March 31, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
This weeks ATS Mod Review features the wonderful AI Traffic Pack by JazzyCat. If you want to “jazz” up your AI traffic with all sorts of new real world vehicle types like Ford F150, Jeep Wrangler, Chevy Tahoe, Volkswagen Beetle and even Harley Davidson Motorcycles…then this traffic pack is what you need. The images below are property of Jazzycat and obtained from the mod. I included them in this blog article to provide you a better view of what is available from the mod.
What is the Featured Mod and what does it do?
This mod is the AI Traffic Pack by Jazzycat mod for American Truck Simulator. The mod adds real world AI cars, pickups, SUV’s and even motorcycles to your in-game traffic.
How can I get this mod?
The Freightliner Classic Truck mod 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
March 23, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
It’s been a while since I’ve spent much time in American Truck Simulator. As I believe I’ve mentioned before, within the first few weeks of playing I had pretty much discovered everything there was to discover within California and Nevada. ATS was released almost two months ago (2 Feb.) and at the time I write this blog posting, we are still very much patiently ANXIOUSLY awaiting for the official Arizona DLC to drop. Oh, before I continue…let me just speak my mind regarding the Arizona DLC. I’ll also just state (for the record) that my thoughts/opinions on things are completely my own. But…(again in my opinion) I would have thought SCS Software would have already released the Arizona DLC by now. I’m not suggesting it should be released if it was not ready, but I believe there was a certain amount of momentum, excitement, anticipation, drama etc. etc. built up with the build up to the official release of American Truck Simulator (2 Feb.) and it would have been awesome to ride that momentum etc. with the official release of the Arizona DLC around the first month anniversary mark. Keep in mind that I’m also not suggesting SCS should commit (or even indicate) they can release a new US state every 30 days. But I just think some of the air has been let out of the balloon. The more time which stands between the 2 Feb date and the date Arizona is ready will see the balloon go a bit flatter and flatter. But again, this is all just my opinion.
As we spent time in Europe for our Trucker’s Logbook #3 and #4, it is time we come back to the USA. Again, with no Arizona DLC…I’ve just been occasionally hauling cargo within California and Nevada. I’ve also been developing all my hired drivers and making sure they have everything they need to be successful. Our current status is much the same as it’s been the past several weeks. Our HQ is in Los Angeles and we have a garage in San Diego and in Las Vegas. All garages have been upgraded to accommodate 5 trucks/5 drivers. In addition to the three garages, we own 14 trucks and employ 13 drivers. There is a reason for keeping one garage slot open. This allows me to test (occasionally) some new truck mods. But I’ll likely fill this up soon. Overall our company is healthy and with over $500K in the bank (and no loans) we are cooking with gas.
So as I said, we are back in the USA and you may remember several weeks ago I discussed the Coast-to-Coast map. Back in late February I drove from LA to Boston (and back). In the past several weeks the maps developer, Mantrid has released many updates to this map including the most recent version (1.5) which includes several new routes. One of the new routes added includes the complete stretch of US Interstate 10 from Los Angeles, California to Jacksonville, Florida. On Mantrid’s new coast-to-coast map, I-10 takes you through Phoenix, El Paso, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, Mobile, Tallahassee. There are also routes covering a portion of I-35 and I-45 in Texas and he’s included a route from Jacksonville, FL down to Miami and up to DC.
A little more fine print
Before I get into the meat of our posting today, allow me just to re-state the following. Mantrid’s Coast-to-Coast map was a project he started for his own personal interest of driving from the west coast to the east coast of the USA. He shared his first version of the map and made it extremely clear it was a work in progress and that the scenery (when there is something to see) is mostly a cut/paste from California and Nevada. So this meant seeing palm trees in New York City. While I have been critical of some of the map projects currently under development for ATS (read this post), Mantrid made it 100% clear his map may never be 100% accurate and include 100% real life depictions of the cities and routes he includes.
As I’ve already driven the more northerly route from LA out to Boston, I wanted to pick up a route that would take me out across the southern portion of the USA on I-10. The one we chose was hauling a load of toys from Sell Goods in LA out to Charged in Miami (in a Fedex trailer). The route is a whopping 2,716 miles with an estimated drive time of 70 hours, 36 minutes. The job will pay $66,245 or $24.28 per mile.
