Walkthrough and tips for Farming Simulator 2012 for iPhone and iPad

Welcome to the wild and crazy world of, erm, Farming Simulator 2012.

This agricultural app is all about growing, harvesting, and selling crops, and then using the profits to expand your farming operation. Along the way, you'll unlock new vehicles and buy plots of land.

Being a farmer is not easy, though. Choosing between fertilisers, predicting the market, and spending your budget wisely are just some of the tricky elements of this curious game.

So, let the experts help. Pocket Gamer presents: 'The ultimate guide to Farming Simulator 2012'. The single most exciting game on the App Store.

The HUD

Up top, you'll see (1) the farming shop, (2) your fuel meter, (3) your coin balance, (4) a meter that tells you how full your current tank is, (5) the speed of your vehicle, (6) the time of day, and (7) the 'menu' button.

Drag out (8) the arrow on the left of the screen to see the mini-map.

The map

The in-game map is hopeless, so you'll need to etch the layout of the farm into your memory if you want to get around.

1. Silos (and bale drop-off point)
2. Water tank
3. Seed shop
4. Petrol station
5. Farming shop (pick-up point for recently purchased items)
6. Biogas plant (selling point. Plus: slurry pick-up point)
7. Station (selling point)
8. Mill (selling point)
9. Inn (selling point)

The tan rectangles are all fields that you can buy.

The basics

You start out with a tractor and combine harvester. You can swap between these vehicles with the button in the bottom-left-hand corner. You drive both vehicles with the slider on the right of the screen, and steer by tilting your iOS device.

The tractor works best when you attach a tool of some sort. You start with a trailer, a cultivator, and a seed sower, but you can buy more at the shop. To use one, reverse your tractor into the tool and the vehicles will automatically link.

Some tools need to be activated. Hit the arrow to turn the object on (arrow pointing down) or off (pointing up). You can ditch a tool by pressing the button with the red stop symbol.

The farming process - Step 1: Cultivating the land

Right, we're ready to get started. You start with three fields in different stages of completion. Seeing as the middle plot of land is at the first stage of the farming process, we'll start there. Select the tractor, and pick up the cultivator - the blue tool.

Now, you want to rake this cultivator over the land. So, drive to one corner of the field, activate the tool (the arrow button), and start driving. You should notice that the ground changes to a smooth, dark grey texture to represent the field being cultivated.

You want to cover as much land as possible, so either drive up and down in long strips, or (if you're lazy) make a spiral pattern.

The farming process - Step 2: Sowing the seeds

Next up, we want to sow some seeds. Ditch the cultivator, and pick up the sower (the small green tool). As before, you want to activate the tool and then try to drag it over as much of the land as possible.

You can choose which seed to sow by tapping the 'crop' icon on the bottom. This cycles between wheat, canola, and corn. Ignore corn for now - your default combine cannot harvest it.

If you run out of seeds (there's a percentage meter that shows you how full your sower is on the top bar), take the sower to the seed shop and park it on the outlined rectangle. You'll notice your seed count rise (and your cash flow fall).

The farming process - Step 3: Harvesting your crops

Now, it's time to wait. It takes several in-game days for crops to grow, and your plants have to go through a few development stages before they're ripe for harvest. It's pretty obvious when they're ready: your fields look thick, tall, and vivid.

Now, drive the combine harvester (make sure the cutter is in the down position) through the fields to collect your crops. As before, try to adopt a methodical pattern to pick up every last plant.

When the combine's tank is full (see the percentage meter on the top bar), select the tractor and go pick up the trailer (a blue icon on the mini-map). Drive the trailer to the left of the harvester and the combine's arm will automatically swing out and shoot its load into your trailer.

Your trailer is probably not full at this point, so do another couple of harvester and trailer runs until the field is empty or your trailer is bursting with crops.

