It’s been a while since I last provided an update. In this post I will talk exclusively about American Truck Simulator.
On March 22nd we were treated to another new truck – the International 9900i Eagle. Some of my readers my recall that I once had a mod of this truck type and quite liked it. That was a long time ago and at a time when the only manufacturers represented in game were Peterbilt and Kenworth. The range of manufacturers has expanded a lot in the last couple of years with Volvo, Mack, Western Star, Freightliner and International models arriving. The Lonestar was the first of the International models – a very individual style icon and much too flamboyant for my taste. Then we got the LT last autumn. That was more to my taste and my slowly expanding fleet has 2 of these with company employees working out of Ontario along with my personal one called ‘Kimberly’…
…These are set up with 475hp engines and automatic transmissions to handle medium loads of building and farming supplies and occasionally small to medium lowboy work – the duty that Kimberly was last employed on, hence the banner and flags.
The 9900i is a classic truck design, much like the Peterbuilt 389. When I looked at this truck, I knew it was going to be the heavy haul specialist for my company. Expected to haul just about anything, it has a Cummins 600hp engine and an 18-speed manual transmission. As pride of the fleet, it also has a special paint scheme. Time to meet Jeannie…
…seen here hauling her usual lowboy triple which can carry anything up to the largest types of farming equipment – one of our company’s target markets. Here she is collecting a Crawler Tractor from a farm in Oakdale…
And here’s a shot from inside Jeannie’s cab, showing the rather stylish dash…
Update 1.44 has just released and this brings a new trailer type to both Truck Simulator games, the Drop Deck. I’ve been waiting for these for a while as they will be perfect for our farming and building supplies work. More versatile than a normal flatbed, they can also carry small types of plant like loaders and rollers. I dropped off the lowboy and took one of these for a spin…
…The cargo is a mix-tank which demonstrates the flexibility of this trailer well. I’ve also carried hay while testing. I think we’ll be replacing our current flatbeds with these.
One of the other things delivered in recent updates has been the updates to the California map. SCS have started at the north of the state and the first major settlement to be improved was Redding. In the latest release, the area around Sacramento has been revamped along with Truckee and the Donner Pass as far as the Nevada border. Here’s a few shots from that area…
Unfortunately, because of the scale, the city of San Rafael had to be removed from the map but, we are promised there will be a new city introduced further south to compensate. California is a big state so I don’t know how long it will be before the rebuild gets as far south as Bakersfield…
Other things introduced in recent updates of both Truck Simulator games have included improved force feedback for steering wheels and the ability to raise and lower our truck’s suspension. Both much welcomed improvements. We are also getting regular updates on progress towards the next 2 states that are to be added to the game, Montana and Texas. It looks like that could be soon. There have also been hints of an updated Volvo and new interiors for the Freightliner Cascadia and Western Star 4900x trucks. Lots of exciting things going on 😎👍
Images from Finchley 