Nick first talked about Spintires back last September when he played the tech demo. The full game was finally released recently, and I’ve been spending a lot of time exploring the maps with the World Cup in the background in the past couple of weeks. The only trouble with that…it drowns out some of the awesome sounding trucks that are in this off-road, mud simulator. Despite the footballing distraction, I’ve decided on my Verdict, read on… …
The team behind Euro Truck Simulator 2 have been busy recently working on update 1.9 and some new Mercedes trucks. More enticingly, they have been working quietly on American Truck Simulator and this weekend revealed a few early images from the game. Hit the break to check them out. …
I was bitterly disappointed by last years Trucks and Trailers, a title which I felt damaged the growing reputation that was being enjoyed by SCS Software’s Truck Simulator series of games. Fortunately, the precursor to European Truck Simulator 2, Scania Truck Simulator, is a much more enjoyable experience. Hit the jump to read the review.
As you might guess by the name this title features a heavy influence from truck manufacturer Scania. This is felt most keenly with the presence of only one cab to drive in, a Scania truck. But SCS have done a really good job modelling the cab, both on the inside and out, this is all thanks to the new engine they are using which was developed for ETS2. The new engine is shown off best in the Dangerous Drives mode which features a variety of extremely challenging missions where you must drive your truck, sometimes with cargo, from point to point in the quickest time while avoiding hitting any obstacles. The first mission takes place on a route with a passing resemblance to the Road of Death. Things only get more challenging from there, while one mission really shows off what the new game engine is capable of by making you drive through a flooded town with rain lashing down. It is quite a sight and shows how far the series has come. …
It is Sunday, the first day of my week off work, and what do I do first? I hunt down the latest from SCS Software on Scania Truck Simulator and European Truck Simulator 2. I may play the DiRT: Showdown demo later to inject some excitement into my life. Before that though, hit the jump to learn more about what you can expect in Scania Truck Simulator and get a glimpse of the map that you will be able to drive along in its bigger brother due out later this year. …
As you might know, I am a bit of a fan of the upcoming European Truck Simulator 2 from SCS Software, but while we are patiently waiting for that we have the prospect of Scania Truck Driving Simulator coming out in May.
It is a title which promises to be deeper than last years disappointing Trucks and Trailers. This release will feature a basic driving school series of tasks, a map for free driving and a variety of scenarios to work through. The most exciting bit though must be the segment based on Scania’s Young European Truck Driver Competition (watch them in action here) which promises to be a very, very challenging sequence of events. You can find more details on the SCS Soft blog. Am I the only one who is interested in these games?
Over on the SCS Software’s blog, the team behind European Truck Simulator 2 have revealed some new images showing a truck heading across the Severn Bridge from Plymouth down to my home town of Cardiff, signposts also indicate that travel to Swansea will be possible as well. This has, in all seriousness, become a must buy for me now. Hit the jump to see some more images of the route to Cardiff, driving in the rain and more. …
I admit it, I like UK Truck Simulator, I have had loads of fun driving up and down the road network of the UK delivering my furniture here or my logs there. Surprising really, I was expecting to play it for an hour and give up, but I constantly get pulled back into it knowing that I have left it with a delivery due in Plymouth in 12 hours, a long hard slog from Felixstowe.
Unfortunately not everything is sunshine and roses with this latest truck simulator from SCS, developers of European Truck Simulator and the 18 Wheels of Steel titles. Simply put it feels incomplete and rushed to release.
The game boasts that you can travel to 18 of the largest cities in the UK. Where then I ask are important cities such as Bristol and Leeds? Bristol not appearing is a big bugbear for me; one of my first deliveries in the game took me from Cardiff to Cambridge. Travelling along the M4 after the Severn Bridge (lacking any tolls) was a strange experience without travelling past Bristol. I was constantly wondering where all the towns and cities along the important M4 corridor were. The lack of important cities along the motorways is a grave disappointment.
What is worrying is the large number of incomplete and inaccessible roads that you come across. One of the most obvious examples is the missing link road between Southampton and Dover, on the in-game map you can even see the start and end of it just outside the two cities, but you just can’t drive on it. Another puzzling aspect of the road network in the game is the fact that you can only drive into London from the northern stretch of the M25. Why you are unable to enter the city from any other direction is beyond me.
These problems with missing roads and a lack of important cities may be some of the more glaring issues, but there are others which have an even greater impact on the realism of the game. Take the motorways, the British speed limit on them is 70mph, in UKTS it is 60mph, it is very annoying to get a speeding fine for travelling at the speed you should be allowed to. Entering a town or city is a bizarre experience, the speed limit suddenly drops from 60 to just 30 even when you are still driving on a dual carriageway. A perfect example of the problems with the speeds in the game comes when you are driving on country roads which are posted at the national speed limit. Coming across cars and trucks travelling at just 30mph leaves you struggling to overtake on the tight twisty lanes.
UK Truck Simulator isn’t all bad, it really is quite enjoyable when you look beyond these problems. There is a sense of adventure travelling all around the country making sure you arrive at the depot on time without damaging your cargo. If you arrive late or with a damaged load you will lose some of your earnings, and in the early stages of the game you need every penny you can get.
You start the game choosing from one of three companies to work for. You will start with a measly share of the profits from your deliveries driving around in a C class truck which is nice and basic, if a bit slow. Once you increase your reputation through delivering on time without speeding, or delivering damaged, cargo other companies will ask you to work for them with an increased share of delivery profits and a nice new truck thrown into the bargain. During the game a mysterious friend named Steve will send you messages boasting about how great his life has become since he went freelance and set up his own business.
Once you have done your fair share of working for others you get to follow in Steve’s footsteps and go freelance. You start off with just yourself and one truck, but once the money is coming in you are able to purchase garages around the map where you can store more trucks. You will also be able to high other drivers to do your dirty work for you. If one of these gelatinous tapeworms isn’t living up to your high standards you can sack him and hire someone new and watch the money roll in.
It may be a truck simulator, but it is surprisingly fun to play. It is just a shame that it feels unfinished, hopefully SCS will release a patch to address the problems, even if they don’t add any new cities just making the road network work right would be a great step forward. For now though, UK Truck Simulator has to be a miss.
I have often found myself interested in truck simulator games, I like to wonder what it would be like to drive an articulated lorry around the motorways of the UK. Unfortuntately most truck sims have been focused on mainland Europe or America. Things are about to change though with the upcoming release of UK Truck Simulator from SCS Software.