Trucking Simulator Games Discussion

[Grapefoot]

there were floating objects above the ground

That's just a new method of construction. 

[Wolfwood]

We also got some major news today thanks to an SCS stream.  It further cements the timeline I made but it gives us new information too.  SCS plans to release 1.52 this year and stated they want to release the rest of the German city reworks this year (2024).  This could mean many things including the release of Greece, the German rework being complete, and more.  BeneLux is also the next region they will be reworking.  ETS2 has more in the pipeline we didn't know about that I will need to add to our timeline schedule. I won't include 2025 projects yet.

This 1.52 2024 release also fits perfectly with the California rework finishing this year AND the Missouri DLC for ATS. All this can be found in the stream posted below.

Right on!  Thank you for sharing that info! Good to get this confirmation and extra information!!  Thanks MasterX.

[timmelon]

Arkansas DLC release!

The stream started a little earlier than before, but the release happened at usual time — there were a lot of talking, even with the developer of cabin plush models .

This state is smaller than Washington or Oklahoma, but the road netwotk is still much more dense than in Nevada , so it must have enough sites to see.

So, I am taking my first delivery to Jonesboro, through the roads near southern and eastern borders.

Unlike some locations in Colorado, «discovering» the city don’t require to go deep inside it, and this makes all of them are really easy to open. So, the achievement is too quick to earn — they have even made it easier since it needs only 8 cities (I made only 1400+ miles to visit all 10). This could be logical for Spain or Texas, but not for DLC with so small size .

As for new cargoes, if you have a container carrier, the Bromine just dominates on the market — if sort the orders by the price, I found another type of cargo only on the eleventh page. Even the Boom Lifts had more competition when they were introduced.

I like how many water bodies the new state has — either big ones with clean water, or small ones with a lot of frogs (you can hear them when you cross the most of these... big puddles). Since my pervious garage is full, I decided to buy one in Pine Bluff and use the Army Green-colored truck for further exploration. Some of containers have this color as well, the cargo dealers just don’t want to give me the matching box .

Of course, I needed to visit one of the new forest bases with the log carrier, and turns out this type of trailer may be popular in those areas .

[RainySunshine]

Nice update so far!!! I am loading up the game now (off work) and will play a few hours before I sleep.

Your army green truck blends in nicely with the foliage!

[Wolfwood]

The water effects might be the best I've seen from SCS.  They know how to make swampy water, lol! Also the SOUTHERN FEEL is definitely in this state.  It is surprisingly more beautiful of a state then I ever expected.  No major mountains or stuff like that, but just simple beauty of rural highways, trees, and farms.  So different then what we've been used to with states like Kansas and Nebraska. This state also seems to have a TON of railroad crossings.  So far very beautiful.  I drove in through Texarkana via Oklahoma, and drove down to El Dorado.

I haven't driven the new Mack Pinnacle yet, but I will when I build a new garage in Arkansas.  Got to figure out where.  But I have seen them in he traffic already.

[Anyponedrawn]

The new cities in west Germany are beautifully modeled.  I must say it's very nice.  Love the industry.

[timmelon]

The rusty bridge in Little Rock looks less boring at nighttime, when it has a moving illumination (just like the wind turbines, the light source continues to move in the photo mode ). The same with the airport nearby, with a lot of blue lights.

At first, this church made me think it’s some kind of Austrian palace.

I like the paintschemes of some new companies added in recent patches.

Four years have passed since the first Mack debut, but the microphone is still not connected to the radio . At least, all other trucks doesn’t have a radio at all (Peterbilt fans often use mods which fill the empty radio slot).

Speaking about ETS, yesterday the new DAF (now it’s called DAF NGD, not just DAF 2021) got some update — several small tuning parts and new chassis, including the four-axle one. A source of one of popular complains «why the 2021 truck has an old mechanical parking brake lever» is gone — now we have an electric button, just like in electric Scania.
Plus, we have one more new trailer in existing Wielton DLC — a dumper with higher walls.


UPD:

Kässbohrer trailers are here!

Not enough fun trailers for you? With the release of Kässbohrer DLC, the number of trailer manufacturers have become bigger than the number of truck brands!
So, in addition to (usual for 2024) 15 m trailers, the eighth trailer pack have the first licensed HCT couple, the first two-axle curtainsider with a steering axle, and a new crazy crossover of the lowboy and container fittings. Unlike the flatbed with container fittings, this option makes the trailer unable to carry the typical lowboy cargo (tractors, excavators etc.), so it can be useful only for people who see some fun in carriyng one 20' container with lowered center of gravity .

