Trucking Simulator Games Discussion

[Anyponedrawn]

I'm really enjoying driving around, thou i cant really take any part on which places look more authentic, since i've never been to USA, which is kinda why i like to play this, I love looking at new scenery, since it's quite different compared to Finnish scenery

Well right now you can get a bundle of Euro Truck Simulator 2 including Finland for under $15 USD/EUR.  I will admit, the portion of Finland in the game isn't huge and I've been whining they should expand further north into the cold reaches of no-man's land!    I wanna touch the Arctic! So if you want to drive in an area with familiarity, I would suggestive you pick up ETS2.  Older parts of the map (I see @MasterXtreme went in-depth) are not as high quality as current newer parts of the map.  They usually have a new map DLC once a year for ETS2.

If you want to hit the road and live the American experience of traveling across the open countryside, than I recommend ATS.  The older parts of the ATS map are much better and the newer parts are the current pinnacle of this companies mapping skill.  They are making cities as close to realistic as they can now, complete with fictional companies in the real locations of real companies.  Real buildings, real road layouts, and real signage and mileage signs.  Right now only the American west is complete and they are building the map eastward.  They are on pay to have two map DLC's a year released for ATS.

So it's really up to you.  They are both great in their own way.  Euro trucks seem more sleek and carry smaller loads on tighter roads and streets while ATS has the option of sleeker modern trucks, as well as the classic American diesels on wider American roads with longer distances between towns and plenty to see.

If you want specifics answered, you clearly have come to the right place.


I have driven online before twice.  Both times I was driving around a world map with a few other people on ETS2, but neither time did anyone actually talk to each other.  I guess they weren't to keen with my "Hello, how are you today?" welcome.     There is a large contingent of people who play online, but I prefer to play single player and use their system called, "World of Trucks" which connects you to an online account and keeps track of your mileage, trucks, random driving data, and a place to store in game photos and share with other community members.

[Tüsszent]

Fellow European here. 

When it comes between ETS2 and ATS, I used to solely play ETS2.  But quite honestly, ATS is the better game right now with more innovation, better maps, better value.  It doesn't have the same amount of trucks yet as ETS2, but the company seems to be very focused on expanding ATS.  It's the more exciting game right now in terms of getting more new content and it has a bigger future with so much still to come.  Maps are better in ATS as well. 

There are some unique things to ETS2 such as plenty of countries having toll roads, which the USA does not.  Also crossing borders in some countries in ETS2, requires a lot of border checks.  The most difficult to cross are Russia and Turkey.  Landscape variation is great in ETS2, but there are some large parts of the ETS2 map that are old, generic, and not interesting to look at.  ATS is much more visually interesting as it's like nothing we have in Europe.  The cities are so expansive, the fuel depots are so massive, roads are wide, and landscapes are bigger.  For the US just know that the northwestern states such as Washington and Oregon are green, forested, beautiful.  South into California becomes warm with palms.  As you head eastward into the southwest it is desert and states like Idaho and Colorado, Utah can be quite mountainous.

Both are great games if you find enjoyment of driving on a motorway, driving a truck.  There isn't much more than that.   

[Captain Ridiculous]

Both games have their own positives.  I would choose one that interests you most, and only buy one.  If you have two, you will feel rushed and pressured to try both.  Just get one, and fully play the heck out of it and get your money's worth.  Any questions, we will certainly help.

I love the games just as much for relaxing as I do exploring.  I love to drive around and use the in-game camera to take photos.  There is so much to see.  I also like to drive into towns and cities, then pull up Wikipedia and learn about them.  I pull up Google Maps and use street view to see how accurate the cities are and see which locations are the most realistic.  It's fun to see real life areas and roads, scaled down for the game, but you can clearly see them in the real maps.   This relaxes me.

