Tag Archives: Euro Truck Simulator 2

Digital Playground

3 Relaxing Spring Games to Renew Your Mood

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Introduction

When Spring hits, it refreshes and renews me. Not just around the house and as a teacher, but in my gaming, too. As a busy dad and teacher, these 3 relaxing spring games give me a chance to slow down and smell the virtual roses. What are those games, you may ask? I’m glad you did. I’ve spent the last week immersing myself in the slow but steady fun offered by Minecraft, Terreria, and Euro Truck Simulator 2.

Minecraft: Escaping the Real World One Mine at a Time

Christine’s been complaining the last few months that the only channel the downstairs TV gets is “Minecraft.” Both Quinn and I started new worlds on the PS5 and spend most of our waking hours on various projects within the game. He plays the game with more of a completionist mentality, so he already defeated the Ender Dragon and picked up his Elytra.

What can I say? When all you need to worry about are zombies and skeletons, it soothes the soul.

I, on the other hand, took over a mountain village and commandeered one of their houses for my own use.In return, I built them another house, though, and set up defenses so that they can more easily go about their days. I also went into the Nether, built a couple of portals and now have “fast travel” to various parts of the map. No Ender dragon yet, but I most likely possess the gear to defeat it. Perhaps during April break.

Terraria: Another Journey into the Second Dimension

I often mention Minecraft at school. Once, a student replied, “Have you ever played Terraria.” “No,” I admitted, “but it sounds fun.” He told me that he preferred it to Minecraft. So, I went home and tried the game. While i don’t hate the game, I don’t quite enjoy it as much as Minecraft myself. So, I went back to the old standard.

It’s a fun game. I probably just need more time with it.

For my spring article, I chose Terraria again as one of the games to explore. I found more things to do in the game. However, I’m still far too much of a noob to enjoy it on the same level as Minecraft. Along with the Ender dragon, perhaps stay tuned to see if I finally crack the code.

Euro Truck Simulator 2: On the Road Again

Way back at the beginning of Lucas-Mullen Trucking

After returning from German a few years ago, I became addicted to this game. I drove all around Germany trying to find things that reminded me of the trip. The best thing I found was Allianz stadium and that brought me back to one of the most fun days I spent there. Granted, I spent it alone, but going on the tour and wandering around the museum for a good 2 hours made it all worthwhile.

This time, I logged back into the game and just drove around through France. The game updated and reset my progress slightly, so I chose France to try to find the ocean. I never did, so I changed my mission to chase after the sunset. I never ended up finding that, either, but I think that the bug might have bit me again. Perhaps over the summer, I will post some videos of sunrises and sunsets in the game.

The Verdict

These 3 relaxing Spring games prove that you don’t need a fancy vacation to enjoy yourself or the sights that the world has to offer. You just need a controller and a good imagination. Which game of these three is your favorite? Which one haven’t you played that you’d like to try? Let me know in the comments.

Digital Playground

Trucking Around California

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Introduction

Okay, you got me. This isn’t technically a new game for the new decade. Hell, you can even argue that it isn’t new to us. After all, I wrote a few months about my then obsession with Euro Truck Simulator 2. And, honestly, much that I said there can be said about this game. Still, in the interest of keeping the site as active in spite of everything else, I went trucking through California.

As you can see from those screenshots, the game obviously differs in style and theme from the European one. You know from one to the other that you’re in a different country. However, the fundamentals more or less remain the same. You drive a truck. In the American western states. Admittedly, I’ve only played it a couple of times to confirm that, but the driving bug hasn’t hit me again just yet. Stay tuned.

Starting Over

I can’t be 100% sure about this, but part of the reason might be because I already completed so much of the European version of the game. I bought my own truck, worked back from debt to buy another, took out a loan to buy a third and fourth, and hired three drivers.

