Living Characters in Farming Simulator 25 — Version 1.0.0.3
Fields of Stories expands Farming Simulator with a dynamic neighborhood of currently 13 virtual characters who live and work independently in your world and interact with you. Each character has an individual daily routine and tasks. You meet characters randomly at the gas station, in the field, at the dealer, or anywhere across the map. Have conversations, build relationships, and support them when they need help.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Fields-of-Stories Website: https://fields-of-stories.com
BETA note: Please check the roadmap and the features that are still planned. Report bugs and feature requests via GitHub. See the Changelog for what's new since the last release.
- Features
- Controls
- Characters
- Meeting and Talking
- Relationships
- Story Tab
- Field Contracts and Calls
- Farmers and Their Fieldwork
- Private Life
- Voice Pack
- Custom Map Configurations
- Supported Maps
- Setting Up Your Own Map
- Other
- Roadmap
- Changelog
- Support and Feedback
- Up to 13 characters, including farmers, family members, mayor, contractor, grain trader, civilians, machinery dealer / mechanic.
- 4 independently working farmers: work their own fields and use different machinery fleets. They have a cultivation plan and a daily schedule with priorities that they follow for every day.
- Dynamic daily routines: each character has unique or irregular events, but also routines such as sleeping, working, shopping, and refueling.
- Random encounters in the game world: characters move freely around the map, either at public places like the gas station, the park, the industrial area, or out in the field. (Roadmap: AutoDrive Compatibility)
- Spoken, natural conversations: German & English, with individual voices, choice options, and random conversation topics. (Voice packs must be downloaded manually – see Voice Pack.)
- Phone calls: You receive phone calls from the farmers when they need help. You can answer the call and help them or decline the call.
- Field contracts based on the farmers' workload: The farmers need your help for specific tasks in their daily schedule. Sometimes, they can take care of it but if not, they will try to call you for help. Switch between realistic (phone) and classic (mission list) format in settings.
- Borrowing machines: You can borrow a machine from the farmer's yard if you don't have the right equipment for the contract. You need to pick up and return them.
- Configurable gameplay: Adjust contract call frequency, field limits, mission completion threshold, and contract format to your liking.
- Mod compatible: Works with Manual Attach and Courseplay.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| SHIFT + R | Start a conversation with a nearby person. If nobody is close, your phone opens instead. |
| SHIFT + F3 | Open the story and settings menu for Fields of Stories. |
| Game Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Contract phone calls per day | Maximum number of contract phone calls per in-game day across all neighbours. (1, 2, 3, 4, Unlimited) |
| Contract format | Choose between Realistic (phone-based, as described above) or Classic (standard mission list). |
| Max fields per contract call | Limit how many fields a farmer offers in a single contract call to keep the mission list manageable. |
| Mission completion threshold | What percentage of the field must reach the target state before the contract is marked complete (default 90%). Lower values = easier to finish; higher = more thorough work required. |
These are the neighbours in your world. Each one has their own personality, role and job, as well as their own backstory. Roles you may meet include farmers, a forester, the mayor, a machinery dealer, an agricultural contractor, a grain trader, family members and ordinary civilians. A character's role and job determine what they do all day and what you can talk about with them. Spend time with the characters whose stories interest you the most.
- Farmers: 4 farmers work their fields independently. They plow, cultivate, seed, fertilize, and harvest. Each has a different, realistic machinery fleet. Machines are prepared early in the morning at their own farm and, depending on the month, are used until late in the evening. Depending on the workload, they will try to call you for help. All their machines have defined parking spots at the farm. Visit your fellow farmers regularly — you might occasionally be allowed to borrow a machine or they will help you for free (see roadmap).
- Contractor: supports during peak periods and with special jobs such as harvesting potatoes, sugar beets, or specialty crops (see roadmap).
- Forester: takes care of the forests and forest paths. In summer, he pays special attention to the risk of wildfires (see roadmap).
- Mayor: is often out and about in public places. A good relationship with the mayor helps you expand your farm in the long run. He is a good contact for field areas and the local economy (see roadmap).
