And then there were two…

Earlier today, Dovetail Games announced “with great sadness” the closure of Flight Sim World (FSW).  It’s been slightly less than one year since I first discussed FSW on my blog site and in late May of last year I wrote about my first impressions after having spent a little bit of time exploring the simulator.   I recorded a few YouTube videos which you can find on my channel.  During the initial few weeks after release of FSW I did manage to spend several hours flying and I must admit I enjoyed my time and felt like FSW had some promise.  After all, Dovetail Games was finally fulfilling their commitment to bring their flight sim to market albeit a few years late.

While I must admit I haven’t followed the progress of FSW in the past 6+ months, I’m actually surprised it took Dovetail Games this long to realize this was never going to get off the ground and compete with Prepar3d and XPlane.  Especially knowing how Dovetail planned to limit 3rd party developers.  As with many of the simulation based games I enjoy playing, 3rd party developers, modders etc. are the lifeblood of these types of games.  When you begin to restrict what they can do and how they do it, you’re going to suffer and I guess they finally realized the writing was on the wall.

While I have many additional thoughts/opinions regarding this news, I’m going to keep those to myself for now.  It appears Steam will continue to sell Flight Sim World through May 24th.  After May 24th the game and all DLC will be removed from Steam, but will still be available in the player/owner’s Steam Library.

Future of Flight Simulation

The future of flight simulation is extremely strong.  Lockheed Martin’s Prepar3D (P3D) version 4.x and Laminar Research’s X-Plane will continue to serve as the flagship titles to support this wonderful hobby.  Both titles have a strong following and both enjoy excellent support from the best 3rd party add-on developers.  After all, we know the saying….two is company and three’s a crowd.

Until next time…

Jerry

Getting Started with YouTube

More than likely you’ve been a long-time YouTube viewer and perhaps you have often thought to yourself, “I’d like to record my game play and upload that content to YouTube for others to enjoy”!  This is exactly the thoughts that entered my head a little over two years ago and I’d like to share my journey.

The Fine Print

LOL…yes, there’s a little “fine print” I would like to throw out there for your consideration.  First, this is not meant to be the definitive guide to getting started with YouTube.  Far from it actually.  This is simply my journey, my thoughts, my opinions etc. on the subject.  Anyone…yes, even YOU can record your video game play and upload that content to YouTube.  The process isn’t rocket science once you gather a few key pieces of software which I’ll discuss later.  But is that all you need to do?  Can you then call yourself a YouTube Content Creator?

If you Build it, they will come

If you enjoy classic movies, then most likely you’ve seen the film “Field Of Dreams” starring Kevin Costner.  The premise behind the movie was if the character played by Kevin Costner built a baseball field in the middle of his corn field, the players from the 1919 Black Sox Scandal would return to play baseball.  He built the field and low and behold, the players showed up including Shoeless Joe Jackson.  Nice story, but is running a YouTube channel as simple as Field of Dreams?  Meaning, if I create a YouTube channel, will viewers flock to it and will I become a YouTube sensation overnight?  I’ll return to this question in just a few minutes.

First Things First, WHY?

I just want to get you thinking about one simple word…WHY?  Why do you want to start a YouTube channel?  Again, this blog posting is not meant to be the definitive guide to getting started with YouTube.  I’m merely sharing a few thoughts, ideas, concepts etc. with you which I’ve learned over the past two years.  While you are contemplating on your own reasons of WHY, I’ll share mine…

My Journey

I’ve been a huge fan of YouTube since it all began back in 2005.  I began producing content on YouTube in 2007 under a different user account and completely different topic than video gaming.  I produced and created “how to” content supporting the hobby and service of amateur radio (also known as ham radio).  Amateur Radio is another hobby I’m passionate about and I enjoy speaking to fellow hams all over the country and world.  Anyway, the entire idea behind my early start with YouTube was in an effort to share my knowledge with others.

Having a face for radio, I soon moved away from YouTube and started my own audio only podcast talking about and sharing information and knowledge.  When I began my audio podcast, it was one of only two or three in existence related to the hobby.  When I finally ended that show almost 8 years after it started, there was well over a dozen different podcasts related to amateur radio just in the USA alone.  But after producing an average of two episodes per month, I felt I had talked about and shared just about everything I started out to do and felt it was time to move onto greener pastures.

But just like you, I had been watching many YouTube content creators producing excellent content on some of the simulation based games I also enjoyed playing.  It felt like a good time to see if I could create a channel with more or less the same concept I used for my podcast so the GrizzlyBearSims YouTube channel was born.

Of course, I thought long and hard about what could I do that was different from some of the others.  After all, regardless of the video games you choose to play/record…the general idea is going to be the same.  Flight Sim videos will be about flying.  Truck Sim videos will be about trucking and Farm Sim videos will be about farming.

Finding Your Niche

Yes, it helps to be different.  I had been watching a lot of Farming Simulator 15 channels in an attempt to find one or two things which I could somewhat capitalize on and say this is how the GrizzlyBearSims channel will be different than everyone else.  The first was to establish my channel as 100% Rated G.  If you are unfamiliar with the motion picture rating system, a “G Rated” film is considered to be suitable for all ages.  Regardless of anything else….I wanted the content I created for my channel to be suitable for all to enjoy.

The second area which I felt important was to be helpful.  Now this doesn’t necessarily mean that I needed to become an agricultural expert and know everything there is to know about farming.  Or worse, pretend to be that expert!  No, I’m simply talking about being helpful to those who are wanting to enjoy the game and get more from it.  I often talk about the fact that I’m just an IT Guy…I’m not a real life farmer.  While I grew up in rural Texas and have had many agricultural experiences which I often reflect back on (including four years of FFA), I don’t actually know a lot about modern day farming.  Nor do I really need to know a lot about it.  What I know and what I strive to share with my viewers is simply agriculture based on the way Farming Simulator 17 depicts it.  Part of this goal of being helpful is keeping an updated list of all the mods I’m using in my game play.   Of course, there is nothing wrong with gaining real-life knowledge and applying that to the virtual world.  I’ve learned more about real-life farming and I do strive to apply that knowledge as much as I can within the limits of the virtual world.

