Euro Truck Simulator 2.

[Ferry_vO]

Found this on sale at Steam last week, the Original game and the expansion pack together for €5,93 ($8.19) and I have to say it is not a bad game! Quite a different pace from all my race sims, but quite relaxing to drive around.
The basic objective of the game is to make money and gain experience by hauling freight all over Europe, so you can buy your own truck and start your own trucking company. You can even hire other drivers if you want.
I first started out driving for other companies to get some funds, get used to the driving and explore the world a bit.

Inside a Volvo:



My dream truck is the 730 hp version of this Scania:

 

[Ferry_vO]

Driving to and from the UK can be a bit confusing with left and right hand drive trucks and switching to the other side of the road when you have crossed the channel:



Stuck in a bit of traffic in Germany:



And after a few days of working for others I bought my first truck today! A 480 hp strong Renault Magnum:



Driving out of Amsterdam, of course it is raining..:



And there's good news for American truckers too:

http://steamcommunity.com/games/227300/announcements/detail/1280454197850462242

 

[Tako_Kichi]

I've had ETS2 for about a year now and still drive it from time to time. Most of my driving is in the UK and that is where my main garage is based (three trucks, two hired drivers) but I did set up a second garage on the continent with a couple of trucks and drivers.

My rig is currently a 3-axle Scania with some additional 'bling' but my hired drivers are in DAF or Iveco 2-axle trucks as they are cheaper to buy.

 

[andersel]

Way Cool! I'm definitely going to be following the development of the USA version of this sim. Thanks for the H/U.

LA

 

[Daveroo]

ill be following along as well,the USA version mainly,does this sim allow the use of the clutch and shifter?..or is the clutch just "there"?

and is this a world wide type sim?..i mean as far as UE and UK are all the roads towns cities all there like in flight sims?..or just london,or some place in Cornwall?.....or Berlin,and paris?..

im curious because id love to see "Donner Pass" Interstate 80 and 40 modeled...they are bad in summer..but in winter they are a real pain in real life,,steep grades,sharp corners..one area on I80 just east of Colfax Cal,when westbound heading down grade on "Three mile Grade" (seriously 3 miles long)its very steep...like 7% or more...i know its at the Max allowed by the DOT,about three quarters down the grade is a "MAX 55" speed limit curve to the left,with a shear drop if you miss the corner...EVERY summer at least one truck goes off the cliff,,,last summer was a IH standard cab,pulling a 53' semitrailer,all that was left of the tractor was the frame and suspension..even the engine had been ripped out and tossed down the hill,and the trailer was about 20 feet long when it came to a stop.pieces parts of the driver were found..took almost 3 weeks to gather his remains..and they found a man in the sleeper which had been crushed and balled up like a blanket when you take it off your bed and roll it up to toss in the laundry basket.i know this is all sort of morbid...but it does show how dangerous and mean Donner can still be even today.

 

[Ferry_vO]

ill be following along as well,the USA version mainly,does this sim allow the use of the clutch and shifter?..or is the clutch just "there"?

On the highest difficulty/realism setting a clutch is required, though I haven't tried it yet.

and is this a world wide type sim?..i mean as far as UE and UK are all the roads towns cities all there like in flight sims?..or just london,or some place in Cornwall?.....or Berlin,and paris?..

Most major European cities are just the outskirts with some industrial area, you never get to drive into a city. Most of the driving is done along the major highways, and driving times are nowhere near realistic. I can do a 300 mile trip in 45 minutes. Unlike flightsimming I think that's a good thing, as it still is a game; I already have a full-time job! There is traffic on the road, but none of the congestion that makes real trips a nuisance sometimes.
When you are driving through a country you will see some of the landmarks, especially near the cities. I was pleasantly surprised to drive out of Amsterdam and find the road that cuts through Schiphol airport, looking just like the real thing!

 

[Tako_Kichi]

As Ferry said distances are foreshortened (to save time) and only major landmarks are modeled (the rest are generic buildings) but it's still 'believable' for the most part. There is one section of motorway/highway in the UK that is known to be wrong as the developers put in a long tunnel when there isn't a tunnel on that road at all.

The sim works with TIR5 if you have it and it makes a world of difference. Unfortunately my TIR5 unit has started acting up recently, it's like it's gone blind in one eye, up/down, in/out and looking to the right all work but looking to the left causes the view to suddenly lock as if the camera can't read the reflector position. I had the same thing happen to my TIR4 after a number of years use too. I now have to use the hat switch on my wheel and that makes checking for traffic at intersections a bit tricky.

 

[Ferry_vO]

I now have to use the hat switch on my wheel and that makes checking for traffic at intersections a bit tricky.

I use my mouse for that, which is just to the right of my stick shifter. I mapped quite a few functions to that as well.

