Euro Truck Simulator 2 Career

[Kenadian]

Since there are a few of us playing Euro Truck Simulator 2 we may as well discuss the Career aspects of the game as well as share our stories with each other.

How are you finding the Career Mode in Euro Truck Simulator 2, what are the settings your using to play the game and of course, what is your current status in Career Mode?

Also, what is your favorite truck and why?

Please share.

 

[Ogami Itto]

I have a small freight company consisting of two small garages in Manheim and Berlin with 4 hired drivers so far. I borrowed €500,000 leveraged against my daily earnings to afford the quick growth and right now they average €10,300 a day, easily making the combined loan payment already. My personal stats are level 15 with a 700hp 6x2-4 Volvo that has been upgraded from my first truck. Looking forward to raking in it so I can compare and contrast the various brands at a later time. Some observations:

1. Take the €100,000 load when offered and buy a truck, you level quicker.
2. Make your first garage upgrade a purchase away from your original garage, this gets you 3 open spaces for the same €180,000 purchase.
3. Upgrade that garage to a large first, it costs you €50,000 a driver not €60,000.
4. Upgraded drivetrain greatly increases Volvo's stability with heavy/oversize loads, highly recommended.

 

[Shilka]

I'm taking things slow. Still on my first own truck, which had a few upgrade rounds. I havent bought/upgraded any garages yet, not hired drivers yet. I'm probably going to earn money so I can upgrade/hire without taking a loan, I guess I hate debts. (Yet I spent around 200K on upgrades already )

I tried making my settings as realistic as possible, Manual shift (auto clutch as I dont own a clutch pedal), real air brakes, manual start and I decreased my break power as I thought on standard settings you could brake on a dime, which I found not entirely realistic (eventhough modern trucks have the same breaking distance as regular cars, even fully loaded. ) I've got the realism mod installed (its great), since I got my updated interior at level 12 I'm not using the seperate route screen anymore, and I'm using my hat switch to look left/right and at my real mirrors. Using indicators properly, using jakebrake, I park and hook up manually and by using mirrors (no outside cam, only for screenshots), and set my lights, flashing lights and extra lights appropriate to the situation. Loving it!

Here's a screen from my last delivery;

 

[JohnnyK]

I decreased my break power as I thought on standard settings you could brake on a dime, which I found not entirely realistic (eventhough modern trucks have the same breaking distance as regular cars, even fully loaded. )

[video=youtube;ridS396W2BY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ridS396W2BY[/video]

 

[Shilka]

Very impressive indeed. Still, there's loads not suitable for emergency braking like that. Think half full tanker, stacked concrete slabs, pipes, logs.. You just can't tie that kind of stuff down well enough to withstand those kind of forces.

 

[Kenadian]

I just hit Level 20 last night and to celebrate upgraded my Man Truck's Power Plant to the 680 hp beast. Driving the truck now is almost unrecognizable as I have much more torque and on the freeway there isn't much that can pass me unless I let it.

Like Ogami I LOVE the Volvo but found it gave me some rather reckless driving habits as I believe it to be the most stable truck in the game. It doesn't lean nor is it susceptible to fishtailing/under-steer/over-steer like some of the other trucks in the game, Scania by comparison is the complete opposite.

I've tried all the trucks and settled on the Man simply because it's somewhere in the middle. I did purchase an Iveco Stralis "Truck of the Year" Edition but gave it to one of my drivers because the driver/passenger windows are just too small to see anything beyond 90°. I can say it has some of the nicest styling in the game and it's engine sound is amazing but the horn, OMFG is it ever sh1t laughably.

I have 4 drivers which bring in just under $11,000 and am leveling them up on staggered traits. The only overlap is ADR and of course Distance; everyone else specializes in something different be it Just in Time, Fragile, and/or High Value. Once leveled they'll be moved to the lead position in a new garage as I intend to buy a minimum of three more garages in the next 50 hours of gameplay.

I've also been slowly upgrading the fleet which doesn't help the drivers much but will be handy as I intend to switch between trucks until I get used to all of them. I really want to drive the Scania more because I think it's the best truck in the game to improve your skills on overall.

Like Shilka I'm trying the game on as close to full real as I can except I've disabled the fatigue simulation. I absolutely hated having it and even though Ogami explained the system a bit to me, I find it horribly unrealistic.

I've set my braking sensitivity to half of what it was originally because I feel it gives the truck weight. I'm also using Track IR 5, a Momo Wheel and Pedals and have been driving standard for a while now. The only thing I lack is a clutch so the game has to simulate that for me.

I have all my lights configured to work for the situation, signal everything including slow moving (up and down hills) as well as Hazards at Rail Crossings, entering a work area, etc.

I do not use external views for anything and only look out my window to back up to pick up a trailer if it's raining or in a really tight spot. For the most part it's strictly mirrors for me.

Also, I've not used that annoying GPS popup window since hitting Level 12 and navigate strictly by in-dash GPS and Road Signs.

I've also disabled the speed limiter because I find that JIT Deliveries can be failed just by bugged traffic density alone. If they ever fix the AI so they actually Yield and don't come out of nowhere by the hundreds when you're waiting under and overpass to Yield then I'll enable it once again.

For the most part though removing the speed limiter has only gained me 10 km/h because I rarely open it up. There is a lot of turning in the game even on the freeway and I don't like seeing my trailer lean all over the place because I'm driving too fast into a corner.

This is truly an amazing game and I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm completely addicted to it.

 

[Ogami Itto]

I haven't had an issue with JIF deliveries, in fact one of the more challenging aspects is trying to figure out if a delivery will fit in with my rest cycle and have time to complete. The Volvo was the first dealer near my start point, and since I bought a truck on credit early, that what I went with.

Where is this "Truck of the Year" edition, do I need to go to the dealer personally to see it?

Tried to switch to the sequential shifter to help get out of one of the mine complexes but found it worse than real automatic, what am I missing?