Just a quick update on my progress so far in American Truck Simulator. Today marks the one week anniversary of the release of ATS and I wanted to share my current progress.
I’m playing in career mode with no cheat mods installed. This just essentially means that I’ve started the game with a new driver profile and just like the American Dream, I’m building my trucking company through hard work, dedication and a little help from the bank. There is an Aaron Tippin song titled “I Got It Honest” which best describes it.
Over the past week I’ve worked my tail off making all sorts of deliveries. Like most, I started out running quick orders as a driver lessee, gaining experience and saving money. But I never stopped dreaming of owning my own truck and eventually starting a small company with one garage and two additional drivers.
My company (Apache Trucking) is headquartered in Los Angeles and after reaching level 6, I took out a loan from the bank in order to upgrade the garage, purchase my second truck and hire my first driver. I chose the Peterbilt to fulfill an early childhood dream of becoming a truck driver. Of course this didn’t happen, well….at least not in real life, but through American Truck Simulator…dreams can come true. Anyway, I kept hauling and kept working my way up the levels unlocking my Long Distance, High Value Cargo, Fragile Cargo and Just-in-Time Delivery skills. This eventually opened up higher paying jobs and even more money began to pour into the operation.
I drove my basic Peterbilt until level 10
Hauling a load of high value cars and doing my best at keeping up with the BNSF freight train in the distance.
Around Level 10, I picked up my third truck and second driver. I also upgraded my engine from the 370 HP to the 455 HP upgrade. This made a huge difference when pulling some of those heavier loads. As I believe was the case in ETS2, there is no difference with how truck upgrades benefit the hired drivers. So all trucks I purchase will be the base model of either the Peterbilt or Kenworth truck.
Of course, eventually I wanted to take advantage of some upgrades to change the appearance of my own truck. After reaching level 10 or 11, I added the stand up sleeper and dual exhaust stacks.
Hauling a John Deere (Dear John) tractor across Nevada.
Heading into Elko, Nevada with a load of high value, fragile cars under an urgent delivery contract. $$$
At the present time, I’m currently at level 14 and just purchased my second garage down in San Diego. My other two drivers have started to earn a little more as well, so as I can afford it…I’ll add new trucks and hire new drivers for the San Diego operation. At some point I’ll continue to make enhancements to my truck.
Here are my current stats for American Truck Simulator
Total Driven Distance – 20,326
Total Driven Distance (On Duty) – 19,268
Total Free Roam Distance – 1,058
Roads Explored – 73.67%
Deliveries Finished – 42
Deliveries Cancelled – 0
Total Game Time Spent – 33 Days, 7 Hours
Play time – 20 Hours
I’ll occasionally update my progress and share more of my adventures in ATS here. I’ve also started playing the updated Ringwoods Farm map in Farming Simulator 2015 and really enjoying it. I’ll share some of my progress as well.
Installing Mods in American Truck Simulator is super simple. If you are familiar with Euro Truck Simulator (ETS2), then you probably already know how to do this. However, I feel American Truck Simulator (ATS) has the potential to bring many new players to this game. Of course, you may ask yourself why install a mod? Out of the box, American Truck Simulator is pretty darn fun. I invite you to read My First Look into American Truck Simulator. At the time I wrote and published that blog post, I had about 8 hours in the game. As of today, I’m approaching 24 hours. Again the base game without any mods installed is certainly fun. However, the vast selection of available mods will enhance game play even more. An example of these enhancements might be a wider selection of trucks, trailers or AI traffic. Mods may also be available to enhance the game sound, weather and many other features.
Are mods safe? Pending you download from a reputable mod hosting website, I say yes…they are safe! But do keep in mind that there really is no vetting process to determine if a mod is 100% safe and just as importantly compatible. Mods are developed by fellow game enthusiasts to support the hobby.
And with all that, here’s how you do it!