 

[Javis]

Envy you !

I'm all done. Got 10 million in the bank, 30 garages, 150 trucks with 150 drivers. Has been tremendous fun to get there !


A zillion of mods here : http://www.ets2-mod.com/


and here : http://ets2mods.org/tag/ets-2-american-trucks/


And there's much more but watch out, a lot are tricky to install.


I think the graphics are gorgeous and the game play is great ( something like this would be wonderful to have in FSX or P3D ! ). One gripe i have, the engine sounds are not exactly something to write home about. Like most other sims, seems like devs put a lot of effort in the graphics and don't care much about the audio, which, in my simbook, is just as important as the visual aspect. Usually mods help out, here too. Dunno much about the others because my fav truck has always been the Scania.

Here's a nice new sound for the Scania : http://modbox.us/euro-truck-simulator-2-mods/infexis-ultimate-scania-sound/


There's a couple of derivatives of this game too of which 'Scania Truck Driving Simulator' is worthwhile to have next to ETS2. Lots of hairraising challenges.


http://www.scaniadrivergame.com/en/


I can honestly say ETS2 is a truckload of fun ! Looking forward to the American version !


cheers,
Jan

 

[Ferry_vO]

Those are great looking trucks Jan: Love the first!

I'm now saving up to expand my garage and hire another driver, but with one or two deliveries each day progress is somewhat slow. I'm still enjoying it though!

Thanks for the links, I will have a look this weekend.

 

[Daveroo]

is there a free range?..or roam?..whatever where you dont have to do "business"?...i just want to drive from paint a to point b ...i dont want to have to have a career.i might be lasy...but like FSX i want to sit down and enjoy a flight from a to b,maybe back...in a driving sim i want to same...just drive..i just dont want to do all the other and im repeteing myself now..so im done.

 

[Javis]

Those are great looking trucks Jan: Love the first!

Yep, next to doing your job it's great fun to dress up your truck with all kinds of mods and skins. Still, i never got this one Scania mod i was particularly interested in working properly. It's the so called 'Low Rider', looks great with the bottom front almost touching the tarmac. They have taken great care of the way to add mods, you can just click them on and off in a listing. You can find it in your profile ( wijzigen/ change )

I'm now saving up to expand my garage and hire another driver, but with one or two deliveries each day progress is somewhat slow.

Sure, and of course something can be done about that... Did you loan as much money as you're allowed to from your bank ? There's a way to pay it back all at once so you don't see the bank taking back a large cut of your hard earned cash anymore with each trip you make. And that's just for starters... The downside of course is the chance to completely ruin the game and the fun it brings to try and become a logistics tycoon. If you use it very carefully, just to overcome the slow start of your company, you can have good benefit of it.

Nothing as rewarding as to see your drivers bring in the cash while you're on your own job (i always had this message option of the menu activated). And the're getting better and better at it as you progress in the game. In the end i've seen some drivers earn more money than the boss himself did !

cheers,
jan

 

[Javis]

is there a free range?..or roam?..whatever where you dont have to do "business"?...i just want to drive from paint a to point b ...

Sure you can, Dave.

But why not hook up a trailer and earn some money while you drive from point A to point B ? The whole point of the game is earning money so you can buy this one big and powerful truck that you have set your mind on in one of the truckdealers showrooms. Just driving your truck without a trailer, aka job, from point A to point B is a bit, well... pointless...

In this case it differs very much from FSX and, if you ask me, is just what makes it great to have next to FSX.


Trust me, once you have the game installed and done your first job ( very easy, just click on get hired by a company and everything will be arranged, you just have to pick up your trailer from point A and drive to point B ) you'll see that 'free roam' in this particular game isn't that interesting at all.

cheers,
jan

 

[Daveroo]

i see...i did mean to pull a trailer...deadheading all over would be silly..lol..but i understand now about getting paid ,buying a new rig ,hiring your own guys....i was thinking it might have been like that ratbag sprint car game..i wont call it a sim,you could drive some cool cars ,and race without having to do a championship season,but i did that in real life for many years...i just wanted a sim 410 sprint car to run in races when i had the time to sit down at the pc...but without a cheat you couldnt unlock the good cars without being in championship mode and winning races...in real life...some drivers never win a race...yet want to run for fun when they can..even if they finish last everytime (ive known these guys)

mater of fact..a guy named Pat Harvey does it to this day,he was CSRA (Central State Racing Association )president the entire 11 years i ran with them (off and on myself),and id seen him race back as far as 72 right here on the old auburn track,he is in his late 60s and still racing a car weekly,when they run to "Gold Cup" at silver dollar in Chico...Pat goes and tries to qualify,he ends up in the K main or something,and is usually washed out the day or two before the big race itself...but hes still there,car loaded up on the trailer,and in the overflow parking..and hes hanging out in the pits..a big smile on and visiting his good freinds..like sammy swindel and steve kinser..