The farming process: Step 4 - Selling your crops

Now, we have a trailer loaded up with crop. Hit the 'menu' button (the computer in the top-right corner) and tap 'prices'. From here, we can see which shop is offering the best price for a particular plant.

Find the shop with the best price for the crop in your trailer, and then head right for it. Once you're there, you'll find a grate on the floor with arrows pointing to it. Drive just over it, and your trailer will automatically lift up and dump the crops into the hole. Congrats, you just made your first profit.

Bonus tip - Water

When you've finished sowing your seeds, you can spray your field with water to improve the yield come harvest time. Buy a sprayer from the shop (5,000 or 25,000 coins) and then go pick it up with your tractor.

Just like the sower or cultivator, activate it and drive over the land to drench your crops. If you run out of water, take it to the pump to fill it up. You'll have to pay for the refill.

Bonus tip - Fertiliser

If you're sick of paying for water every time, there's a free way to improve your yield: fertiliser. Whenever you deliver crops to the plant, a slurry reservoir fills up.

To collect this, you'll first need to buy a slurry tank (21,000 or 54,000 coins). Pick it up from the shop with your tractor, and drive it to the plant. Wait next to the reservoir to fill your tank - for free.

Now - just like with the water - you can spray this slurry on your field right after sowing your seeds to improve your yield.

Bonus tip - Silos

When you've harvested your crops, you don't need to take them to the vendors straight away. You can store them in the silos on your farm by dumping your trailer on the grate next to the three silos, near your first three fields.

Throughout the game, some vendors will momentarily want to buy a certain type of crop and will offer a lot more money to get them. You can check for these special deals on the price page, but you'll be notified when they happen.

At this point, drive a trailer underneath the silo containing the valuable crop to fill your trailer. Then, transport the plant to the special vendor (but don't dawdle - these deals run out) to get the bonus cash.

Bonus tip - Corn

You can collect wheat and canola with the usual harvester. Corn is different - you'll need to buy the Deutz 7547 (370,000 coins) to harvest this crop. Otherwise, it works in exactly the same way as the other crops.

Bonus tip - Bales

When the combine harvester churns up wheat, it will spit out a trail of straw. This can be collected and sold.

First, buy the baler (81,000 coins). Collect it from the shop with the tractor, and drag it over the straw. This will automatically collect it, and turn it into a bale every time the meter hits 100 percent.

Now, buy the bale loader (18,000), collect it with the tractor, and take it to your field. Drive it next to a bale so that the straw stack touches the metal chute on your right. The loader will pick it up. Drive your loader to the farm (directly opposite the silos) and wait in the rectangle to offload your bales. An easy profit.

Bonus tip - Fuel

All drivable vehicles (tractors and harvesters) use up fuel when driven. When the tank gets desperately low, drive to the petrol station to fill it up. This costs a small amount of money.

Bonus tip - Automation

If you're too busy to tend to your crops, you can set vehicles to work by themselves. Drive a harvester or tractor (with tool) to a field and hit the 'steering wheel' button, and a farm hand will do the work for you.

This is an expensive luxury, though. Your money will constantly deplete while your AI farmer is driving, so only rely on this option when you've got a massive budget, and when your farm is simply too big to tackle single-handedly.

Bonus tip - Side-quests

Every now and again, a random mission will pop up on the screen. These are very easy: after an arrow appears on your mini-map, you drive there, touch the lost / stolen object with your vehicle, and get paid.

Two tips. Use the tractor, not the combine harvester - you'll never make it in time with the latter. Drop any trailers or tools on the tractor. You'll move faster without those bulky tagalongs.

Bonus tip - Buying fields

Working on three fields won't make you much money. You can buy extra fields by tapping on their icon on the mini-map. A grey button means you can't afford it, a green '+' symbol means you can.

Bonus tip - Price points

The selling price of a certain crop is dependent on how much, and how often, you sell each type of plant. If you focus on one crop, the price will decrease until you can barely make a profit. Mix up your grain types to keep the cash flowing.