Step 1
Locate and download the mod you desire. For the sake of this post, I’m using a replacement sound mod for the Paccar 579 and 680 Diesel Engine for the default Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks available in the game. I highly recommend this mod to enhance the engine sounds of these two engines/trucks. You can download it here. This particular mod has been packaged up as a WinRAR .rar archive file. You’ll need an application like 7-Zip or WinRAR to extract these archived files. I recommend and use 7-Zip.
Step 2
Locate the downloaded mod file and open with your chosen archive utility. In the example of the Paccar Sound Mod, you’ll have two files in the archive. The first being named ATS Paccar Sound.scs and WIND SOUND.scs. Extract these two files to your American Truck Simulator mod folder. This will normally be located under Documents\American Truck Simulator\Mods
Step 3
Launch ATS and click on Mod Manager on the opening screen. When the Mod Manager opens, you’ll see listed all the mods you have placed in the mod folder. In the example below, I have the Paccar sound file activated and the wind noises deactivated. Once you activate (or deactivate) the mod(s) then click Confirm Changes.
That’s really all there is to it. Now just go out and have fun!
American Truck Simulator – My First Look
Yes, the very much anticipated American Truck Simulator hit the Steam Store on Tuesday, 2 February. This was an entire day earlier than expected and it certainly looks like American Truck Simulator (ATS) will be everything that Euro Truck Simulator 2 (ETS2) is and in my opinion, a whole lot more. Here in the US of A, American Truck Simulator can be purchased from the Steam Store for a whopping $19.99. I’m not sure if this is a limited “introductory price” or if this will be the price going forward. But in my opinion, this game is worth every red cent. Like ETS2, ATS is developed by SCS Software, based in Prague, Czech Republic.
I must admit, I’m relatively new on the scene of these types of games. Oh I’ve been flying computer sims for over 30 years (got my start on the Commodore 64) and you can find a lot more about my involvement in the Flight Simulation Community by reading my Flight Sim Blog. However, while I’ve certainly known about “other” simulation type games…I really didn’t get the point. I mean, who wants to just drive a truck around or plow some fields? Holy Moly have I been wrong.
My foray into these “other” type of simulation games came at a time in my life where I was doing an intense amount of traveling. I spent the better part of 2014 and half of 2015 in hotel rooms. To better pass the time, I brought along a high-end gaming laptop but playing Flight Simulator just wasn’t appealing without all my external hardware. Plus, FSX (and even P3D) just requires a lot more horsepower for me to be satisfied with the experience. So I was in a hotel room back in the fall of 2014 watching Twitch. I noticed one of the usual flight sim streamers was playing Farming Simulator 2015. Again, my first reaction was….Gosh this must be a boring game. But honestly, the longer I watched….the more interesting it became. So I decided to give it a go. I was hooked on FS2015. Plus it was a game that performed really well on my gaming laptop and I could play it while traveling. It saved me from boring “hotel television”.
Some time later, I saw that same Twitch streamer playing Euro Truck Simulator 2. Again, spending so much time away from home…this looked like something that could help pass the time. It did! I became hooked on ETS2, then soon after I began hearing about and seeing preview videos regarding American Truck Simulator. Oh…I wanted ATS. As a matter of fact, just learning about ATS sort of caused me to lose interest in ETS2. Perhaps being an American, living in America and truly understanding just how important trucking is to this country…well, I just wanted ATS. Oh…I actually used to drive a truck (tractor/trailer). Back in the early 1990’s I worked for the Dr. Pepper Bottling Company. I drove a tractor/trailer rig and delivered Dr. Pepper products. Anyway, ATS just couldn’t come soon enough for me.
While the new year is only one month in, it’s been a busy time for me and my wife. One, we have both been sick and it seems like we’ve been sick most of 2016. I guess this fact is true as we are both still not 100%. But every day is a new day. Anyway, I had almost forgotten about the release of ATS until I received the email from the Steam Store letting me know a product on my wish list had just been released. I was at work, but I logged into Steam and made the purchase right then and there. The hours were dragging by until I could get home and install on my gaming PC. Between Tuesday afternoon/evening and today (written on Thursday morning 4 February) I’ve accumulated 8 hours playing ATS. I know this is certainly no record, but I feel I have enough hours logged in game to provide a few initial thoughts (or opinions). These won’t all be 100% positive, but give it a read and let me know what you think.