Again our route takes all the way across the southern portion of the US along I-10 from LA to Jacksonville, Florida. Then down I-95 through the Space Coast portion of Florida to Miami.
As we did for our last coast-to-coast trip, I have opted for the Kenworth W900. It’s still dark thirty as we fuel up at our LA garage. The trailer pickup point is just around the corner.
We pickup our FedEx trailer just before 4:30 AM on Thursday morning. We are fully rested, fully fueled…”we’ve got a long ways to go and a short time to get there”.
The absolute worst part of this entire 2,700 mile trip will be the first few hours of driving 55 mph through California. Thankfully, once we cross the state line into Arizona and continue eastbound, the speed limits keep rising. (well mostly) Welcome to Arizona!
Unfortunately, Mantrid placed a red light intersection and a 30 mph speed zone through Phoenix.
Hello New Mexico!
Our first night (and fuel stop) will be near Deming, NM. We still have a very long way to go.
As I said earlier, there isn’t much to look at in terms of scenery. Miles and Miles of Texas (I-10 between El Paso and San Antonio) Speaking of Texas and I-10, US Interstate 10 is just over 880 miles from the entry point just before El Paso to the Texas/Louisiana state line at Orange, Texas. We spend the better portion of Day Two just crossing Texas. We would spend our second night just outside Lafayette, Louisiana.
The scenery just outside New Orleans with a few ships in the gulf. This is somewhat near the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (but not really depicted on this map)
After a very long day 1 (driving across CA, AZ and NM) and a long day 2 (driving across TX), the US States of Louisana, Mississippi, Alabama zipped by pretty quickly. Our third night would place us around Melbourne, Florida (along the Space Coast portion). This would set us up for an easy day 4 with less than 200 miles to drive. As I’ve said, the coast-to-coast map has a lot of cut/paste features from CA and NV. Does the image look familiar? This is in Miami, but this is also in LA.
We’ve arrived at Charged in Miami, Florida.
I continue to level up and progress nicely.
Parked up at the nearby repair shop where will plan out our next opportunity.
If it can be worked out, ideally I would love to get a route from Miami that I could haul north up to the DC or NY area. Then before I head back to Cali, I would like to head back to Oklahoma City then South down I-35 through Dallas/Ft. Worth and continue south on I-35 to San Antonio. While there is nothing to see along this route. My parents live half-way between Waco and Austin (Temple) on I-35. We’ll see if can make all that work out.
If you aren’t bothered by long stretches of open road with little to nothing to look, and you aren’t bothered with some cut/paste to populate some of the cities along the way AND you truly want to experience driving the long and open road, then check out Mantrid’s Coast-to-Coast map.
Now for a bit of good news. I really don’t follow that many of the add-on on map projects for ATS. You can get a better understanding of this by reading this blog posting. But, I do follow Mantrid’s progress. Mantrid continues to work on this map and is adding more routes, more cities and more stuff all the time. This map may never be to the level of quality and accuracy we will see from SCS or from the likes of ProMods. But it was never designed to be.
Enjoy it…or pass it by. The decision is yours….
By the way, it took me just under two hours (real life hours) to drive from LA to Miami.
Until next time…
Watch out for those bears….
Jerry
March 17, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
Would you like to see other types of AI truck traffic in American Truck Simulator than the Kenworth/Peterbilt offered in game? This mod will introduce many different types of trucks to the AI fleet and provide much variety including cab-over and conventional.
What is the Featured Mod and what does it do?
This mod is the Truck Traffic Pack by Jazzycat. This mod will introduce many different types of trucks to the AI fleet and provide much variety including cab-over and conventional.
How can I get this mod?
The Truck Traffic Pack by Jazzycat 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
March 14, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
I just love all the various eye candy we’ve been given in ATS and ETS2. I’ve seen several chatters in various Twitch ATS Streams ask what these yellow tubes are hanging down at some truck stop parking areas in the American Truck Simulator. While there are different brands, they essentially depict technology similar to that of the IdleAir systems. The IdleAir technology allows truckers to have comfort of air conditioning or heating without the need to idle their truck during rest periods. These are great in helping to save on fuel costs and just as importantly, helping to keep the environment just a bit cleaner.
