• Hey Spalls! Did you see all new Truck Simulator Franchsise Sales?

    From PW@noneused@noneused.net to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Thu Dec 4 14:49:55 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    I just purchased the ATS Ultimate pack, but I think it is mostly just decorative stuff -packs and paint jobs but I didn't have Arkansas and
    the cabin accessories. It is only $9.49. Since I live in Montana, I
    am looking forward to the upcoming South Dakota pack!

    Lots of stuff related to the European TS, but I don't run that one
    (not yet) although I have the basic edition.

    -pw
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  • From bill_wilson@bill_w@aol.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Thu Dec 4 23:09:00 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    That post didn't even make sense. Where the fuck did
    you learn to read and write, Zambia? What a fucking retard you are.
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  • From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Fri Dec 5 10:40:03 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Thu, 04 Dec 2025 14:49:55 -0700, PW <noneused@noneused.net> wrote:

    I just purchased the ATS Ultimate pack, but I think it is mostly just >decorative stuff -packs and paint jobs but I didn't have Arkansas and
    the cabin accessories. It is only $9.49. Since I live in Montana, I
    am looking forward to the upcoming South Dakota pack!

    Lots of stuff related to the European TS, but I don't run that one
    (not yet) although I have the basic edition.

    I did, largely because the new "Louisiana" map expansion DLC also
    dropped on the same day (which may also give you an idea of what's
    going to be on my 'what have you been playing list' in a few weeks).

    Alas, the sale itself is pretty useless to me since I'm definitely one
    of the 'whales' for that game's audience, and I've managed to snag
    pretty much all the expansions already. Well, the ones I'm interested
    in (no, I'm not buying paint-jobs that celebrate countries Russia,
    Hungary or the like). But everything else I have, over the years,
    added to the "owned DLC" tab. I'm not /proud/ of the fact... but its
    true nonetheless. ;-)

    But thanks for the heads-up, nonetheless. I checked it anyway, just to
    be sure there wasn't something I might otherwise have missed. I can't
    be a whale unless I eat ALL the krill, after all.

    Side note: I found the Arkansas DLC one of the better releases for the
    game, just in its visuals and driving. You'll be unhappy to hear this,
    but it displaced Montana as my favorite DLC of the game. It was just
    the way they designed the maps that struck me as particularly nice and realistic, as opposed to the too-flat of other expansions (the
    changing verticality of the Montana DLC was also why I loved it so
    much). I mean, sure, Arkansas took a lot of shortcuts to 'gameify' the
    terrain but it was less obvious than in other expansions.




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  • From Dimensional Traveler@dtravel@sonic.net to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Fri Dec 5 08:23:46 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On 12/5/2025 7:40 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
    On Thu, 04 Dec 2025 14:49:55 -0700, PW <noneused@noneused.net> wrote:

    I just purchased the ATS Ultimate pack, but I think it is mostly just
    decorative stuff -packs and paint jobs but I didn't have Arkansas and
    the cabin accessories. It is only $9.49. Since I live in Montana, I
    am looking forward to the upcoming South Dakota pack!

    Lots of stuff related to the European TS, but I don't run that one
    (not yet) although I have the basic edition.

    I did, largely because the new "Louisiana" map expansion DLC also
    dropped on the same day (which may also give you an idea of what's
    going to be on my 'what have you been playing list' in a few weeks).

    Alas, the sale itself is pretty useless to me since I'm definitely one
    of the 'whales' for that game's audience, and I've managed to snag
    pretty much all the expansions already. Well, the ones I'm interested
    in (no, I'm not buying paint-jobs that celebrate countries Russia,
    Hungary or the like). But everything else I have, over the years,
    added to the "owned DLC" tab. I'm not /proud/ of the fact... but its
    true nonetheless. ;-)

    But thanks for the heads-up, nonetheless. I checked it anyway, just to
    be sure there wasn't something I might otherwise have missed. I can't
    be a whale unless I eat ALL the krill, after all.

