Dynamic Companies: Virtual Truckers Should Make a Visible Impact on the Game World

Optional Features
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Dynamic Companies: Virtual Truckers Should Make a Visible Impact on the Game World

#1 Post by Optional Features » 25 Jan 2022 03:51

Even if SCS doesn't give us manual loading, opening doors, seasons, vehicle dirt, roads with bumps, walk mode, functional sleepers, cargo straps and chains, or any of the other big ideas that would literally change the game, the dev team should create a way to make cargo visibly appear and disappear as it is hauled. Right now, the game has no life. Virtual truckers make no impact on the world, which is completely antithetical to real life trucking. A real life trucker hauling wind turbine parts can drive past new wind turbines he was instrumental in putting up for example. Or a bridge beam hauler can take her family across a new bridge she brought the parts for. A lumber or siding hauler can point at neighborhoods he helped supply. Or a gasoline hauler can look at traffic going into and out of a gas station, and see that her work literally moves America.

In SCS games, this impact is nonexistent. There are no new housing developments that a player hauled in supplies for, no increases in stock at dealerships, no large equipment sitting on roadside jobsites, and no changes to visible inventory in steel or lumber yards. Virtual trucks haul mostly invisible cargo in an visible world bolstered solely by imagination. Their impact is felt only in the mind: there is absolutely nothing to show for their efforts. It's 2022: this really needs to change.

Instead of just hauling cargo that appears in a loading zone, cargo should disappear over time, then reappear after a set period, maybe 24 in-game days (6 per season if we had seasons). Secondly, the game should have contracts where the player can bid to haul a portion of this visible cargo. Convoy partners or AI drivers could be included in these contracts, and the player would have a fixed deadline to deliver them by if approved. Previous cargo damage, speeding tickets, and other penalties would make it less likely for a player's company to score a contract.

Once approved, the player and his or her drivers would haul a portion of this cargo to its respective destinations. For the recent cotton gin blog, let's say 250 out of a total 1000 bales would be included in a contract. As the player and hired drivers hauled loads each day, the yard would show 250 fewer bales out of 1000 or so sitting there.

[ external image ]

For the remainder, AI trucks would visibly haul away the remaining bales, leaving the yard completely empty at the end of the hauling period. There doesn't need to be a complicated loading sequence showing the AI or player transports. A truck pulls up; some bales disappear: they appear on a trailer, and the truck drives away. Obviously seeing the cargo get loaded would bring a lot to the experience, but that's way too much to ask based on the level of interaction built into the current game.

As for the contracts, if the player succeeded at delivering the cargo within the proper amount of time and without damage, he or she would be considered more highly for future contracts to come. There might even be special contracts that were exclusive to the player as a result of his or her efforts. And pay would increase for these contracts, not only based on size, but also the quality of hauls. If on the other hand the player performed poorly, future contracts would be less likely. If loads were frequently damaged or not delivered on time, a point would be reached in-game where a player would only be able to haul cheap freight with low potential for damage, like bulk trash or crushed cars. Efforts to improve the ranking/reputation would be met with better cargo and more contract opportunities.

Finally, once the contract period ended and after some additional time following, the cotton yard (or similar facilities for other cargo such as steel, sheet metal, plywood, logs, lumber, shipping containers, heavy equipment, or cars) would slowly refill, and a new contract would pop up on the load board.

Now, after spending a good half hour writing and rewriting this to make sure my ideas were clear, I'm certain it'll receive exactly zero dev attention and fall quickly into the heap known as the suggestions thread. But that being said, when all is said and done, at least we tried.
Last edited by Optional Features on 26 Jan 2022 09:06, edited 1 time in total.
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JeeF
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Re: Virtual Truckers Should Make a Visible Impact

#2 Post by JeeF » 25 Jan 2022 05:13

It's a good idea but honestly I think the whole cargo system (or lack thereof) needs complete rethinking instead of a bit of improving here and there.
At the moment we've got absolutely squat. We are transporting numbers. Visually it's impossible to know if a trailer has cargo or not, and that's absurd.
That wouldn't be much of an issue if the backbone of the game allowed mods to come and fix things, but we don't even have that.