In addition to the AC/Heat these systems provide to the relaxing trucker. They also provide 120V AC power for various appliances, basic satellite cable TV service connection, Telephone, and high-speed internet access. (see below)
A similar system to the IdleAir connected
Close-up view
I hope SCS Software will continue to provide these great looking pieces of eye candy as they continue to expand the USA map.
Until next time…
Happy Trucking!!!
JT
March 10, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
In a similar theme to last weeks mod review, this cool mod brings about some excellent weather effects such as fog and dust storms in the desert.
What is the Featured Mod and what does it do?
This mod is the Foggy Weather 1.6.3 update. It produces fog/smog effects along the west coast, sand storm effects in the desert and cloudy/light rainy weather near west coast and desert areas.
How can I get this mod?
The Default Weather Update 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
March 7, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
On Friday, I wrote about the World of Trucks (WoT) website and shared some basic background information about the site and provided some details on how you sign up and link EuroTruck Simulator 2 (ETS2) and/or American Truck Simulator (ATS) to your WoT account. This all needs to take place before you can proceed into the Job Market function of World of Trucks.
At the present time, the Job Market function is only available for ETS2. However, I read in the SCS Forums that there are plans to introduce the Job Market function for ATS at a later stage in 2016. So for now, the WoT Job Market is exclusive to ETS2.
When you first click on the Job Market link on the World of Trucks website, you’ll see a drop down menu listing a few dozen European cities. I don’t have a screen shot available to show you, but you’ll only see the drop down menu one time. Select the city you wish to operate your first job from. The city you choose can be the same city where your truck currently resides in ETS2 or it can be any other city. If your truck is not presently in the city you select, your truck will automagically be transported to that location at a later stage.
Once you select the city, you’ll see a listing of job offers available from that city. You can sort this list by several variables including distance, destination, time etc. I usually use either distance or destination. In the example below I’m using distance.
When you find a job that interests you, you click that job (example below is a job transporting chimney systems from Lille, France to Klagenfurt, Austria). A few things to note. The “Time Left” indicates the amount of real world time you will have to complete this job. Meaning, at the time I was browsing for job offers it was approx. 5 AM MST (in real life). The WoT Job Market is based on real world time and not ETS2 in-game time. As you know there is a big difference. Another point of interest is the “Est. Delivery Time”. Again, back to the image below…the Est. Delivery Time showing ~1 H 19 MIN is the approx. amount of time (real world time) it should take me to complete the job. Once you are ready to accept this job, click the “Sign Contract” button.
The next screen displayed will be the “Contract Signed” screen and will just provide you the basic information about the load. Click OK and return to the ETS2 Game application.
Back inside the game, click on “Job Market”. You’ll notice you now have a third option in the “Job Type Selection” screen titled “External Contracts”. Click the External Contracts button.
You’ll now be presented with the screen below showing your delivery job. Once again, take note of the remaining time. In the example below we have 21 hours and 11 minutes to complete this job. This is real world time and not in-game time. Click on “Begin Delivery”. Once you’ve done this, regardless of the location where your truck was last, it will be automagically teleported to the starting point and already connected to the trailer.
All you now need to do is drive….just remember, these external contract jobs work off of real world time. In the screenshot below, we’ve arrived in Klagenfurt and dropped off our trailer.
The deliver was successful (as shown below) and we’re close to earning our level 27 promotion. Want to do another job? Sure……
So we return to the World of Trucks website and click on Job Market. WoT now knows our truck is located in Klagenfurt and provides a listing of all jobs from this location.
Find a job which interests you, and sign the contract. This next job we are taking is a load of Copper Roof Gutters to Kassel Germany. We have 14 hours (real world hours) to complete this job and the estimated time required is one hour. Click Sign Contract.
Now return back to the ETS2 game and click on Job Market and once again select External Contracts. Then click “Begin Delivery”. Assuming your truck was still at the previous drop off location, it will once again be teleported to the next pickup location. So, if you need to discover the current city you are in, or if you need to repair your truck etc. and want to do this driving around with a trailer attached…then you’ll want to do that before you click “Begin Delivery”.
