March 2, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
Earlier this week SCS Software shared these four images from the much anticipated Arizona DLC package from their Twitter account. I don’t know about you, but these images are truly amazing and only making me want Arizona NOW! I really only see two problems.
First, this Arizona DLC is not yet available.
Second, looking at the second image (Grand Canyon Caverns Inn) they have included another impossible intersection (similar to the one in Tonopah, NV). SCS really needs to make this a stop light controlled intersection. Either that, or another modder will need to fix it similar to how they fixed the intersection in Tonopah.
These images are the property of SCS Software and posted here as a newsworthy source. If you are interested in purchasing American Truck Simulator, please visit the American Truck Simulator Steam page.
I really can’t wait for AZ to be released.
Until next time…
Dreaming of Arizona!
J
P.S. I really hope they have modeled Winslow, Arizona on their map. I’m looking forward to hearing “Take It Easy” while driving through Winslow, Arizona
March 1, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
This week not only do we celebrate our week four progress of ATS, but we also celebrate the one month anniversary of this wonderful games release. Yes, time really does fly by when you are having fun. American Truck Simulator was released on 2 February. It’s been a great month! If you don’t own it yet, go get it now!
Our fourth week has been just as productive as all the others. After we completed our Coast-to-Coast (and back) run, we expanded our San Diego garage, purchased two new trucks and hired two new drivers. All paid for by cold, hard, cash we’ve earned. Our little trucking company now owns 13 trucks and employs 12 drivers. We have reach a point where bank loans just won’t be required. It’s a good feeling to know we have enough operating capital to purchase a new garage (or expand an existing one), purchase enough trucks to fill it and hire drivers. Of course, I’ve spent over 80 hours playing this game.
The goal for this week is to go ahead and expand our Las Vegas garage to accommodate five trucks. We’ll purchase the two trucks and hire new drivers. This will bring us to 15 owned trucks and employing 14 hard working drivers. At this point in time, I’m possibly going to hold off on opening any new garage locations until the official Arizona DLC is released by SCS Software. While I certainly don’t have any “inside” information on exactly when this new state will be released, I’m thinking it should be very soon.
This week I’ve mostly been driving the Kenworth W900 (as shown above). I purchased this truck for one of my drivers and after tricking it out with all the nice chrome and a powerful engine, I decided to drive it a bit. I’ve really enjoyed the change from the new Peterbilt.
Also, as I’m sure you read from my blog posting last week…I did upgrade my GPU to the awesome 980Ti. ATS/ETS2 performance is rock solid. I’m running with max graphic settings, not having to use any tweaking from Nvidia Inspector and get 60FPS in all areas of the game. It was money well spent and I’m very happy.
Finally, I added a new simulation based game to my Steam library. I had added Car Mechanic Simulator 2015 to my Steam watch list and when it went on sale last week, I pulled the trigger. You can read my “First Impressions” blog piece on Car Mechanic Simulator 2015 which I published last week.
Finally, Finally….I started streaming some of my game play on Twitch again. I don’t have a set schedule, but if you want to visit my Twitch page and Follow Me, you’ll be notified when I go live. I will mostly stream Car Mechanic Simulator and American Truck Simulator for now.
Here are my current stats for American Truck Simulator
Level 26
Total Driven Distance – 63,578
Total Driven Distance (On Duty) – 60,246
Total Free Roam Distance – 3,331
Roads Explored – 90.29% (No, I didn’t start over. I installed the coast-to-coast map)
Deliveries Finished – 100
Deliveries Cancelled – 0
Total Game Time Spent – 107 Days, 20 Hours
Play time – 59 Hours
Don’t forget to bookmark the site and/or subscribe to the RSS feed. Finally, please follow me on Twitter.
Until next time…
Happy Trucking!!!
J
February 25, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
Hmmmm, Pizza!!! Similar to the review I posted last week for the real world branded gas stations, this mod will re-brand the in-game billboards with real brands such as Pizza Hut, Coca-Cola, Napa Auto Parts and even McDonalds.
What is the Featured Mod and what does it do?
This mod is the Real Brands Billboards mod for American Truck Simulator. It simply re-brands the in-game generic billboards with real world American brands of Pizza Hut, Coca-Cola and more.
How can I get this mod?
The Real Brands Billboards mod for American Truck Simulator is available here.
How do I install this mod?