The third and final thing I’ll mention is remain humble.  I really didn’t do much in the early days of my channel to promote it.  I stuck to my plan and just produced the sort of content that I desired to watch.  Yes, subscribers came and my numbers began to grow.  Some stayed and some left.  In time, the dozen or so subscribers I had became two dozen, then fifty, then one hundred, then two-hundred, five hundred etc.  But each and every time I sit down to record an episode, I’m recording and producing that content based on the original dozen or so subscribers I had in the beginning.  It is also why I try very hard to acknowledge each and every comment viewers leave for me on my videos.

Do you need to base your channel on these same principles?  No, absolutely not.  You’ll need to decide what works for you.  But I do urge you to give the subject some thought and once you figure out your niche, stick to it and make it your own.

The Tools I use

At a minimum, you’ll need a method of capturing your game play so it can be uploaded to YouTube.  Like most things in life, you’ll find there are a few different solutions for this task.  Some GPU’s (graphic cards) may have the ability to capture/record your game play.  Nvidia is one of these and provides a solution called Shadowplay a second very popular solution (and the one I use) is called OBS (Open Broadcast Software).  OBS is super easy to setup and does an excellent job in capturing your game play (with voice audio) and also livestreaming.  I recorded a video about a year ago regarding my specific OBS settings I use.  You can view that video here.  There are two varieties of OBS at the moment.  The first is OBS Classic (that is what I discussed in the video I mentioned) and the second is OBS Studio.  I’m now using OBS Studio, but I haven’t had the chance to record a video on that, but will try to do that at some point in the future.

As previously stated, OBS will capture the game video and game audio.  But what about your audio.  Do you plan to provide commentary while playing?  In my opinion, the answer to that question should be YES!  Some only upload their game play video without commentary.  But very few YouTube content creators can do this is such a way to keep me engaged for the entire video.  I personally believe it’s important to have audio commentary as part of your videos.  This can be role play based or just talking about what you are doing, the weather, things going on in your life etc.  But to do this, you’ll need a good microphone.

I won’t lie to you.  I have a $500 microphone mounted onto a boom mic stand which I almost never use.  The reason for this is I get pretty good audio from a brand of headsets I’ve used for years.  The brand is Plantronics and they are designed for VoIP audio applications.  I currently use a Plantronics USB headset model Blackwire 720.  Now these won’t be the most expensive, nor will they be the cheapest headsets you can find….but they work very well and most importantly they work very well for me.

I simply have my headset audio configured to capture/record by OBS.  OBS records my game play video/audio as well as my headset audio commentary into one file.  If simplicity produces a quality product, then why overcomplicate it?

Are there other ways to do this?  Yes, absolutely.  But remember, this isn’t the definitive guide…this is the GrizzlyBearSims guide or way of doing things.

A Few more thoughts about audio

All things being considered, OBS (or even ShadowPlay) will do a pretty good job capturing your video game play.   But you’ll need to do a little experimentation where it comes to audio levels.  Most of the simulation based game titles I play (and record content from) have a few different audio controls to adjust audio/sounds from the game.  If able, you’ll want to turn any control you might have for controlling music to ZERO.  Any music which gets captured and included in your video will be subject to copyright rules.  Leaving this audio in your final edited/rendered/uploaded video will most likely get you into trouble with YouTube.  This includes the intro music for games like ATS, ETS2 and even Farming Simulator 17.  Ask me how I know this?  Yep…I learned the hard way.

You may also need to individually adjust audio controls for other sounds including vehicle engine noise, birds singing etc.  You don’t want your audio commentary to be lower in volume than your tractor sounds.  There is a happy medium and experimentation will help you achieve the perfect mix.

To Record Audio During or After….that is the question!

OK…one last comment regarding audio.  I personally record my audio during game play and I allow OBS to capture/mix both the game audio and the audio from my headset at the same time.  This process works well for me and I believe I receive acceptable results.  Some will use an additional piece of audio software called Audacity to capture their voice audio then they mix the two together during post production.  While I personally believe this process will give you more control over your spoken audio, it is an extra step which I simply don’t believe fits into my own workflow.

Finally, some folks will record their audio commentary completely after they have recorded their game play.  Almost think of this as being similar to a play-by-play sports broadcaster.  Again, this extra step most certainly will give you better control of the spoken audio.  But it is another time consuming step which doesn’t fit well into my workflow.

So you have a video file, now what?  Am I done?

Congrats!  But now what?  Can I just simply upload the video file OBS created to YouTube and call it a day?  Yes, of course you can.  After all, it’s what many others do as well.  But should you?  I say no….

Up to this point, I’ve given you the basic information you need to record your game play.  But if you truly want to set yourself a part from those who just simply upload their raw, unedited OBS output file….then please keep reading.

If you’ve spent time thinking about why you are wanting to start a YouTube channel and you’ve formulated a few goals you desire to focus on for channel success, then take it a step further and edit your videos for a more professional appearance.

I use a relatively inexpensive video editing software called Cyberlink PowerDirector.  You should be able to purchase this for around $50.00.  I actually use an older version from 2014 and find it still does the job I need it to do.  But I believe its very important to edit your videos for YouTube.

Like many I suffer from seasonal allergies.  But just because I suffer, doesn’t mean you must suffer along with me when watching my videos.  Meaning, I do everything possible to edit out my coughs, sneezes and sniffles in my videos.  The other benefit from editing your videos is the benefit of time which I’ll discuss next.

Time Waits for No One

If you are familiar with my channel and my videos, then you know I strive for a finished video to be in the neighborhood of 30 minutes in length.  In my opinion, anything longer than 60 minutes is just simply too long and most of your viewers will think so as well.

Just like me, you’ll have lots of competition on YouTube.  You’ll certainly earn fans who will watch just about anything you produce and hopefully they’ll sit at their PC’s or on their mobile devices refreshing the page until they are alerted that you’ve just released a new video, but you may not find many who only watches your content exclusively.  Well except for your wife, your mother etc.  But even then….don’t assume they are not watching other content as well.

Everyone has a limited amount of time.  The time I spend watching YouTube videos is part of the available time I have for gaming, recording game play content, editing etc.  In the very early days, I used to watch a lot more YouTube videos…but sadly I’ve had to cut back as I have many other commitments.  So you must also think about your viewers in the same way.  Most likely, if someone is watching your FS17 videos (as an example) they too play that same game.  They may also have time commitments of school, work, family etc.  This is why the 30 minute video length works for so many.