Initial Thoughts
WOW….As Tim McGraw would sing, “I like it, I love it…I want some more of it”. Basically it is ETS2, but with American Trucks (Kenworth and Peterbilt) with trucking routes currently in California and Nevada. The state of Arizona will be released as a free expansion pack in the very near future. Again, the current price in US Dollars is $19.99 via the Steam Store. Like ETS2, ATS (at this time) is only available for the PC. No console versions (to my knowledge) are planned.
Thoughts about Console Games
I just want to quickly throw this out there. I don’t own a game console. So the only games I’m really experienced with are PC based programs. While I have friends who rave about various console game titles, a game title like American Truck Simulator, Euro Truck Simulator 2 (and even Farming Simulator 2015) would be extremely limited on a console game. Of course, I’m aware Farming Simulator 2015 is available for the console platform, but it is EXTREMELY limited in game play from the experience one gets on the PC game platform. Games like ATS, ETS2 and FS2015 are enhanced by all the various game mods (game modifications) made available. While I’ve played almost the full 8 hours on ATS without adding any Mods, in the coming days, weeks and months….so many great mods will be made available that (in my opinion) will just make the experience better. For those familiar with Flight Sim (FSX or P3D). Just think of only flying the default aircraft, default textures, default weather etc. BORING!!!!
Things I like about ATS
#1 is the fact that ATS is about AMERICAN TRUCKS. Trucks and Trucking, is who we are as Americans. Truck drivers (and the trucks they drive) are as important as the Cowboy was back in the 1800’s. You can’t drive down any US Highway without seeing a tractor/trailer rig hauling the goods that make our country so awesome. As ATS continues its eastern expansion, the game and game play will continue to offer hours and hours and even more hours of fun and excitement.
In the short 8 hours I’ve had with ATS, I’ve explored Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland and Las Vegas (plus a lot in between). SCS Software has done an outstanding job modeling these American cities. Of course, unlike the Flight Sim world where a city like LA is full size and flying from LAX to SFO (without acceleration) takes the same amount of time it does in real life…the world in American Truck Simulator is condensed. Driving a semi from Los Angeles to San Francisco in real life would probably take 8-9 hours (perhaps longer with California traffic). But in ATS, this can be done in about 30 minutes. So keeping this in mind, (and back to my thoughts on the cities I’ve explored) SCS Software have done a great job in adding in the major landmarks you expect to see while driving through these great US cities.
I play in career mode, which just simply means that I start out with nothing and work my way up to a point where I can purchase my first truck, then slowly save and grow my trucking company by adding more trucks and hire drivers to drive those trucks. I don’t use mods which add any extra $$$ or XP (Experience Points). While I’m not going to climb up on my ivory tower and say it is evil to use these types of mods, I’ll just say that with many things in life, the personal satisfaction gained by hard work will make you appreciate each and every dollar you earn. But it is your game…you can play it any way you like.
I also like the weigh station concept which has been added into ATS. This is very true to life and is something that American Truckers must put up with. It’s done nicely in ATS. While driving, you may receive an alert to pull into the next weigh/inspection station. Failure to do so will result in a fine. Just exit at the next station and drive onto the scales and stop. It only takes a few seconds.
Finally, perhaps some may be wishing more of the US of A was represented in ATS. I think the current setup of California and Nevada (and the soon to be free expansion of Arizona) will be enough to keep this game interesting for some time. Of course, I truly hope in time we will see new states added. While I’m sure the expansion states will come with an extra cost…it will serve to help keep the game fresh and new. Driving a truck in California, Nevada and Arizona will be completely different from Colorado, Texas and beyond.
Things I dislike about ATS
As I stated earlier, this blog post is not going to be 100% positive. I believe there are some serious issues with how they set a few things up in ATS which I didn’t really notice in ETS2.
