Long time player - is there anything left?

[94cruiser]

Hello,

I was not expecting for this thread to take off like that...
Wow.
Lots of good info to read. I'm on page two.

I don't have a steering wheel (and I'm not in a budget to have one), and I feel that that is a limiting factor.

I've tried all the trucks in the game and find that my second truck - the Kenworth T680 offers very good steering and acceleration.

While the KW W900 can look very cool especially with three rear axles I find the steering at any speed to be very slow, in a way where I kept on crashing much.

I'm currently changing up a big and trying a different truck - Volvo VNL (with 3 rear axles) and feel like the engine I have lacks torque. I guess I got spoiled with the T680...
Do upgraded front tires offer better steering?


I'm up to 62 drivers and 17 garages, 35 trailers. Most of the trucks (I think there are less than 5 that are basic basic) are nicely equipped with good to top of the line engines and transmissions, extra lights, etc and a large number of them with quality paint jobs.

Wish that I could have a car carrier trailer or a fuel tanker trailer.

I'm on level 35 - 18 Wheels of Skill
67,xxx miles driven, 114 deliveries, zero deliveries cancelled.
I have all the skills except one square to complete all of the fuel economy (that was the last skill I was working on)

I did the Eisenhower pass (going down the hill), really want to climb it with a moderate load.

I have all of the maps DLCs and the Volvo and off-road machinery DLCs. I do not have any of the space or other color paint jobs or steering wheels.
I do see the graphics has improved over the years and feel like the map DLCs are nice.

[VTXcnME]

More challenge would be really nice. I really would like to see this game become more realistic. Weather, economy, malfunctions - maintenance, ELD with driving hours, hunger thirst and having supplies for the trip. I wanna lay down my bed and look at that perspective in my cabin. Open window and hear the sounds and sleep. Wake up and inspecting my truck before I drive...

But we can't even open fog light or interior lights, I don't know which one of those would be real in time...

When I'm playing on a day off and need to refill my IRL coffee mug, I always wait until I can pull into a gas station for another cup. Park, turn off truck. Go downstairs make real coffee, come back up. Restart truck, continue drive. LOL.

Having any kind of semi - informal interface to eat/drink (coffee to extend your driving time for a bit)

All that would be cool. One thing I see mentioned a lot is the pre inspection walk around, it would be nice if there was something like that, Even if it was an automated fly around. Giving tire wear percentages or anything like that would be very cool.

@94cruiser

A friend of mine plays with a game pad (PS4 style controller). I know a steering wheel is big money, but maybe a game controller would help some. He seems to have good control response with that.

I will tell you 1000% if I were trying to do everything in ATS on a keyboard... I wouldn't be playing anymore.

I drive the W900 in game and don't' find the steering to be slow.... maybe a issue using the keyboard? But huge kudos to you if that's how you've been playing!

[flight50]

^I have to agree on the gamepad. It makes a difference. But some people are great with keyboards as well. Me, I'm a wheel user. HUGE difference. I also have a real Eaton shift knob, TrackIR and button box. Small setup but I can tell you 1000%, the immersion is there for me with my small setup. I didn't buy everything at once either. The more one gets into this game, the more immersion you'll want. I thought people was nuts for spending $100+ on a dang shift knob, $250 on a button box. My G27 shifter and wheel just wasn't doing it. I needed the upgrade so I did. I can't play with anything less than I have now, or I wouldn't play myself either. I understand not everyone has the means to upgrade components but two simple things like game pad and TrackIR can make a huge difference in the way you feel about the game.

I drive the W900 almost exclusively. Steering is fine for me too but I also use a wheel. SCS tweaked the game not to long ago to help keyboard and pad users. Play with the steering sensitively a bit.

[STEVOLVO]

@flight50 which equipment do you have, I mean, right now? I believe you already wrote somewhere, but I am kinda lazy to search that. Sorry.
I had Driving Force Pro (my first), recently G29, and I tried T150. All of them are not good for me, I didn't have immersion. Also, I do have T3PA PRO and TH8A, whole different story. Should I start looking for better thrustmaster base to match these two or just stay away from it and go for something better. What is your experience with thrustmaster, did you have one of them? I heard people have problems with their ''quick release system''.

[flight50]

@STEVOLVO Its buried in these threads, lol. But my setup is here. viewtopic.php?p=950891#p950891. Once I sell my current house, I'll be looking for a much larger house. One that I can spread out and upgrade to a larger screen vs triple monitors. Heck I might be tempted to go for custom built rig. ATS is pretty much the only thing I play with some F1 in the mix.

I started out with a G27 because that is what I had at the time. But I upgraded to the gear driven Thrustmaster about 2-3 years ago now. Big difference. I have zero issues with the quick release. Not sure why people are saying that. My wheel has never come off....not once. Once I put it together, its stayed. Tighten it down right and it won't budge. I also don't switch wheel per game. I only play ATS/ETS2 and F1 so the default wheel works or me. Thrustmaster is a lot more durable than the G27 I had. I had to replace the G27 because the left blinker wore out once. I have yet to have any issue with my current wheel. Better buttons layout to. A lot more options. Now this new Thrustmaster wheel SCS is advocating could be very nice indeed. I love the layout. If my current wheel ever goes out, I will getting the new T248 Thrustmaster wheel. Its cheaper than the T300 I have but an upgrade to the Logitech wheel I believe. Still expensive but very nice indeed. More ATS/ETS2 friendly.

[STEVOLVO]

@flight50 Thanks for the link, and for a fast response! It's nice rig!
Maybe people are switching the rims too often, so the ring is starting to loose.
I may give a chance to some servo base (those without rim and pedals), and then get the TGT rim, I like it a lot.

[plykkegaard]

I have used keyboard and mouse since ETS2 release
Takes a bit to adapt, but works fine once used to it
Unfortunately I have absolutely no room for a wheel or even worse if I added pedals and shifter to the setup

[STEVOLVO]

@plykkegaard I played for a long time with keyboard, than with the gamepad, and I can tell you, there is no better experience in ATS/ETS2 than steering wheel.
When I finally got one, it blew my mind! I felt like I was playing a new game. Spent a lot of hours with it, and than went straight to the driving school and got my CDL ''on day one'', thanks to practice in game.
Don't get me wrong, but believe me you are wasting your time with keyboard You must get the wheel, like right now!

[plykkegaard]

Don't get me wrong, but believe me you are wasting your time with keyboard

Nahh I got my driver license to operate large vehicles w/o trailer back in the 80ties
Drove a box truck for a local manufacturing company in Copenhagen for a couple of years shortly after
I do know the feeling

[flight50]

blew my mind! I felt like I was playing a new game. Spent a lot of hours with it, and than went straight to the driving school and got my CDL ''on day one'', thanks to practice in game.

Agreed. Makes a big difference. But that is an awesome story. Congrats. If I took a different path in life, it would have been being behind the wheel of a big rig. But since that reality isn't for me right now, ATS is the best that I can do. That's why I'm so passionate about the game. I want to experience as much as possible without actually having to do it in real life. I don't need 100% accuracy or realism though. But the vibe of it all is what I seek.