From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action


I am sorry to report that SCS Software has released yet another
expansion to American Truck Simulator. This will unfortunately result
in my rambling on about that game in the upcoming "What Have You Been
Playing" thread. I apologize in advance but, really, blame SCS.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(Don't worry. I know none of you actually read my endless reviews
about American Truck Simulator ;-)


--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 9/24/2026 5:09 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

I am sorry to report that SCS Software has released yet another
expansion to American Truck Simulator. This will unfortunately result
in my rambling on about that game in the upcoming "What Have You Been Playing" thread. I apologize in advance but, really, blame SCS.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(Don't worry. I know none of you actually read my endless reviews
about American Truck Simulator ;-)

Considering the current world political situation I really think you
should boycott American Truck Simulator.

Play Canadian Truck Simulator instead.
--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 25/09/2026 01:09, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

I am sorry to report that SCS Software has released yet another
expansion to American Truck Simulator. This will unfortunately result
in my rambling on about that game in the upcoming "What Have You Been Playing" thread. I apologize in advance but, really, blame SCS.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(Don't worry. I know none of you actually read my endless reviews
about American Truck Simulator ;-)

I cant say I realised you play it.


--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 9/25/2026 5:38 AM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:

On 9/24/2026 5:09 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

I am sorry to report that SCS Software has released yet another
expansion to American Truck Simulator. This will unfortunately result
in my rambling on about that game in the upcoming "What Have You Been
Playing" thread. I apologize in advance but, really, blame SCS.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(Don't worry. I know none of you actually read my endless reviews
about American Truck Simulator ;-)

Considering the current world political situation I really think you
should boycott American Truck Simulator.

Play Canadian Truck Simulator instead.

Or Euro Truck Simulator


--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

JAB wrote:

On 25/09/2026 01:09, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

I am sorry to report that SCS Software has released yet another
expansion to American Truck Simulator. This will unfortunately result
in my rambling on about that game in the upcoming "What Have You Been
Playing" thread. I apologize in advance but, really, blame SCS.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(Don't worry. I know none of you actually read my endless reviews
about American Truck Simulator ;-)

I cant say I realised you play it.

I didn't know either. What's this about?
--
I hate it when you breach my space
And I hate it when you preach your case
And you should go down, down
Save someone else
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 9/25/2026 5:06 PM, kyonshi wrote:

On 9/25/2026 5:38 AM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:

On 9/24/2026 5:09 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

I am sorry to report that SCS Software has released yet another
expansion to American Truck Simulator. This will unfortunately result
in my rambling on about that game in the upcoming "What Have You Been
Playing" thread. I apologize in advance but, really, blame SCS.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(Don't worry. I know none of you actually read my endless reviews
about American Truck Simulator ;-)

Considering the current world political situation I really think you
should boycott American Truck Simulator.

Play Canadian Truck Simulator instead.

Or Euro Truck Simulator

Dear Kyonshi,

Where is your national pride? Why aren't you recommending Japanese
train simulators?


Best wishes, and happy densha otoko!
--
Johann | email: invalid -> com | http://www.myrkraverk.com/blog/
I'm not from the Internet, I just work there. | via XS News https://bsky.app/profile/myrkraverk.bsky.social | for ( ;; ) _:;
Federated at https://fed.brid.gy/bsky/myrkraverk.bsky.social
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Thu, 24 Sep 2026 20:09:21 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> wrote:

I am sorry to report that SCS Software has released yet another
expansion to American Truck Simulator. This will unfortunately result
in my rambling on about that game in the upcoming "What Have You Been >Playing" thread. I apologize in advance but, really, blame SCS.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(Don't worry. I know none of you actually read my endless reviews
about American Truck Simulator ;-)

*--

I bought South Dakota last night! :-) They are my neighbor to the east
so I feel like I should support it.