Please see my blog post “How to Install Mods in American Truck Simulator” for complete instructions.
Until next time…
Happy Trucking!!!
J
February 24, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
No, it’s not April Fools and No, I’ve not lost my mind. It is now possible to drive from the west coast of the USA (California) all the way to the east coast in American Truck Simulator with the help of a new map mod released last week. You may remember, last week I introduced you to a mod developer named Mantrid and his Speed Limit Fixes (and more) mod. Among other things, this mod corrects two really big issues (my opinion) with the default ATS map. It adds a traffic light intersection at highways 6/95 in Tonopah and removes the traffic lights on I-80 in Reno.
Well, Mantrid also created a coast-to-coast map mod which allows ATS truckers the ability to drive from the west coast all the way to the east coast of the USA. You can download this map mod directly from the SCS Software forums. Now before I proceed, allow me to get some finer points out of the way. First, this map mod is a Work In Progress (WIP). Mantrid’s initial interest in creating the coast-to-coast map was simply to be able to drive from one side of the USA to the other. So as the map stands today, it is pretty basic. So basic that he only included a handful of cities along the way with just one primary highway route. The cities along the route are Phoenix, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York and Boston. The highway route is basically I-40 all the way to OKC, then I-44 up to St. Louis, then I-70 to Pittsburgh, then I-76 etc. See map images below.
Again, I say this map mod is a work in progress. The other point I want to make, is much of the terrain areas don’t necessarily match up with the real world. Yes, you’ll probably notice palm trees in New York City. There are also a few mileage signs which appear to be in the wrong locations. An example is just out of Boston I saw a mileage sign for Bakersfield or Fresno. Anyway…just remember, this map mod is a WIP.
This blog post will be both a Trucker’s Logbook and Mod Review all rolled into one. If you are interested in downloading this new Coast-to-Coast map mod, visit the SCS Forums via this direct link. Also, as this is a WIP, make sure you check that thread for updates to the map. Oh…before I forget. You don’t need a massive amount of Long Distance skills to pickup jobs with the coast-to-coast expansion. All you need is one skill of Long Distance and the jobs should appear.
It’s just after 9:30 AM on Wednesday, and we are looking at picking up a job hauling for Walmart from LA to Pittsburgh. The load is 27,500 pounds of clothing. The expected delivery time is Sunday between the hours of 6:03 PM and 7:33 PM. The pay out isn’t the best in the world at only $22.44 per mile. The trip distance is 2,501 miles and our GPS is telling us that is a little over 65 hours of driving. A perfect delivery should earn us just over $56K. Let’s do it!
For this coast-to-coast run, we will be driving our Kenworth W900. I purchased it last week for one of my new drivers and at the time of purchase I tricked it out nicely. In the image below, we have just picked up our trailer and have 2,501 miles to go. We have approx. 300 gallons of diesel, plenty of coffee and snacks and a bladder the size of a camel.
While the amount of cities are few on this massive map expansion, the fuel and rest stops are plentiful. At least they are when you have the luxury of 300 gallon diesel capacity. I was able to drive from LA to Albuquerque on the first day. Unfortunately, the only state line sign I noticed was crossing into New Mexico (see below).
After a hot shower and wonderful New Mexico Truck Stop breakfast, we are ready to hit the road once again.
The weather on our second day of driving (Thursday), remained mostly cloudy but no rain.
Another full day of driving, we pull into another truck stop along the way. This one is somewhere between OKC and St. Louis.
Our third day (Friday) finds us hammering down I-70 as the sun rises in the distance. We are well ahead of schedule and should complete our delivery on Saturday morning.
We spend our third night in another truck stop along I-70 just near Columbus. This will set us up to make the delivery with over 24 hours to spare.
What’s this? A California Ambulance all the way out here in Pennsylvania?
Our on-time delivery of clothing items from California to Pittsburgh is appreciated
This job bumps us up to level 25.
I applied my new skill point to the “Fragile Cargo” category. The next earn point will go in “Just In Time Delivery” to level it out.
But of course, LA to Pittsburgh is not USA Coast-to-Coast. So while in Pittsburgh, we found a job hauling Lay’s Potato Chips to Boston.
Another on-time delivery from GrizzlyBear Trucking.