- Grain trader: travels the region and buys grain from the farmers (see roadmap).
- Family: helps you with routine tasks on the farm and in the fields (see roadmap).
- Machinery dealer: responsible for maintenance, repair, and the sale of machines (see roadmap).
| Name | Role | Job | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mary Carter | Family Member | Farmer | Friendly, Professional, Supportive |
| John Carter | Family Member | Farmer | Stressed |
| Kyle Bennett | Civilian | – | Neutral, Friendly |
| Brian Winter | Neighbour | Farmer | Stressed, Professional |
| Emma Kensington | Neighbour | Farmer | Friendly, Supportive |
| Jacob Miller | Neighbour | Farmer | Cautious, Neutral |
| Marcus Brown | Neighbour | Farmer | Stressed, Uncooperative |
| Paul Meyer | Business Partner | Agricultural Contractor | Uncooperative, Stressed |
| Andy Hoffman | Business Partner | Agricultural Machinery Dealer | Professional, Friendly |
| Susan Keller | Business Partner | Grain Trader | Neutral, Suspicious |
| Martin Walker | Official | Mayor | Professional, Authoritative |
| Lukas Brenner | Neighbour | Forester | Cautious, Professional |
| Sharon Whitaker | Official | – | Authoritative, Cautious |
Neighbours are scattered around the map living their lives. Meeting them and talking is, alongside the realistic behaviour patterns, a central part of the mod.
How to start a conversation:
- Walk up to a character on foot. When you are close enough (about 5 metres), you can perform the "Start Conversation" action.
- Press SHIFT + R to begin the conversation.
- Listen to the conversation or read the subtitles.
- When several replies appear, choose the line you want to say. Your choice shapes the conversation and how your relationship changes.
- In the future you will be able to discuss both small talk and real actions (e.g. borrowing machinery).
Finding people: characters appear all over the map. A farmer in a vehicle is usually hard to reach, but if you approach on foot to within about 20 metres he will stop, switch off the machine and step out after a short while so you can talk to him.
Voiced conversations are played when a voice pack is installed; if not, you can simply read the text.
Every neighbour remembers how they feel about you. Good encounters build trust over time; bad ones cost you.
How it works:
- Each character has a relationship level (starts at 1) and points that fill toward the next level.
- A friendly conversation earns points (and a small matching cash reward).
- When the points bar is full, the relationship level rises and the points reset for the next level. Higher levels need more points, but also grant higher bonuses when you reach the level.
- Rude or dismissive replies can cost points. Sometimes even a seemingly friendly reply can trigger a negative feeling and worsen your relationship. Points never drop below zero and never lower a level you already reached.
Field contracts count too: a completed contract improves your relationship with that farmer, while failing, cancelling or letting a contract expire lowers it by the same amount.
At the end of a conversation, messages such as "Relationship improved" or "Relationship level increased" appear.
Open the menu with SHIFT + F3 and select the Story tab to get an overview of every character and your standing with them.
- Character list (left): a scrollable list of all neighbours. Click a name to select it;
- Character details (right): the selected character's portrait together with your relationship (e.g. Known, Friend, Family), the current relationship level, and a progress bar showing the relationship points earned toward the next level.
This is the quickest way to see at a glance who you already know well and who you should spend more time with. See Relationships for how points and levels are gained and lost.
Farmers sometimes have more fieldwork than they can manage and will call you for help. These offers are real, paid jobs on their fields. They may give you a whole series of fields to complete.
Contract format: In the game settings you can switch between Realistic (phone-based calls as described here) and Classic (standard mission list). The classic format makes all available contracts visible in the mission menu at all times.
The call:
- A farmer can call you during the day (roughly between 08:00 and 15:00). You hear a ring and see a call notice.
- Open your phone and press Answer to hear the offer, or Decline / Esc to dismiss it.
- The same farmer may try again later. There is a daily limit on contract calls (configurable in the game settings). If you do not answer a call at all, there will be a total of three further attempts to call you.