Not that you require proof, but I thought I would show you a before and after screen shot to illustrate how the time works with WoT Job Market. In the screenshot below, we have pulled into a rest area. We’ve parked and shut off our engine. Our in-game time is Thursday 11:03 and we have 13 hours and 41 minutes to complete this job.
We have now completed our rest. The time is now Thursday, 20:03. We’ve rested for our required 9 hours and we still have 13 hours and 40 minutes to complete this job.
We made it to our destination and completed another “Excellent” delivery and earned our level 27 promotion. This marks the 6th WoT Contact job we’ve successfully completed.
So, what happens if we decide to perform jobs from the ETS2 Freight Market? So in our example above, we completed our delivery to Kassel, Germany. Let’s say we opt to just use the ETS2 Freight Market and we select a job to Antwerp, Belgium. We complete that delivery and we go look at the WoT website. It will still show our location as Kassel, Germany. If you want to perform another job from WoT, you can either pickup an ETS2 delivery back to Kassel or just allow WoT to teleport you.
A few questions you might be asking yourself….
Why use the WoT Job Market? I think as it stands today, this is a valid question. As you can tell I also don’t exclusively use the WoT Job Market. While the extra step in logging into the WoT website to select a job is minimal effort and I’m personally not that bothered with it making me start in the last city I visited. I really would rather drive from previous drop point to new pickup point versus being teleported to that location. But I think the WoT Job Market has some wonderful potential down the road and I suppose having access to it now and using it as frequently (or infrequently) is really up to you.
Are the WoT Job Market offers similar to ETS2 Freight Market? I haven’t done a side-by-side comparison on each and every delivery. But I have spot checked a few and found the price per mile to be similar. If you are just starting out and every Euro counts, then you may have some concerns. But as I presently have over a million Euro in the bank…I’m more about the overall experience than I am on making sure I can pay my bills.
What do I see for the future of the WoT Job Market? Of course, I am in no way affiliated with SCS Software and I am not in communication with them. Any knowledge I have is completely public knowledge that I’ve obtained from public sources. But I think the potential for the WoT Job Market is HUGE!
Basically, if you are familiar with the concept of a virtual airline in the flight simulation hobby, then the WoT website and specifically the WoT Job Market can be just this. Yes there are VTC’s or Virtual Truck Companies. But without direct integration into the ETS2 or ATS games, (in my opinion) there is just too much manual work required. I don’t want to have to visit a website and fill out a manual job completion form to track my deliveries. This would be like the virtual airlines of 15+ years ago with their manual PIREP process.
Because WoT is owned and managed by SCS software, they have the integration into both the ETS2 and ATS game platforms. So further enhancement will only make this a better experience. As I mentioned in part 1, some of these future enhancements may allow for setting up VTC’s within the WoT environment. So that would be cool….
But here’s an idea I came up with in the shower this morning. Yes, I do some of my best brainstorming and thinking in the shower. But let’s say you start out in Europe with ETS2. You pick a job from Bucharest, Romania to Los Angeles, California. The job is a shipping container. You select that job through the WoT Job Market and you drive that container from Bucharest to Southampton. It’s delivered at the port of Southampton. Through the magic of web databases, the shipping container is virtually moved via container ship from Southampton to New York (or Miami or wherever). Then you start up ATS, pickup the container and drive it to its destination. This concept could be done via single player or even handled by multiple individuals as part of a VTC. Sound fun? I think so too…
In closing, while I’ll admit that the WoT Job Market may not be appealing in the current stage, I do encourage you to use it (even just occasionally). We need to use it so we can show there is an interest. To quote that famous line from Field of Dreams, “If you build it, He (WE) will come”.
Well that is just about all the time I have for today’s update. I think I’ll head down to my basement office and do a little trucking now. But make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed to get all the latest blog postings sent direct to your favorite RSS Reader. Or just bookmark the website and return often. You can also follow me on Twitter. I have also started streaming some of my gaming activities on Twitch. Drop by if you see I’m streaming.
Until next time…
Happy Trucking!!!