To Stream or Not To Stream

While the subject of this blog post has primarily been devoted to creating/producing recorded content for YouTube, many enjoy livestreaming as well.  When time permits, even I really enjoy livestreaming as it allows me an opportunity to interact with my viewers in real-time.  But if you are seeking my advice (and you must be if you’ve read this far down the page) there are a few cardinal rules you must follow.

First, be engaged with your livestream audience.  You’ll need a way to view the livestream chat while you are playing and streaming.  A game like Farming Simulator (in my opinion) is one of the best simulation based games which allows you the opportunity to stay engaged with your audience.  The pace at which you are driving is slow enough that you can glance at your chat, read comments and easily provide commentary and answer questions.  Games such as ATS/ETS2 are just a little more difficult, but still very much doable.  The key is if you get your audience interacting with you, your livestreams will be much more enjoyable and successful.  If you fail to stay engaged with your viewers during a livestream, then you will fail at livestreaming.

Second,  This is just a pet peeve of mine.  But don’t clutter up the livestream video with a bunch of chat boxes, cheesy animations etc.  Yes, I realize a lot of folks like the self gratification of seeing or hearing their name when they subscribe…but to me (and perhaps this is only because I’m of the older, more mature crowd) it just causes a huge distraction and takes away from the main subject.  I subscribe to the philosophy of less is more.

Third, operate your livestream the same way you operate your video feeds.  Meaning, if you are running a G Rated channel and only producing G Rated content, then you need to ensure that your livestreams follow these same guidelines.  Recruit a few of your loyal, trusted viewers to act as moderators.  This will help to ensure your chat remains clean.

Getting Rich Quick

With the new rules governing YouTube Partnership and monetization, if you are just beginning your YouTube journey, then don’t count those chickens before they hatch.  You’ll be disappointed if you do.  Now I didn’t say that because I don’t believe being a YouTube content creator is not a real job.  While there are lots of people who have become quite successful in producing content for YouTube and earn a nice income from it, I have a feeling these individuals would find it a little harder to recreate what they have today based on the new rules.  But that’s not what this article is about so let me force myself to get back on target.

Once you meet the criteria to begin to monetize your videos, you have the potential to earn a little money.  I use the word “little” because until your channel grows and all the other factors grow along with it, you will only earn a little bit of money in the program.  But don’t let that discourage you from starting a channel if you desire and certainly once you start a channel, don’t let this discourage you from monetizing it if that is also something you desire.

Be Prepared for Criticism

Unfortunately, haters are gonna hate.  There are some YT viewers who make it their daily job to surf from one channel to another writing crude, rude and generally obnoxious comments just for the sake of getting under your skin.  For the most part these folks are not even watching your content.  They just write these comments and move to the next video.  While this is an issue, don’t let this stop you from seeking comments from your viewers.

The Power of Suggestion

Do you ever wonder why fast-food restaurants always ask “would you like an apple pie with your order”?  It’s because most of the time when you step up to the counter (or drive thru) and order that burger and fries combo, you are only thinking about burger and fries.  You may realize they also sell apple pies, but you aren’t thinking about that.  When that person utters the words “would you like an apple pie” your brain goes, oh…yea…that’d be nice and you say YES!  Well the same somewhat applies here.  During my videos (when I can remember) I generally always ask my viewers to “Like, Comment and Subscribe”.  Because if you don’t ask, you may never receive.

In Closing

Hopefully I’ve provided you enough information to help you get started.  Once again I just want to remind everyone that this isn’t meant to be the definitive guide to getting started on YouTube.  These simply are just a few thoughts of my own based on my own experience.   While I must thank many individuals for helping me start my YouTube adventure, over the past two years I believe I’ve also mentored a few as well.  It’s all part of the “give and take” of life.  I hope this article helps you and if I can be of further assistance, please reach out to me via my Discord channel.

As always, Thank You for your time.  Please consider sharing this blog article on your favorite social media platforms using the buttons below.  I appreciate it and I’ve just proven how the power of suggestion actually works.  Funny huh?

Until next time….

Happy Simming!

Jerry

ATS Mod Sort/Load Order

While much of the content I publish in written form is to help others, I also write content for my blog site to serve as a reminder or simply an electronic organizer to myself in the event I need to perform a particular game uninstall/reinstall or even a full PC rebuild.  The topic for today will once again serve both purposes.  Today we’re going to discuss the sorting/loading order for mods in American Truck Simulator.  In theory this should also apply for Euro Truck Simulator 2 as well.  However, there are a few different requirements/recommendations due to ProMods.  I most likely will cover ETS2 in a separate blog post sometime in the near future.

I absolutely love mods, after all they make the games we already love even better.  I suppose you could call it an addiction, but I certainly don’t plan on stopping. At least not anytime soon.   Before I get into the meat of this discussion, allow me the opportunity to plug my mod spreadsheet.  I keep a fairly extensive listing of all the mods I’m actively using for game titles such as Farming Simulator 17, American Truck Simulator, Euro Truck Simulator 2 and even Flight Simulation (P3D).  While my YouTube channel focuses mainly on my FS17 game play, I do occasionally record my game play on other titles and publish those videos on YouTube.  Essentially it’s important to me, that if you take the time to watch one of my videos and you see a mod, or  you hear me discussing a mod…that you can easily locate where you can download that same mod.  It’s one of the reasons why I limit using private mods or mods that aren’t generally available to the public in my game play to only a select few.  Typically these will be FS17 maps I’ve been allowed early access to use, but release to the general public is imminent.    If you are interested in viewing my mod spreadsheet, just visit my blog site and click the link for Add-on and Mods Directory.  This will open a Google Docs Spreadsheet.  Just look to the bottom and select the tab for the game which interests you and you’ll find a list of all the mods I am using along with links where they can be downloaded.   Also, if you have a spare 5 minutes….please read a blog posting I wrote last year titled “Reputable Mod Sites for Farming Simulator Mods”.  In this article I discuss a few issues our gaming hobby faces and perhaps what we can all do to try to prevent it.

Order Matters

With all that out of the way, the number of mods I’m running in American Truck Simulator (ATS) is beginning to rival that of Farming Simulator 17.  However, the games themselves treat mods a little differently.  Unlike FS17 where we don’t need to worry about any specific order, with American Truck Simulator (and Euro Truck Simulator 2) sometimes the order in which we have our mods sorted does matter.  Having all of our ducks….err I mean mods in a row can mean the difference between a fun experience with mods versus a nightmare experience vowing to never download/install mods never again.

