Overall, I really like this game. What I especially really like, is that I see great potential. I really hope the developers continue beyond their current road-map.

The next sections are what I think would be great improvements and ideas. I'm not sure if the devs will see this, but I thought I'd share with the steam community.


I'm not sure how I did this, but according to my other games... #crapdriver

1. H.U.D. / U.I.:

• Health Bar
  
• Mini map

2. Options:

• Change between 24 hour and 12 hour clock; the store times are posted with the 12 hour clock format.
  
• On the personal map (M), ability to see land boundaries. Maybe in build mode, there can be a light red out of bounds color on ground, within F.O.V.

3. Keybinding:

• Ability to pause the time in single player.
  
• Hot Keys to weapons (guns).

4. Other:

• Able to lock items in place- example: [E] to turn off an item and insert/ install an item.
  
• Get materials from presets on ranch at the beginning of the game (the old ranch house, barns, trash, etc).
  
• Pick up and move tent.
  
• Pick up and move sleep-able ground mattresses.
  
• Move small player-built objects (tables, bowls, shelves, etc).
  
• Animals able to be highlighted when mousing over them (not just their names, heath, hunger, and thirst).
  
• The Hardware Store have a large door in the back, or a gate, because of bears.
  
  
  
  Bear 1 at the back of the store.
  
  
  
  Bear 2 at the front of the store... Yes, the Hardware Store was "surrounded" by bears.
  
  
• Able to walk and reload your gun.
  
• An issue in the game? - When you load a game, the revolver needs to be reloaded, even if it was loaded before saving.
  
• Better item and building descriptions. The item summaries in stores.
  
• The "granary" should be renamed to "grain bin". A grain bin (the structure in the game) is similar to a silo, that stores different grains. A "granary" is a building that is similar to a store house, where food is stored to keep it safe from pests. However, a "silo" stores bulk items and feed for animals on a farm/ranch.
  
• If you're standing next to a wall an you go to milk an animal (in my case it was a goat) you get stuck in the wall and unable to move. I was forced to quit the game and restart the day.
  

1. H.U.D./U.I.:

• Hunger? Could use food made and the Burger Place. This can be used to heal.
  
• Maybe for a clean H.U.D. setup, maybe use a smart watch or smart phone with apps.
  
• The apps for the phone could include- a calendar, skill levels, bank loan payments, vehicle catalog (not to buy, just descriptions and prices), Burger Place selling announcement for the day, guide for selling to stores (what your items would sell for), the different store catalogs (descriptions, prices, and to buy (but with shipping and delivery charges, so players will still want to go to the stores to save money), make notes, another way access to quest journal [J], another way to access the map [M], G.P.S., another way to access to chat and chat history.
  
• Skill system? For unlockables, quantity of items received from hunting, slaughtering, etc, not a quality based system. And not overpowered, maybe one "action" equals 5% out of 100% of one level of skill. Maybe for the unlockables: ability to buy extra things in the stores, more things in build mode.

2. Build Mode Ideas:

• Create paths- dirt, gravel, stone.
  
• One "piece" barn door.
  
• Nesting boxes to put in coops to make egg gathering easier.
  
• Different styles of barn blueprints.
  
• Garage and different style blueprints.
  
• Different table blueprint styles.
  
• Solar panel, wind turbine, and battery to power electric items.
  
• Nearby flower plots effect the amount of honey produced in Beekeeping.

3. Other Ideas:

• RNG for hens to lay up to two unfertilized eggs a day.
  
• Knife for skinning, meat cleaver for butchering meat.
  
• Other places: bar, pharmacy, outdoor store (similar to Fur, Fish and Feather, or Bass Pro, or Cabela's, etc).

The skills I think would be perfect for the game would be:

• Hunting
  
• Trapping
  
• Fishing
  
• Cooking
  
• Mining
  
• Smithing
  
• Skinning
  
• Leather-working
  
• Handling (taking care of animals)
  
• Foraging
  
• Forestry
  
• Beekeeping
  
• Gardening (the smaller plot sand greenhouse)
  
• Brewing
  
• Herbalism
  
• Baking
  
• Wine-making

The list is probably too much for a hands-on game, but it could be broken down in a shorter list with similar abilities combined and the group of skill having a name of it's own:

• Hunting + Trapping + Fishing
  
• Cooking + Brewing + Herbalism + Baking + Wine-making
  
• Mining + Smithing : Metalworking
  
• Skinning + Leather-working
  
• Handling + Beekeeping
  
• Forestry + Foraging + Gardening

For example Handling and Beekeeping could fall under the skill named "Livestock".

1. Cooking Ideas-

• Canning / Preservatives
  
• Wine/ Nectar Making, Brewing
  
• More dairy items (ice cream, yogurt)
  
• Bread-making, Baking
  
• Create meals, drinks, etc.
  
• Butcher meat into different steaks, fillets, cuts, etc.
  
• Dehydrator; jerky, dried fruits and veggies.

2. Hunting, trapping, Fishing Ideas-

• Portable and wearable backpack (inventory similar to the cooler and egg basket): portable on back, able to use hands for building, shooting, etc. Can be placed on ground. Can store equipment for hunting, fishing, etc. Can store food. Can sell inventory at stores (similar as the cooler and egg basket).
  
• Different decoys, different bait, different traps, hunting tools (like calls).
  
• Further resourcing of animals: skinning makes hide. Create/build taxidermy (example: deer head or bear head on wall).
  
• Different weapons and ability to upgrade them.

1. Cooking-

• Fillet knife: For fillet fish, meat cuts, etc.

2. Other-

• Hiking backpack- to store and move small tools by quantity (bee smoker, cooking tools, etc).

3. Hunting-

• Hunter blind- portable and build mode. Maybe add a sneak feature to it?
  
• Hunting decoys- maybe an attract system, but not overpowered.
  
• Weapon upgrades, for example: scopes and slings.
  
• Additional weapons: other types of rifles, other types of hand guns, shotguns, etc.

1. Domestic-

• More breeds of dogs and cats.
  
• More breeds of cattle, goats, and pigs.
  
• Sheep
  
• Llamas and Alpaca
  
• Donkeys and Mules
  
• Buffalo, Ox, Reindeer
  
• Geese and ducks

2. Wild-
I'm not sure where Ranch Simulator is based off of, but to me, it looks similar to Colorado in the U.S. So, I'll based the wild animals around that state.

• Turkey
  
• Different types of fish.
  
• Bighorn sheep.
  
• Elk and Moose
  
• Rats and mice.
  
• Bobcats and mountain lions.
  
• Coyotes
  
• Bison
  
• Beavers
  
• Minks and muskrats
  
• Different types of frogs