American Truck Simulator

[PZ]

Another one I wanted is on sale at Steam for $4.99 - American Truck Simulator. I downloaded the demo because I did not know if a driving simulation would be for me, but I kind of like it, and the price is right.

[PZ]

One of the reasons I had a bit of an interest in this game is because of my all-time favorite movie Duel, in which a crazy truck driver chases a wimpy city dweller with his rusty fuel tanker. Evidently there are other crazy afficionados of the game because several of them made mods featuring the Duel tanker. This video shows one that is quite good, but only the trailer is as good as the original movie. The tractor is okay and fits with the trailer, but any Duel fan will pick out the differences.

[Dweller_Benthos]

I've also seen a few streams of this one, but never saw that movie, I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

[PZ]

It appears to have a cult following, and I'm one of the members 

I've purchased several versions on DVD, TV version, widescreen version, and most recently, the 4k version. Since 1971, I've probably watched that movie a hundred times or more.

The game is really addicting - I normally don't care for driving games that much but this one is different. All kinds of mods and DLCs. I've even put Fallout on the back burner for a bit so I can experiment with these simulations. It is realistic enough to take me back to my younger days when I would drive through the night to go from Idaho to southern California. I liked those drives because virtually no one was on the road, and the occasional lit homes in the small towns looked so cozy. ATS gives me that feeling again. I do not drive at night any longer because there are way too many deer on the road. My truck/trailer literally vaporized a deer as I passed through northern Nevada a long time.

[PZ]

This is kinda cool - I wanted to see how detailed the map is and drove down a stretch of highway I know quite well. I typically drive south when I go RV-ing and often stop at law^&r's Canyon overlook for rest and refreshment.

This is a pic of a real-life roadside stop I took a few years ago:

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This is a screen capture of me in my in-game truck at the same place in the game map:

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Of course, the game is not this detailed with everything, else it would take all day to drive a relatively short couple of hundred miles. However, the developers chose specific places to highlight in the abbreviated road trip. The detail is good enough so that I can drive parts of the country I know without using a map. I drove through my small hometown, and could easily recognize the major landmarks. Not everything is there, and not all roads are present but the main things are present. Because the detail is good enough to recognize where I am in the game world, I am hoping it is the same wherever I drive.

[Dweller_Benthos]

Pretty cool! 

[PZ]

Indeed! I started driving down some of the other places I like to travel and discovered familiar sights wherever I went.

I am getting into modding quite a bit. A couple of significant ones are ProMod which opens up Canada, and Reforma, which allows most of Mexico. At first I thought this would just open roads you could drive on, but they both are integrated into the simulation so that you can do transports starting in a US city to be delivered to a city/place in Mexico (or Canada).

These are some of the best map mods I have ever used. Imagine if someone could do this with other games we play.

[Dweller_Benthos]

yeah right that sounds pretty cool