4, 2021, Ranch Simulator will be released in Early Access on Steam. In a cooperative mode, you and three friends will restore an old farm, raise animals, go hunting, and defend your ranch against wild animals. MeinMMO interviewed the project manager, Pavel Ryzhenko, as part of Find Your Next Game and asked him about the specifics of Ranch Simulator.
What is Ranch Simulator? In Ranch Simulator, you take over your family’s old farm and must completely renovate and partially rebuild it. You can do this alone or in co-op with three other players.
At the beginning, you clean up the surroundings, mow the lawn, cut down trees, and renovate the farmhouse. You have numerous tools and vehicles at your disposal. You earn money by raising animals or selling wooden boards. At the start of the Early Access phase, you can raise the following animals:
- Chickens including raising chicks
- Cows that produce milk
- Pigs whose meat can be sold
In addition to raising animals, you can also hunt wild animals in the surrounding forests. After processing, you can also sell them in the local settlement. Alternatively, you can produce wooden boards to generate additional income.
When and where will Ranch Simulator be released? The Ranch Simulator will be released on Steam and is scheduled to be released in Early Access on March 4, 2021. A price has not yet been announced.
Animal husbandry and free building make Ranch Simulator special
Compared to similar titles, such as Farming Simulator, the focus of Ranch Simulator is not on field work, but on building and expanding your own ranch and the associated animal husbandry.
This is special about animal husbandry
Working on the ranch resembles Stardew Valley: We inherit a rundown farm and need to get it back in shape. Junk, weeds, dead trees, and the ghostly main house appear far from inviting.
Once the ranch has been prepared, you start to earn money. Your core task in Ranch Simulator is animal husbandry. This aspect is rather simple in Farming Simulator and Stardew Valley.
In both games, you feed the animals with food, straw, and water, and sell their products. Ranch Simulator offers more options in animal husbandry, and a meat processing system is set to be added during Early Access.
You also have the opportunity to raise chicks to hens and roosters.
Pig farming in comparison: Pig farming in Farming Simulator is suitable for players who need manure or sludge to fertilize their fields. Without mods, a complex pig farming system, as planned in Ranch Simulator, is not possible.
The slaughtering of pigs and the subsequent sale of pork is also not possible. Here, at least on paper, Ranch Simulator stands out.
This is special about building
The building system in comparison: In Ranch Simulator, you place various buildings as blueprints on your ranch and then have to build them yourself. Building requires wooden boards, which are produced by cutting down and processing logs. The barn can be expanded, and additional boxes can be added inside.
In Farming Simulator, there is no way to expand buildings after placing them. Furthermore, individual objects are placed from a bird’s eye view and do not need to be built but can be used directly. This minimizes immersion and does not convey the feeling of having created something yourself.
In Ranch Simulator, there will be the option to expand individual buildings both from the outside and from the inside.
Which buildings will be available at the start? At the beginning of Early Access, a large barn, four different small chicken coops, and the main house will be available. The developers aim to implement ten different houses as blueprints later on.
More freedoms in designing the interior are also set to follow during Early Access.
The player is offered the greatest freedom possible
In addition to raising animals, you must also bring your ranch up to standard to avoid scaring guests away. For this, there are various tools that give you a lot of freedom.
We at MeinMMO spoke with Pavel Ryzhenko. He is the project manager at Toxic Dog and answered some questions about Ranch Simulator. First, we wanted to know if there will be missions or quests in Ranch Simulator and if there is a tutorial that teaches the basics.
Pavel Ryzhenko: The game is primarily designed to give the player the freedom to run their ranch. The main quests introduce the player to the basic game mechanics, but we really want players to manage their ranch as they wish. This is particularly important in multiplayer, where we truly hope players will utilize the role-playing opportunities while managing a ranch together.
During the Early Access phase, we plan to add several side quests. A local hunter and NPCs from neighboring ranches will offer you these side quests.
MeinMMO: How complex will the economic system in Ranch Simulator be?
