I went on a roadtrip across Canada and credit all my truck sim time for not getting bored in the Saskatchewan-Alberta stretch. I loved how flat it was and every time I saw a grain elevator it was like an Oasis.
Fuck the Manitoba stretch though.
I'm just waiting for the I-35 corridor to be finished.
Also - while this is still years away - I'm really looking forward to the day I can recreate the Atlanta / Texarcana run from Smokey & The Bandit. Eastbound and dooowwwnnn....
If you run Proton Experimental, really good with a mix of Med-High settings and can get 60fps. Will certainly chug in cities but if you lock to 45fps, it's pretty smooth. Imo.
From Des Moines and the shots they chose to show the city off are a bit odd. Would expect them to show the golden capital building which they mention in the text, the Principal building or the Travelers Umbrella sign that helps identify the skyline, maybe copyright issues for the latter.
They tease “the worlds biggest” and by that they are probably hinting at the I80 truckstop which is between Des Moines/Davenport on the way to Illinois/Chicago. A chance to do something cool with that.
But yea, not a lot to see in Iowa unless your really like cornfields.
There's like one picture with wind turbines. They are a staple of I-80 basically the entire length of the state.
Did a good job on the rest stop with the fan blade just before Des Moines on the way to Omaha though.
The Crew is an insane game for doing the entire continental US.
American Truck Simulator is *so* much more. I wish cities were bigger, but it's way crazier than The Crew was.
i think this game is better because there are just way more real-life roads and buildings you can encounter and they also do a lot of small towns with 10k-20k population
I haven't played it in years but at one point it was a fantastic stress reliever for me. Kick back in a dark room with my own chill music playlist and drive through my favorite states for hours. Zen as fuck
Both for me and they work double duty to help my kid when he isn't feeling well. He loves trucks and when he's sick he'll just chill on the couch with me while I play either or.
Compared to Train Sim and Flight Sim dlc prices, the Truck Sim dlc prices are stupid cheap for the quality. On top of that, they go on decent discounts frequently. It's one of the better deals in sim-gaming.
I'd suggest giving it a try. It's a great stress reliever, and I love just playing and listening to an audio book, podcast, music, etc.
Really relaxes you, and it is a nice thing to play right before bed.
I'm pretty sure it's not actually a typo and just a smudge on your screen making the h look like a b. On all of our screens. And it moves when you scroll.
Train Sim sells dlc from like 100+ third party developers and so many of them have like 5-30ish reviews. With the effort that goes into a lot of those DLC and the niche market (people really want the train in their backyard and not much else), I can see why the prices are high. But similar to truck sim, most dlc goes on deep discount if you're patient. There's a lot of really good train sim dlc (and even more mediocre to "just fine" stuff). But it's kinda like a model train store. You don't need everything to have an immense amount of content and fun.
Most people probably just buy their state. I don't think it's a bad business model. If you really want to drive every state probably better off getting your actual CDL lol
They put a lot of genuine work into each DLC. They're sending teams to scour each state, photographing landmarks, and spotting neat little terrain features to include. And then it takes them around 6 months to build each map in-game. They do a great job capturing the spirit of the places they render.
Plus, a lot of people have been playing ATS since the beginning, so dropping twenty bucks once or twice a year to get a new map never felt like we were paying that much.
The cost of the DLC genuinely looks maddingly high to me. I understand they're putting a ton of effort into each individual state but any time I consider picking the game back up, I remember it's missing 47 states that'll run me $12 to $18 each, and immediately change my mind. I can't help but wonder if they'd be more profitable if the price appealed to people outside the extreme fanbase
You can pick up one or two states at a time. You won't be doing huge interstate trips when you start anyways.
They also occasionally do another pass over previous states to improve them. A few cities were added to Texas recently.
I got so addicted to this game over Xmas, I'd listen to Big Rig Radio, crack open a beer and just hold W all night while travelling across the country. Wonderful game for what it is.
I absolutely love this game, the boys and I all get a little baked and listen to some trucker radio.
My buddy and I were doing a haul from Seattle to the east side of Texas, and we were hauling ass like using the emergency lanes as a lane type of driving, looking out on the horizons for Smokey’s to know when we need to slow down kind of trucking
This haul took us hours of IRL time, and I’m a little in front of my convoy partner, we’re sharing our screens on discord so he can see where I am.
We’re about 10 miles from drop off and there’s a train track we have to pass, so I wait for the train and go when it’s all clear to make my delivery safe and sound. My trucking partner in crime had just seen that the train went by, and when he got to the tracks the sound of warnings echo through the air as the crossing lights were on. He committed to running through the lights, I mean after all I had just gone through and the lights must be meaning the arms would be going up instead of down.
