SCS Logic

[Optional Features]

I agree with the earlier post about SCS focusing on roads instead of features. It's honestly one of the most frustrating parts of the game for me, and the reason I haven't made this my primary game.

I love to drive irl and in game, and I love trucks and have since I was old enough to remember. But ATS isn't really what it should be at this point.

It's a good game, no doubt, but it isn't a great game. And it could be a great game with a little more attention to what makes trucking great as opposed to endless map dlcs, the occasional skin, and a truck here and there.

What SCS needs is a new focus. Instead of trucks being the focus of the world, make the world have trucks in it. What I mean by this is stop leaving out things because they wouldn't apply to a trucker's daily routine.

Routes that are not truck routes, but would fit in the map, should be left in with the signage they would have irl indicating this is no place for a semi.

Low bridges or bridges without proper capacity should also be randomly scattered around the map, in places appropriate for such.

And truckers should be asked to haul everything, not the random 16 cargos SCS devs came up with for flatbeds.

For the last point, I've suggested a node based load system. It makes no sense that general cargo cannot be hauled on whatever trailer is currently available. You can haul forklifts and telehandlers and some other small machines on flatbeds and stepdecks, pallets on lowboys, and hay bales in dry vans.

All of these things happen, and yet are impossible in game.

ATS/ETS2 are dream worlds where truckers are able to do just about anything they please (pull into a weigh station overweight and with damage and get the green light, hit cars and cops and pay only menial fines, etc), yet are bounded by ridiculous rules like the afore mentioned sleep triggers and inability to adjust axle placement on a loaded trailer.

I know people who compare SCS products to Rockstar games, and that is simply not fair.

What is fair is a comparison to other small brand simulators like Farming Sim. In modded Farming Sim, I can connect as many trailers as I like whenever and however I like, strap down cargo, load machines onto lowboys, walk around, open doors and hoods, click buttons to enable functions, and generally haul whatever the heck I want with a truck and trailer. Farming Sim has horrible physics, tiny maps, no gearbox, and AI that are some of the dumbest in any game. And yet it offers a more realistic environment for trucking even without these things than ATS/ETS2 does with.

What this game needs is more of a challenge: trucking isn't an easy life, but this game could be called Easy Road. There is no weather to battle, no traffic jams to slow you down, no breakdowns to delay deliveries, and no unusual loads that require planning to haul safely. It's the most ideal situation possible with almost no challenge to be had. After a while, even with new roads, it starts to get old.

[rookie31st]

they didnt adjust anything

They did. They reduced the penalties and made them dependent on player's level. They publicly announced this change when it happened.
https://blog.scssoft.com/2016/02/get-to ... 0-now.html
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/americ ... able-fines

[XanderSJX]

^ so they didn't change traffic violations that "kids" asked about??? They just adjusted penalty amount. That is same as if for "adults" and tax/insurance/utilities they don't add them and just decrease $/mile for loads. Which is already done with mods. Same as penalties can be and are done with mods. So as CARL said, SCS didn't change anything from what was asked they just did something that could always be done with mods.

[Dukeone]

I subscribe all what seriusmods wrote down here. In my feelings they are afraid to loose the so called "casual players". I think we all started this game as a casual, but the more you play, read Forums, view youtoube etc. the more we want realistic gameplay and challange. Where is the challenge when you get 82000 Dollars for an contract from eugene OR to salt lake city WY? You can instantly buy a new trailer. Why only five trucks in a yard, the half baked wheigh station thing. Don't get me wrong, new states and trucks are cool but the gameplay didn't change since years. A a passionate trucker from Europe I knew a little about the trucking thing and loved the game when it was released. I saw many discussions like this since 2017 in this forum and some I started myself, but nothing really happens.
That's why I made a brake with this game but always kept an eye on it. It has so much potential...
Oh I forgot the blog post about the rigids, I was so happy and hoped it comes... when was the blog post? I forgot it.
There should b an poll that is always on top of the active views that they don't miss it.

They never answered these kinds of questions exactly.
So the questions are:

Are they afraid to loose "casuals"?
Are they more focused to make money with dlc's? (Wich is ok... I purchased many of these in ETS and ATS)
Are they not interested in these things?

Come on SCS staff, please answer us.