We drive, but roads are perfect planes with texture.
We transport, but ghost cargo.
Logistics have no impact in the world.
We have trucks, but little to no physics and no interactions with it.

The only two things ATS/ETS2 have going for them at the moment are:
1) "Pimp my truck" (mostly thanks to mods)
2) No competition
"Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something." - Plato
Optional Features
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Re: Virtual Truckers Should Make a Visible Impact

#3 Post by Optional Features » 25 Jan 2022 05:21

JeeF wrote: 25 Jan 2022 05:13 It's a good idea but honestly I think the whole cargo system (or lack thereof) needs complete rethinking instead of a bit of improving here and there.
At the moment we've got absolutely squat. We are transporting numbers. Visually it's impossible to know if a trailer has cargo or not, and that's absurd.
That wouldn't be much of an issue if the backbone of the game allowed mods to come and fix things, but we don't even have that.

We drive, but roads are perfect planes with texture.
We transport, but ghost cargo.
Logistics have no impact in the world.
We have trucks, but little to no physics and no interactions with it.

The only two things ATS/ETS2 have going for them at the moment are:
1) "Pimp my truck" (mostly thanks to mods)
2) No competition
Yeah, I totally agree. If they would open up the code, modders could fix what's been inaccessible up to this point. But they won't do that either.

So we are left to dream, not unlike the game itself, about what could have been.
jab98
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Re: Virtual Truckers Should Make a Visible Impact

#4 Post by jab98 » 25 Jan 2022 19:43

While that does sound cool and interesting, and it is probably technically possible given that scs could just use a similar system to that of the garage upgrade system. The game would just ultimately stagnate again just with finished housing developments and wind farm projects, because I really don't think scs can devote hundreds of man-hours to build dozens of different prefab upgrade stages that would sustain this concept for any lengthy amount of time.
Optional Features
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Re: Virtual Truckers Should Make a Visible Impact

#5 Post by Optional Features » 25 Jan 2022 19:48

jab98 wrote: 25 Jan 2022 19:43 While that does sound cool and interesting, and it is probably technically possible given that scs could just use a similar system to that of the garage upgrade system. The game would just ultimately stagnate again just with finished housing developments and wind farm projects, because I really don't think scs can devote hundreds of man-hours to build dozens of different prefab upgrade stages that would sustain this concept for any lengthy amount of time.
More reasons why SCS can't do better lol. At this point I just shake my head.

As for the comment, irl wind turbines don't have an infinite life. After a period of time, they are broken down and hauled away for recycling. The same is true for houses and apartments. Neighborhoods grow; houses are demolished; people move; houses get new siding and roofing, and so on.

But at this point, I think the SCS player base prefers a nearly weightless, invisible load appearing in a trailer when said trailer fits in a green box. Then that same weightless, invisible load disappearing when the trailer is placed in a second green box.

It's hard to grasp, but appears to be the case.
jab98
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Re: Virtual Truckers Should Make a Visible Impact

#6 Post by jab98 » 25 Jan 2022 20:02

seriousmods wrote: 25 Jan 2022 19:48
jab98 wrote: 25 Jan 2022 19:43 While that does sound cool and interesting, and it is probably technically possible given that scs could just use a similar system to that of the garage upgrade system. The game would just ultimately stagnate again just with finished housing developments and wind farm projects, because I really don't think scs can devote hundreds of man-hours to build dozens of different prefab upgrade stages that would sustain this concept for any lengthy amount of time.
More reasons why SCS can't do better lol. At this point I just shake my head.
Can't do better? lol Yeah scs frustrates me to no end sometimes, but when you look at where they started as a company to where they are now it's actually kind of impressive. Hell 10 or 12 years ago scs was still putting out a new American trucksim every couple of years that was just a copy of the previous release under a new name with a few changes, almost like what giants does with farm sim, but now look at them actually devoting their time to single game that has made massive improvements over the years (which most of the updates were free). Cut them some slack because I don't think you realize how long it can take do certain things for ats.
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bobgrey1997
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Re: Virtual Truckers Should Make a Visible Impact