J
March 4, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
I must be 100% honest. While watching many of the Twitch streamers on Wednesday, 2 March 2016 (the release day) I had almost convinced myself to give this game a pass. At least for now. My reasoning for this was due to the fact that I just didn’t feel the game was 100% ready for prime time. But today I noticed they have pushed a patch out to address some of the performance issues many experienced on day 1 and while I don’t know with any degree of certainty know if all the issues regarding performance have been fully resolved, the action of the developer to listen to the customers and perform some optimization has convinced me to give the game a try.
A little fine print before I get started with my review. First, I’m an independent and non-professional blogger. Meaning, I am not earning any revenue (subscriptions, donations etc.) from my blogging or streaming activities. Second, I purchased Bus Simulator 16 via the Steam store and paid the same amount of money that any one else would pay. So my feedback is that of an unbiased customer who has no obligation to anyone other than those who read my blog or view my Twitch Live Streams. Having said all that, allow me to provide you my review.
After having spent a few hours playing Bus Simulator 16, I must say that I still believe this game needs more work. Actually, a lot of work! But first, let me get back to my game play. I purchased, downloaded and install Bus Simulator 16 on Thursday, 3 March. To date, I’ve invested a total of 5 hours (per Steam), but another 2 hours mucking about trying to get my Logitech G27 wheel and pedals to work. As I had mentioned in my post yesterday about this game, I had watched several live streamers on Tuesday (release day) who I know were using Logitech G27 wheels and pedals, and they made no mention of any issue. As a matter of fact, I even remember one well known streamer applaud the game developers for making it so easy. So you can imagine my surprise when after I installed the game, launched it and began to work through the process of configuring my G27 that I ran in to roadblock after roadblock. Basically the game would fully recognize the wheel and all buttons. But it simply would not recognize the pedals.
To make sure something hadn’t happened with my G27, I fired up American Truck Simulator and all worked fine. I then launched Farming Simulator 2015 and yep…all worked fine. For the heck of it, I even launched Euro Truck Simulator 2 (fully knowing what would happen) and yep…I wasn’t disappointed. It worked! Then back to Bus Simulator 16 and no worky. Grrrrr
It seems as if all user support is being handled via the Steam Discussion section. So I did some searching and found I was not alone. Many others had been pulling their hair out as well in trying to get the pedals working. Some of the info provided was as follows:
The need to have both the newest version of the Logitech gaming software installed and the older 5.10.x version. Now keep in mind that those of us using the G27 need the older 5.10.x version as the newer 8.x version is not for the G27 hardware and will not recognize it. But somehow, Bus Simulator 16 needs a .dll from the new version to assist with Force Feedback issues. Ok…so I installed the new version and tested. Still no worky.
Finally, further down in the discussion threads I found that with the G27 (perhaps other controllers as well) that having the option for “Combined Pedals” enabled in the Logitech Gaming Software will cause Bus Simulator 16 to not detect the G27 pedals. However, as those of us who have the G27’s know…games like ATS, ETS2 and Farming Simulator 15 need this option checked or they don’t work. From what I have read in the forums, more games require this option versus those that don’t. So I guess it is a bit of a head scratcher as to why they setup Bus Sim in this fashion.
OK…now with that resolved, let’s play Bus Simulator 16. As I mentioned earlier, I have 5 hours of game play. I feel this is substantial enough to provide a “First View” and as the game is still new…I want others to have the opportunity to read this review as soon as possible. I will post follow up articles as I continue to accumulate more time in the game and of course as (hopefully) patches are released to resolve some of the problems plaguing the overall game play. To my knowledge, one patch has already been pushed out to address various performance and functional issues. All time spent playing the game has been with that patch installed.
Things I like
Language Support – I truly applaud Stillalive Studios for making this game multi-language. While the game developers are German and the game play takes place in a fictional city in Germany, they have done a great job in supporting other languages.
Entrepreneurial Simulation – It’s possible Bus Simulator 16 is more of a simulation of running a bus company than it really is about driving a bus. But of course, you get to do that too. The game play requires you to purchase additional busses, hire drivers and establish efficient routes. As you play along the city rewards you by granting you access to additional parts of the city.