Pavel Ryzhenko: The economic system is one of the things we want to optimize during the Early Access phase as we will be adding features like the meat production system.
Co-op makes work easier: In Ranch Simulator, up to four players can work together on the success of their ranch. The developers rely on a client-server model, where one player hosts the game and friends can join the session. This is also how multiplayer works in Stardew Valley. Progress on the ranch is only saved by the host. Dedicated servers are currently not planned by the developers.
The Toxic Dog team has been working on Ranch Simulator for two years
The simulation is developed by the European indie studio “Toxic Dog.” They use Unreal Engine 4 for development and have been working on the title for two years. The current state of the simulation can be seen in the recently released trailer.
MeinMMO: How much is the community involved in development?
Pavel Ryzhenko: Involving the community in development is one of the most important things for us, and that’s why we decided to start in Early Access. We have already conducted several beta tests to ensure we involve the community as early as possible.
MeinMMO: What insights have you gained from the beta?
Pavel Ryzhenko: Betas are great for finding out what players like and what features they would like to see. Based on player feedback from the first beta, we have added some exciting features such as character customization and third-person view.
MeinMMO: What topics will you focus on in the first 12 months after the Early Access release?
Pavel Ryzhenko: To some extent, that will depend on what our community wants. The start of Early Access means many new players and thus more feedback. Aside from that, we have a lot of interesting content that we plan to add during Early Access. Currently, we are planning and looking forward to the introduction of horses, a meat production system, more customization options for houses, growing plants, and gardening.
What you should know about Ranch Simulator
We asked Pavel Ryzhenko if the team plans a console launch, if the multiplayer will be expanded, and if mod support will be offered in the future.
MeinMMO: On which platforms will Ranch Simulator be released besides PC?
Pavel Ryzhenko: It would be great if Ranch Simulator could also be released on other platforms in the future. But at the moment, PC is the only platform we are working on. It is possible that the game could eventually be released on other platforms, but there is currently no decision on that.
MeinMMO: Will it be possible to play Ranch Simulator with more than three friends in the future?
Pavel Ryzhenko: There is a good chance that we will stick to four players since multiplayer was designed that way.
MeinMMO: Will there be mod support in the future?
Pavel Ryzhenko: Good question! Mod support is not currently planned, but it is certainly possible. We would like to hear from players if this is something they want to see.
MeinMMO: Thank you for the interview!
Our author has not yet had the opportunity to test Ranch Simulator himself. The article is based on reports, screenshots, and gameplay videos from the publisher. Ranch Simulator sounds like an interesting game to watch. At this point, we cannot make any statements about the quality of the game.
Conclusion: Ranch Simulator has potential
From my perspective, Ranch Simulator follows a very interesting concept. As a Farming Simulator fan, I look forward to the Early Access release. Particularly in co-op mode, I hope for varied hours together with friends. I myself started with Farming Simulator 13 and have remained loyal to the series ever since.
The expansion of one’s own farm and the animal husbandry feel rather short in Farming Simulator, and this is exactly where Ranch Simulator steps in.
The ability to completely build and manage your own ranch excites me very much, and I am curious how elaborate and complex the breeding of different animals will be. The co-op will surely make it less stressful when I watch my friends work from the porch.
Toxic Dog has only released two games so far: in 2017, the co-op game “Catch A Lover,” in which you hunt your wife’s lover, and in 2018, the online quiz “Dummy!” Both games are rather unknown, and the reviews for “Catch A Lover” on Steam are rather mixed at 55%. The ambitions of Ranch Simulator are high and offer hope. The beta testers on the Discord server of Ranch Simulator are satisfied with the current state of the game, which is encouraging! I will definitely take a closer look at Ranch Simulator upon release.
Florian Franck
Freelance author at MeinMMO
What do you think about Ranch Simulator? What features would you like to see? Feel free to tell us in the comments.
If you enjoy farm life and also like eSports, you should take a closer look at the “Farming Simulator League” in Farming Simulator 2019.