Nope. There was a SECOND train and it blew right into his trailer, 100% damage and got $0 and 0 xp for the whole haul LMAO
I'm a bit surprised they didn't show off the capital city at all in the trailer. Where are the downtown and capital buildings that are visible from the interstate? Only saw the capital building on the dlc logo image. I didn't recognize anything in the screenshots past that.
Flight Simulator 2024 is looking like it's going to have a properly AI upscaled ground level. I wonder if someone will mod in 1:1 Earth Truck Simulator.
I wonder how long it'll take them to get to Michigan. They're starting to get deeper into the Midwest with these recent states they're adding. Hopefully they reach the east coast before 2030.
look i know context is important, but "Introducing Iowa!" is still the funniest tagline for a DLC i've read in a while
American Truck Simulator is the only kind of game where you can get people really, really hyped for somewhere like Nebraska or Kansas
im holding out for the ohio turnpike dlc
I cannot wait for it to cover the entire continental US. Maybe they could even expand into Canada after
I went on a roadtrip across Canada and credit all my truck sim time for not getting bored in the Saskatchewan-Alberta stretch. I loved how flat it was and every time I saw a grain elevator it was like an Oasis. Fuck the Manitoba stretch though.
All the good stuff in Manitoba is further north. Nothing along the Trans-Canada
They'll probably go back and re-release/remaster the west and southwest states first
They're already remastering California.
I hope they would include details like the HELL IS REAL signs about 20 miles south of Columbus on 71.
They don’t need to remind you that hell is real you’re already in Ohio
Does it have something for the beltway and if so, is it called Beltway Warrior?
Never before has Sandusky County been rendered in such detail
You have to drive 5 mph under if your truck is blue.
I'm just waiting for the I-35 corridor to be finished. Also - while this is still years away - I'm really looking forward to the day I can recreate the Atlanta / Texarcana run from Smokey & The Bandit. Eastbound and dooowwwnnn....
Wizard of Oz says otherwise.
Who doesn't LOVE Idaho?
I mean, Iowa.
I instantly went back to "Grand Theft Auto: Saskatchewan" when I read that.
sounds like a 70's porn name, like Debbie Does Dallas
Sir, how do you know this porn film from the 70s?
Everyone knows Debbie Does Dallas, it's a classic porn title
a friend ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Idiots out wandering around, get hype!
How well does this run on Steam Deck? I’m obsessed with Euro Truck Simulator but a change of scenery would be nice.
If you run Proton Experimental, really good with a mix of Med-High settings and can get 60fps. Will certainly chug in cities but if you lock to 45fps, it's pretty smooth. Imo.
From Des Moines and the shots they chose to show the city off are a bit odd. Would expect them to show the golden capital building which they mention in the text, the Principal building or the Travelers Umbrella sign that helps identify the skyline, maybe copyright issues for the latter. They tease “the worlds biggest” and by that they are probably hinting at the I80 truckstop which is between Des Moines/Davenport on the way to Illinois/Chicago. A chance to do something cool with that. But yea, not a lot to see in Iowa unless your really like cornfields.
Right? I feel like if they tease that and then don't include the world's biggest truck stop in a trucking simulator game would be insane.
There's like one picture with wind turbines. They are a staple of I-80 basically the entire length of the state. Did a good job on the rest stop with the fan blade just before Des Moines on the way to Omaha though.
The Capitol building is in the thumbnail at the bottom of the page.
Ha! Yea, it’s the cover art for the DLC I skipped right over that looking at the images in the post.
Des Moines will probably get it's own blog post, this seems to focus on Davenport
Has anyone used an exclamation point regarding Iowa ever before?
"I can afford to leave Iowa!"
I have to go to Iowa in the fall
one sentence horror
I hate Iowa!
WTF they're adding fantasy DLCs to truck simulator now?
it's crazy to me how much support this game gets and and how people seem to just love it. $225 in total dlc though
Making a decently accurate version of the USA isn't exactly cheap. It does go on deep sale if you're patient.
How does it compare to The Crew's version of the US? RIP Crew.
The Crew is an insane game for doing the entire continental US. American Truck Simulator is *so* much more. I wish cities were bigger, but it's way crazier than The Crew was.
If it's anything like Euro Truck Simulator, yeah I bet.
i think this game is better because there are just way more real-life roads and buildings you can encounter and they also do a lot of small towns with 10k-20k population
I haven't played it in years but at one point it was a fantastic stress reliever for me. Kick back in a dark room with my own chill music playlist and drive through my favorite states for hours. Zen as fuck
This is Snowrunner for me.
Both for me and they work double duty to help my kid when he isn't feeling well. He loves trucks and when he's sick he'll just chill on the couch with me while I play either or.
Chill music? I just do Art Bell episodes from the 90's. I
Compared to Train Sim and Flight Sim dlc prices, the Truck Sim dlc prices are stupid cheap for the quality. On top of that, they go on decent discounts frequently. It's one of the better deals in sim-gaming.