That makes going through the process again a little tedious. Especially when there’s no hook to keep me coming back. California is great and all, but out of all of the United States, it’s honestly at the bottom of my list of ones I want to visit. I think I might have purchased some DLC (at actual cost because my key got stolen from my Humble account before I changed all my password) for the game, but the only state I saw that you started was California.

I tried picking Bakersfield as my starting city to get that hook. I also picked it because I am still perpetually an angry teenager that pines for the old days of “Nu Metal” or whatever they called it in the beginning. Oh, speaking of music, they give you a different choice of radio stations in the game, too.

The Verdict

I enjoy Euro Truck Simulator 2. After trucking through California, I no doubt will like this game, too. I just need to take some time to dig deeper into what it has to offer. Oh, I just saw they have an Oregon and Washington DLC available. Next pay check, I’ll pick those up and

Digital Playground

2023 PC Game of the Year

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Introduction

Unlike last week, I skipped the contenders article this week. Because, honestly, I only played two PC games with any regularity this year and I wrote about them on Monday. So, anyone paying attention this year knows what game we chose as our 2023 PC Game of the Year.

So, with no suspense to the pick, I need to come up with another format for this article. I recently started using ChatGPT for help with my web page and other tasks. I just asked it for dinner ideas for today and tomorrow. It came up with stir fry and teriyaki salmon. My family isn’t fond of salmon, so it suggested chicken instead. Then, too much teriyaki. So, it came up with lemon herb. Pretty sweet.

The Criteria in Picking the Winner

Unlike mobile, I only played the aforementioned two PC Titles; Train Sim World 3 and Euro Truck Simulator 2. Therefore, the only criteria in this competition is “I played the game”. In that spirit, I played Euro Truck simulator way more than Train Sim World. There was a time that I drove at least 2 or 3 jobs every Saturday and Sunday.

Also, as mentioned in my mobile game of the year article, I said that the only other criteria for a game is the difficult to define, and therefore impossible to argue, fun factor. Both games are fun. But, the freedom of driving the truck makes that game more fun. Touring Europe and discovering new sights makes me feel like I’m back over there.

Euro Truck Simulator 2

Yes, in the least suspenseful announcement, perhaps ever, on this page is that Euro Truck Simulator 2 by SCS Software is our 2023 PC Game of the Year. Even though it wins by default, I can envision a world in which it wins over competition, too. Let’s explore why.

  1. Radio Stations: The game features a variety of radio stations that you can play while driving your truck. I always choose Austrian Rock Radio. It plays hard rock and heavy metal. The ambiance makes me feel like I’m actually out there on the road.
  2. Customization: The game lets you customize nearly everything. The obvious is that once you buy your truck, you can change up the look and feel of it. You can also choose how you progress in your career by picking various specialties that determine bonuses that you receive on deliveries.
  3. Overall Variety: Along those same lines, they offer different employers and jobs that you can take. While not necessary to the overall enjoyment of the game, I like that they added that little bit of realism. Oh, what am I delivering today? Olives? Construction Equipment? Boxes for recycling? I just recently discovered another way that they allow you to create your own game experience. When you hire drivers, they come with different skills. I have two employees and I agonized over the decision both times. I think, ultimately, I made the right decision.
  4. Realistic Scenery: While they obviously have to scale down the countries in size (who wants to actually spend an entire day driving a pretend truck?), they do a good job of capturing the countryside of the countries. I only have experience in Germany, Austria, and Czechia. However, those countries look exactly as I remember them.
  5. Become an entrepreneur: I bought my second truck and hired my first worker by taking every job near or over 20,000. I saved for several weeks until I had enough for both. This plan included a night of reckless driving that saw me total my truck and rack up 50,000 in debt that the bank threatened me with foreclosure over. When I hired my second worker and bought my third truck, I took out a loan just to see what that process involved. Like everything else, how you run your company is up to you.

Game Play Videos

Since I got so busy over the last few months, I have no game play videos to share. I have only a screenshot of Allianz that I used in my previous article to illustrate the realistic scenery.