Mod Support – I believe without this important piece, this game would quickly die. These types of games take on a completely different life when the mod community starts working their magic. By allowing mod support from day one, it will allow for a lot of game customization that the developers just won’t have the time or ability to perform. Once the mods start rolling in, I believe the level of excitement for the game will also increase and that will be a win-win for all parties.
Modern Feeling – Unlike OMSI 2 which depicts bus service in Spandau in 1986 and 1994, Bus Simulator 16 has a more modern appearance.
Learning as you play along – Taking the tutorial which is offered at the start of the game is both comical and informational. Plus in order to unlock certain things in the game, the process makes you paint a bus, apply decals etc. Just play the tutorial and you’ll laugh and learn all at the same time.
Performance – I can’t attest to what the in-game performance was like before the patch was released. But I can tell you that my gaming system (with my new 980Ti) doesn’t even work up a sweat with this game. While I think there is room for improvement, it hasn’t performed in such a way that I couldn’t play and enjoy the game.
Things I dislike
GPS Map Rotation – This is HUGE. While your bus is equipped with a GPS SatNav device (a tablet on the dash). The arrow which indicates the position of the bus does not function correctly. The map doesn’t auto-rotate and it can be a bit confusing as to which direction you should turn. While it can be worked out with a little patience…with everything else you need to look out for when driving (AI Cars, AI People) etc. This simply just needs to be fixed by a patch.
Steering Wheel Support – As I shared before, better support for our wheels and pedals is not only appreciated, it needs to be a requirement. With all other driving games that I know of requiring “Combined Pedals” to be enabled in the Logitech gaming software, just patch this game to also require that and we’ll all be happy. Also, why should I be required to install a set of drivers for a version of a Logitech product that I don’t own?
No TrackIR Support and poor camera support – I was somewhat late in using TrackIR for most of my simulation games. I’ve only had my TrackIR unit for about 18 months. But in that time I’ve grown to use it in Flight Sim and ETS2/ATS. Yes there are times I don’t use it, but I very much like the fact that the functionality is there. But there is no TrackIR support in Bus Simulator 16. Surprisingly, some of the comments from the developers tend to lead me to believe it will not be high on their priority list. This is unfortunate because the in-game camera view system is also very disappointing.
No other AI busses – I’ve spent 5 hours driving around my little virtual city and I’m the only bus on the road. I see cars, I see the occasional police car and those bloody ambulances….but no other busses. I just looked outside my office window and within 2-3 minutes I saw three city busses drive by.
In-Bus Events (passengers standing in the way of the door) – OK…this is really getting old. Occasionally, as driver you’ll need to go to the back of the bus because a passenger is standing (just standing) in the doorway entrance. I wouldn’t mind if this type of event occurred once in every 3-4 hours of game play. But experiencing it more frequently is more of a pain in my opinion.
Multiplayer doesn’t mean what we think it should mean – The game features what is called multiplayer functionality. You can invite your friends to drive your established bus routes which will help you grow your business at a faster rate. But you won’t see your friends driving around in other busses. So multiplayer isn’t really what we think it is or what we’ve come to know it to be. When I think multiplayer, I think flying an airplane on VATSIM or the MP servers for ETS2 and ATS, or even the multiplayer functionality of Farming Simulator where you can invite friends into the game to help you farm your land. That is Cool….this….not so much!
Advertising and Art Work – The advertising banners and art work included in the game is some pretty weak sauce. Makes the game feel like it is geared towards children. I completely understand issues with licensing and copyright infringement. But the advertising banners provided in the game look nothing like advertising banners. The developers could have spent more effort and come up with some nice looking banners, using fictional company names instead of what they provided. Of course, the modding community is already working hard to provide real life company banners and better art work. Thank you!
Human AI looked better in Second Life when it debuted in 2003. I did play Second Life for about 5 minutes back in 2003 or 2004 when it first came out. The human AI in Bus Simulator 16 is pretty bad…but it is better than OMSI 2.
Is it really a Simulator? I have a very narrow definition of what makes a game become worthy of the term simulator. While many of the elements are there…so many just are not (at this point in time).
Price – Perhaps with everything I’ve pointed out, the price is a bit high. Especially if you compare it to say American Truck Simulator at $19.99 versus Bus Simulator 16 regular price of $24.99 (currently on sale at $22.49). While I realize there are some differences between what ATS offers and what Bus Simulator 16 offers, ATS is far more aligned with the definition of a simulation based game than Bus Sim 16 (at this time).