Differing Opinions

Just like many things in life, if you search long enough you’ll find many different theories regarding the sort/load order for mods in ATS and ETS2.  I’m simply going to share with you the order and method I use.  This same methodology should also work for you, but you are certainly welcome to do your own research and devise your own plan.

Order….Order in the Court

In a nutshell, here’s the sorting order I use.  I’ll spend some time below explaining what each of these categories mean and some mod examples, but I’ve been using this process for sorting my mods and it provides a nearly trouble free experience.  From top to bottom, this is how I sort/order my mods in ATS and ETS2.

Environment Mods, Sound Mods, Real Company Logo Mods, Map Mods, AI Vehicle Mods, Wheel/Tire Mods, Trailer Mods, Truck Tuning Mods and finally Truck mods.

Everything Explained

  • Environment Mods – These would include mods such as the No Boundaries or Immersive Symbols mods.  These are the types of mods that change some of the default SCS game behaviors.  The “No Boundaries” mod simply removes the barrier icons for roads which SCS haven’t developed yet.  In other words, the roads you can’t drive down.  The Immersive Symbols mod removes the load/unload icons and replaces these with cones or man-hole covers.  Very cool…very immersive!
  • Sound Mods – The Sound Fixes Pack is a good example of a sound type mod.  These would go here.
  • Real Company Logo Mods – If you are like me, you understand why SCS used company names like Wallbert (Walmart), 42 Print (Vista Print) etc.  but you also want maximum immersion when playing and you really would rather see the real company names.  Mods like this fall into this category.
  • Map Mods – Any modded maps for ATS would fall into this category.  But wait!!  It may not be as simple as that.  In order for some maps to work with other maps (Coast to Coast for example) you may need to sort the maps in a specific order to avoid any unnecessary frustration.  At the present time, the most common add-on maps for ATS should be sorted in this order Project Going North, CanaDream, Tonopah Reworked, US Expansion (formerly US 50/CA 99 Map), Rick’s Interstate 10, Coast to Coast, Mexico Extremo HBS Resources Model Package, Mexico Extremo, Viva Mexico.
  • AI Vehicle Mods – These are mods which enhance the default vehicles we see driving around the ATS map.  Mods which fall into this category might be the AI Traffic Pack by Jazzycat or any of his other wonderful AI traffic packs including Bus, Truck and Classic Cars traffic packs.
  • Wheel/Tire Mods – Any mod that changes the tires/wheels will need to be sorted in this order.
  • Trailer Mods – Mods which add different types of trailers to the game would be sorted in this order.  Examples might include SISL’s Trailer Pack, Real Company Box and Tanker Trailer packs.
  • Truck Tuning Mods – Engine mods, light tuning etc. would fall here.
  • Trucks – Ahhhh, my favorite category.  This is where I place my awesome Pete 389 by Viper2 and my Volvo VNL670 by Aradeth.

Well…there you have it.  If you use a different sorting order and that works for you, then I see no reason to change it.  However, if you are experiencing issues…then perhaps compare this order with what you are using and make small adjustments then test.  It could very well come down to a little trial and error to get it just right.

I hope this helps you.  If you are interested in supporting the GrizzlyBearSims blog site and YouTube channel, please consider becoming a Patron.  Full details available at https://www.patreon.com/GrizzlyBearSims  Thank you!

Until next time…

Happy Trucking!!!

JT

AVOID CSIO Tech

To my loyal and wonderful readers.  I’ve been blogging about my interests in the simulation gaming hobby for over 10 years.  Later this year will mark the 11th year of this blog.  During this time, I’ve shared a lot of experiences (both good and bad) with my readers.  While my blog postings can always be found here at GrizzlyBearSims.com, my individual blog postings are picked up and syndicated on several other websites including PC-SG.  When I’m actively writing and posting new content, the website and blog postings are viewed by you (my readers) at a healthy rate.  Now please understand that I’m not telling you these things to boast or gloat.  I’m merely stating that GrizzlyBearSims.com and my blog postings are active on the interwebz and produce a considerable amount of traffic.

About two years ago, I began hearing about a small company called CSIO Tech who was in the process of launching a Kickstarter campaign to develop, build and bring to market an Eaton Fuller style USB shifter to enhance American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2.  I watched their Kickstarter campaign video announcement and immediately became a backer.  I wrote a few blog postings regarding this product including a full review which I titled CSIO’s SKRS Eaton Fuller Style USB Shifter.  Best that memory serves, from the time I initially heard about this shifter to the time I was installing it on my Logitech G27 was only about 4-6 weeks (perhaps slightly longer).  The entire process was super easy and left me feeling 100% satisfied.  I also personally know several others who also participated in the Kickstarter and all received their shifters and were equally as pleased in the product.

However, about 2 months ago I received a rather odd comment which was posted to the above linked article suggesting the entire Kickstarter and the product was a scam.  As I had not had any issues and as previously mentioned knew of several others who also received their shifters right as promised, I figured this posting was meant to be SPAM and I deleted it and didn’t give it any additional thought.

Then right before the holidays I received an email from another reader who also commented on the fact he felt he had been scammed by the CSIO Tech company.  I replied to the email requesting more details, but never heard back.  As was the case with the first comment, I simply put the idea on the back burner and haven’t really thought much about it.

But things have changed….

Just recently, I received yet another comment on the blog post and this time the reader provided more information which I feel I must act on.

Let me state for the record…

I’m in no way affiliated with CSIO Tech.  My only connection to CSIO Tech and the owners/employees of this company was simply as a Kickstarter backer.  I paid the same amount of money to back the Kickstarter as anyone else would have done.  I received no discount or no other compensation for writing the articles I did almost two years ago.  In addition, I do not have any way of contacting CSIO Tech.

But being curious in what has been going on since the time I backed the program and received my shifter, I began to do a little research.  After all, while I have no horse in this race….I have several blog articles floating around on the internet all stating what a wonderful product the shifter is and what a wonderful company CSIO Tech is.  While I believe most will understand that I have no control over what a company does or does not do to support their customers, I still feel really bad that some appear to have really been treated poorly and perhaps….yes….I’ll say it….SCAMMED!

