In Maps and Mod’s I suggested that one upshot of adding in the map upgrade to Euro Truck simulator was likely to be a different way of playing the game. Apart from the resident truck types and the different scenery, the basic premise of the game side of both simulations is the same. You start out as a driver for hire; then get your own truck and ultimately build a huge company with garages in every major city.
However, you don’t have to play that way. You could choose to just work as a hired driver for ever, just taking what jobs are available. You will make money but a lot slower than if you buy your own truck. Then again, there’s no reason after getting your own truck why you shouldn’t stay as a self-employed driver – no one is forcing you to start a global enterprise! And that is what I’ve decided to do in Euro Truck.
Here’s how I intend the two games to work going forward. In American Truck I will continue to grow my company and, as there are lots of drivers making money for me, I will take the opportunity to build a small personal fleet within the company. I can upload various ‘mod’ trucks and test them out alongside ‘Rolled Gold’, my Kenworth W900. I will probably review them as I go and decide which ones I wish to keep. First into the Bakersfield base is the Peterbilt 351 I shared a shot of yesterday.
In Euro Truck I will stay as a freelance with my own truck. The aim here is to own each of the truck types available in the game, upgrading them as I earn money. With only the basic garage I will only be able to own one truck at a time. I have decided to do this in Euro Truck because of the mechanics of the game based around maintenance and repairs. In American Truck you have an ‘insurance’ which results in all maintenance and repairs costing no more than around $205. This is an unrealistic compromise. Euro Truck doesn’t have insurance, so maintenance is much more expensive and accidents will cost you a lot of money – a bad collision could cost €30k to repair! This factor makes being freelance in Euro Truck more challenging.
I have cleared my previous game saves and started from scratch. I built up funds of €50k working as a driver for hire before taking a €100k bank loan to buy my own truck. I could have taken out the loan the moment it was available to me – after the 5th job. But I know that one accident could bankrupt me (see above regards insurance) so I waited until I had a good balance to act as a safety net. The daily loan repayments are also a concern at €2888 – that means you have to factor those in alongside the cost of fuel, the regular maintenance and any fines you may get for traffic offences. If you use a Ferry, the fare comes out of the payment for the job too. Oh! and don’t forget Toll Roads 😉
With my loan secured I have bought my first truck. The cheapest truck in the game – an Iveco Stralis. I chose to stick with the fitted 310HP engine to start with and changed the paint on the stock model to a cheaper version. I did upgrade the tyres to a more fuel-efficient make – which the cheaper paint partially paid for. I will be writing a bit about our journeys together in future posts. The colour I chose is called Mystery Blue and I think that is a good name for a truck, so here she is: Mystery Blue…
Images from Finchley 