Can't wait to read your feedback! :-)

-pw
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:29:18 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

I bought South Dakota last night! :-) They are my neighbor to the east
so I feel like I should support it.
Can't wait to read your feedback! :-)

Pre-release spoiler alert: it's not very positive ;-)


--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 9/26/2026 11:30 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:29:18 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

I bought South Dakota last night! :-) They are my neighbor to the east
so I feel like I should support it.
Can't wait to read your feedback! :-)

Pre-release spoiler alert: it's not very positive ;-)

Well, South Dakota, other than Mt Rushmore, is basically just a mini
version of Montana or Texas. Miles and miles of nothing but miles and
miles. And I say that as someone who has driven across both in real life.
--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Sat, 26 Sep 2026 16:40:54 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<[email protected]> said this thing:

On 9/26/2026 11:30 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:29:18 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

I bought South Dakota last night! :-) They are my neighbor to the east
so I feel like I should support it.
Can't wait to read your feedback! :-)

Pre-release spoiler alert: it's not very positive ;-)

Well, South Dakota, other than Mt Rushmore, is basically just a mini
version of Montana or Texas. Miles and miles of nothing but miles and >miles. And I say that as someone who has driven across both in real life.

I visited South Dakota years and year (and years and years and years)
ago. I don't have much memory of the place; what little I remember was
a lot more drab and brown than is shown in the video game, but since I
can't really remember exactly WHEN and WHERE I visited (it was part of
the pilgrimage to Rushmore, but which route I used through the state
is lost to time), I won't dispute the expansion's high-summer vision.
I didn't stay long in South Dakota after Rushmore, though, and I think
it was because there just wasn't anything else to see and do there.

Maybe that half-memory is coloring my take on the recent play-through (playthrough/ play through) of the expansion. But it wasn't a locale
that impressed me, and even if the DLC was an accurate representation
of the region, it didn't make it anymore worthwhile a purchase.


--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Sat, 26 Sep 2026 16:40:54 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<[email protected]> said this thing:

On 9/26/2026 11:30 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:29:18 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

I bought South Dakota last night! :-) They are my neighbor to the east >>>> so I feel like I should support it.
Can't wait to read your feedback! :-)

Pre-release spoiler alert: it's not very positive ;-)

Well, South Dakota, other than Mt Rushmore, is basically just a mini
version of Montana or Texas. Miles and miles of nothing but miles and
miles. And I say that as someone who has driven across both in real life.

I visited South Dakota years and year (and years and years and years)
ago. I don't have much memory of the place; what little I remember was
a lot more drab and brown than is shown in the video game, but since I
can't really remember exactly WHEN and WHERE I visited (it was part of
the pilgrimage to Rushmore, but which route I used through the state
is lost to time), I won't dispute the expansion's high-summer vision.
I didn't stay long in South Dakota after Rushmore, though, and I think
it was because there just wasn't anything else to see and do there.

Maybe that half-memory is coloring my take on the recent play-through (playthrough/ play through) of the expansion. But it wasn't a locale
that impressed me, and even if the DLC was an accurate representation
of the region, it didn't make it anymore worthwhile a purchase.

I lived in SD,USA for 3 years after I finished up with graduate school.
What surprised me was the rains that were heavy and lasted forever.
Also, it was colder than Minnesota during the winters, which is saying something, because of the wind chill. I can't imagine living in ND, USA.
--
I hate it when you breach my space
And I hate it when you preach your case
And you should go down, down
Save someone else
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:
<snip>

I visited South Dakota years and year (and years and years and years)
ago. I don't have much memory of the place; what little I remember was
a lot more drab and brown than is shown in the video game

<snip>

So South Dakota is Quake?

Xocyll
--
I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Mon, 28 Sep 2026 12:03:49 -0400, Xocyll <[email protected]> said this
thing:

Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> looked up from reading the >entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:
<snip>

I visited South Dakota years and year (and years and years and years)
ago. I don't have much memory of the place; what little I remember was
a lot more drab and brown than is shown in the video game

<snip>

So South Dakota is Quake?

LOL.

Well, not quite so bad (and in my memories only anyway). But yeah,
when I cast back to my long-ago trip to South Dakota, the prevailing
color was brownish grey. I think it was even overcast.

