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> On the road, Truck simulator
Lopov
post Jul 9 2020, 10:16 AM
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In this thread I'll occasionally be posting screenshots from the American Truck Simulator. As the name suggests, you're put in a role of a truck driver and must drive cargo between various cities / states. The game is based on the European Truck Simulator - if comparing the maps, the ETS is much, much bigger than ATS, but new stuff (states for ATS or countries for ETS) are still being added. Roads / highways are based on real ones, except that they're significantly scaled down of course, nonetheless it can take a long time to get from point A to point B. I started with ETS first, but I'm so familiar with European highways, so for the time being I enjoy driving across the USA more.

In the beginning you must accept contracts from various different companies, when you earn enough caps septims dollars, you can start your own company, buy your own truck etc. The game is quite realistic, that's why it's been a commercial success all over the world, maneuvering the truck is quite difficult, especially in towns, when streets get narrow and you must reverse (a nightmare for now, but it'll get better), but even apart of driving, you must watch out for regular refuel, getting enough rest, obey traffic rules (or try your luck and not get caught). Various unexpected events can happen on the road, like accidents, traffic jams, flat tires, random police controls, road work, traffic re-routing, more or less anything that can happen in real life.

I forgot the name of the town in Arizona where I started (I think it was Tucson), but I remember that the final destination of my first contract was a town named Show Low. Although I was used to trucking from ETS, this route was more challenging, because it involved a double trailer. I managed to get to Show Low without any % of damage - the more the truck or cargo damaged, the less you get paid.

Behind the wheel of Peterbilt

"Ahoy pal!" - sometimes I flash my headlights when another truck is driving in my direction, as a sort of greeting. Some drivers greet me back.

Turning left - it took a while to turn left obviously. I'm in the truck with the Wallbert logo, the second trailer isn't visible in this pic.

In a traffic jam - by default the traffic is more sparse but then roads feel too empty, so I increased the density in the game's .ini settings.

Nice scenery on the left

I don't recognize the car in front of me

Now both trailers are visible

Ridin' on to Show Low

Arrival at sunset

Lopoved


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TheCheshireKhajiit
post Jul 9 2020, 02:09 PM
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Now get yourself a convoy good buddy! laugh.gif

So when do we get a thrilling tale of an evil trucker haunting the highways in search of victims? biggrin.gif


P.S. The game looks really beautiful!

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: Jul 9 2020, 02:11 PM


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Renee
post Jul 9 2020, 04:56 PM
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Goodness Lopov has become a trucker! biggrin.gif Man, those graphics are great. Do you have to pass any sort of license to start this game, or do you just drive? I have a real-life acquaintance who drives BIG trucks and special licenses are required.

Also, do you shift gears? From what I understand, those big trucks have a special way to shift... double-clutch I think it's called. And they can have a lot of gears, too... not just 4 or 5.

> That is very true about truckers flashing lights. IN fact, if one truck passes another, the truck being passed will flash lights to let the passing truck know it's safe to get in front of the passee's truck.

> Do you listen to music as you drive? rollinglaugh.gif You can play some old country as you drive. Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, Hank Williams, etc. (As Khajiit has shown above).

> Also, do you chew tobacco? rollinglaugh.gif Will you be getting a tattoo with your wife's name on it? Or better yet, a tattoo which simply says ~MOTHER~ wub.gif

This post has been edited by Renee: Jul 9 2020, 05:05 PM


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Acadian
post Jul 9 2020, 05:07 PM
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I'm so glad you're enjoying this trucking simulator! The graphics look great and I can imagine a lot involved to figure out how to manuever those big rigs. Looks like you went right into 'hard' mode by running a double trailer!

Haha! A Lopov shot of your truck!


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Renee
post Jul 9 2020, 05:11 PM
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Lopov you should see if you can make a cargo route to Vegas. smile.gif Or through it. I myself have never been to Vegas but I went through Reno once, and they had some of that casino glitz going on there.


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Lopov
post Jul 9 2020, 06:46 PM
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@TheCheshireKhajiit - there won't be an evil trucker this time. laugh.gif The developers stated that they won't 'develop' this part of the game - hitting pedestrians or buildings - at all, instead they'll focus simply on driving mechanics and add-ons for trucks. Well you can destroy your truck if you hit some heavy building, but it's not like GTA style, where you could go on a rampage. There are really a lot of various addons for trucks, like body paints, cabin accessories, chassis modifications, the list is so long, that not even I know what all it encompasses.