[Soda]

I'm a new player and I bought both American Truck and Euro Truck!  If you have questions, I will happily answer as a newcomer to the game.  I would also agree with the guy above me, to choose one.  I got overwhelmed when I had both in my inventory and I felt I had to play them both!  It really took away from enjoying it.  Choose one, and enjoy it.  If you really like that, later on buy the other game.

[Rainberry]

Also recently bought the games with the help of some friends.  These guys set me up good on what to expect and what to do. It's a fun game, but the level of enjoyment will vary depending on who you are.  I'm surprised I enjoy it.  I bought it because I wanted to see the country and see Europe.  I want to relax and this game checks all those boxes.  I've also really enjoyed building up my business in the game.

[timmelon]

I love how many members greet a newcomer in this topic. So, the answer on this question

How friendly is it towards new players?

is quite obvious .

[Silverwing]

I love how many members greet a newcomer in this topic. So, the answer on this question

How friendly is it towards new players?

is quite obvious .

Here, let me throw everyone for a loop.


WE DON'T WANT NEW PLAYERS.  GET OUTTA HERE.    REAL TRUCKERS ONLY.  Locals only.


But seriously, if you have specifics, I will happily answer them for you.  I see everyone went quite in-depth with their responses, so I won't repeat.  You can play the game with your keyboard and mouse, or on a Playstation/Xbox/generic controller.  You can also play with a steering wheel and pedals if you have one. There are options to control weather, world events, and turn off police and fatigue.  If you don't turn those off, if you break traffic laws, police will pull you over.  It's not like a GTA game where everything goes crazy, cop cars come flying from the sky and helicopters have armed SWAT repelling from helicopters.  No, the cops just give you a ticket, which hurts your bottom line.  lol.  Fatigue in the game means your driver gets tired.  So there are places to sleep in the game including your "home garage," any other garages you buy, rest stops, rest areas, various parking lots, etc.  You park in them, go to sleep, and you are awake to continue on.  But just plan carefully because some deliveries need to be done within a certain time.  If they expect a load by 10am tomorrow morning, and instead you sleep, you might miss the deadline.  So plan ahead before accepting jobs.

Let's see, what else hasn't been talked about... customizing your trucks is very detailed, allowing you to change many aspects of the truck.  There are more customization options in ETS2 currently, but overall, you have a lot of options to personalize the outside and inside of your truck.  There is also the Steam workshop and other mods you can download for more content.  I'm personally a vanilla player (no mods).

Okay, that's all. 

[timmelon]

ALSO, NO CASUAL PLAYERS ALLOWED.
Only steering wheel plus manual gearbox are acceptable. Ultrawide monitor is strongly recommended .

[Silverwing]

ALSO, NO CASUAL PLAYERS ALLOWED.
Only steering wheel plus manual gearbox are acceptable. Ultrawide monitor is strongly recommended .

3 ultrawide monitors.   You need three of them! 

------------------------------------

When @Nemesis Prime finally logs back in and see's all these responses, long responses, I don't blame them for just leaving and never coming back, lol.    It's pretty overwhelming.

[timmelon]

3 ultrawide monitors.   You need three of them! 

And a video card which can feed them right .

[Silverwing]

3 ultrawide monitors.   You need three of them! 

And a video card which can feed them right .

Of course.  Plus movie-theater quality surround sound, and a chair that has suspension that moves and rumbles with the game.

[timmelon]

Of course.  Plus movie-theater quality surround sound, and a chair that has suspension that moves and rumbles with the game.

I think a video card with that power may be more expensive than all items you have listed.

UPD:

And here is another reworked city!

(Twitter post with video)

This time it’s Hannover, announced to appear in 1.45. Again, those big prefabs and large buildings look really great, and I hope we’ll see a big number of streets, just like in Vienna.
That screenshot with yellow container parking reminds me that old post, where was a teaser for a forgotten (or not? ) idea with rigid trucks.

[Nemesis Prime]

Oooh my, where did i put myself into!? Feels like i opened a whole can of information and threats! XD
Casual players are not tolerated... Let me just take my trailer and park in the dark...