My Research

As stated, I have no connection to CSIO Tech or any of the employees/owners of this company.  I could easily delete the blog postings from two years ago and just ignore the comments and emails.  After all, this isn’t my fault.  But everything posted on the internet is there for eternity.  As previously discussed, my blog postings are read by thousands of people and are syndicated on numerous websites.  I at the very least wanted to make an effort to see what was going on with CSIO Tech.

My first attempt to contact was to visit the CSIO Tech website.  I was hoping to find a “Contact Us” email address, a web form or some other method of contacting.  It appears the only way to contact CSIO Tech is to register for an account and log a support ticket.  I attempted this process, but after clicking on Support > Submit a Ticket, it does not bring up any physical way of submitting a ticket for support.  It’s as if they have deactivated the support ticket process.

Knowing many YouTube Content Creators either ordered or received a SKRS Shifter, I decided to see what folks might be saying on these “review videos”.  I read through comments on three different well known YT channels and found comments from just a few weeks ago where folks had been waiting 6, 8 and even 10 months without hearing anything from CSIO Tech.

My next method of contacting CSIO Tech was to visit their Facebook page.  One of the first things I noticed when visiting their Facebook page was the date of what appears to be their last post dated 11 May 2017.  There are numerous comments from customers who have been waiting on orders.  Many postings claiming fraud, scam etc.

Two Sides to Every Story

Yes, I fully subscribe to the theory that there are two sides to each story.  I sent CSIO Tech a private Facebook message as this appears to be the only way of reaching them.   In my message I explained who I was, I mentioned the email and comments I’ve had posted on my blog about their service (or lack of service in this case) and simply asking them to explain what is going on.  I explained that I would wait until end of day Friday,  26 January before publishing this article.  But I stressed the fact that while my experience in dealing with this Kickstarter was 100% successful, I feel bad that others have appeared to be scammed and cheated.

Sigh…

Well…it’s Saturday, 27 January and I received no reply to my Facebook message to CSIO Tech.  All evidence I can gather points to something seriously going wrong with this company sometime after mid 2016 and the present day.  It’s certainly hard to argue with those who have taken the time to contact myself, leave FB comments and YouTube comments for others and all with the same general theme of being scammed.

Again for the record, the experience I had with CSIO Tech almost two years ago was nothing but positive.  But things can change and change quickly.  I certainly do not recommend doing business with CSIO Tech and for those who have placed orders which have not been fulfilled, I suggest you contact your bank, credit card company or Paypal and file a complaint and request a refund.  In addition, you might be interested in filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

Other Options

While I have no direct experience with either of the two companies I’m going to mention next, it appears these two do offer an add-on replacement shifter (similar to the SKRS).  Please do your own research and engage them at your own risk.

Tech Affliction Mega Shifter

AplusB Software Simu Shift Knob

In Closing

I’m terribly sorry if someone read my blog posting and made a decision to purchase the SKRS Shifter from CSIO Tech and lost money as a result.  I truly hope everyone understands that my only connection with CSIO Tech was merely as a customer.

Thank you for reading.

Jerry

 

P.S.  As you can tell I originally drafted this blog article in late January with the intention of publishing it then.  I actually decided to wait in the hopes I would receive a response from the CSIO folks.  It’s now mid-March and I know I’ll never get that response from them.  I’m sorry to everyone who have been burned by this company.

Coast to Coast in American Truck Simulator–Revisited

Can you believe American Truck Simulator (ATS) has been out for over two years?  If you are a fan of ATS, then you know in the vanilla state of the game you have the opportunity to drive in the US States of California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.  SCS announced a few weeks ago the next State DLC will be Oregon.  I’m looking forward to the release of Oregon and I’m hopeful SCS will truly capture not only the beauty of the Beaver State, but also the unique geology, terrain and industry specifically forestry.  I’m sure the Oregon DLC will be awesome.

Just hypothetically speaking, if the Oregon DLC is released sometime between now and end of June (2018), that release will come approx. 7 months after the release of New Mexico.  Arizona came to us as a free DLC which was released in the June timeframe of 2016 and while it’s true much work has been done on ATS in the past two years including Arizona, New Mexico along with a Heavy Cargo Pack, Wheel Tuning Pack and a few paint jobs packs….the math doesn’t lie.  If SCS continues releasing state DLC packs at their current rate, we could still be a couple of years before one can drive from the left coast to the right coast.

I first blogged about the Coast to Coast map mod way back in February 2016 (over two years ago).  The Coast to Coast (C2C) map mod was the brainchild of an individual who is known as Mantrid.  He simply created C2C for his own enjoyment as he wanted to be able to drive from coast to coast in ATS and he wanted to do it in a much faster timeframe than SCS could make it happen.  Mantrid shared his idea/plan with a few folks who obviously wanted to be able to do the same thing and in the very early stages of this map.  In the very early days of the C2C map mod it included Arizona and New Mexico (which are now both officially in ATS) with a route along I-40, I-44, I-70 etc.  At that time the C2C Map Mod was very basic and scenery was pretty much a copy/paste from California and Nevada.

Over the past two years I’ve been an “on again/off again” user of the C2C map mod.  Perhaps the most recent stint of my actively using it was over 6-8 months ago.  But I had the bug to try it again and wow…what a difference a little time makes.

For those who have been active readers of my blog and also viewers of my YouTube Channel, you know I often praise the ProMods team who create freeware map mods for Euro Truck Simulator 2.  They’ve managed to create some truly awe-inspiring work which rivals the work SCS provides to us.  Just about anytime I’ve discussed the C2C project, I often tell folks that if you are thinking it is ProMods quality, you might be disappointed.  But this is slowly changing….

The most recently released version of the Coast to Coast map is 2.4.1 and is fully compatible with ATS v1.30 and is available via link on the SCS Forums.  Installing it is pretty easy.  Just download the .rar file, unzip that and locate the .scs file. Place that in your mods folder and activate.  If you are running other modded maps, you’ll want to review the loading order here.

Since the C2C Project was born it has evolved from a one-man effort into a larger team effort.   Individuals have stepped forward to assist Mantrid develop the map and turn it into what it is today.  While there may still be some areas of C2C which simply are a copy/paste from scenery in CA, NV and AZ….other areas are really starting to take shape and look/feel more like their real world counterparts.

I’m extremely impressed with what the team has done with my home state of Colorado.  Specifically Denver.  Driving around Denver, various landmarks appear where I expect to find them.  The downtown skyline includes Mile High Stadium, Elitch Gardens (amusement park) and as you proceed south on I-25 you’ll find Ikea located very near where it is in real life.  It’s really cool.