Anyway, this lowboy is the most important part of this DLC for me — it looks more interesting than the standard one (just look at this cute tiny crane for lifting some heavy stuff to the platform section), so, after I make several more rides in Arkansas, I will try this trailer out... not in container carrier role, of course . As 15-meter dryvan have made the 13.7-meter ones obsolete, I think I will completely switch from the unlicensed lowboys to Kässbohrer.
But it’s not all! Tomorrow will be an update of another trailer pack — Krone. The electrified trailer is coming into the game, so we will have another update of @MasterXtreme’s checklist.

[MasterXtreme]

A lot of info coming this week.  I think it's easier if we just post this.  Expect new reveals for all the rest of this week.  This sums it all up in a minute.

From trailers, new truck reworks, Greece confirmed for this year, and a significant surprise we will be teased this week. Something we don't even know about.

[timmelon]

A couple words about the DAF upgrade. No sideskirts for new chassis (and painted fenders — it’s DAF, after all ), but instead there is an optional «reinforced» bumper, which looks a little bigger and higher.

Before the update, this model lacked the short 6×2/4 chassis — seems like the manufacturers were working on optimizing the air and fuel tanks, and they succeeded . The new chassis (named FTG) is noticeably shorter than the similar one added at the start (FTN) but has bigger fuel tanks — two with 825 l (don’t forget to choose the correct option) instead of one with 600. That’s pretty cool because usually this chassis carries the least amount of fuel — for example, the newest MAN has laughable 450 l.
As for Arkansas, I already have 83% of it. Those small «appendixes» near the main roads were usually visited not for taking cargo from there, just to look at the scenery. I like how the most of dirt roads are made — yes, some of them are still bumpy like forest roads in Washington, but in the new state these roads are usually more wide and smooth, so you may worry less about the annoying trailer damage messages .

That church I mentioned before — I have already driven near it even more times than it was with OKC Sky Bridge while exploring Oklahoma. Also, Texarkana (which has several more depots after the update) and Idabel were a popular starting or destination points for my rides in AR . One more thing — while my exploring, there was exactly one time when I had enough luck to pass several green traffic lights in a row. Aside from that, I was stopping on every red light in every settlement . There were no 8-9 lights in a row, like Idaho has, but it’s still annoying — Nebraska was some kind of relief when they made several towns with minimum of traffic lights. In ETS, the lights are much more better synchronized with each other... while the right turn on red is prohibited by default — luckily, we can do this almost everywhere in ATS (this makes the annoyment a little smaller ).

[RainySunshine]

Always enjoy reading your insight and adventures.  It's going to be a very busy release week.  Curious what the secret announcement will be.

[timmelon]

Curious what the secret announcement will be.

...and will it divide the fan base to enjoyers and whiners again?

[RainySunshine]

No matter what they do, people will whine and complain.


I did notice in the Mack Pinnacle stream... they hinted at dirt and dirty trucks. Such as trucks getting dirty when using them. I wonder if that is the secret announcement?  They have truck wash locations in ATS.  Not sure about ETS2, I don't remember any.

[timmelon]

Try Krone eTrailer

The second trailer DLC has the second update — after adding the drop side model two years ago, today we have a previously announced dryvan/reefer equipped with electric powered axle with its own battery. If you don’t have this DLC, now there is a 50% discount.
This type of equipment is still more or less unique, so you can try it just as a Freight Market order — at least (unlike those two electric trucks), you can choose the paintscheme: the colorful one, the white-and-blue Krone-themed one and a company-themed one.
The only proper way to test the electric Krone (Electrone?) is to make the save and take the same cargo in the same trailer, but with normal and powered axle. Without that expressive paintscheme, the only visual difference is some unusually looking hub at the middle trailer axle, and of course, you can hear a whistling sound during the acceleration.

I tried to keep the same speed limits, but faster acceleration makes the ride with powered trailer a little less smooth if you use a retarder-cruise control combination — you reach 120 km/h quickly, then retarder starts to catch you every 20 seconds, forcing to accelerate from 115 km/h again and again . Using the non-powered trailer, the truck goes under 115-119 km/h almost all the time, so retarder doesn’t slow your down.
At the end, even in these non-perfect conditions, I had about 20 percent less fuel consumption.

If make the speed control less stiff, I believe that promised «up to 40 percent» fuel saving can be real, also, the extra power will be handy for heavy cargoes or steep climbs. I think the extra power is the primary reason for use this trailer in the game, because the price-per-distance ratio in *TS is so high (even on the first level) so you may not worry about the fuel expences at all .

[Graymist]

Trailers just do not interest me.    But I am glad they keep doing this stuff.  It means a lot to SCS and these companies to see their products in a virtual world where people ACTIVELY want to purchase these things and use them.  It's fun and exciting to see it all grow.

[timmelon]

Anyway, the electric trailer is much more easy to find than the electric truck.
You need just to choose a dryvan/reefer-specific cargo for less than 350 km distance, and the trailer will be magically delivered to your depot .
People who sets the Freight Market options to prefer 20-30-minute rides can find those eTrailers at most of general goods depots.