But in all seriousness thank you for all the replies!
I'm also surprised to hear that most of you play solo, I always had impression that this truckers area is like own mini community in the game and you have like your own joined games and stuff, makes me kinda relieved because then it means that i can keep driving on my own without problems and maybe share some pics from my games if i happen to find anything that really caught my eye, maybe you could share some info with me about the real life area if you have been there! I would love to hear
Honestly my biggest dream ever is to travel to USA and visit the Universal studios Transformers ride(big shock right? XD) I wouldnt mind getting a chance to visit like comic con or something either. But since that is like far away dream, the closest thing i can do is to gear up my rig and ride in the truck simulator. It just feels so different when the scenery is so wide and quite different so it's super fun to me
I did make World of trucks account, but it's pretty empty since i just found out about it so all my play time hasnt been recorded from the beginning, but i dont mind, i'm still super beginner, i think i'm like level 8 at the moment XD

Does it count if you get like paintjob mods and logos? Because I'm not giving up my Optimus Prime truck!(wishing there was Nemesis Prime paintjob too, guess i need to look into it and maybe make it myself...) I played SO much that i was able to buy my first truck and buy the paintjob for it and now i'm super happy, next goal is to collect enough money to buy my own trailer! But since the truck ate like ALL my cash i need to drive ALOT, but i actually really enjoy it, unless the load happens to be much longer than i expected... I have trouble turning with super long trailers ok!
But I do go by the law, well i try my best to obey, sometimes i do make mistakes, but nothing too bad has happened yet! Mainly just scratching neighboring car when i've tried to turn and it has gotten a bit too long 8[ And once i forgot to put on lights and i got fined from that... * hides in shame* BUT I do use turn signals everytime!! And now that i assigned the lights on my mouse, i can actually turn them on and off from highbeams much easier so i wont be forgetting my lights again!

But lord i wish i could have like massive speakers to really feel the rumble, I freaking love that big truck noise and like proper drivers chair! XD I think wheel and pedals would be cool too, but i dont have those either and those are super expencive to buy for pc in Finland, so i just have to work with keys and mouse... For now, maybe in the future i could get them once the prices come down a bit.
And my screen is like old samsung tv, but it is bigger than my old screen! Not quite as wide as 3 screens thou XD But man it would be cool to have one of those long curved screens, but again there is no way i could afford them XD

[timmelon]

Don’t forget the Steam Workshop — it has a lot of mods with classic trucks, so you can find the true Optimus Prime-like cabover . Of course, due to constant game upgrades some of these mods can become obsolete, but they still remain driveable.
As you may read on earlier pages, some people do comparisons with real life locations and their in-game counterparts.
Everybody makes mistakes during early hours of driving, but this can also be a source for funny screenshot compilations .
The hardware matter is not so critical, although the game itself can be very hungry for the PC resources. I have seen a noticeable FPS drop even after going to the monitor with a slightly bigger resolution, so the old 32" TV with 720p (I have used my Samsung for a small time) was even better than normal 1080p monitor, if don’t care about the pixelated picture so much.
AFAIK, there are programs who allow to use the mouse as a steering wheel in the *TS games, so you don’t need to spend a lot of money if you want try smooth turning.
[spoiler]My current «trucksim area» setup (there is also «working area» to the left)

is a result of discounts, searching on second-hand market and sudden side contract (some parts were even crafted by me — after hours of research of game-related forums). From the other side, my current trucking seat is a wooden chair with a small pillow used as lumbar support , because my computer chair don’t really get along with wheel and pedals position, and making a pro-gamer’s mount is really expensive. Also, all simulator-oriented stuff is usually a true geek product, so it’s a small market, where some discounts or sales almost never happen.[/spoiler]

[MasterXtreme]

The photo updates for hannover look good.  I guess it's confirmed they are working on rebuilding German cities, FINALLY.