Surfaces will appear more realistic and natural in Farming Simulator 22. Thanks to Parallax Occlusion Mapping we implemented in the GIANTS Engine 9. When the feature is activated in the settings, Parallax Occlusion will increase the detail and dynamism in the field and other areas in the game. Let's take a look and see what's going on.

What is Parallax Occlusion Mapping?

Parallax Occlusion Mapping is a technique that essentially enhances the details of a textured surface to give it depth: it's as simple as possible. Like your tire tracks, trenching in the ground. Now they're deeper.

In the first step, Parallax Occlusion Mapping reduces a 3D model's geometrical complexity. Like, for example, gravel on a road or even bricks on a wall. The reduced details of the surface are turned into a flat texture. When the model is played, the surface details are placed in a 'height map.' It looks like that:

In principle, the height map gives the otherwise flat surface a depth. Imagine the map with hills and valleys as a geographical map. Various colors mean various depths. As you can see from the above map - the darker the surface, the deeper it is. On the basis of this information stored in the picture, the surface in the game is then rebuilt to appear 3D and realistic.

Yeah, but why Parallax Occlusion, though?

There are a number of reasons for using Parallax Occlusion Mapping in video games such as Farming Simulator 22. The results look very realistic first of all and certainly add a depth to the surfaces of the game. Don't it look nice? Look nice? Take a lot with these visualizations of the depth of the surfaces.

Then it's performance-friendly, of course. The degree of Parallax Occlusion Mapping depends on your hardware and graphical configurations. In this way, we can further improve the agricultural simulator and still keep it hardware-friendly for every player.

If it is possible for your system, crank up your settings and you will get the best result possible. Otherwise, don't worry - you still can play Farming Simulator 22 and Parallax Occlusion is switched off.

So, how will the game look? 

Roads, fields, walls and buildings: You will notice the improved surfaces all over Elmcreek, Erlengrat and... well, the third one we'll show you soon. 

We're still working on Parallax Occlusion Mapping, but with those first comparisons, you should get a good sense for what to expect.

Please take in mind that the effect may not be properly reflected in still images compared to live gameplay when Farming Simulator 22 with finalized Parallax Occlusion Mapping is released and running on your system.

To wrap this up for now, take a closer look at the ground. Does it not appear that you feel more alive walking barefoot along this rocky road? Yeah, nice right?

Stay tuned for more!

Farming Simulator 22 will be available for PC, Mac, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Stadia on November 22nd. Pre-order now to receive the CLAAS XERION SADDLE TRAC Pack for free!