Police
The police in ATS are truly a pain in the backside. Unlike the lack of police cars in ETS2, (handled via speed cameras) police cars are part of the AI in American Truck Simulator. You’ll spot police cars cruising the streets, highways and even parked on the side of the road. The police cars don’t actually pull you over, but instead will hit you with a speeding ticket of $1000.00. Now in ETS2, I believe the variance was about 5 mph. Meaning if the speed limit was 55, you could safely set your cruise control to 60 and be OK. Plus the red light cameras in ETS2 only seem to be near the city areas. But in ATS, the police are everywhere.
Now, I realize just a few minutes ago I said I didn’t use any mods to cheat the natural play of the game. But I seriously believe there is a programming issue with the behavior of the police and because of this, I’ve installed a mod to remove the fines. Now this doesn’t mean that I am speeding everywhere I go.
Speed Limits
As you traverse between California and Nevada, you’ll notice a big difference with speed limits on the highways. In California, on all highways and interstates I’ve driven on, this speed limit in the game is 55. You’ll notice as you drive in Nevada the speed limit increases up to 65, 70 and I think even 80 in some areas. But the issue I have with the speed limits in the game is two-fold.
First, the speed limit signs just aren’t very visible in the game. Perhaps this is just me, but I’ve heard a few Twitch streamers mention the same thing. Before I installed the mod which disabled the police fines, the speed limit would be 55, then change to 30 and almost always there would be a cop and if you didn’t immediately slow from 55 to 30, he would ding you $1000. In the real world, it is easier to spot the speed limit signs and in many cases you’ll see a sign informing you that a slower speed limit is approaching.
Second, most city speed limits in the game is 30 mph. This is fine. But what I’ve noticed several times is as you are driving through the city at 30 mph, you’ll see the speed limit increase to 55 mph then less than a minute later it drops down to 45 or 30 mph. Then a few moments later it is back up to 55. I don’t feel this is realistic. YES, most US cities will have a reduced speed limit, but as you near the city limits they speed limits will begin to increase to say 45 mph, then to 55 mph etc. Unless it is a construction zone, you won’t really see the speed limit increase and then be almost immediately reduced as you are still leaving the city limits.
AI Traffic
The AI Traffic is absolutely nuts in both ATS and ETS2. Of course, I’ve also noted really odd behavior with the AI in Farming Simulator 2015 and for years the AI in Flight Sim has also been symptomatic. I fully understand this is just how it is. But if you play ATS (or ETS2 for that matter) long enough you’ll learn to hate the AI traffic. I’ve yet to take the measures to turn it off. But here are my top pet peeves with the AI traffic
First, while I know in real life someone may pass you then immediately slow down…but in ATS (and ETS2) it seems to happen more and more. Second, here in the US…trucks (and cars too) will often merge to the left when vehicles are merging onto the interstate. This doesn’t really happen in the game. Third, most highways (especially interstates) will have a much longer acceleration lane while merging onto the highway. This allows the vehicles to gain speed before merging left. This might also help with the crazy behavior of the AI drivers.
Finally, with regards to AI traffic behavior. There are a few situations where you must cross or turn onto a highway with no ramp or stop light. The AI traffic just keeps coming and coming and coming. Really the only thing that you can do is to slowly start driving into the intersection and eventually the traffic will stop. But this is not very realistic in real life.
Trains
Ugh…while I realize this is American TRUCK Simulator and not a Train Simulation game, the trains depicted in the game are weak sauce. In America, what isn’t transported via truck is done so via rail. LOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGG freight trains hauling tanker cars, box cars, intermodal etc. etc. need to be added to give us more eye candy.
My Wish List for ATS
While I realize there will always be some limitations of what can be done in a game application versus real life, I feel (and certainly hope) some of these wish list items can be incorporated into American Truck Simulator to better match up with real life experience.
Police
Hopefully the points I made above (in the Things I dislike about ATS) section can be addressed.
AI Traffic
Hopefully the AI engine technology can be further developed to ease some of the headaches.