@Renee - the only license required is a valid account on Steam, I guess. bigsmile.gif

There are four different driving modes - two with mouse & keyboard, one with controller and one with wheel (and pedals, although they're not a must). Changing gears is possible only in the last two modes. I'm satisfied with the M & K approach for now.

You can listen to some real radios that are automatically generated as you drive, or you can insert streams of any world radio stations to an .ini file, and listen to any radio you want.

You can't chew tobacco unfortunately. biggrin.gif In fact except choosing a 'profile pic' and seeing the driver when rotating the camera around, there aren't other actions possible, you can't walk out of the truck. If you have a flat tire, there's a combination of buttons you must press to repair it / replace it, or you can call for help. I haven't yet experienced this scenario but I got a ticket for speeding today. biggrin.gif

New Las Vegas exists yes, and it's available by default, without any DLCs. It's quite big, but not entire town is covered, you can only drive on predetermined roads. But apparently they made LV bigger with one of the latest updates. States that are currently available to traverse are: Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington. The next big update / DLC will bring Idaho and or Colorado.

In comparison, ETS was released in 2012 and now, 8 years later, almost entire Europe has been covered, but there's still room for more. ATS was released in 2016, so it'll be at least 4 years and more to cover most of the USA, I'm assuming. Oh, BTW, Reno is also featured in ATS, alongside already mentioned Las Vegas, Carson City and Elko.

@Acadian - it actually wasn't my intention to run a double trailer, I was shocked when I saw in the side mirror, that the second trailer began moving as well as I accelerated. laugh.gif In Europe it never happened that one of quick contracts would involve a double trailer, so maybe they changed it for the ATS, or maybe it was just a coincidence. One thing I noticed first is that lanes are wider in ATS than in ETS, just like in real life.

A good look at the Lopoved shot will reveal me (the driver) behind the wheel. To keep things simple, I'll refer to myself as the driver, because I also used my real name in the game.


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Renee
post Jul 9 2020, 07:37 PM
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Oooh, go to Portland Oregon at some point! I lived there for many years. Curious to see if you can see the Steel Bridge and other famous landmarks. Probably not. I don't think they allow BIG trucks into that area of the city.

You should get a wheel + pedals. rollinglaugh.gif Your wife would roll her eyes every day! rolleyes.gif Plus, I think you once said your father used to have a racing game and had a wheel, which your mom made fun of.


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Lopov
post Jul 9 2020, 08:14 PM
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Steel Bridge is in the game, from what the Wiki says, but if I read this correctly, it's not driveable, you can only see it. Here's the text from the Wiki:

Portland's many bridges earn Portland the nickname "Bridge town" so SCS had to include several in their re-creation of the city. The Fremont Bridge (drive-able), the Steel Bridge, the Burnside Bridge, the Hawthorne Bridge, the Marquam Bridge (drive-able), and the Tilikum Crossing can be seen in-game.

Yes, my father was playing Nascar, I'm not sure, maybe he still does from time to time. He bought a wheel for it, but no pedals. My mom wasn't too thrilled to see that wheel fixated on the desk. laugh.gif


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SubRosa
post Jul 9 2020, 08:19 PM
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Khajiit beat me to the Convoy link...

This game looks really good, especially the cars you see on the roads. Do you have to go through things like weigh stations?


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Lopov
post Jul 9 2020, 09:27 PM
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Yes, you must. As a matter of fact, I was just fined $260€ for avoiding one. laugh.gif I saw the message on screen too late, because it appeared right above the GPS and I wasn't paying attention to the GPS, because the road ahead was flat straight.

This post has been edited by Lopov: Jul 9 2020, 09:28 PM


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haute ecole rider
post Jul 10 2020, 09:35 PM
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As someone who spent a LOT of time driving on the interstates among the Big Rigs: I can vouch for the headlight flashing. At least in the Midwest, where there's a lot of congestion and construction, the Big Rigs flash their headlights if the truck in front has clearance to make a lane change. I remember asking my Dad about it once (he knew a lot of Big Rig drivers from his work) and he explained to me that it's to let them know they can move into the lane in front of you. Once that driver makes the change, they'll flash their lights back at you as a "Thanks, buddy" signal.

I started doing that while driving my little car on those Interstates - I really paid attention to the Big Rigs and gave them space if they needed to change lanes. Sometimes I knew they would need to before they did! wink.gif So I would be watching for that turn signal (and hanging back, pissing off the a$$hole drivers behind me who wanted to cut everyone else off) and be ready to flash my brights at them - I also made sure they could see ME in THEIR rearview mirrors! It was not unusual for them to flash their lights "Thanks buddy" at me once they would slide in front of me, always made me feel good.