    Side note: I found the Arkansas DLC one of the better releases for the
    game, just in its visuals and driving. You'll be unhappy to hear this,
    but it displaced Montana as my favorite DLC of the game. It was just
    the way they designed the maps that struck me as particularly nice and realistic, as opposed to the too-flat of other expansions (the
    changing verticality of the Montana DLC was also why I loved it so
    much). I mean, sure, Arkansas took a lot of shortcuts to 'gameify' the terrain but it was less obvious than in other expansions.

    After reading that "too flat" bit I have to ask, is there a Colorado DLC
    yet?
    --
    I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
    dirty old man.
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  • From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Fri Dec 5 11:44:13 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Fri, 5 Dec 2025 08:23:46 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
    <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:



    After reading that "too flat" bit I have to ask, is there a Colorado DLC >yet?

    Yes. The developers are filling in the map west-to-east, and are now
    working on the states bordering the Mississippi, so Colorado has been
    out for a while now (it released in 2020).

    And yes, Colorado does feel unduly flat, given that the Rocky Mountain
    range runs right through it, you'd expect some grievous changes in
    elevation and spectacular views... but now; except for some narrow
    valleys at point, its really hard to tell the expansion apart from the
    others. In part, this is forgivable; the game is, after all, mainly
    oriented around driving trucks on highways, and those tend to avoid
    drastic slopes. But Colorado is one of the more disappointing DLC
    packs of the game.

    But my complaints about the 'flatness' has less to do with the actual
    elevation changes, and more how the various cities, towns and roads
    are built. A lot of the locations of the maps are built using
    pre-fabs, and these tend to be flat-on-the-bottom for easier
    placement. So too often, the map builders just take a flat plain, plop
    down the buildings and roads, and call it a day. Think the original
    "SimCity" from 1989. The better maps say, "Hey, no; there should be
    hills and ditches and bumps and lakes and lots of streams and whatnot
    because the Earth (at least from the human perspective) isn't really
    that flat". This results in a more convincing appearance to the world.

    Some expansions are better at this than others. The earliest ones were
    pretty bad at this. It wasn't really until the Montana and Wyoming DLC (released in 2022) did I start /liking/ the terrain. I thought
    Arkansas was one of the better maps, but recently released "Iowa" was
    sadly a throwback to the old-school design.

    But again... the true joy of the game (at least for me) is the Zen of
    the highway driving, so even the worst of the maps it's not that
    noticeable... at least, not until you get off the highways.
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  • From bill_wilson@bill_w@aol.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Fri Dec 5 12:15:05 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Well, Palsy Spallsy plays with keyboard & mouse,
    so fuck all his points of view for that alone.


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  • From bill_wilson@bill_w@aol.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Fri Dec 5 13:10:35 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Sorry 💩🤮
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  • From PW@noneused@noneused.net to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Fri Dec 5 20:37:20 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Fri, 05 Dec 2025 10:40:03 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

    On Thu, 04 Dec 2025 14:49:55 -0700, PW <noneused@noneused.net> wrote:

    I just purchased the ATS Ultimate pack, but I think it is mostly just >>decorative stuff -packs and paint jobs but I didn't have Arkansas and
    the cabin accessories. It is only $9.49. Since I live in Montana, I
    am looking forward to the upcoming South Dakota pack!

    Lots of stuff related to the European TS, but I don't run that one
    (not yet) although I have the basic edition.

    I did, largely because the new "Louisiana" map expansion DLC also
    dropped on the same day (which may also give you an idea of what's
    going to be on my 'what have you been playing list' in a few weeks).

    Alas, the sale itself is pretty useless to me since I'm definitely one
    of the 'whales' for that game's audience, and I've managed to snag
    pretty much all the expansions already. Well, the ones I'm interested
    in (no, I'm not buying paint-jobs that celebrate countries Russia,
    Hungary or the like). But everything else I have, over the years,
    added to the "owned DLC" tab. I'm not /proud/ of the fact... but its
    true nonetheless. ;-)

    But thanks for the heads-up, nonetheless. I checked it anyway, just to
    be sure there wasn't something I might otherwise have missed. I can't
    be a whale unless I eat ALL the krill, after all.