Real World Brands
I know this is a licensing issue. But hopefully mod developers will soon release real world branding to the game. I’m ready to see Fed Ex instead of Post Ed trucks.
Double/Triple Trailers
Would love to see ATS incorporate the opportunity to haul double and triple trailers. Man, that would be cool!
Livestock
This is really self explanatory. I’d love the opportunity to haul some beef.
Rest Areas/Truck Stops/More Places to Sleep
Again, I fully understand the fact that the world inside of ATS is downsized. I’m not sure ATS would have the same appeal if it took 50+ hours to drive coast to coast. But just as trucking is such a big part of the American culture…so are the truck stops and rest areas. I’d like to see larger fuel stops (truck stops) along the interstate highway. In addition to fuel, these big truck stops offer plenty of parking for rest breaks. Along the US Interstate Highway System you’ll find large rest areas designed for both the trucks and passenger vehicles. I’d like to see these incorporated into the game.
Thoughts about Mods
Remember what I stated near the beginning of this posting about console gaming and the lack of mod functionality. There are some really terrific mods available for Euro Truck Simulator 2 and in time I have no doubt that the mods for ATS will be just as amazing. Everything from mods to enhance the game play to different types of trucks, trailers and cargo types will be made available via mods. I have a feeling that many (if not most) of the wish list items will eventually be addressed via mods. If you search “American Truck Simulator Mods” in Google, you’ll likely find several different websites listing available mods. The site I’ve used before (and the one I downloaded the police mod) is ATSMOD.net Less than 48 hours into the release of ATS, this site already has many pages of available mods. Some useful and some not so much. In time, more and more (and higher quality mods) will be made available via these mod download sites.
Final Thoughts
I’ll repeat what I said earlier regarding my initial thoughts, again as Tim McGraw sings, “I like it, I love it…I want some more of it”. While I have listed some negative experiences I’ve had with the game in my 8 hours of play, the game itself is stable and I’ve experienced no bugs. It performs beautifully on my system (follow that link to see my system specs) and I run ATS at max settings. Actually, this is really what I enjoy about ATS, ETS2 and Farming Simulator 2015…you don’t have to spend hours and hours and hours tweaking to get max enjoyment like you need to do with FSX or P3D. As an example, if I rebuild my system, it will take me many hours to install all the add-on scenery, textures, aircraft etc. Not the case with these other titles.
I think I’ll close and upload this blog post then head downstairs and fire up my Peterbilt in American Truck Simulator.
I realize it’s been a while since I updated this blog. As I’m sure you are already aware, American Truck Simulator (ATS) was released yesterday (2 February). While I’ve only been able to spend about two hours in the game, I can tell you that it is almost everything that I had hoped it would be. While I enjoyed the almost 70 hours I spent playing Euro Truck Simulator 2 (ETS2), being an American…I really was eager to play ATS.
I’ll return with an updated blog posting of my American Truck Simulator experience very soon. At the present time, I’m busy moving all my blog sites and websites into a new web host. My old web host was starting to seriously have issues impacting my sites up time and their support just wasn’t what it used to me. So “bear” with me, and keep checking back.
The invention of the wheel (circa 3500 BC) was an incredible turning point in the history of civilization. The edition of the Logitech G27 setup has also been just as incredible with regards to my game play with Euro Truck Simulator 2. As I had previously mentioned in this blog post, I recently ordered the Logitech G27 steering wheel and TrackIR both arrived from Amazon and I wasted no time in getting the G27 setup. As I had used the Logitech Xbox type controller (F310) for several weeks accumulating over 30,000 km driven, 35 deliveries, over 35 real hours playing the game spanning some 59 virtual game days….I wanted to first get used to the G27 controls before I installed and started using the TrackIR.
The unboxing, install/setup of the G27 was quick and easy. If you don’t already own a Logitech device, you’ll want to make sure you install the Logitech software available here. I also found this YouTube video to be extremely helpful and saved time in getting everything setup and working as intended. The G27 requires one USB connection to your gaming PC and requires a connection to AC power (via the supplied AC power adapter). The accelerator/brake/clutch along with the gear shift console all plug into the base of the wheel. Once you get all the cables connected, the wheel and gear shifter consoles then clamp down to the desk surface. The setup in ETS2 couldn’t be easier. Refer to the YouTube video I mentioned earlier.