Over the weekend I installed the updated C2C map and picked up a load from Denver to Fort Worth.  It has long been my desire to be able to drive the same route in ATS that I drive when I go to visit my family in Texas.  Thanks to Mantrid and his team of very talented and skilled modders, I was able to do just that.   This includes driving I-25 south to Raton, NM then across to Clayton, NM….Dalhart, Texas….Amarillo, Texas, Wichita Falls, Texas and then into the DFW metroplex.  This exact route is included in the C2C map thanks to these talented individuals.

Leaving Colorado and headed to Texas for another load of my favorite ice cream.  (see image below)

Just about to cross the state line into Texas.  This is along highway 87 which connects from Raton, NM to Dalhart (via Texline, Texas). (see image below)

Last November my wife and I drove down to Texas to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  We stopped in this same spot for a quick picnic lunch.
I took this photo in November and posted to my Facebook page.  (see image below)

Image may contain: sky, cloud, outdoor and nature

In closing, is the Coast to Coast map perfect?  No…it’s still very much a work-in-progress.  But if you really would like to get out of the CA, NV, AZ and NM area and let the hammer down, then give C2C a try.  You might be surprised.

Until next time….

Happy Trucking!

JT

How to setup the Logitech G27 with Cattle and Crops

Hello all…

Since late December I’ve really been enjoying playing the early access release of Cattle and Crops (v. 0.1.0.1).  If you haven’t visited my YouTube Channel, please do so and watch my Cattle and Crops video series showcasing the available missions in the game.

While my level of enjoyment has been high, it hasn’t been without frustration.  I’m a really picky simulation gamer and practically refuse to play simulation based games (especially driving type games) without my trusty Logitech G27 steering wheel, pedals and shifter console.  Unfortunately, Cattle and Crops is yet another simulation based game which is available where controller support appears to be somewhat of an after-thought.

After several hours of some trial and a whole lot of error, I have determined the best configuration settings I need to configure my Logitech G27 hardware with Cattle and Crops.  While it’s not exactly the way I would like to have things, it will work until such time that hopefully the CnC Devs will better enhance their controller support for the game.

I’m not sure if these steps will work with older or newer Logitech controllers.  I only own the G27 and only have that model to test with.  In addition, I’m not sure if these steps will work with non-Logitech branded hardware.  But my hope is that you might get an idea from this video which may work with these other setups.  Good luck!

If you have questions regarding any of the steps I’ve outlined in the video, please leave a comment on the video or alternatively you are free to join my Discord server and contact me there.

Cattle and Crops–Taking another look

Just before Christmas I wrote a blog article discussing my holiday video release schedule on the GBS YouTube channel and also discussed my early opinions on Farmer’s Dynasty and also briefly touched on an older blog article I wrote in late 2016 regarding my outlook on 2017 being the year for farming.  After writing that article, two things happened.

First, a reader of my blog contacted me via email informing me of an update to Cattle and Crops which he felt I should look into.  Second, Wonko (the owner of PC-SG) also posted his review of his experiences with the new update.   After reading Wonko’s posting and also looking into the changes made to CnC, I decided to reinstall CnC with the updates and check it out.   I’m really…REALLY glad I did.

Looking back to the early stages of 2017, most (including myself) was really excited about the release of Cattle and Crops (CnC).  Initially we believed the early access version which many of us had helped to support in the CnC Crowdfunding campaign would occur in early Spring of 2017 with the official release of the game to be in the late Fall.  Unfortunately this time schedule began to slip and the actual “Tech Demo” of CnC wasn’t made available until early summer.  As Spring turned into Summer, I was still excited for the release, but that excitement quickly turned to disappointment once I downloaded the Tech Demo and spent a few hours with the game.  During much of this time I was trying to get my Logitech G27 working.  If you are a frequent reader of my blog and watch my videos, you’ll know that I make every attempt for full immersion with the simulation based games I play.   In addition, I’m a firm believer if you are a game developer and wish to create a simulation based game, you MUST include support for 3rd party hardware such as steering wheels and pedals.   Without this support, the game is just that.  A Game!

For full disclosure, the few hours I spent with the Tech Demo (during the early summer) resulted in me forming a less than positive opinion which I’ve expressed in previous articles and during discussions on my videos.  I uninstalled CnC and figured not much would ever come from the game.

Things change and so must opinions, since reinstalling CnC (v 0.1.0.1) my opinion has changed and my level of excitement has also  changed.  While the current version of Cattle and Crops is most certainly not ready to be considered  a complete release, much has changed over the past 5-6 months and I truly must credit the development team for their hard work.

Of course, I’m not going to go out on any limbs and say that CnC will become the simulation game we may once thought it would be.  Also, I’m not going to say CnC will become a Giants killer (at least not yet), but I do believe things are on the right path.   Yes there are lots of wonderful things about the current state of the game and equally there are also many annoying things as well.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I plan to record my game play and commentary as I re-experience Cattle and Crops.  To start, I plan to play the missions (I believe there are 12) and get a feel for the current state of the game.  In addition, I’ll spend more time researching the current and future plans.

But for now, here’s what I’m calling episode 0 which I recorded recently.  During this episode I discuss some of the challenges I’ve experienced in getting my wheel and pedals setup.  But persistence did eventually pay off and things are looking up.  Thank you for watching!

Farmer’s Dynasty, GBS YouTube Holiday Schedule and More

Hello Everyone,

It’s been over a month since my last blog posting.  The busy travel schedule has ended and as I write this, I’m down to the last two work days left in 2017.  I’m hoping they both go by as smoothly as possible.  As a matter of fact, at the present time I’m enjoying a big cup of coffee while watching it snow from my 4th floor office window.  So I guess this should tell you I’m pretty bored and really just marking time until I can walk out and not have to return until next year.

2017 The Year of Farming

As we were closing out 2016, I wrote a blog posting where I predicted that 2017 might go down as the year of farming.  After all, Giants had just released Farming Simulator 17 and we were all salivating over the news about titles such as Cattle and Crops, Pure Farming 17, Farm Expert 17 and others who all were saying their products would be released in 2017.  Of course, we all know not all these things ended up coming to fruition.  Cattle and Crops delayed their “early access” release by several months and what they released in the early summer was simply not ready even for EA.  Pure Farming 17 ended up changing their name to Pure Farming 18 and a release date of  13 March 2018 is now being advertised.  Farm Expert 17 appears to be anything BUT an expert as reviews are quite poor for this title.

