Improvements to Convoy Mode

[Optional Features]

Convoy mode was one of the biggest releases in the history of SCS games, but after two years, the difference between singleplayer and multiplayer ATS/ETS2 remains quite small. Here are some ideas that could make convoy a more engaging multiplayer experience.

No vehicle despawn
If two players are in convoy and one disconnects due to internet issues, a lack of time to play, or some other reason, his truck, trailer, and cargo vanish as if they never existed. SCS should add an option to the host's MP settings to allow server owners to keep vehicles that don't have players in them at the moment. Additional players could join and take those vehicles from where they were last parked (if the owner allows).

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Shared trailers
In a similar vein, players should be able to haul each other's trailers if permitted by the trailer owner. If a player is hauling a load and decides to leave, he should be able to allow a friend to come back and pick up just the trailer once the other player's load is delivered. Players should also be able to swap trailers (even mid-load) if one player's truck is better suited for the load or any other conceivable reason.

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Shared companies and garages
Server owners should be allowed to run the server as a company with all vehicles within the server operating under one name and owner (or perhaps allow a second company to join with four real drivers each). As such, players should be allowed to share garages and the vehicles and trailers that are housed under them. And server owners/fleet managers (new role that should be assignable in convoy) should be able to customize and purchase trucks and trailers on behalf of players, even if they aren't currently on the server.

In addition, garage slots should be upgraded to eight per garage so that all players within a server can share one garage rather than being spread out across the map. The truck yards in game, even the single bay, could easily support eight trucks and assorted trailers. And garages should receive a 3D model update that allows players to put their company name on the business.

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Multi-vehicle/trailer spawn
Since the game can clearly support at least 8 driveable vehicles in a server at a time, server owners should be allowed to spawn up to 8 vehicles and at least 8 trailers for players to use. We can own multiple trucks and trailers, and we should be able to use them in MP. I currently have two on a convoy profile that I would love to share with friends, but there is no current way to do that.

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Multi-part trailer sets
Double trailers, triple trailers, and multi-part lowboys should be multiple parts, attachable as the player desires, not just a single block with multiple joints. A set of doubles in particular has to be broken to unload.
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Players should be able to buy and own the component parts (including converter gears) and build or dissolve sets in game. For the record, a triple trailer set is five trailers, not one. Three 28 foot pups and two converter gears.
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Switch between vehicles
If we can spawn multiple vehicles, we should be able to tab between them. Simple enough.

Leave a trailer at a company
Cargo is not always loaded instantly, which is one of many reasons why trucking companies frequently own more trailers than trucks. In convoy, part of the tasks of running a shared company could be dropping off an empty trailer at a new customer, swapping out a loaded trailer for an empty, or picking up a trailer that was either finally unloaded or loaded. Load/unload durations could be set in days.

Dispatch player to load
Server owners should be able to pick a load for a player working for their company and dispatch them to it.

Multi-part loads
This is discussed at length in a separate forum thread found here: viewtopic.php?t=319860. Essentially, some cargo in the market would be in multiple pieces (like a wind turbine's three blades, three tower sections, one nacelle, and one nosecone) and could be hauled as a group.

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Multi-load contracts
This is slightly different than multi-part loads in that the cargo would be more than truckload, but not multiple pieces of a single unit. Examples include farm commodities like grain and hay (10,000 bushels of grain or 100 bales of hay as opposed to precisely one truckload).

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Vehicle-to-vehicle interaction
Players should be able to load their trucks on a flatbed or lowboy or a trailer on a trailer to move from one part of the map to the other.

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Money transfer
Players with ample cash should be able to transfer money to other players in the server.

Some DLC ideas:

Truck yard/warehouse DLC
Replacement for the tired, old truck garages that litter the map. Choices could include everything from a completely blank yard to park multiple trucks and trailers to a single, double, triple, quadruple, or quintuple bay shop. All of these should have the option for a player logo outside, a choice of fencing (no more brick, please), fuel tanks, on-site truck repair, even a washrack. An alternative option could be a warehouse where players could receive and distribute cargo (with an LTL cargo system in place).


There are several buildings on the map that could be updated and repurposed for the task including these:

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Approximate price: at least $15 or perhaps a pair of dlcs for $10 each. The first could be replacements and the second alternative locations that already exist on the map, but would be put to use.

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Towing/service vehicle DLC
As simple as it sounds: functional tow trucks and service/refuel trucks so that players could transport their own broken vehicles to repair stations (or garages) or refuel a truck that ran out of diesel.

