Trucking Simulator Games Discussion

[Silverwing]

WAY TOO much to talk about now, lol! So far I am really liking Colorado.  I can't wait till Montana and Wyoming are done.  That will really help complete all of Idaho's routes as well.

[Captain Ridiculous]

Colorado has been great.  As much as I loved the Idaho DLC, I think Colorado has outshined it in terms of city's.  Scenery though in Idaho was very beautiful and can't be forgotten so fast.


Also cannot wait to get myself a fleet of Freightliners Cascadia's named after the Pacific Northwest region of America (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Western Montana, Northern California).  One of the benefits to having so many truck companies from the Northwest is they often like to make nods to the region they are home too. Whether it is via name or with little interior trim nods.

Here is the NEW and OLDER Cascadia side by side.

[timmelon]

^I feel some Kenworth T680 vibes from New Cascadia . Looks like maximum arerodynamic efficiency makes the truck to look very similar (like post-2008 airplanes, where even the faces are almost the same).

Well, while everyone drives in Colorado, I decided to look at 1.39 in European game . So, as I expected, the new trailers are as much profitable as in ATS, and they are ridiculously easy to handle. Low Loader look more weak than his American counterpart, and I don’t see a real reason to use small wheels in it (if its backside will be higher, all available cargoes will still fit there ), but all steerable wheel makes it useful for any noob, and I like how SCS made the Dozer Crawl for it — this cargo looks different for shortened and extended mode of the trailer’s frame. Same with tractors — you can take one of two of them, depending of the chosen setup. Low Bed is a bit different, but most of available orders are the same as for the Low Loader. But I very like how some cargoes (like this couple of loaders) are loaded at it — they use all length of the trailer, which looks very unusual after the Transformer or a Cable Reel on triple ATS lowboy .

[Graymist]

I got to say something about the latest Iberia Coastal Cities blog post.  A lot of it looks un-polished to me.  I know it's work in progress, but a lot of it just doesn't look right.  Some buildings look like unfinished textures while others clearly look like a block with a texture on it with no depth.  I can't say I was too impressed with the photos in this latest update.  It looks pretty incomplete. Some of it looks "too perfect" with no wear or age shown on the buildings or roads. While others look like mediocre copy-n-paste buildings...

[Wolfwood]

10/10

SCS has made MY COLORADO beautiful!  It looks great and in many ways represents the state as it is!  If you had to condense the state into the size of a game, this did it!  They got so many details right and it amazes me since they are across the world!  So many people give game companies from their area a hard time for producing jank, but these guys know what they are doing!  Top tier and an attention to detail.  They are as much in the trucking simulator game biz as they are the geography/city planning gig.  They are learning so much and making American cities and towns much more realistic! 

It's amazing to see your home actually be in a game for a change!  It's a very cool thing and you can see things from a different lens and scrutinize deeper.  But they did so good!  Fantastic.  No complaints. 

[timmelon]

So, they have shown us another two Cascadia’s cabs: Official Announcement.

And respect to the Transportbotschafter for providing their showtruck for a sound recording session . So, when the new truck will come out? The release of Iberia DLC will be in two-three weeks, so they probably will not make two releases at the same time time. Or they will?

[Grapefoot]

I AM EXCITED.

I hope the Cascadia releases after Iberia.  I want time to play Iberia without feeling rushed to have to go get the Cascadia.  I am sure they will also have a special Christmas event as they usually do.  So a new truck for that will be nice.

[Anyponedrawn]

I'm taking my Cascadia in blue!

Hope we get some good paint schemes.

[RainySunshine]

I am more curious why this freight company Transportbotschafter even owns an American style truck in Europe?  I didn't know any Euro company would want to buy American trucks. 

[timmelon]

Well, if it’s a show truck, why not?
Even if they can fit into European length restriction only with short trailers, some people are still buying them, mostly for non-commercial purposes:

Maybe some of that owners just like to see a truck with the hood — I think it’s a main reason of making the «WTF?»-looking unofficial Scania T-series .
And of course, there is Russia (and some other post-Soviet countries, but in much lesser degree), where US trucks were pretty popular in late 90s — early 10s, and that was a real commercial use:

Most of that combinations of 45' European trailer and long American tractor exceed the normal EU truck length and don’t leave Russian borders, but there was one company which used custom shortened FL Century tractors to haul 40' containers (this couple fits to EU regulations) from Finland to Moscow through St. Petersburg. Today American trucks slowly disappear from Russian roads, and more liberal length regulation is used in another way — some of companies buy normal European trucks and use them with exclusive 53' trailers made by EU companies specially for Russia.

[RainySunshine]

^ You answered my question because  I thought the US cabs would make length restrictions difficult and impractical for towing freight.  I think it's cool that some companies and individuals buy American trucks.  I also recently learned there is a hidden American car culture in parts of Europe too, where people buy American cars! I've been groomed to think by most of my European friends that everything they build is superior and American products are inferior to them, so they would never buy it.  Sigh...

It's nice to know people don't have such biases and are happy to buy what they enjoy.

I didn't know the Transportbotschafter was a show truck.  That makes sense.

I wish operators could buy Euro trucks in the US... or at least Euro companies would offer some.  I've read many reasons why they aren't offered, many say power, but I say nonsense to that.  But I'm no truck expert.

[timmelon]

Maybe, Daimler-Benz (or how this company calls himself now) will earn more money in the US when they comply with American way of trucking instead of forcing the European one .
Just showing their presence with a Mercedes steering wheel in Cascadia’s cab is enough .

[RainySunshine]

Maybe, Daimler-Benz (or how this company calls himself now) will earn more money in the US when they comply with American way of trucking instead of forcing the European one .
Just by showing their presence with a Mercedes steering wheel in Cascadia’s cab .

I fine example of a company spending more money on their products that don't actually earn them money has been that Fiat-Chrysler merger.  When Fiat bought Chrysler, they used all of Chrysler's money to prop up Fiat and bring back Alfa Romeo and Maserati (they let Lancia die...).  Chrysler was selling roughly 800,000 new cars a year and Dodge was selling 1.2 million.  Fiat stopped using money to continue Dodge and Chrysler's development and now Chrysler is barely selling 160,000 cars a year and Dodge is under 400,000...

They brought back Alfa, Maserati, and Fiat, but they all saw lackluster sales and now sales declines.  Fiat has sold less then 2,000 new Fiat's in the US this year! Wow... bad. 

According to the latest sales analysts of FCA, over 67% of the money they earn is from the North American market and in the past 3 quarters of sales, it was the only one that has been profiting.  So the question is, why is Fiat not investing in the Chrysler and Dodge brands which are still pulling in money despite the huge sales declines!  They haven't had new vehicles in ages!  Lol! AHH!

And now we got the merger with PSA and FCA... we'll see how that goes. 

[timmelon]

At least, Volvo bought the White Motor Company (and immediately dropped the former name), and their trucks are being sold pretty well.
But Volvo is a better player than Fiat .

[RainySunshine]

Volvo trucks are quite popular.  You see them a lot.