    Side note: I found the Arkansas DLC one of the better releases for the
    game, just in its visuals and driving. You'll be unhappy to hear this,
    but it displaced Montana as my favorite DLC of the game. It was just
    the way they designed the maps that struck me as particularly nice and >realistic, as opposed to the too-flat of other expansions (the
    changing verticality of the Montana DLC was also why I loved it so
    much). I mean, sure, Arkansas took a lot of shortcuts to 'gameify' the >terrain but it was less obvious than in other expansions.




    *---

    Bah! I will have to try Arkansas any way. Thank you Mr. Spalls!

    -pw
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From PW@noneused@noneused.net to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Thu Dec 11 20:02:43 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Sort of eerie Spalls! I forgot that somehow a long time ago when i
    last ran ATS that I set something up for Montana. Don't remember how
    I did that but I just did two jobs in Montana. Way too creepy because
    it was incredibly accurate the scenery, routes, towns, etc.... I
    missed the turn to Bozeman and drove to billings and did not see my
    exit 333 899 south in Livingston (my exit to my home south of
    Livingston) but I did see 89 north and a bunch of other road signs and
    scenery were incredibly accurate. I turned around in Laurel, MT and
    sure enough the refineries were right there! Had to head back west to BozeAngelas to complete my job. Both ways in the dark from Great
    Falls up north.

    Unbelievable! But why do I sometimes get two or three trailers? Not
    fair! My first one had 3 trailers behind me!! Missed the turnoff and
    got stuck in parking lot trying to turn around but got out of it :-)

    -pw
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  • From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Fri Dec 12 10:30:01 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Thu, 11 Dec 2025 20:02:43 -0700, PW <noneused@noneused.net> wrote:

    Sort of eerie Spalls! I forgot that somehow a long time ago when i
    last ran ATS that I set something up for Montana. Don't remember how
    I did that but I just did two jobs in Montana. Way too creepy because
    it was incredibly accurate the scenery, routes, towns, etc.... I
    missed the turn to Bozeman and drove to billings and did not see my
    exit 333 899 south in Livingston (my exit to my home south of
    Livingston) but I did see 89 north and a bunch of other road signs and >scenery were incredibly accurate. I turned around in Laurel, MT and
    sure enough the refineries were right there! Had to head back west to >BozeAngelas to complete my job. Both ways in the dark from Great
    Falls up north.

    ATS uses 1 1-to-20 'compression' for its maps; that is, 1 mile in game
    is roughly equivalent to 20 miles in reality. This has the advantage
    of reducing the workload on the developers (unlike, say, "Microsoft
    Flight Simulator 2020", all the maps in ATS are hand-crafted, so
    creating all of America would be a daunting effort). It does mean that
    a lot of exits on the highway get skipped.

    As you noticed, you can often recognize parts of the landscape and
    correlate them to the real world, but it falls apart if you look at
    things /too/ closely. The developers goal was more to create a 'feel'
    for the region than an exact match, and I think they've done that
    fairly well.

    But I've had similar experiences as yours with the game (not so much
    in ATS, since its mostly 'out West' so far and I don't have incredible familiarity with most of that region of the USAmerica, but definitely
    in ETS ;-)

    Unbelievable! But why do I sometimes get two or three trailers? Not
    fair! My first one had 3 trailers behind me!! Missed the turnoff and
    got stuck in parking lot trying to turn around but got out of it :-)

    When you're on the 'quick job' screen, there's a symbol (I think it
    looks like a trailer hitch) that indicates if you'll be pulling
    multiple trailers. These jobs tend to pay better but, as you noted,
    can be a bit of a pain... especially if you accidentally stray off the
    beaten path. Personally, I tend to avoid those when I can. I play the
    game for how relaxing I find it, and the added stress of hauling three
    trailers through the narrow streets of some towns just isn't worth it.



