Vehicle Delivery

This is a brand-new tractor. We picked it out at the dealer, we press "Buy" – and just like that, there it is outside. Hang on: we only just ordered it. How did it get here so quickly? With this mod, we look at what happens in between. After buying, a new tractor starts out as an order. Before it appears on the farm, it gets time for production and for its journey to us. For a tractor with basic equipment, we count two days. If we chose equipment that costs extra – different tyres, say, or a stronger engine – another two days are added. And where does our tractor come from? The mod assigns many manufacturers one of six world regions: Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Our farm belongs to a region too – automatically on known maps, otherwise we set it ourselves. A tractor from Europe does not have far to reach a European farm; heading to North America, it has a longer journey. The longer the way, the later the machine arrives. We see how long we will wait before placing the order. The days follow the game calendar: we count a month as 28 days, and the mod converts this to the days per month set in the game. At 28 days per month, one delivery day is exactly one in-game day; at one day per month, a delivery time of twelve days is over after about ten in-game hours. Of course we have to pay for it too. With down payments enabled, the dealer keeps 20 percent of the price when we order and we pay the remaining 80 percent on delivery. So only the down payment has to be in the account when ordering. Turned off, we pay everything at once when buying. If the tractor comes from another region, there is another amount on the invoice: customs duty. It depends on which region the machine comes from and where it is delivered. There is no duty within the same region; between two regions the mod uses the rate set for that direction. For example, a tractor costing 100,000 euros from Europe to North America, at the preset rate of five percent, adds 5,000 euros, so 105,000 euros in total. The rates are game values and can be adjusted or turned off entirely. Before buying, we always see the duty, the total price and the payment breakdown; for an order already placed, the amounts stay the same. Now our tractor is on its way. With delivery delays enabled, it sometimes takes a day or two longer. In the order list we see which machine is being produced, which is on its way and when it arrives – with its origin, destination and the amount still due. If the money is short on delivery day, the order waits until the farm can pay the outstanding sum including customs. If we no longer want the tractor, we can cancel: while it is in production, the amount paid is refunded; once it is on its way, the dealer keeps part of it; shortly before delivery it is forfeited entirely and a cancellation fee applies. We do not pay customs on a cancellation. A little later, our tractor is there – with the chosen tyres, the right colour and the licence plate we ordered. And the pallet of seeds we urgently need? That is still available at once, as are BigBags and other instant items, used machines, leased vehicles and free vehicles – all without a wait and without customs. It all works in multiplayer too: everyone on the farm sees the shared orders, and the server sets the options. And while the next tractor is still travelling, we keep working with the machines that are already here.