There was even one or two occasions where that same Big Rig would have the chance to return the favor to me and flash their lights when I needed to make a lane change in front of them. I think both of those times were in that perpetual construction zone on I-90 right around Gary, IN. Always a nightmare to drive in those days . . .


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Lopov
post Jul 11 2020, 10:00 AM
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haute, your post reminded me of an event that happened to me a few years ago, while driving from my hometown Maribor to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. I was driving on a left lane and a big rig (double trailer) was driving on my right. I noticed the sign for a roadwork on his lane, and when he noticed it too, he turned on the left (damn what's the word? The blinking light to let others know whether you're going left or right) and I flashed my headlights at him to let him in front of me, because soon two lanes were joined to one. Once the common lane once again separated he moved back to the right lane, and as I overtook him, he flashed his headlights at me. But here is not the end of the story. About half an hour later I stopped at one of the reststops to drink a coffee. As I was returning to my car, some man approached me and it turned out that he was the trucker. By coincidence he stopped at the same reststop and recognized my car so he waited around a bit, hoping that he'd meet me. He said that it rarely happens that drivers let them in front and asked me, if he can pay me a coffee, so I had another coffee together with this trucker from Serbia.

Now here are some more pics:

Night route awaits

"I'm off to Las Cruces."

Let's fill up the tank

Pure Energy

Something's up ahead

This doesn't look good

Sunrise

Now ain't that pic pretty?

Something's up ahead again

Notice the car behind me in the left rear mirror - he let me through, I don't whether this is game mechanics or a coincidence that he stopped, but some drivers won't let you through in case of a road obstacle.

Arrival to Las Cruces

See the traffic light far far ahead? That's where we needed to come to turn right. This isn't the game for impatient people.

Still waiting. I think it altogether lasted about 6 minutes to make that right turn.

Not Ford, but Frog

Let's hope that there aren't any tunnelers in that tunnel ph34r.gif

Cyrodiil with trucks

It's me!

Wasteland Wilderness

Arrival to Hobbs

That car is European - Mercedes C



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SubRosa
post Jul 11 2020, 07:32 PM
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It is cool that they have car accidents closing off lanes, and the cars involved are even crumpled up!

The sunrise pic is really good, I wonder if Decrepit is driving the train in the background?

A Frog! laugh.gif The street lights in that pic are sideways as well. Normally they hang vertically in the US.

Hey its trees!

It's Lopov behind the wheel!

The wasteland does look like the wasteland.


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Acadian
post Jul 11 2020, 07:53 PM
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Fill up the tank! That’ll cost ya!

Aww, I love sunrises in the desert and you captured a beautiful one.

Haha, a Frog Ribett-150.

This really is a nice looking game!


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Renee
post Jul 13 2020, 01:10 PM
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Lopov: we simply call those flashing lights blinkers, or turn signals. Turn signals is the more formal word in my parts, though in other parts of America they are probably called by other names.

What kind of trailer is that in the Night picture? What are you supposed to be hauling?

Whoa, it's a service station. Oh my gosh, an actual car wreck! "Charged" looks like Best Buy. It's funny how they keep dancing around all the official brands and makes.

The more I see pictures of this game, the more I get interested. I mean, is there a version where we can simply drive a car around? laugh.gif All these pics are making me miss my traveling days. I'd get an old Nissan pickup or Corolla like I used to own. smile.gif Be a traveling hippy again.

QUOTE(haute ecole rider @ Jul 10 2020, 04:35 PM) *

I remember asking my Dad about it once (he knew a lot of Big Rig drivers from his work) and he explained to me that it's to let them know they can move into the lane in front of you. Once that driver makes the change, they'll flash their lights back at you as a "Thanks, buddy" signal.

I started doing that while driving my little car on those Interstates - I really paid attention to the Big Rigs and gave them space if they needed to change lanes. . .

Me too! Back when I used to drive all over the country I got into the habit of flashing the lights on my little car (or pickup) to let them know it was safe to cut in front of me. Sometimes they'd flash back.

This post has been edited by Renee: Jul 13 2020, 01:27 PM


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Lopov
post Jul 13 2020, 05:29 PM
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@SubRosa - I noticed that in some towns traffic lights are hanging vertically.

I also noticed Ford S-Max on roads, which was immediately unusual to me, because AFAIK this model is produced in Europe only. I checked it up on the Wiki and noticed that the car indeed isn't sold in the USA. So I'm assuming that it's an oversight, because the producers are from the Czech Republic.