While we may have been left disappointed by those other titles, I’ve got to say that Giants really helped make up for it this year with the release of their Kuhn, Big Bud and Platinum paid DLC packs along with the unexpected bonus free Horsch Packs.  Giants single-handedly saved 2017 and placed themselves squarely in the drivers seat for 2018 and beyond.

Farmer’s Dynasty

I only began hearing about Farmer’s Dynasty a few months ago.  Most likely with my busy work/travel schedule (which kept me away from just about everything related to simulation based gaming), I began seeing information popping up on forum sites like PC-SG and began seeing some preview videos on YouTube.  I honestly wasn’t planning on involving myself with another “Early Access” game title (especially in the agricultural simulation genre) and had pretty much convinced myself to just wait and see what happens.  Especially after learning the developers initially hadn’t planned to add support for wheel/pedal type controllers.  (more about this in a minute)

But my dear, dear friend Eustace Pharmer pulled the trigger and through a most convincing preview video featuring Creepy Oliver, the bait had been set and I took it “hook, line and sinker”.  According to Steam stats, I’ve spent approx. 1.3 hours in the game and all-in-all I’m not disappointed in my purchase.  Is Farmer’s Dynasty the Giant(s) killer?  NO!  At least not now and certainly not from anything I’ve seen in my short history of playing the game.  But, the 1.3 hours I’ve spent playing Farmer’s Dynasty does have me wanting more.

As previously mentioned, Farmer’s Dynasty is an early access release.  There are bugs, there could be more bugs coming and obviously the game will most likely change for the best over time.  Again, in my 1.3 hours of game play, I’ve not experienced any game crashes, errors and performance has been fantastic running on my high-end gaming machine.

I would best describe Farmer’s Dynasty as a mix between Farming Simulator 17, The Sims and perhaps the upcoming House Flipper.  Essentially Farmer’s Dynasty allows you to do some farming, interact with other characters and make repairs to your old, run down farm which you’ve inherited from the death of your grandfather.

In the 1.3 hours I’ve spent playing, I’ve taken the time to repair Oliver’s barn.  In return, he gave me his old run down tractor and I’ve spent just a bit of time repairing a few things on my farm.  I probably have more questions than answers at this point.  While I’m enjoying grinding away in these early hours to build up my equipment, repair my farm and gain social status points.  I’m curious just what the future holds.  For example, will other maps make their way into the game?  Will we be required to grind away each and every time we might choose to start a new map?

Controller Support – Including Wheels/Pedals in Simulation based games

One of the biggest disappointments I’ve seen with Cattle and Crops and also Farmer’s Dynasty has been the lack of support for external hardware controllers and specifically wheels and pedals.  While I’m not a software developer, I wish the first line of code that would get built into these types of simulation based games would be for 3rd party controller (wheel/pedal support).  Game titles which I’ve previously mentioned all involve some form of driving.  While much of the work we’ll do in the early hours of Farmer’s Dynasty won’t involve much driving, eventually more and more will.  After all, we’ll be driving a tractor to plow, fertilize, seed, harvest and sell the crops we grow.  While not everyone will use a wheel and pedal setup, many do.  And from reading comments, many have decided not to support the EA release until such time wheel and pedal support has been added.  So gaming developers, if you are going to build a simulation based game that has any sort of driving involved, YOU MUST add support for wheels/pedals.

GBS Holiday YouTube Schedule

I’ve been working hard the past couple of weeks in creating a small backlog of videos to cover the Christmas and New Year Holiday period.  My wife has a rather long list of “Honey Do” projects lined up and while I do plan to spend time playing simulation based games over the next 10+ days, I most likely won’t have time to edit, render and upload anything new until after the new year.  But don’t worry….here’s my release schedule which covers from now through 1 January.

Wednesday – 20 December – MidtownUSA Ep 3
Thursday – 21 December – MidtownUSA Ep 4
Friday – 22 December – Thornton Farm Ep 13
Sunday – 24 December – GBS Christmas Message
Tuesday – 26 December – Thornton Farm Ep 14
Wednesday – 27 December – MidtownUSA Ep 5
Thursday – 28 December – MidtownUSA Ep 6
Friday – 29 December – Thornton Farm Ep 15
Monday – 1 January – Thornton Farm Ep 16

If you’re not yet a subscriber of my YouTube channel, please consider subscribing.  Just visit www.youtube.com/c/grizzlybearsims and click the Subscribe button.  You’ll find 100% G-Rated, Family Friendly entertainment suitable for all ages on my channel.

Well….I need to seek out another cup of coffee and take a stroll through the data center.  I hope you’ll tune into my channel for my FS17 videos and a special Christmas Message on the 24th.  Thank you all for your support and friendship.

Until next time….

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  See you next year!

Jerry

The Way It Should Be….

I’ve often commented on how much I enjoy the Steam gaming platform update process.  Of the Steam games I enjoy (Farm Sim, Truck Sim etc.) when a patch or update becomes available, the Steam client seamlessly (for the most part) installs that update and I don’t need to worry about anything.  Likewise, both ATS and ETS2 have even simplified a portion of their mod update abilities via the Stream Workshop.  While some gamers might not understand just how wonderful this concept is (for Steam games), it’s only recently made it’s way into the flight sim world.

Historically speaking, anytime we’ve needed to update something in the flight sim arena (FSX and early versions of P3D) it’s been somewhat of an arduous task.  Many times applying a service pack or updating scenery would/could lead to issues downstream.  I would often forgo taking updates until such time I felt I really either had no choice or perhaps it was time to do a complete and full re-install of everything including Microsoft Windows.  But as the title suggests, things have become much, much easier with regards to updating certain elements within Prepar3D v4 and yes….it’s the way it should be.

Prepar3D v4

The P3D update process really couldn’t be any easier than how Lockheed Martin have made it for us.  Unless you are absolutely brand new to P3D and only purchased v4 AFTER the latest update (4.1) became available then you probably already know just how easy it is to apply updates.  By the way, this same update process existed within v3 (perhaps earlier but I just can’t remember).  Essentially you can update P3D by uninstalling only the component you desire to update, then simply install the new updated component.  Typically this would be the “Client” component.  Complete and easy to follow instructions are available on the P3D website and YouTube also offers dozens (if not more) tutorials on how to safely update the P3D platform.