The store

Want to know what's what in the in-game shop? Here's your guide to the Farming Simulator 2012 store. Note that some vehicles require a one-off in-app purchase to unlock them. You'll get a free one with the purchase, but you'll need to pay with coins after that.

Tractor: Deutz-Fahr K 420
Max speed: 50 mph
Horsepower: 100
Price: 92,000

Tractor: Deutz-Fahr X 720
Max speed: 60 mph
Horsepower: 262
Price 280,000 (requires 69p unlock)

Cultivator: Lemken Kristall
Tool length: 3 metres
Required tractor horsepower: 70
Price: 7,000

Cultivator: Vogel & Noot TerraTop
Tool length: 6 metres
Required tractor horsepower: 150
Price: 62,000 (requires 69p unlock)

Seeder: Amazone D9 Special
Tool length: 3 metres
Capacity: 850 litres
Required tractor horsepower: 60
Prices 19,000

Seeder: Horsch Sprinter 6 ST
Tool length: 6 metres
Capacity: 3,000 litres
Required tractor horsepower: 140
Prices 78,000 (requires 69p unlock)

Sprayer: Lemken EuroLux 800
Tool length: 5 metres
Capacity: 800 litres
Required tractor horsepower: 40
Price: 5,000

Sprayer: Lemken EuroLux 1200
Tool length: 9 metres
Capacity: 1,200 litres
Required tractor horsepower: 40
Price: 25,000

Combine harvester: Deutz 5465 H
Capacity: 4,200 litres
Tool length: 3 metres
Can thresh: Wheat, canola
Price: 220,000

Combine harvester: Deutz 7545 RTS
Capacity: 9,000 litres
Tool length: 6 metres
Can thresh: Wheat, canola
Price: 365,000 (requires 69p unlock)

Combine harvester: Deutz 7545 RTSC
Capacity: 9,000 litres
Tool length: 6 metres
Can thresh: Corn
Price: 370,000

Chopper: Krone BigX 1000
Tool length: 6 metres
Can tresh: Turns corn into chaff
Price: 260,000 (requires £1.49 unlock)

Trailer: Krampe BBE 500
Capacity: 12,000 litres
Price: 10,000

Trailer: Krampe BBE 650
Capacity: 225,000 litres
Price: 32,000 (requires 69p unlock)

Baler: Krone Big Pack 1290
Tool length: 1.8m
Price: 81,000 coins

Bale loader: Arcusin AutoStack
Capacity: 8 bales
Price: 18,000

Slurry tank: Kotte Garant VE 8000
Capacity: 8,000 litres
Tool length: 5 metres
Price: 21,000

Slurry tank: Kotte Garant VT 18500
Capacity: 18,500 litres
Tool length: 10 metres
Price: 54,000 (requires 69p unlock)

Achievements Farming Simulator 2012 doesn't use Game Center, but there are a number of in-game achievements to strive for. Here's the list:

Nouveau-Riche	Your account has reached more than 1 million.
Well-Heeled	There is more than 5 million on your account.
Pots of Gold	Your wealth has exceeded 10 million.
Trucker	You have covered more than 10 km with vehicles.
Mobile Farmer	You have covered more than 100 km with vehicles.
Very Frequent Driver	You have covered more than 1000 km with vehicles.
Peasant	You have harvested more than 1 hectare.
Fruits of Your Labour	You have harvested more than 10 hectares.
Harvest King	You have harvested more than 100 hectares.
Green Thumb	You have sown more than 1 hectare.
Sower	You have sown more than 10 hectares.
Mass Production	You have sown more than 100 hectares.
A Helping Hand	You have recovered goods for 5 citizens.
The Philanthropist	You have helped 20 citizens.
Eco-Farmer	The slurry tank has been filled to the brim.
Hoarder	All of your silos are filled to the brim.
Diesel Tycoon	You have used over 1000 litres of diesel.