#

According to Wikipedia, there were 13 video games that utilized --in
whole or in part-- a South Dakotan setting (including "American Truck Simulator"). Other games are "A Mind Forever Voyaging", "Sam and Max
Hit the Road", "Call of Dity Advanced Warfare" and "Need for Speed:
The Run". Doubtlessly, most of these games merely utilized the Mt.
Rushmore setting rather than a more in-depth exploration of the state.

(With the exception of "A Mind Forever Voyaging", which took place
almost entirely in a virtualized South Dakotan town)



--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Sat, 26 Sep 2026 16:40:54 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<[email protected]> wrote:

On 9/26/2026 11:30 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:29:18 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

I bought South Dakota last night! :-) They are my neighbor to the east
so I feel like I should support it.
Can't wait to read your feedback! :-)

Pre-release spoiler alert: it's not very positive ;-)

Well, South Dakota, other than Mt Rushmore, is basically just a mini
version of Montana or Texas. Miles and miles of nothing but miles and >miles. And I say that as someone who has driven across both in real life.

*--

I live in Montana and am glad you think that! Please tell everyone
you know that! Call them on the phone, .... Social Media....!!!!!!

Also tell them all that Montana is full!!

-pw
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Mon, 28 Sep 2026 12:03:49 -0400, Xocyll <[email protected]> wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> looked up from reading the >entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:
<snip>

I visited South Dakota years and year (and years and years and years)
ago. I don't have much memory of the place; what little I remember was
a lot more drab and brown than is shown in the video game

<snip>

So South Dakota is Quake?

Xocyll

*--

Good one!!!!

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 9/28/2026 7:35 PM, PW wrote:

On Sat, 26 Sep 2026 16:40:54 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<[email protected]> wrote:

On 9/26/2026 11:30 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:29:18 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

I bought South Dakota last night! :-) They are my neighbor to the east >>>> so I feel like I should support it.
Can't wait to read your feedback! :-)

Pre-release spoiler alert: it's not very positive ;-)

Well, South Dakota, other than Mt Rushmore, is basically just a mini
version of Montana or Texas. Miles and miles of nothing but miles and
miles. And I say that as someone who has driven across both in real life.

I live in Montana and am glad you think that! Please tell everyone
you know that! Call them on the phone, .... Social Media....!!!!!!

Also tell them all that Montana is full!!

Full of snow and dinosaurs!
--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Sat, 26 Sep 2026 14:30:22 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:29:18 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

I bought South Dakota last night! :-) They are my neighbor to the east
so I feel like I should support it.
Can't wait to read your feedback! :-)

Pre-release spoiler alert: it's not very positive ;-)

*--

Just bought the Road Trip: Ford. May check it out this weekend.

-pw
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Tue, 29 Sep 2026 10:01:46 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<[email protected]> wrote:

On 9/28/2026 7:35 PM, PW wrote:

On Sat, 26 Sep 2026 16:40:54 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<[email protected]> wrote:

On 9/26/2026 11:30 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:29:18 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

I bought South Dakota last night! :-) They are my neighbor to the east >>>>> so I feel like I should support it.
Can't wait to read your feedback! :-)

Pre-release spoiler alert: it's not very positive ;-)

Well, South Dakota, other than Mt Rushmore, is basically just a mini
version of Montana or Texas. Miles and miles of nothing but miles and
miles. And I say that as someone who has driven across both in real life. >>

I live in Montana and am glad you think that! Please tell everyone
you know that! Call them on the phone, .... Social Media....!!!!!!

Also tell them all that Montana is full!!

Full of snow and dinosaurs!

*---

Dinos, always! And I hope we get a normal snowpack this year or
above.

-pw
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

Dimensional Traveler <[email protected]> looked up from reading the
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:

On 9/28/2026 7:35 PM, PW wrote:

On Sat, 26 Sep 2026 16:40:54 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<[email protected]> wrote:

On 9/26/2026 11:30 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:29:18 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

I bought South Dakota last night! :-) They are my neighbor to the east >>>>> so I feel like I should support it.
Can't wait to read your feedback! :-)

Pre-release spoiler alert: it's not very positive ;-)

Well, South Dakota, other than Mt Rushmore, is basically just a mini
version of Montana or Texas. Miles and miles of nothing but miles and
miles. And I say that as someone who has driven across both in real life. >>

I live in Montana and am glad you think that! Please tell everyone
you know that! Call them on the phone, .... Social Media....!!!!!!