Choosing the work: in the phone conversation you can usually accept the entire field area or just the first half, and you can choose whether to use your own equipment or borrow the neighbour's machines. This requires that the farmer can spare his machines. Of course you can also simply decline the request.
Without borrowing: you complete the contract with your own machines. The work is paid per hectare and is done as soon as the field reaches the required state. By default, 90% of the field's probe points must match the target state to count as complete (configurable in game settings). These contracts are always requested by phone and will be visible in the usual mission menu only after accepting.
With borrowing: the neighbour lends you exactly the implements needed (weights and the tractor are not lent out, however). Where needed, borrowed machines start already filled with seed, spray, fertilizer, manure or slurry, which can be refilled at the neighbour's farm when required. Borrowing means slightly less pay than using your own equipment.
Field limit per call: to keep your mission list manageable, you can set a maximum number of fields offered per contract call in the game settings.
Important: a contract with borrowed equipment stays at 99 percent until you drive every borrowed machine back to the neighbour's farm and detach it there. Only then is the contract considered complete. If you borrow the equipment, you will find a marker on the map showing where the machines can be picked up and returned.
Reward and reputation: a completed contract pays you out and improves your relationship with the farmer. Failing, cancelling or expiry do the opposite.
The AI farmers are not just animated helpers. They genuinely plan and carry out fieldwork on their own land, day by day and season by season.
- The daily plan: once per in-game day each farmer looks at the real state of their fields and builds a to-do list. They work through it during daylight, roughly from 06:00 until the evening, driving out, doing the work, and returning home afterwards.
- What they do, in priority order: harvest ripe crops, then sow, then spray, then spread fertilizer, manure or slurry, then plough, harrow and cultivate. A task is only chosen when the field really needs it (the right crop, growth stage, ground state or weeds).
- Following the seasons: sowing follows each crop's real planting calendar, and other jobs are tied to sensible months, so the visible work matches the time of year. When sowing, farmers rotate sensible crops (such as canola, wheat, barley, oats and soybean) and try to avoid the previous crop.
- Outsourcing: each day a farmer can offer a particular task as a phone contract. These are requested by phone and, once accepted, are visible in the usual mission menu. If you do not accept it by the afternoon, he does it himself.
You can see a farmer's plan for the day in the Settings menu under Characters, including which tasks are reserved for you, offered as a contract, or handled by the farmer's own AI.
Away from work, the characters have a life of their own. Every neighbour has a home they return to, and many follow personal routines throughout the day.
Things you might catch them doing:
- Relaxing at home or tidying the house.
- Spending time with friends, having a picnic, or playing with the kids.
- Going for a walk, walking the dog, or reading a book.
- Running everyday errands or refuelling the car.
- Checking the vehicle at the roadside or driving to the workshop for repairs.
Routines depend on the time of day (morning, day, evening and night) as well as the character's role and job, so a farmer, the mayor and a civilian spend their free time differently. This is exactly what makes the world feel alive: if you roam the map at different times you will meet people in all sorts of situations.
Conversations can be fully voiced. The spoken audio comes as a separate voice pack so the mod itself stays small. Voice packs must be downloaded manually.
Download: Get the voice pack from the official website:
Installing a voice pack:
- Download the voice pack from the website.
- Unpack it so that its
conversationsfolder sits in the mod'smodSettingsfolder:modSettings/FS25_FIELDS_OF_STORIES. - If the pack is missing or out of date, a warning dialog appears with the Check again and Ignore buttons. You can keep playing without it; conversations will then still show subtitles, just without spoken audio.
Languages: the mod is fully translated into English and German. The displayed text follows your game language automatically. Voice packs come in matching English and German versions, and the mod plays the audio matching the installed pack. Language and voice are determined automatically by the downloaded voice pack.
Conversation generation (advanced): each character has individual conversation texts with you. In total this adds up to over 10,000 written and voiced conversation parts. Every conversation was checked manually (at least for plausibility). Wording or grammar mistakes cannot, however, be ruled out.
