Hater or Lover

Some people have asked me why I criticize the SCS games and am I a hater of the games. My answer is WTF?

You’re not a hater for wanting the best game possible from a company you respect and admire. If I am making suggestions on how to improve the games I love to play, it is because that will make the devs work harder to please their players if the players point out things that could be better. I know for a fact that SCS Software has a ‘wishlist’ a mile long filled with so many ways to improve the games. They are still classified as a small company, and as such they can only work so quick without making mistakes. They are walking a fine line between speed and quality and as I have mentioned on other venues, they need to hire more programmers, artists, and map designers in order to broaden the scope of their games. One suggestion would be to create a console version for both Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator, but that is a whole other topic, one that I will talk about in another blog post.

One aspect of the situation SCS is in, is the fact that the quality games ATS and ETS2 have no competition in the ‘gameosphere’ as it relates to high quality simulation games. In our economic system, competition encourages innovation, innovation drives sales. If a company can out-innovate their competition, they will get more sales. A company that has no competition can stagnate over time and in that respect will lose customers if nothing new is being done and done quick enough. SCS needs competition to light a fire under them to make them get creative really quick. If SCS had competition, they would be forced to create a new game engine, and graphics engine to bring our graphics up to DX12 instead of DX11.

It is a fact that by 2023, all users of Windows who play the SCS games will be on Windows 10, which has DX12. Windows 7 users will have to switch to Windows 10 by January 2020, because that is when the security updates for Windows 7 cease. Anyone still using Windows 7 and going online will be vulnerable to attack by viruses/malware, and antivirus software won’t be provided for Windows 7. Windows 8.1 users will have until January 2023 to have security updates provided by Microsoft.

The question I’d like to ask SCS is why have they been on DX9 for so long? DX11 was released in 2011, the same year as 18 Wheels of Steel: Extreme Trucker 2 was released. If anything, ETS2 should have been put on DX11 right from the start and ATS should have been the same, three years ago, so c’mon SCS, let’s ramp up the passion and get going.

The MHAPro Map for ATS Town of Mt Vernon OR

This is my favorite town in the ATS game. The thing about it is that you can only see the town if you are using the MHAPro Map for ATS map mod.

I’m just sharing this photo because it has a house in it that, if I was able to put myself into the ATS game, this is the town I would most like to live in-game. A lot of people who play the ATS game have said that they wish they could own a house in the game. Well, I don’t ‘own’ the house, but I can pretend that I live there. It even has a parking space where I can park the truck.

My truck in ATS, and my house in Mt Vernon OR (in the game, not in real life, unfortunately)

A New Addition to American Truck Simulator

We are all anxiously awaiting the release of Washington State DLC from SCS Software. This will be the first of two DLCs this year 2019. It is also the DLC that will complete the ‘L’ Shaped map aspect that was present since the release of the free Arizona DLC in 2016. From now on, the ATS DLCs from SCS Software will be part of the inexorable journey east toward the Atlantic Ocean.

Following the release of Washington DLC, we will then start the hype for the second DLC for ATS in 2019, which will be the Utah DLC. Utah will take players on the journey through Monument Valley. Monument Valley’s isolated rock formations are eroded remains of their Rocky Mountain ancestors,formed by sandstone deposits and geologic uplift and then shaped by wind and water. Three main layers of Organ Rock shale, de Chelly sandstone, and Moenkopi shale are visible in many of the buttes.

This is going to be an epic year for fans of American Truck Simulator, and the fun is just beginning, with possibly 3 DLCs next year. https://blog.scssoft.com/2019/05/washington-seattle.html