Also tell them all that Montana is full!!

Full of snow and dinosaurs!

Dinosnowrs?

Xocyll
--
I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Tue, 29 Sep 2026 13:20:31 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

On Sat, 26 Sep 2026 14:30:22 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson ><[email protected]> wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:29:18 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

I bought South Dakota last night! :-) They are my neighbor to the east
so I feel like I should support it.
Can't wait to read your feedback! :-)

Pre-release spoiler alert: it's not very positive ;-)

*--

Just bought the Road Trip: Ford. May check it out this weekend.

Same, although I gave it the briefest of tries already. It's
definitely going to take me some retraining from driving the
slow-accelerating trucks to a vehicle than can reach 60mph in seconds. Especially with the Truck Sim physics engine.


--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Wed, 30 Sep 2026 12:27:06 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> wrote:

On Tue, 29 Sep 2026 13:20:31 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

On Sat, 26 Sep 2026 14:30:22 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson >><[email protected]> wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:29:18 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

I bought South Dakota last night! :-) They are my neighbor to the east >>>>so I feel like I should support it.
Can't wait to read your feedback! :-)

Pre-release spoiler alert: it's not very positive ;-)

*--

Just bought the Road Trip: Ford. May check it out this weekend.

Same, although I gave it the briefest of tries already. It's
definitely going to take me some retraining from driving the >slow-accelerating trucks to a vehicle than can reach 60mph in seconds. >Especially with the Truck Sim physics engine.

*--

I didn't expect that! Cool!
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Wed, 30 Sep 2026 20:23:21 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

On Wed, 30 Sep 2026 12:27:06 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson ><[email protected]> wrote:

On Tue, 29 Sep 2026 13:20:31 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

On Sat, 26 Sep 2026 14:30:22 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson >>><[email protected]> wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:29:18 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said >>>>this thing:

I bought South Dakota last night! :-) They are my neighbor to the east >>>>>so I feel like I should support it.
Can't wait to read your feedback! :-)

Pre-release spoiler alert: it's not very positive ;-)

*--

Just bought the Road Trip: Ford. May check it out this weekend.

Same, although I gave it the briefest of tries already. It's
definitely going to take me some retraining from driving the >>slow-accelerating trucks to a vehicle than can reach 60mph in seconds. >>Especially with the Truck Sim physics engine.

So I gave the new "Road Trip" DLC a spin. It's... interesting. I'm not
sure I entirely see the point of it as an expansion to the truck-sim
game, but on the other hand it's not too outlandish either. The base
game has a huge open-world map so using it for other purposes seems
logical, I guess.

The driving experience is very different. I'm not just talking the
mechanical; obviously, a car (or light truck) drives very differently
from a massive 18-wheeler tractor-trailer. The biggest change, of
course, being in acceleration. It can take minutes to get up to full
speed with a full-load in a real truck, but mere seconds for a car.
Too, turning the car feels a lot twitchier (although that may have
more to do with the control settings of the game being tuned for a
truck, with wheels that have a 720 degree spin radius). Possibly I
could tweak the game to be less sensitive when turning in a car... but
then I'd have to reset it for the truck.

A lot of the game feels tuned to driving a bigger truck too. For
example, the spray from a wet road that comes out from behind other
cars looks good when perched six feet above the road in a truck, but
from a lower vantage point -like you'd have in a car-- you can see how
the game fakes it with billboarded textures much more easily. In a lot
of little ways like this, the expansion feels a bit rushed; it could
have used more tuning or --you know-- been spun off as its own product
rather than wedged it into an existing game tailored for truck
driving.

That said, the experience wasn't altogether bad. There are three modes
of driving in "Road Trip". The first is just taking a car and whizzing
about wherever you want; it's fairly ordinary and unremarkable and I
didn't spend much time doing that. There's also a 'job mode' where you
deliver small packages hither and yon; it's basically the truck-game
except with less powerful vehicles, shorter hauls, smaller paychecks
and usually limited to the backroads. I didn't find it much fun.