#7 Post by bobgrey1997 » 25 Jan 2022 20:04

This would be amazing! I've requested similar ideas in the past. One of my biggest complaints about the map is the holographic barriers and invisible walls keeping us off of roads that don't go anywhere. I'd rather see this done via construction sites (those roads being closed), and in the case of roads into DLC areas, we should be able to haul material to and from those sites, and the DLC releasing would be like that construction project finally ending and the roads opening.
I don't think this is possible due to how the maps are made. Any changes have to be manually made by an SCS developer and released in an update.
One possible solution might be to utilize the same system as garage prefabs where delivering cargo would "upgrade" the site to give it more material, and the case of consumable material (such as stock that is sold at a store), a significant time without a delivery could "downgrade" it.
This would take a full-scale overhaul of map prefabs AND economy, but some say such overhaul is much needed, and I agree.
Optional Features
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Re: Virtual Truckers Should Make a Visible Impact

#8 Post by Optional Features » 25 Jan 2022 20:06

Cut them some slack? How long do you think it takes to deliver opening doors? They teased it two years before launch. The game has been out for years, and we still don't have it.

The largest improvement in the game has been the graphics. It went from looking like a 90s game to an mid-2000s game. Physics are terrible, most gameplay requires a vivid imagination, and you can literally drive into a weigh station wildly overweight and get the green light.

Saying this is progress is a real stretch. The only thing progressing is the size of the map, and it's generally the same tired prefabs repeated over and over again in a sea of unusable deco buildings.
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MMBrown
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Re: Virtual Truckers Should Make a Visible Impact

#9 Post by MMBrown » 25 Jan 2022 20:08

I very much enjoy ATS/ETS2 as they are so I hate to complain, but you're right, the games could be so much better. It was easily forgivable 5+ years ago but now it feels like the gaming industry is vastly outpacing SCS. I'm very grateful for an active modding community keeping things alive, but a game shouldn't have to rely on that, especially since so many modders seem to have gone the payware route.

It's wonderful that we have had some substantial updates to the game for completely free, but honestly I think I'd be happy to pay a bit if it made for some more drastic leaps. Unfortunately, it seems SCS's game plan is to just keep riding the geographic DLC gravy train for income and do some incremental updates when they can. I do hope a completely new game is secretly in the works behind it all, but I very much doubt it. :(
Optional Features
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Re: Virtual Truckers Should Make a Visible Impact

#10 Post by Optional Features » 25 Jan 2022 20:09

bobgrey1997 wrote: 25 Jan 2022 20:04 This would be amazing! I've requested similar ideas in the past. One of my biggest complaints about the map is the holographic barriers and invisible walls keeping us off of roads that don't go anywhere. I'd rather see this done via construction sites (those roads being closed), and in the case of roads into DLC areas, we should be able to haul material to and from those sites, and the DLC releasing would be like that construction project finally ending and the roads opening.
I don't think this is possible due to how the maps are made. Any changes have to be manually made by an SCS developer and released in an update.
One possible solution might be to utilize the same system as garage prefabs where delivering cargo would "upgrade" the site to give it more material, and the case of consumable material (such as stock that is sold at a store), a significant time without a delivery could "downgrade" it.
This would take a full-scale overhaul of map prefabs AND economy, but some say such overhaul is much needed, and I agree.
Yeah, the game needs some life. Hauling cargo back and forth between plot points gets old. I want to deliver to a car dealer and drive by a week later to see a few cars gone. I also want to drive the cars on and off the truck and strap them down, but that's never going to happen.
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