While I discovered a garage in Boston for purchase, I decided against buying it at this time. I’m not 100% sure how owning a garage on this un-finished map will work. I’m sure there will be upgrades to the map, so for now I’m just going to pickup a load of seeds and head all the way back to LA. This job pays over 100K. See you back in LA.
Until next time…
Happy Trucking!!!
J
February 23, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
Can you believe it? ATS was released to the general public only three weeks ago today. It does feel longer, but here’s my American Truck Simulator – Progress Week Three blog post. Yes, it’s been another busy week for my small (but growing) trucking company. My progress report of last week I mentioned I had opened a third garage in Las Vegas. Well this week I did borrow $400,000 so that I could purchase three new trucks and hire three new drivers. During this week of activity, my drivers in my HQ garage in LA and my second garage in San Diego have really been earning some money. I was able to quickly pay off the $400K loan, I also was able to earn enough this week to upgrade the LA garage to five slots, purchase two new trucks (one a highly custom Kenworth W900) and hire two new drivers.
So as it stands today, I still have three garages (LA, SD and LV), own 11 trucks and employ 10 drivers. My next step will be to upgrade the San Diego garage, buy two new trucks and hire two new drivers. Then I’ll likely do the same with the Vegas operation. But these will all be cash transactions.
I did grow a bit bored with my Mt. Rushmore themed truck. So I had my trusty Peterbilt repainted with this nice American Bison theme. I also believe I upgraded my wheels and added the bull bar grill this week as well.
Also, as I mentioned in the first paragraph…I did purchase a highly custom Kenworth W900 a few days ago. I’ll likely alternate between the Peterbilt 579 and the Kenworth W900. The new KW900 is sweet and I’m looking forward to taking her out on a coast to coast run sometime real soon.
Finally, I’ve experienced some graphic card issues in the past few weeks. My current GPU is the GTX 780Ti (3GB model). I’ve really been suffering some frame rate (FPS) issues while driving in the cities. FPS rates can easily drop into the low 20’s and sometimes in the teens. When this happens it’s much like watching a slide show. It’s annoying and I’ve been doing my best to resolve the issues. To be honest, I don’t have any issues with Farming Simulator 2015 or GTA5. Both of these games hold a 60+ FPS rate regardless of what is going on. But both ATS and ETS2 suffer. Now I know comparing ATS/ETS2 to FS15 (or GTA5) is like comparing an apple to an orange…but I really believe my 780Ti should perform better than it does.
Having said all that, I have been looking at the GTX 980Ti for some time. I finally took the plunge and will be installing that beast of a GPU in my system early this week. I truly hope to report solid FPS rates with little to no compromise in the quality settings.
Here are my current stats for American Truck Simulator
Level 24
Total Driven Distance – 57,916
Total Driven Distance (On Duty) – 54,598
Total Free Roam Distance – 3,317
Roads Explored – 68.04% (No, I didn’t start over. I installed the coast-to-coast map)
Deliveries Finished – 97
Deliveries Cancelled – 0
Total Game Time Spent – 100 Days, 22 Hours
Play time – 56 Hours
Don’t forget to bookmark the site and/or subscribe to the RSS feed. Finally, please follow me on Twitter.
Until next time…
Happy Trucking!!!
J
February 19, 2016 / admin / 1 Comment
I realize this post comes slightly off schedule as I usually post mod reviews on Thursday. But this Mod Review – Speed Limit Fixes (and More) is so awesome and so new, that I wanted to get this out ASAP.
There may be many reasons to download, install and use this mod. But if you only do it for two reasons, I think your entire ATS game play will be better and certainly more true to life. The first reason can be seen in the image below. Do you recognize this intersection? I’ll give you a hint. It’s in Tonopah, NV and if you’ve traveled through here…you may have said a few choice words in frustration. Keep reading…
What is the Featured Mod and what does it do?
OK, the mod is titled Speed Limit Fixes. It was developed by Mantrid. As the title suggests, the mod offers a temporary fix for some of the random speed limit changes on the default ATS map. This mod also adds a few traffic lights in some of the smaller towns to help with the flow of traffic. Mantrid is also cleaning up (removing) those redundant stop signs at many traffic light intersections.