It's the "Atlas" mode where the expansion shines. Find one of several
dozen billboards scattered about the map, activate it, and you're
presented with six to eight new waypoints. Drive by each to 'mark'
them collected (and get a neat factoid about the locale) and you're
done. Rinse and repeat with all the billboards. It doesn't sound all
the exciting on the face of it, but I found it the most entertaining
part of the game.

See, with the base game, it's really all about getting to your
destination: what job you pick, what roads you choose. Is your big-rig
powerful enough to haul that cargo? Can you get there in time? Is the
route you picked the optimal route with the least amount of traffic
lights and traffic. Are there enough waystops and gas-stations along
the way? Your goal is getting to the end-point where you drop off your
cargo.

"Road Trip", though, is more about the journey itself. Because you car accelerates much faster, you don't mind the little disruptions that
slow you down. A slow routing through a village with narrow roads
isn't quite the annoyance it is in a car as when you're hauling a
20m-long trailer. You don't mind slowing down as much because it's not
as painful when you can get back up to speed in a few seconds. The big
highways become much less appealing. You don't mind taking it a bit
slower and enjoying the sights more.

The difference in viewpoint effects the journey a lot too. In a big
truck, you're six feet above the road. You see much more what's ahead
of you; your headlights expose more of the road. So you're more
focused on moving forward. But closer to road level, you're seeing
less of the 'ahead' and more of the 'side to side' and that changes
how you experience the trip. I became much less fixated on how and
where I was going in the car, and more interested in the here-and-now
of the moment as I was driving.

So, in general, I liked the premise of Road Trip. I fully intend to
keep at it, collecting all the 'points of interest' and buying all the
in-game cars. I'm just not sure it works all that well --at least not
in its current state-- as an expansion to a game tuned towards big-rig
truck driving. It either needed much more time in the oven to work out
all the kinks with the base game's engines, or should have been spun
off as its own product. But it's an interesting experiment regardless.





--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Thu, 01 Oct 2026 14:13:37 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> said this thing:

On Wed, 30 Sep 2026 20:23:21 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

On Wed, 30 Sep 2026 12:27:06 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson >><[email protected]> wrote:

On Tue, 29 Sep 2026 13:20:31 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said
this thing:

On Sat, 26 Sep 2026 14:30:22 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson >>>><[email protected]> wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:29:18 -0600, PW <[email protected]> said >>>>>this thing:

I bought South Dakota last night! :-) They are my neighbor to the east >>>>>>so I feel like I should support it.
Can't wait to read your feedback! :-)

Pre-release spoiler alert: it's not very positive ;-)

*--

Just bought the Road Trip: Ford. May check it out this weekend.

Update:

The v1.62 patch to "American Truck Simulator" will be adding
additional 'tourist board' missions to the states of Illinois,
Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, or 14 of
the 20 states in the game (Colorado, Utah, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nevada
and Nebraska are still lacking). There will also be an additional
'multi-state' mission that follows Route 66 (and can only be completed
if you dutifully purchased all the expansions like a good little
consumer ;-). However, the new states only get one mission per state
(as opposed to the two or three per state which came with the initial
"Road Trip" expansion). It's not clear if SCS will continue to follow
up with more 'tourist board' missions for the missing states or adding
more to existing states.

The 'tourist board' missions aren't --superficially-- the most
exciting missions. The gist of it is that you drive by and activate a
'tourist board' located somewhere in the state, at which point you are presented with four to eight new locations on the map. Driving by
these locations will give you a brief factoid about the location;
visit them all and you get a virtual post-card you can put on your
dashboard. The goal of the whole thing is just to get you to drive
around the map more and enjoy the scenery rather than stick with the
fastest and most direct route to deliver your cargo in the most
expeditious manner.

I actually enjoy the road-trip missions, but they are incredibly
low-effort on the part of SCS. The developers aren't actually adding
any new locations on the maps; they're just directing you to
pre-existing sights. That the expansion released without all states
being covered (and this latest batch only offering one 'tourist board'
mission per state) doesn't impress me in the least.

I'll still be playing them all, of course. ;-)


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