How we did things yesterday, is not always how we’ll do things tomorrow

Change can be a really good thing!  And this is really why I decided to write this article.  Upon initial release of P3D v4 some folks began to lose their mind regarding how developers began to change the way add-ons would get installed.  Since the dawn of time (as it relates to flight sim) add-ons would get installed in the same directory structure of the sim.  This concept worked fine (I suppose), but did present its own set of challenges when it came time to applying updates to the sim.  Starting with P3D v4, add-on developers began to utilize the “Documents” method of installing add-ons.

For years the philosophy behind how to build the perfect sim PC consisted of at the very least two hard drives.  One HDD which contained the Windows operating system and other applications not related to flight sim.  Then a second HDD (preferably SSD) for the sim software.  The idea behind this was one could get away with a smaller HDD for Windows and invest their money on a larger/faster and preferably SSD drive to contain the sim and all things related to the sim (scenery, aircraft etc.)

When I built my current gaming machine, I took it one step further and even included a third SSD drive for my Steam games to run on so I could truly keep flight sim separate on its own SSD drive.  But with more and more developers moving to the “Documents” method of installing software, things started to get a little tight on my main HDD.  Thankfully, if you are also experiencing (or starting to experience) congestion on your main HDD due to more and more add-ons being installed into the “Documents” folder, there is hope for you.  You can simply relocate the Documents folder to another drive.  As I’m a fan of giving credit where credit is due, I’ll just simply direct you to an already existing YouTube Video which discusses just how to safely accomplish this task.

Now back to the update process discussion….

But it truly gets better…

Oh yes it does!  I can’t remember who did it first…perhaps it was PMDG or perhaps it was Orbx, but these were the first two I noticed including a control panel update process for installing incremental updates to their products.  Since that time, other developers such as FSDreamTeam and FlightBeam have also moved to this concept and it’s truly amazing.

Specifically speaking about Orbx, I own a lot of Orbx scenery.  When I say a lot, I mean….A LOT!  Thankfully, Orbx has never charged a fee to upgrade any of their scenery from FSX up to P3D (including P3D v4).  Because Orbx has a really large catalog of wonderful scenery, it was somewhat of a daunting task to constantly venture out to their forum site to check when a particular scenery title had made its way to being updated.  But through their updated FTX Central client, it knows every piece of Orbx software I own and tells me when that particular title has been updated for V4 or includes an incremental update.  As you might have guessed, it really is just as simple as point and click to install scenery or scenery updates.

As I mentioned, both FSDreamTeam and FlightBeam have also developed a similar control panel and it couldn’t be easier to keep everything updated.  Thank you to all who have moved to this process.

One can only hope…

that others will follow.  I’d love to see developers like Carenado, FlyTampa and others follow suit.  Maybe they will….maybe they won’t, but I do feel the developers who have moved in this direction have set the bar which others will be measured against.

Until next time…

Happy Simming!

J

QualityWings 787 and P3D v4.x

Hello to all.  Life has been quite busy for me the past few months.  I must apologize to my readers as in typical fashion, my busy schedule has had an impact on my blogging.  It’s been several months since I posted an article to my blog and for that I must apologize.  I had the best intentions of writing more and of course writing about flight simulation.  After all, it was flight sim which caused me to create this blog site over 10 years ago.

As I write this, I’m sitting in my hotel room in Orlando, Florida where I’m on my third business trip in the past five weeks.  I just got back from dinner (I’m stuffed), turned on the TV (boring) and decided to check my email.  One of my long time readers messaged me asking if I had spent any time with the newly released QualityWings 787 Dreamliner and what my impressions were.  Well…unfortunately, I had to answer his question with a short answer of no, followed by some additional comments I’m going to share here.

I believe the last time I wrote about the QualityWings 787 was back in June of this year.  At that time I had read a Facebook message stating the aircraft was expected to be released in the Summer of 2017.  Unfortunately, QualityWings missed their mark slightly.  The season of summer came to an end on Friday, September 22nd and the QW Dreamliner was released in early October.  Now I realize I’m being a bit cheeky with pointing this out….but details matter right?  OK….perhaps not.  The good news is the much anticipated QualityWings 787 Dreamliner is available, but the bad news…it’s only available for FSX!

Of course, we knew this would be the case and I even touched on that in my previously mentioned June blog post.  QW explains this decision is due to the fact the 787 has been in development longer than Prepar3D v4 (or even v3 or v2) had been in existence.  While I understand this fact, I must also mention that I’m of the opinion that QualityWings really have never fully embraced the Prepar3d P3D platform.  While it is true they did FINALLY update their Boeing 757 for P3D v2.5…but their treatment of P3D could be likened to that of a “red headed step-child”.

While I fully realize many flight sim enthusiasts still fly FSX and FSX Steam Edition, surprisingly there appears to still be a large number of FS9 users….but I’m of the opinion that FSX (in all forms) is just simply dead.  But I must again say that I don’t blame or fault QualityWings for releasing the Dreamliner for FSX.  But I’m curious how long it will take them to bring this wonderful aircraft to P3D v4?

I know some might say, “but the QW development team is small” and “these things take time”.  I get all that.  But I will remind everyone that PMDG was able to update their older Boeing 737 NGX which was released in the 2011 timeframe (if I’m not mistaken).  So in theory, the same can be said of PMDG that they began development on an aircraft prior to Prepar3D, but was still able to update/release the NGX for P3D v4 within a few weeks of release.

So….to answer my readers question.  Unfortunately, when Prepar3D v4 was released earlier this year I made the decision to embrace it as my flight sim platform and I’ve not looked back to earlier P3D versions or FSX since and I don’t plan to.

But having said that.  Just as soon as this beautiful aircraft is released for P3D v4.x, I will purchase it and I’m sure I’ll have more than a few things to say about it here.

I’m exhausted after a long day and ready to turn in.  I’ll post this sometime on Wednesday or Thursday.  So until next time….Happy Simming!

JT

GrizzlyBearSims

7 User(s) Online Join Server
  • Jimmyjay
  • p...
  • MEE6
  • MonitoRSS
  • PistolpackerWV
  • Midnight_Hobbit/ElrodJr
  • DC_Dave