But….But…..BUT…here’s the “Jewel in the Crown” of this mod. This mod adds a traffic light at the poorly designed intersection of highways 6 and 95 in Tonopah (see image above). You may remember I wrote a blog post hoping SCS Software would read it. In this blog post I described just how painful of an intersection it was to deal with. I tweeted this blog post to the @SCSSoftware twitter account, but didn’t receive a response. While I still believe this is an issue SCS Software should address with the default map, I suppose…for now all is OK.
The second reason to use this mod is it removes the stupid stop light on Interstate 80 in Reno. As I approach my 50th year on the face of this earth, I’ve driven thousands of miles on the US Interstate Highway System. I’ve never, ever encountered a stop light in the middle of any of the interstates I’ve traveled up and down. This mod fixes this issue.
How can I get this mod?
Mantrid’s authorized version of this mod (and the one he is updating frequently) is available via a link in the SCS Forums. He released an updated version early this morning and the mod is still a work in progress. So download it, install it and use it. But keep an eye on that forum thread for future and frequent updates.
How do I install this mod?
Please see my blog post “How to Install Mods in American Truck Simulator” for complete instructions.
Final thoughts. I would really like to tip my hat to Mantrid and all the fabulous and talented mod creators for spending time away from game play to help make OUR game play more enjoyable. Games like ATS, ETS2 and even Farming Sim 2015 are super fun in their generic vanilla form. But when you begin to add mods (and especially a mod like this) to the mix….the game play becomes extraordinary.
As always, thank you for reading. Please subscribe to the blog RSS feed and/or bookmark my site and return often. Also, follow me on Twitter where I only tweet about my simulation gaming adventures.
Until next time…
Happy Trucking!!!
J
February 18, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
Would you like to see more “real world” branding in the American Truck Simulator game? Of course there is a valid reason why SCS couldn’t include real world gas stations in the ATS game. It all comes down to licensing and brand issues. However, mod developers can most certainly release mods which re-brand these gas stations and this one offers you stations branded as Chevron, Gulf, Texaco and BP.
What is the Featured Mod and what does it do?
This mod is the Real Gas Stations v1.0 mod for American Truck Simulator. It simply re-brands the in-game generic gas stations with real world American gas station brands of Chevron, Gulf, Texaco and BP.
How can I get this mod?
The Real Gas Stations v1.0 mod for American Truck Simulator is available here.
How do I install this mod?
Please see my blog post “How to Install Mods in American Truck Simulator” for complete instructions.
Until next time…
Happy Trucking!!!
J
February 17, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
The featured trip for Trucker’s Logbook #2 is in my updated Peterbilt 579. Just a few days ago I updated the chassis to accommodate the 300 gallon capacity diesel tanks and also upgraded the Paccar engine to the 500HP model. While the rig was in the shop, I had them apply this new paint job celebrating our great country and Mt. Rushmore. In the coming weeks I’ll apply additional updates/upgrades to the truck.
Since Trucker’s Logbook entry #1, I’ve been hauling goods all over California and Nevada. But as the first entry had us drive from Los Angeles, CA to Winnemucca, NV, today’s entry will be from Winnemucca to Oxnard, CA. This haul will include 30,500 pounds of Ethane from Gallon to Chems. The job is paying $24,155 or $37.52/mi. It’s classified as hazardous materials.
I picked up the trailer at just before 7 PM. The drive from Winnemucca to Oxnard is 635 miles with an estimated trip time of 16 hours, 32 minutes. We have just over 5 hours available before a mandatory rest. Let’s get going…
Our route today will take us southwest on I-80 to I-5. Like last week, pretty much all interstate travel.
Riding off into the sunset along I-80 in Nevada
Topping up the 300 gallon diesel tanks just before parking the rig for some much deserved rest.
Goodnight…
What a great sleep. Just love the stand up sleeper. After a short weight/inspection check we are back on the road again.
Just a few miles to go, the clouds are starting to roll in near Oxnard. I wonder if we’ll get any rain?
This job only offered an 40XP parking, but I nailed it.
If you remember last week I was approaching level 16. This job brings me very close to level 20. Level 21 should be in the bag on the next delivery.
I hope you enjoy these Trucker’s Logbook adventures. Please share with your friends and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter.
Until next time…
Happy Trucking!!!
JT
February 16, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
If you are playing American Truck Simulator (ATS) are you also having a difficult time stepping away from it? I know I am. For the most part, ATS is all I’m playing and it’s all I’ve been blogging about the past two weeks. ATS has actually been responsible in helping get this blog going again. Lots of folks are reading my blog posts and for that, I appreciate it. Please feel free to comment and join the discussion. Also, follow me on Twitter.