@Acadian - the FROG inscription apparently caused quite a ruckus in the forums when seen for the first time, because fans wanted to see Ford written there. Now instructions can be found online how to edit the inscription or download a mod that changes it.

@Renee - once you buy your own truck, you can drive it without any trailer as well anywhere you want, but you must have some cash to pay for the gas of course. You can't drive a common car around. If you're in a mood just for driving, I recommend GTA San Andreas, it features cities, deserts and forestland. If you're not feeling like doing any missions, you can enter cheat codes to enable all possible areas without doing any missions. I often did this if I felt like just driving around. Compared to GTA IV and V, San Andreas' drivers actually have much better AI.

I don't remember anymore what was I hauling in that night route but I remember that it was something heavy.

We call those lights "blinker" as well, but it's of course not our original word but borrowed from German, or even English, as I just learned.


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Renee
post Jul 13 2020, 08:12 PM
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Thanks, but nah, I don't want to go back to GTA. laugh.gif Vice City was fun when I tried it (pre-Oblivion) back in 2006. I'd feel silly playing a gangsta at age 50. laugh.gif

The appeal of these truck simulator games is seeing all that scenery. smile.gif It reminds me of driving around in my 20s and 30s all over the country. I did do some searches and you are right. There are several truck simulator games, but nothing which lets someone just travel around in a car. I think it'd be sort of fun playing as a courier in an ordinary car, which is a job I had at age 18. I drove a Nissan truck. That's when I learned to drive a manual, because of that job.



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Lopov
post Jul 14 2020, 09:35 AM
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You don't need to play as a gangsta if you'll be just driving around. But you need cheat codes to enable the whole map, because game-wise it gets opened as you progress through quests. But honestly I don't expect that you'll be returning to the GTA. bigsmile.gif

Things that bother me or I find them difficult in the game so far:

-cornering! I still haven't gotten used to it, especially if hauling some extremely long trailer. Maybe it can't be properly achieved with mouse & keyboard, but I often have problems with the tail of the trailer brushing up against sth. like traffic lights or light poles. If I try to take a wider arc when turning, it works, but only as long as there isn't incoming traffic.

-I absolutely have no idea how to reverse properly, that is so, that the trailer moves in the desired direction. There are a lot of instructions written online how to do it properly, looks like I'll need to give them a thorough read.

-the game is quite strict when it comes to punishing you if you drive through a red traffic light. Even if you drive through a crossroad while there's still green light, but then for some reason takes a long time (like cornering) to make it through, so red light comes on in between, you can get a fine, if spotted by a police patrol, which are especially in towns present very often.

Here are some more pics from my last routes before buying my very own first truck.

Oversize Load

Overtaking

Sunglasses required

Behind the wheel of Mack. This trailer, for instance, was extremely difficult to manoeuvre in corners.

Waiting...

Still waiting...

It'll take a while to turn right

The weigh station

Ready to be weighed

After earning around $50,000 I took a loan at one of the banks and bought my first Truck - Volvo, painted in orange.

Once you own your own truck, you must drive to the desired contract location yourself and attach the prepared cargo trailer. All costs, including fuel, repairs etc. must from now on be covered by you.

First route awaits

Parallel

Sunglasses required again

Speeding, because I slept too long, so I was late for the delivery. In the end I was fined $3000 for arriving late, so it was automatically subtracted from the supposed pay.

This post has been edited by Lopov: Jul 14 2020, 09:40 AM


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Renee
post Jul 14 2020, 04:06 PM
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Nah, can't do it. laugh.gif It's kind of funny that I once did play GTA, but that was mostly because I was so fascinated with being in an open world. After discovering Oblivion of course... I never looked back. cool.gif I did look to see if Truck Simulator is on consoles. I'd be tempted to buy a PS4 or Xbox 1 if so, but it's a computer-only game.

Lopov buys a European truck. That's amazing how much money gets exchanged in this game. Taxes, fees, tolls, and you can even get your pay docked if you show up late. huh.gif

As far as "things that you can't do properly".... that is why I was asking if you have to obtain a license before being allowed to drive. Because I know in real life this is a top requirement!

And yes, it's a good idea for intersections to be clear before you begin to travel through them. So even if the light is green, you have to be careful. Although in Maryland, the rule is that if somebody gets stuck in an intersection and the light turns red, everyone else must wait for the stuck car or truck to make it through before anyone else can proceed.

That's a weird haul you've got there in the Weigh Station picture. I've never seen anything like that!



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Acadian
post Jul 14 2020, 06:33 PM
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These shots are great fun to look at as you highlight the beauty and challenges of 'On the Road'.

Do you plan later on to get a truck with a sleeper cab?


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