American Truck Simulator has launched! (Linux, Mac, Windows)

[Huw the Poo]

Nope, or at least not in the UK.  Although, now that I think about it, it does sound like a good idea.  It must help to ease congestion somewhat.

[W8taminute]

^It does help a little during the morning rush hour when everyone is queued up at a red light.  If there is room and you need to turn right you can squeak by getting you to the office a few minutes earlier. 

[WallysWorld]

Some screenshots of the upcoming Arizona map: http://blog.scssoft.com/2016/04/the-grand-canyon-state.html

[Huw the Poo]

Arizona was released today, for free. O0

...and, yes, it includes the Grand Canyon.

[Dammit Carl!]

Any mods exist to make this a "70's," American Truck Simulator?  I have a need to shut smokey down and do what they say can't be done in my cab-over Kenworth.

[Staggerwing]

Any mods exist to make this a "70's," American Truck Simulator?  I have a need to shut smokey down and do what they say can't be done in my cab-over Kenworth.

Watch out for them Bears in the Air, man!

[BanzaiCat]

I saw this on sale on Steam and almost grabbed it, but then I ran it through Can You Run It's website, and nope. Glad I checked first.  :-\

[Huw the Poo]

I saw this on sale on Steam and almost grabbed it, but then I ran it through Can You Run It's website, and nope. Glad I checked first.  :-\

Dude, those websites are incredibly unreliable to the point where I'd call them useless.  ATS uses the same engine as ETS, which is very scalable.  Looking at the minimum requirements posted by the developer, they're very low.  Just how bad is your PC?

The PC I upgraded from last year was able to run ETS no problem.  Its specs: Pentium-D Dual Core 1.8 GHz (that's right, not even a proper core 2 duo), 4GB RAM, nVidia GT 240.

[BanzaiCat]

Just how bad is your PC?

Quad CPU @2.5 GHz
4 GB RAM
AMD Radeon HD 5700

And almost 9 years old.

So you think it would run ATS? I admit ignorance when it comes to the CPU.

[Huw the Poo]

Well your CPU smashes the minimum requirements, RAM is fine and considering Intel HD 4000 graphics are supported, your radeon should be fine.

Why not try the demo?

[BanzaiCat]

Well your CPU smashes the minimum requirements, RAM is fine and considering Intel HD 4000 graphics are supported, your radeon should be fine.

Why not try the demo?

I totally overlooked that. Thanks. I'll check it out!

[BanzaiCat]

I had time today to run the demo...and wow, it works! Works great, too. Maybe the graphics could be better (I didn't tweak anything in the Options page; I just let it do its thing). It ran very smoothly. I can't believe how I was NOT tempted at all to go GTA on everyone around me and actually drive, obeying the speed limits and stop signs and turn signals and...yeah, that was strange, everyone ELSE was using their turn signals, so I know that's how I'm not in a real simulation.  ;D

Anyway, I only played it for about 45 minutes, but it was enjoyable...and I HAVE NO IDEA WHY.  ??? I might buy it eventually. It's on sale for $15.99 right now, but I usually only partake of mega-discounts. I'm sure it'll be there at some point. The demo looks like it has a lot to it so it might be a while before I run out of options with it.

[WallysWorld]

It's a good game and the developer has announced that it has sold so well that they are expanding the scale of the game to match ETS2's scale: http://www.pcgamer.com/american-truck-simulators-map-size-to-increase/

Acknowledging complaints that its roads are too teeny, developer SCS Software has announced that the sim's world is soon to expand, from a map of 1:35 scale to one of 1:20 scale, basically resulting in 75% longer roads out in the wilderness. The new scale will be equivalent to that of the map in Euro Truck Simulator 2, and as you can see from this visual demonstration, there'll be a pretty substantial increase in the size of the world.

https://steamcommunity.com/games/americantrucksimulator/announcements/detail/970905287446484931

Fortunately American Truck Simulator started strong out of the gate, and we are now confident that its sales can sustain an even larger development team than we originally hoped for. SCS Software has since more than doubled in size, and we are in the process of hiring even more map designers and 3D artists.

[BanzaiCat]

I could see how the world is a little small. For my last haul, I chose a Sacramento > Bakersfield route, which in the real world is close to 300 miles/4+ hours or so, I think. Of course, I do NOT want to drive in a game for 4+ hours, so I totally get why the world is a bit 'shorter' than normal. However, I wouldn't mind seeing the driving lengths extended.

One thing I noticed, and maybe it was designed like this on purpose, is that the gas stations aren't exactly convenient. I found it odd that I had to pull into what looked like a 'normal' gas station as opposed to a full-on truck stop. Are there full-sized truck stops in the full version/demo? Just curious.

[BanzaiCat]

Bless its heart, I had to go and buy the full version. WHY IS THIS GAME such fun?