If you remember from my posting last week where I outlined my week 1 results, I am playing ATS in what I call “Career Mode”. This just simply means that I’m not using any cheat mods. I started out with nothing and have been building my company one brick at a time. It’s been a lot of fun and I’m really happy to report that the progress of my second week has been even greater than what I was able to accomplish in week one.
One of the highlights of my second week was having my truck upgraded and painted. I chose the Mt. Rushmore color scheme to remind me of my late summer 2015 vacation. My wife and I went to Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota. Mt Rushmore is awesome and if you haven’t had a chance to visit, you should.
The work continues to be hard. I’m doing my best to haul the best paying loads and training my drivers in all the best skills. During this second week I’ve managed to fill all my open driver slots of my two garages (Los Angeles and San Diego). I own six trucks and employ five drivers. As the second week came to a close, my drivers have finally started to generate some nice revenue. So much so, that I manage to pay off all bank loans and managed to save up enough to purchase our third garage in Las Vegas. At the present time the garage remains empty, but am planning to contact the bank and borrow a $400,000 loan to purchase three new trucks and hire three new drivers.
Not sure how well Walmart pays in the real world, but in the ATS world I’ve managed to pickup a few well paying jobs hauling for Walmart. This Walmart trailer mod is part of a mod pack which I’ll soon feature during my weekly ATS Mod Review posting.
I also installed the new multiplayer mod for ATS/ETS2 this week and have been having fun. I had heard all the warnings about making sure you create a new profile for MP, so I found a custom profile with lots of money which I’m using just for MP fun. I haven’t participated in a convoy just yet, but looking forward to experiencing an ATS MP Convoy very soon. I hope to write a “how to” blog post on multiplayer. So stay tuned…
Here are my current stats for American Truck Simulator
Level 22
Total Driven Distance – 45,096
Total Driven Distance (On Duty) – 42,479
Total Free Roam Distance – 2,617
Roads Explored – 88.09%
Deliveries Finished – 79
Deliveries Cancelled – 0
Total Game Time Spent – 75 Days, 16 Hours
Play time – 44 Hours
February 15, 2016 / admin / 1 Comment
As I have stated many times in the past two weeks, I absolutely love American Truck Simulator (ATS). It’s absolutely fantastic and I’m having so much fun trucking around California and Nevada. Like all other ATS Fans, I’m also anxiously awaiting the release of the Arizona DLC. Just after ATS was released, I wrote a blog post titled “American Truck Simulator – My First Look”. I pointed out a few issues I had experienced in the first 6-8 hours of game play. SCS Software actually released an update for ATS today which addresses some of the issues with how speed limits are enforced. You can read all the included fixes in update 1.1.1 and 1.1.1.1 here. While these fixes are important, I’m hoping they can also address the AI traffic issue many of us experience.
Of course the issue I’m talking about has to do with how difficult it is onto some highways when no 4-way stop light intersection is available. The one example which most probably experience frequently is when attempting to turn left onto highway 95 in Tonopah, NV (when headed towards Elko, NV. It’s a royal pain in the backside. Let me explain in a series of screenshots.
In the image below, I have a truck and two cars in front of me. Highway 95 is a very busy 4 lane highway (especially during daytime hours). If any of the AI in front needs to turn left, you will be stuck here forever. The only thing you can do is to save the game, exit and restart. This action will remove all the AI from in front of you. This of course breaks the realism factor and is frustrating.
But even with the AI gone, one must slowly begin to pull out onto highway 95 which if done carefully enough will force the AI to stop, then you can carefully cross the highway, turn left and proceed west. While this action works and if done carefully you can avoid any collisions and damage. But this would never be done in real life. Unless you had a death wish.
I don’t have the answers for what needs to be done. Also, I fully understand there is a fine line between what and how the game depicts real world highway/street connections. But in looking at the map, it appears the intersection for highway 95 and highway 6 does feature a merging type intersection, sorry I’m not sure what that might be called, but it’s not how the game depicts the highway intersection.
Would the kind folks at SCS Software please do something to help in this type of situation? SCS, thank you so much for reading this blog post and for considering anything that can be done to fix this issue.
Until next time….
Happy Trucking!!!
JT