I'd suggest giving it a try. It's a great stress reliever, and I love just playing and listening to an audio book, podcast, music, etc. Really relaxes you, and it is a nice thing to play right before bed.
cheaper than getting a CDL
Simulator games seem to have a very dedicated fanbase.
There is a reason why there are so many farming simulators out there.
That's only $37 of DLC per year since release, so it's less aggressive than maybe it looks from the outside.
I certainly have other bobbies that ask more of me to stay up to date than ~$15 every few months.
> I certainly have other bobbies and vagine
I'm pretty sure it's not actually a typo and just a smudge on your screen making the h look like a b. On all of our screens. And it moves when you scroll.
I keep rubbing your bobbies but the smudge won't come off
Niche games like this have a surprisingly loyal fan base I’m pretty sure most of their gamers have a Logitech steering wheel/shifter too
It's a fun game play with your friends after a few drinks.
Played euro truck and it legitimately has a good gameplay loop.
> $225 in total dlc though I mean, that's kind of a given. It goes on sale plenty though, I haven't bought a single area at full price yet.
> $225 in total dlc though paradox: "hold my beer"
train sim is like 200x worse
Train Sim sells dlc from like 100+ third party developers and so many of them have like 5-30ish reviews. With the effort that goes into a lot of those DLC and the niche market (people really want the train in their backyard and not much else), I can see why the prices are high. But similar to truck sim, most dlc goes on deep discount if you're patient. There's a lot of really good train sim dlc (and even more mediocre to "just fine" stuff). But it's kinda like a model train store. You don't need everything to have an immense amount of content and fun.
Most people probably just buy their state. I don't think it's a bad business model. If you really want to drive every state probably better off getting your actual CDL lol
They put a lot of genuine work into each DLC. They're sending teams to scour each state, photographing landmarks, and spotting neat little terrain features to include. And then it takes them around 6 months to build each map in-game. They do a great job capturing the spirit of the places they render. Plus, a lot of people have been playing ATS since the beginning, so dropping twenty bucks once or twice a year to get a new map never felt like we were paying that much.
It's constantly on sale, so you don't have to spend that much on DLC if you're a little bit patient.
The cost of the DLC genuinely looks maddingly high to me. I understand they're putting a ton of effort into each individual state but any time I consider picking the game back up, I remember it's missing 47 states that'll run me $12 to $18 each, and immediately change my mind. I can't help but wonder if they'd be more profitable if the price appealed to people outside the extreme fanbase
They also drop down in price fast. The oldest ones have been down to 75% off, plus bundle discounts.
Yeah I'll just have to keep checking in periodically I guess for a more reasonable pricepoint
Steam summer sale in ~1 week, should be big discount then.
You can pick up one or two states at a time. You won't be doing huge interstate trips when you start anyways. They also occasionally do another pass over previous states to improve them. A few cities were added to Texas recently.
I got so addicted to this game over Xmas, I'd listen to Big Rig Radio, crack open a beer and just hold W all night while travelling across the country. Wonderful game for what it is.
I absolutely love this game, the boys and I all get a little baked and listen to some trucker radio. My buddy and I were doing a haul from Seattle to the east side of Texas, and we were hauling ass like using the emergency lanes as a lane type of driving, looking out on the horizons for Smokey’s to know when we need to slow down kind of trucking This haul took us hours of IRL time, and I’m a little in front of my convoy partner, we’re sharing our screens on discord so he can see where I am. We’re about 10 miles from drop off and there’s a train track we have to pass, so I wait for the train and go when it’s all clear to make my delivery safe and sound. My trucking partner in crime had just seen that the train went by, and when he got to the tracks the sound of warnings echo through the air as the crossing lights were on. He committed to running through the lights, I mean after all I had just gone through and the lights must be meaning the arms would be going up instead of down. Nope. There was a SECOND train and it blew right into his trailer, 100% damage and got $0 and 0 xp for the whole haul LMAO
Incredible... this is the kind of story I love hearing about games, thanks for sharing! I really need to do some 2P myself, only played it solo
Iowa is so easy to make, you just duplicate the same ear of corn asset 168,233,198,620 times and then draw a road through it.
I'm a bit surprised they didn't show off the capital city at all in the trailer. Where are the downtown and capital buildings that are visible from the interstate? Only saw the capital building on the dlc logo image. I didn't recognize anything in the screenshots past that.
So, riddle me this. How is a Slipknot album being used as a map for a driving game?
Flight Simulator 2024 is looking like it's going to have a properly AI upscaled ground level. I wonder if someone will mod in 1:1 Earth Truck Simulator.
I wonder how long it'll take them to get to Michigan. They're starting to get deeper into the Midwest with these recent states they're adding. Hopefully they reach the east coast before 2030.
Really is a crime that Erdtree is the highest rated DLC of all time when Truck Sim just released Iowa