 

[Ferry_vO]

Did you loan as much money as you're allowed to from your bank ? There's a way to pay it back all at once so you don't see the bank taking back a large cut of your hard earned cash anymore with each trip you make. And that's just for starters... The downside of course is the chance to completely ruin the game and the fun it brings to try and become a logistics tycoon. If you use it very carefully, just to overcome the slow start of your company, you can have good benefit of it.

Thanks for the tips Jan; I loaned 400,000 from my bank and invested it in expanding my garage from one to three boxes, bought two Daf trucks and hired two drivers. After that I made a trip from Amsterdam to Geneva and from there to Erfurt, each worth about 24,000. I spend a bit of that on fixing up the truck and added a few small mods and a new paintjob:



I still need to climb a few levels to get the option to buy a 500+ hp truck, but for now I still quite happy with my Magnum.

 

[Ferry_vO]

A few new pics of the upcoming ATS: http://steamcommunity.com/games/227300/announcements/detail/1281581999431185542

 

[Ferry_vO]

Meanwhile my business is doing OK, but since I bring in most of the money I decided to spend a bit on myself first before expanding my garages, so I traded the 'old' Renault Magnum for this 680 hp MAN TG with XXL cab and a snazzy paint job:



It gets the job done a lot faster than the Renault, especially in the hills and mountains!

 

[Ferry_vO]

Business is going pretty well, I expanded my garage to five slots and three truck and drivers now. I traded my MAN for this Volvo FH13; with 750 hp the most powerful truck in the game, and still not nearly as expensive as the Scania trucks.
I've customised it a bit, but I like to keep it subtle. The roomiest cabin, 'exclusive' interior, 6x4 chassis, new wheels and a two light bars plus a third party mod that adds the covers between the wheels.

 

[Ferry_vO]

Still working on expanding my business, I now own garages in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Calais, Milan and Berlin, and a total of 22 trucks and drivers. Money really is pouring in now!

Almost all of my drivers have the same type of Daf XF trucks, all in the same 'celestial blue' paint. However, with business going so well I decided to build a few 'show trucks' with some extras added. The new free metallic paint DLC is fun to play around with. Right now my #2 driver (After me of course!) drives this Daf XF Super space cab:



A while ago when I finally reached level 25, I traded my Volvo for a Scania and did a few mods and dressed it up in a custom paint:



I didn't keep it though, as I liked my old Volvo better!

This is how my 'beast' looks now, I mixed my own metallic paint, giving it a sort of metallic look on top of a carbon fibre structure (The Daf in the first shot has a special pattern too):





And some news on further expansion packs: The Nordic countries will be added, and a few more German and Italian cities too.

 

[Ferry_vO]

Still happy with this game, even moreso with a new update and a few DLC packs.
Version 1.11 was released recently, here a list of the most important changes:

Let us shortly recap the major items that are included in ETS2 1.11 update, as it touched pretty much every aspect of the game: physics, AI, simulation, and gameplay refinements:<center style="text-align: left;">

• 3 new cities: Venice, Graz, and Klagenfurt with a lot of new kilometers to explore
• Seat Adjustment feature
• Several months of tweaks of car AI code
• Re-designed radio player for with additional sorting and filtering options
• New Cruise control features
• Displaying current road speed limit in Route Advisor (disable, or switch car or truck specific limits in options)
• Complete UI facelift
• Support for sway bar simulation
• Refined the truck suspension for more control over truck and trailer stability
• Recalculated the center of gravity of each cargo (more individual behavior of the whole rig)
• Controls to adjust trailer stability in options
• Improve collisions of player's truck and AI vehicles
• Re-created all scratch and crash sounds in the game
• Equalized the sound volume of in-cabin engine sounds and external engine sounds for all trucks
• More realistic timing for the air brake sound
• Retarder indicator is lit during automatic retarder usage
• Ability to sell a garage
• Ability to relocate your headquarters to another city

More information on V1.12 is coming tomorrow.

Manwhile my virtual business is booming, I'm up to 22 garages and 110 trucks now so money is coming in faster than I can spend it! I bought four DLC paint packs though (With the major discount on the complete game I still paid less than 15 euros for the whole pack; not bad for a game I have spent 120 hours in so far!), so I decided to give some of my drivers a more colourful trucks with some add-on parts. Here are some results I'm quite happy with; too bad I can't drive them all!

MAN TGX with 'Mage' theme:



Viking DAF XF:



Dark Huntress Iveco Highway:



Dragon MAN TGX:

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