    Pity poor c.s.i.p.g.action.... now there are TWO people talking about
    truck simulator games. ;-)


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  • From Dimensional Traveler@dtravel@sonic.net to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Fri Dec 12 15:40:06 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On 12/12/2025 7:30 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
    On Thu, 11 Dec 2025 20:02:43 -0700, PW <noneused@noneused.net> wrote:

    Sort of eerie Spalls! I forgot that somehow a long time ago when i
    last ran ATS that I set something up for Montana. Don't remember how
    I did that but I just did two jobs in Montana. Way too creepy because
    it was incredibly accurate the scenery, routes, towns, etc.... I
    missed the turn to Bozeman and drove to billings and did not see my
    exit 333 899 south in Livingston (my exit to my home south of
    Livingston) but I did see 89 north and a bunch of other road signs and
    scenery were incredibly accurate. I turned around in Laurel, MT and
    sure enough the refineries were right there! Had to head back west to
    BozeAngelas to complete my job. Both ways in the dark from Great
    Falls up north.

    ATS uses 1 1-to-20 'compression' for its maps; that is, 1 mile in game
    is roughly equivalent to 20 miles in reality. This has the advantage
    of reducing the workload on the developers (unlike, say, "Microsoft
    Flight Simulator 2020", all the maps in ATS are hand-crafted, so
    creating all of America would be a daunting effort). It does mean that
    a lot of exits on the highway get skipped.

    As you noticed, you can often recognize parts of the landscape and
    correlate them to the real world, but it falls apart if you look at
    things /too/ closely. The developers goal was more to create a 'feel'
    for the region than an exact match, and I think they've done that
    fairly well.

    But I've had similar experiences as yours with the game (not so much
    in ATS, since its mostly 'out West' so far and I don't have incredible familiarity with most of that region of the USAmerica, but definitely
    in ETS ;-)

    Unbelievable! But why do I sometimes get two or three trailers? Not
    fair! My first one had 3 trailers behind me!! Missed the turnoff and
    got stuck in parking lot trying to turn around but got out of it :-)

    When you're on the 'quick job' screen, there's a symbol (I think it
    looks like a trailer hitch) that indicates if you'll be pulling
    multiple trailers. These jobs tend to pay better but, as you noted,
    can be a bit of a pain... especially if you accidentally stray off the
    beaten path. Personally, I tend to avoid those when I can. I play the
    game for how relaxing I find it, and the added stress of hauling three trailers through the narrow streets of some towns just isn't worth it.



    Pity poor c.s.i.p.g.action.... now there are TWO people talking about
    truck simulator games. ;-)


    Huh? Sorry, were you saying something?
    --
    I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
    dirty old man.
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  • From bill_wilson@bill_w@aol.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Fri Dec 12 19:07:36 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Perfect! One of you is a dumb cunt who can't even spell,
    and the other plays the game with keyboard and mouse.

    I really value your opinions.
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  • From PW@noneused@noneused.net to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Fri Dec 12 18:31:30 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Fri, 12 Dec 2025 10:30:01 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

    fair! My first one had 3 trailers behind me!! Missed the turnoff and
    got stuck in parking lot trying to turn around but got out of it :-)

    When you're on the 'quick job' screen, there's a symbol (I think it
    looks like a trailer hitch) that indicates if you'll be pulling
    multiple trailers. These jobs tend to pay better but, as you noted,
    can be a bit of a pain... especially if you accidentally stray off the
    beaten path. Personally, I tend to avoid those when I can. I play the
    game for how relaxing I find it, and the added stress of hauling three >trailers through the narrow streets of some towns just isn't worth it.

    *--

    I am going to look for that Spalls and stick to one trailer! I don't
    need the money that bad :-) Just in real life, of course.

    Thanks again!
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