GPS/SatNav really needs work.
Not sure what we are advertising on our bus roof, but they are bringing in $2000 per week.
This idiot was just standing in the door way. When I asked him to move, he tells me he didn’t realize he was in the way.
My final thoughts. I’ve been blogging about simulation games and my personal activities and game play in these simulation based games for over 5 years. I truly hope that in this span of time I’ve provided more help, direction, tips and general insight into these games through this blog than to use this blog as a mechanism to complain and be negative. I realize I’ve pointed out a lot of areas that I feel fall short of a game being called a simulator. I’m not picking on this game or singling it out. I truly hope that in time (sooner rather than later) I can return to the subject of Bus Simulator 16 and be able, without any hesitation say…this is truly a simulator. But right now, this games falls really short of using the word simulator in the title.
Going forward, other than to hopefully report on some good news regarding patches to Bus Simulator 16 and to showcase cool mods, I’m really not sure how much content I’ll be able to provide. As it currently stands, the game really doesn’t lend itself to provide detailed adventure type stories the way I do with the Trucker’s Logbook for ATS/ETS2 etc. But we’ll see.
Well…that really is all I can come up with for now. I’ll hammer away at Bus Simulator 16 more over the weekend and try to grow my bus empire.
Until next time…
When you step on the bus, please have the exact change and take a seat.
J
March 4, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
World of Trucks – Part One If you’ve been playing Euro Truck Simulator (ETS2) for any period of time, you may already know about the World of Trucks (WoT) website. However, perhaps you are brand new to the trucking sims by way of the newly released American Truck Simulator (ATS) and either just simply don’t know about WoT or want to know more. This blog post will be part one of two postings I will write regarding the World of Trucks website. Today I’ll introduce you to the website, the basic features, how to interface with ETS2 and/or ATS. During part two, I discuss the Job Market function.
I started playing Euro Truck Simulator 2 in the early summer of 2015 and joined World of Trucks very soon after. While the website has been in “alpha” mode for as long as I’ve been using it, the features and functionality have evolved nicely in the almost 8+ months I’ve known about it. The World of Trucks website is operated by SCS Software (the developers of ETS2 and ATS) and was launched in October 2013. I suppose in website standards, having a system remain in alpha for over two years may be viewed as a negative. But considering WoT is free to join and in many ways helps to bring our community together, not to mention the fact they are adding many new features, I think it shows a lot of promise.
Anyway, as I previously stated…World of Trucks is a companion website for both Euro Truck Simulator 2 (ETS2) and the brand new American Truck Simulator (ATS). With exception to the Job Market function (which I’ll cover in part 2), ETS2 and ATS function the same with WoT. Joining the WoT website is both free and super easy. If you purchased ETS2 or ATS via Steam, you can just use your Steam account information to join the WoT website.
Once you have joined the website, you need to link the ETS2 and/or ATS game to WoT. From inside the games main screen, look for the World of Trucks button. Just click that button and your ETS2 or ATS will be linked to WoT. It’s really that easy.
Now some really question why even use World of Trucks. Many compare and even liken it to Facebook, but for trucks. While this comparison may have been somewhat accurate, things have changed with regards to the job market function and all that is planned for WoT in the future. Some of the future plans for WoT is to allow the users (us) to create virtual trucking companies (VTC’s) and even shared multiplayer experience. Today, both VTC’s and Multiplayer functionality exist, but they are 3rd party applications and not official to SCS Software. But of course, these are future plans and there really is no ETA on when we might begin to see this functionality.
So for now, if you are interested in World of Trucks, go sign up, then link your ETS2 and/or ATS games to the site and customize your profile.
Until next time…
Happy Trucking!!!
J
March 3, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments
Looking to get a little better weather in American Truck Simulator? This mod may be what you are looking for.
What is the Featured Mod and what does it do?
This mod is the Default Weather Update. It produces brighter sunrise and sunset and a much darker night. It updates the color and reduces the yellow tint.
How can I get this mod?
The Default Weather Update 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
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