Voice generation (advanced): each character has their own voice, generated from a text-to-speech voice design. These voices are then recorded for all conversation texts via voice cloning on a local NVIDIA RTX 5080. The plan is to improve quality through further optimization or even real voice actors, which however involves considerable effort.
Places are the anchors that bring a map to life — they tell the mod where characters can stand, park, shop, relax and live. On the supported maps this is already set up. For other maps, you can use ready-made configurations or share your own.
Download & share configurations: For many maps you can download a finished setup, or upload and share your own, via the official website:
If you want to publish/share a map configuration you created, you can upload the map via fields-of-stories.com.
- All GIANTS standard maps (Riverbend Springs, Hutan Pantai, and Zielonka are already optimized).
- All mod maps — locations are created automatically and may need to be added or removed. Finished map configurations can be uploaded/downloaded via fields-of-stories.com.
If you play a map that is not yet optimized, you can build the configuration yourself. Open the menu with SHIFT + F3 and go to the Settings tab.
- Open the menu with SHIFT + F3 and go to the Settings tab.
- Pick a place size at the top.
- Stand (or park your vehicle) exactly where the place should be.
- Click the place type you want. The current position is saved and you get a "Place saved" confirmation. The more places you save, the more dynamic and unique the gameplay becomes.
Place sizes:
- Character: on foot only, for standing situations without vehicles.
- Vehicle: room for one car or tractor.
- Vehicle with implement: a vehicle plus a trailer or implement (optional).
- Oversize vehicle (homebase only): an extra-wide parking spot for combines and self-propelled harvesters.
- Large area: a wide, open area for situations that need space, such as homebase machine preparation, markets or events.
Common place types and their purpose:
- Character homebase: where a neighbour lives (see Homebases below).
- Shop, gas station, workshop, shed, sell point, industry, public infrastructure: functional public spots.
- Roadside, dirt road, trees: roadside encounters.
- Public place and public relax place: social and leisure spots; private relax place is for quieter routines.
- Player farm: events on your own farm.
Map generator for new maps: On an unknown map the generator can create many places automatically from the map data. On the first start of the mod on a map without a stored configuration, the location generator detects known objects and automatically creates locations. Be patient: a large number of places may be created and the game can look frozen for a moment while it works.
A homebase is a character's home: the place where they live, return to in the evening, and can be found when they are off duty. Without a homebase a character does not really exist in the game — every neighbour needs at least one.
Two spawn points per character: each character should have at least two home places — one with the place size "Character" (on foot; this is where the person stands and sleeps) and one with the place size "Vehicle" (where their car parks).
Creating home places:
- Open the menu with SHIFT + F3 and go to the Settings tab.
- Choose the matching place size at the top ("Character" or "Vehicle").
- Stand on foot or park your vehicle exactly at the desired spot at the residence.
- Open the menu and select "Home of [Name]" in the place list to save the position.
Alternatively, in the Characters section use "Add nearest Homebase" to assign the nearest place directly to the selected character.
Removing existing home places: if you want to reset a character's residences, select them in the Characters section and use the "Remove Homeplaces" button. This detaches all home places assigned to that character — the places themselves remain and can be reassigned afterwards.
For a farmer, the homebase is also his farm: when the machines are not in use or out on a contract, they are parked there. Plan the farm generously, because a farmer owns many vehicles and implements (currently about 10 implements, 1 combine, 2 tractors and a car; the agricultural contractor even 23 implements, 6 self-propelled machines, 2 tractors and a car).
Which place sizes a farm needs:
- Character (on foot): for the farmer himself.
- Vehicle: for cars and tractors.
- Oversize vehicle: for combines and self-propelled harvesters.
- Vehicle + implement: for implements and trailers.
- Large area: for spacious situations at the farm, such as machine preparation.
If you cannot find a spot for every machine, that is not a problem — depending on use they are parked or hidden.
Making the farm accessible: to borrow a farmer's machines, his farm has to be drivable. You need to be able to drive a vehicle up to the parked machines and back out again. So when placing farms, make sure no fences, gates, walls, trees or other objects block the entrance and exit.