DTU or wrecker
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Service truck
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Approximate price: at least $7 per vehicle. Some AI vehicles could be repurposed for the task.

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Company skinmaker DLC
This could be a series of DLCs with various components, but all of which allowed the player to make a company logo and livery in-game without the use of external tools.

As someone that has done limited skinning myself, I'd much rather do it in game similarly to how a truck is customized itself.

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Some ideas:

• Base pack with simple fonts, stripes, graphics, and stickers

• Extra font packs

• Extra stripes pack

• Addon stickers pack

• Extra graphics pack

Approximate price: at least $7 for the base and $2 to $3 per part, perhaps more.

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Yard truck DLC
There's no game where a yard truck would be more applicable than this one, and given SCS's relationship with many leading industry brands, they could likely acquire a license for this truck as well. But without the ability to interact with more than one trailer at once, it serves no purpose.

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Approximate price: at least $10.

[TwinShadow]

So here's my short list:
1. No.
2. No.
3. I could see this, but read below on my thoughts.
4. No.
5. Long requested, but I don't think the dollies should be purchasable IMO.
6. While probably not your intention, it is "technically" already in the game. But this will likely fall in my thoughts relating to 1. and 2.
7. I can see this being feasible if the cargo system gets overhauled. It'll fall under 5. either way.
8. I believe this has also been requested to some extent.
9. I'm fine with this.
10. You can... "kinda" do this. Depends on the cargo really. You could have someone with a 53 ft. van, or 48 ft., 32 ft., etc.. and have another run a 28 ft. pup. Otherwise, requires a cargo overhaul.
11. There's quick travel and moving trucks/trailers from various garages. I honestly don't see a need for manually doing it and seems unnecessary.
12. This will fall with 3.
13. There's been numerous requests for a different HQ warehouse for some time now for both games. This should be a free update for all players since it'd be a core aspect of the game and a more proper warehouse for trucks and trailers than what we have now.
14. Another long request, but I don't see this happening. It's not really part of the core gameplay style. Maybe SCS will change that, but I don't see it happening anytime soon.
15. I'm mixed on whether it should be paid or free. But main point, this has been requested before.
16. No.

So first, in regards to the first two in particular. (also 4th I guess) I feel the game shouldn't be rendering resources that don't need to be there. While right now there can be 8 players in a single convoy session as it stands, at least they are all controlled by a player. A truck that is just sitting there and not in a low poly variant shouldn't render in high poly, or not at all to save on resources that can be used to render something else in the game world. And, if a player leaves a convoy, then that truck and trailer combination should also disappear. It shouldn't remain in the game world. Take, for example, someone disconnects due to network lag or they lose their internet. What is that truck going to do if it doesn't disappear? Depending on the settings, that object is now a collision because it's either just going to roll to a stop, or come to a dead 70 to 0 stop in a split second and then you're truck gets 70%+ damage. It's best if the vehicles disappear if the player disconnects for any reason.

Now, specifically in the second one, all trucks and engines can haul all loads in a default game. While some are better suited for others depending on the situation, they can still be done. But ultimately, it is the players responsibility to make sure their truck is adequate for the load they're taking; this is especially so in the event of heavy haul loads. There's also no way to tell the game who owns what load either, and would require at least some overhaul in how cargo works in the game.

As for the third one... This is something that's been requested I'm sure since Convoy was first out. This would require a bit more thought before being put in the game, because it may be better if someone were to specifically start a company profile under a new sort of game type. If I take something like Bus Simulator 18/21 as an example, one can start a single player game, or they can choose to convert it to a multiplayer save and share resources. This is kinda how I'm envisioning it, except we'll still have the old way of Convoy where people can drop in and out with their own bank money, their own fleet of trucks, etc... Then there's a separate "Shared Convoy" where it would be basically as you describe, a shared resource in the bank as well as trucks and trailers to use.

These are really just my thoughts on the whole thing. Some have been requested numerous times, but others I don't think really belong in the game. Like yard trucks for example are just that, they only do things in a yard to move trailers around for loading, unloading, breaking down combinations or setting them up, etc... This game is about long-haul trucking across the US map. I don't see this becoming a thing really. Then there's heavy wrecker services, which again... doesn't fit the core gameplay style SCS seems to have envisioned for this game. After all, SCS has surprised me before with some of the stuff they've put in the game. (like the cables for example, something you'll only see 0.1% of the time really)