While I certainly enjoy the extra immersion factor this setup provides, the main benefit I’ve found is much smoother drive/steering control than what I had experienced on the Logitech Xbox type controller I had been using. With the Logitech F310 controller, I would steer with my left thumb but found the act of turning was not natural in look and feel and very choppy. With the G27, the action of turning is smooth and the same experience as in driving any vehicle (car, truck etc.).
The great thing about the G27 are all the programmable buttons. I’m using the right/left paddle shifters to control right/left turn signals and have programmed the smaller buttons on the steering wheel to handle cruise control functions. Finally I’ve setup the many buttons on the gear shift device to handle other frequently used options such as headlights, wipers etc.
I’m also enjoying the manual shifting options this setup allows. Again the immersion factor this setup provides to the simulation is fantastic. As I’ve previously held a class A CDL (commercial drivers license) and have driven large trucks, I can say that while the G27 shifting setup is not that of a large diesel truck…it is the best setup for the price. Of course, you can also setup ETS2 for automatic transmission driving.
Again, I plan to spend a little more time with the G27 setup before I introduce my new TrackIR. I’m also looking forward to configuring the G27 with Farming Simulator 2015 as well.
If you have been thinking about adding a steering wheel controller to your ETS2 game play, the Logitech G27 is a great choice and I believe you’ll enjoy it.
It took me a while to get the truck I really wanted to drive in Euro Truck Simulator 2. My new truck is the Volvo FH with the 600 HP engine. The current configuration will change as I earn a little more revenue. I plan to upgrade the chassis, paint and cab to get the exact truck I want in the game.
Getting to this stage was no easy task. I made a few mistakes along the way. The first mistake I made was selling my Iveco before I had discovered the Volvo dealership DOH!. Then mistake number two was once I discovered the Volvo dealership, I purchased the wrong truck. DOH! AGAIN! I purchased the FH16, but wanted the FH with the sunroof. However, I worked my tail off driving many high paying jobs and made enough where I felt comfortable in making the upgrade to the FH.
Before I spend any more company money on my truck, I need to spend company money in growing the overall company. At the present stage of game play, I have three garages. Garage one (and company HQ) is located in Brussels, Belgium and has three drivers (including myself). I chose Brussels as that is the home country of my wife. While she is from Antwerp, when I first started playing the game I wasn’t using the ProMods Map (which includes the city of Antwerp). Anyway…Garage two is located in Lublin, Poland and has three drivers. Finally, garage three is located in Reykjavik, Iceland. This is my latest expansion and was purchased after arriving with the silo shown in the image above. I have hired two drivers and plan to hire the third shortly. I’m hopeful once my Iceland drivers increase their skills, that the Iceland operation will be rather successful. Having said that, it’s time I get back to driving and earning more money.
Oh Yea!!! Oh Yea!!!! With as much fun as I’m having playing Euro Truck Simulator, American Truck Simulator will be a must have edition for my simulation collection of entertainment games. While I’ve known about ETS2 for some time, I’m only just learning about the plans for American Truck Simulator in the past few weeks and boy am I excited. While I know there are Kenworth and Peterbuilt mods available for ETS2, I’m holding out to drive these bad boys until I can do do so on virtual American soil…the way these beauties are designed to be driven. Plus the roads in Europe just aren’t conducive to these big beasts. But our wide open spaces and long interstate highways will certainly make for some awesome adventures.
While no official release date has been made public, I’ve read in a few places a mid August 2015 (August 10 on one site) possible release date. From what I can tell from the American Truck Simulator website and the few YouTube videos I’ve provided below, it looks like initially American Truck Simulator will focus on California and the West. A few of the images they show are Bakersfield, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles, California and one screen shot appears to be of Las Vegas. As I read through a few comments on the SCSSoftware YouTube Channel some viewers are posting that additional US States will be released as DLC. Some of these States may be available free, while others would charge. This is probably a good move on the part of SCSSoftware as they can get the core application out quickly and then add additional DLC packs as they expand across the map. Of course I would expect the mod community to also help fill in the blanks much as ProMods has done in Europe.