Removing a gate: if a gate or door blocks the access, you can remove it directly in Fields of Stories. Stand or drive close to the gate (within about 20 m), open the menu with SHIFT + F3 on the Settings tab and click "Remove nearest gate". The nearest object whose node name contains "gate" is permanently deleted from the map and stays gone after reloading.
- Field paths: Drive the field paths once and add parking spots in suitable places, because these cannot be detected automatically.
- Cleanup: Remove faulty locations where a character cannot be placed safely or sensibly (e.g., sideways across a parking space).
- Misc: You can add various other location types to create a more varied gameplay experience (e.g., industry, leisure locations).
- Release: If you want to publish/share the map configuration, you can upload the map via fields-of-stories.com.
Relationships: Relationships are measured with points and levels. Each conversation gives points for the character's relationship strength. The relationship points and levels are also credited to you in the form of money.
Conversations: Conversations are based on the current situation and the character's behaviour (e.g. suspicious, friendly, etc.). They contain real vehicle and work information, like regular outages of Skoda cars, hydraulic parts of a tractor, etc.
Mod compatibility: Fields of Stories is compatible with Manual Attach and Courseplay. Performance issues when running alongside Courseplay have been resolved.
Story missions: In later versions, the current conversations will be expanded with story missions that you can accept as a player. There are already conversations hinting at this, but they currently don't trigger any story missions yet. Fieldwork contracts (see above) are already fully functional.
- Individual small talk for each character with positive and negative relationship development.
- Farmer gameplay features (taking over or helping with field and farm work, borrowing machines, etc.).
- Communication with characters by phone (jobs, meetings, small talk).
- Assign farm and field tasks to helpers (via phone and in person).
- Driving around the map on supported maps.
- Movement of characters within the situation.
- Contractor gameplay features (assigning contracts).
- Forester gameplay features (forest maintenance, etc.).
- Mayor gameplay features (subsidy programs, land purchases, municipal services, etc.).
- Machinery dealer / mechanic gameplay features (maintenance, repair, sale, etc.).
- Grain trader gameplay features (buying, selling, stock, prices, etc.).
- Small missions & random events.
- Story mode with long-term story arcs.
- Free-form communication.
New settings & gameplay options:
- Classic or realistic contract format: Switch between the classic mission list and the realistic phone-based contract system in the game settings.
- Configurable field limit for contract calls: Set a maximum number of fields offered per contract call to keep your mission list manageable.
- Adjustable mission completion threshold: Configure what percentage of probe points on a field must reach the target state for the contract to be marked complete (default 90%, range 60–100%).
Bugfixes:
- Vehicles with attached implements no longer spawn at vehicle-only locations.
- NPC behavior is now safe at high time scales (> 360×): every situation stays active for at least 2 real-time minutes, and phone calls reliably arrive even above 100× speed.
- NPCs now account for real playtime alongside in-game time when deciding how long to stay at a place.
- "Unavailable" no longer appears on the map for characters currently working in the field.
- Outdated vehicles are now cleaned up automatically, and also when clicking "Remove Mod Data."
- Field ownership now correctly displays the character's name (especially in the mission tab).
- Fixed an issue where characters could be invisible while conversations were still possible.
- Removed unreachable locations on standard maps.
- Added compatibility with the Manual Attach mod.
- Resolved performance issues when used together with Courseplay.
- All missing translations added.
- Recently acquired fields are no longer used by NPC farmers.
- Fields are no longer auto-adjusted to NPC-supported crops.
- Fieldwork mission completion uses a 10% threshold for progress.
Found a bug, or have an idea to make the mod better? Your feedback is very welcome.
Feedback, bug reports and feature requests are best sent through the mod's GitHub page.
When reporting a problem, it helps a lot to include:
- a short description of what happened and what you expected,
- the steps to reproduce it,
- the map you are playing,
- your log file if you can attach it.
Clear, detailed reports speed up fixes enormously. Thank you for helping improve Fields of Stories.