[Optional Features]

Yeah, I think you raise an important point @Dukeone. But the real question is what to them is casual gameplay? To go back to my farm sim example, that's another casual game, and yet you can do far more.

All it takes is a click of a button to enable/disable a feature. Walk mode? Check. Cargo securement? Uncheck. Sleep anywhere? Check. Manual trailer connection? Check. All route availability? Uncheck. Use any trailer for cargo? Check. Etc etc.

It doesn't have to be a feature for everyone, but it should be a feature for someone. I think SCS greatly underestimates just how large a section of the community would in fact pay for a dlc with these features. It's incredible that they don't even seem to be considered.

I'd like to extend my earlier point also with docks. I've mentioned this elsewhere, but the scs company situation is kinda like the default open deck trailers. It's depressing.

You pay $11 for a new state to drop off cargo at the same dock you've been using since the game came out. You buy a new garage in this new state with the same horrible ETS2 building you got with the original game. And then you drive around this new state looking at thousands of new prefabs that you simply cannot access.

Like my node based load system where cargo wouldn't be tied to a trailer, but would be available in packs (dlc and mods) that you could reposition around, deliver to multiple stops on a route, etc, I'd like to see a company anywhere concept where the game allowed any structure to become a company.

All of these annoying closed gates, blocked off parking lots, and blinking X's on streets should be replaced with hundreds of new businesses. Every structure in ATS could be a delivery spot, including the houses. How do they think people move from state to state? In a semi.

I have commercial trucks in my neighborhood delivering landscaping supplies, PODs (and similar modular moving containers), appliances, and as mentioned before, entire households of goods. Some of these are rigid frame trucks, but others are semis.

SCS has really painted itself into a corner with all of these limitations. The same map, the same game, would feel so much more alive if they just opened it up to the player.

And I conclude with the fact that some scripting to allow functional lift gates, drivable forklifts, and pallet jack or dollies would enable truckers to deliver goods anywhere. Park the truck in the mall parking lot. Hop out of the cab. Lower the liftgate. Raise the liftgate. Open the back door. Grab the correct pallet. Drag the pallet out. Lower the liftgate. Take the pallet to the trigger in front of the fast food joint. Accept the delivery. Maybe watch a little cutscene showing some paperwork being signed. Take everything back to the truck and carry on. That's 15 minutes of gameplay right there, maybe more.

I'd love to play that game: I'm sure many more people would as well. And for those who don't, stay in arcade mode.

There are so many other things like this that don't require much to happen: I don't expect SCS to make an interior for every building, but imagine if you could go into a warehouse and manually load your pallets, taking care to load them in the proper order for the day's deliveries. That would be a series of fun challenges. I want that kind of challenge.

SCS, give us that kind of challenge.

[rookie31st]

so they didn't change traffic violations that "kids" asked about???

They directly addressed the complaints. They swiftly made changes to the code and values.

So as CARL said, SCS didn't change anything from what was asked they just did something that could always be done with mods.

They changed the code by introducing a dependency on player's level to help new players to get on board. They still didn't make any change to help older players to stay on board. And your second point about mods actually undermines your defense of SCS. Players could lower fines with mods yet SCS chose to get involved and lower them universally. Players can lower income with mods so SCS chose not to bother with the economy. Go figure.

[VTXcnME]

I certainly appreciate SCS pushing the map larger. As someone who plays frequently, it's nice to get new roads every 6-10 months.

I really hope at some point they can designate a group to game features/cargo/companies. I think there is a big part of the game getting overlooked as far as game features and game triggers go. Rest areas should be larger. End point targets should be larger (I don't know how many times I've pulled in to a destination point to hit the unload trigger, only to find because of it's location, my trailer isn't going to make the swing. In real life, the driver would have been able to set up in the right angle to get the load delivered.

Cargos for some trailer types are lacking. Origin and destination points are lacking for some types of cargo.

Economy has some glaring oversights as far as cash accumulation goes, what you actually need to spend back out with garage purchases and upkeep.

Sorry to go slightly off topic, but agree there's a few things that I think a fair number of folks would like to see.

[nater6540]

i’ve also run into a situation somewhere in Colorado where a rest and refueling spot were placed way too close to each other, so I kind of end up accidentally triggering the rest spot when I try to pull forward far enough to trigger the refueling instead