Again, I’m sure American Truck Simulator will be a huge hit with trucking simulator enthusiast all around the world
More about the videos below. The first video is the official American Truck Simulator teaser video which was released by SCSSoftware on 17 June. The second video features just under an hour of gameplay from the 0.1.60 Alpha version of ATS. Based on the 58 minutes of gameplay, the concept and function is pretty much the same as ETS2, just different scenery. One thing I did notice which is different is the parking scenarios. It appears you may be offered multiple parking scenarios based on difficulty. With one star being easy, two stars being slightly more difficult and three stars maximum difficulty. One would assume the experience points would pay more on the three star versus the one star parking options. I think this is cool.
Final thoughts. I hope SCSSoftware will continue to develop their Trucking Simulator applications (both Euro and American) and provide more features. I have a list of items I’d love to see incorporated into game play. But I’ll leave this for a future blog posting.
Introducing Euro Truck Simulator 2! Well…I’m not really introducing it to you as you are probably already familiar with it. But I’m introducing it to myself. I recently picked ETS2 up when Stream had it on sale at a tremendously low, low, low price. I think I paid less than $7 USD for it. As I had obviously heard so much about it and watched many streams and YouTube videos about it, I decided I couldn’t go wrong with the price. So I pulled the trigger, downloaded and installed it.
Now for a little backstory. Of course, I’ve known about ETS2 for a long time. Much like I had heard about the popular Farming Simulator franchise. For so many years I only spent time flying my computer simulation programs. Remember, I’ve been flying computer based sims since the mid 1980’s. So over 30 years. Again, I’ve watched streams and videos about ETS2 and while I found them interesting, I didn’t really think I myself would enjoy playing them. While these titles (Farming and Euro Truck) both have Simulator in their titles, I really didn’t think they would match up to the same level of immersion that I would find with Flight Simulation.
My getting started with virtual farming sort of came at a time where my travel schedule started picking up and I wanted to find something I could play on a lower end gaming laptop. So I decided Farming Simulator would be something that could keep me entertained versus watching TV in the hotel. I was right. All I needed was my Logitech XBox type controller and my gaming laptop. After a few days of virtual farming I decided to investigate to see if I could find any blogs about Farming Simulator. While I found some, most were not in English and/or hadn’t been updated in many months. So I decided to start one. Of course now that I’m also enjoying ETS2, I really haven’t found many ETS2 blogs (but I also haven’t looked) and it has led me to start one but I didn’t want to have to keep up with three blog sites and then what do I do when I want to start another simulation blog site?
The idea for this new blog site really came about after I captured the screenshot below. This shot was not staged, it just happened to be a random shot. Do you see it? Do you see the symbolism here? We have a truck (representing ETS2) and that truck is pulling two tractors (representing Farming Simulator). But look carefully….in the background is an airplane on approach into Brussels airport. I call this photo the trifecta. The only thing it is missing is a train.
So yes…I’m now trying to juggle how to give equal time to my simulation based games. The good news is ETS2 plays well on the gaming laptop and I’m still traveling a fair deal. So look for more posts about all my simulation gaming interests here on my new blog site.
Now with regards to any “real life” experience I might have which could coincide with ETS2. Well, about 25 years ago I did hold a commercial drivers license (Class A CDL) in the state of Texas. I drove tractor trailer rigs for the Dr. Pepper Bottling Company. I left that life behind and jumped headfirst into the IT world. Will my truck driving experience help with ETS2? Time will tell and I’ll be sure to tell you all about it real soon.
The invention of the wheel (circa 3500 BC) was an incredible turning point in the history of civilization. The edition of the Logitech G27 setup has also been just as incredible with regards to my game play with Euro Truck Simulator 2. 