I mean, I know there are other game play videos out there. But, in the interest of featuring our own content, I will take some time over the next few days to record a couple of my own that I will upload and link on the page. Look for those in the coming week.

The Verdict

While not a busy PC gaming year and the 2023 PC game of the year being a foregone conclusion, I think I made the argument that due to the quality of the game and also some recent nostalgia, that Euro Truck Simulator 2 deserves the title. Hopefully next year, and a renewed commitment to video content will make next year more contested.

Digital Playground

PC Gaming is a Gift 2023

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Introduction

You may notice the word “console” missing from the title PC Gaming is a Gift 2023. This year saw several things happen that explain that omission. First, Aiden tried to fix the XBox by soldering the HDMI port back in and ended up soldering through the motherboard. Second, I never got around to buying a PS5 as I planned. We really want to play both Spider-Man games. I also wanted to play MK1. Neither of those happened because I came to my senses and decided to wait until a price drop for the purchase. Finally, we played almost no Mario Kart this year. Liam, Quinn, my brother Tim, and I played some of the new Mario game.

However, I fixed my old gaming laptop. The charging port broke a couple of years ago. I did some research to see how tough it might be to fix it. Turns out, not difficult at all. The hardest part was that because it’s a laptop, everything it jammed in there. So, it took some finesse to fit it in properly. Other than that, though, no problem.

Train Sim World 3

One of the reasons I wanted to fix the laptop was I remembered a Humble Bundle that I purchased several years ago. It contained a train simulator game. I don’t remember the original reason I wanted to play the train sim game. However, going to Germany and seeing first hand the famous European rail system sparked something inside of me. I came home with a new appreciation for the game.

That appreciation lasted for a few months. Then, I discovered another simulation game that caught my attention. When asked the other day by one of my classes what my favorite genre of game was, I had to admit that right now I’m obsessed with simulation games. They made the usual comment that people made (in jest), “Oh, you want to play a game of something you can do in real life?” Well, not quite. I’ve never driven a train.

Euro Truck Simulator 2

I also never drove a tractor trailer through the countryside of Europe. I drove a mid size SUV through Germany. So, when I saw this game, it took me back to that trip and time. I saw things that reminded me of being in Germany. And, so, the game became like a cozy blankie for me.

I played the hell out of the game. Started in Munich and branched out slowly to the neighboring countries. Eventually, I drove across the continent, took a ferry to the UK and drove into England and Scotland. After going back to school, I got busy and neglected the game for some time. I just said to my family the other day, “I haven’t driven my truck in a while. My employees probably think I’m dead.”

The Verdict

Truly, PC gaming is a gift 2023. I also flirted again with World of Warcraft, especially after the announcement of the next series of expansions. I saw the advancement of a plan that I came up with decades ago. The USFL of the 1980s is back through my USFL Distant Replay page. We are 12 weeks into the 1984 season and looking to bring some big things for 1985 in a couple of months. Join us over there for more.

Digital Playground

Thankful for Console/PC in 2023

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Introduction

Last year, I came up with the idea to theme each month with a special banner and color scheme. In fact, I came up with the idea years ago, but only started to implement it last year with any regularity. I started with the holiday season. Being the busiest time of the year for us, I combined Thanksgiving and Halloween. Then, I combined Christmas and New Year’s. This year, I gave each month its own. Since this week is Thanksgiving, I plan to write articles in that spirit. The first talks about why I’m thankful for Console/PC in 2023.

I spent more time gaming with my old laptop this year than in year’s past. I don’t remember if I told the story, but I dug out an old Alienware laptop that fried the charging port. I ordered a new one from Amazon, jury rigged it into the case, and the thing worked. I wanted to play Train Sim World 3. Instead, I became addicted to driving trucks around Europe.

Train Sim World 3

I laugh when I see the Progressive commercial (not a plug) where they talk about someone who just returned from Europe. While not as annoying as the girl who reminds you that it’s pronounced “kwoisaunt”, I can’t stop mentioning to people that we took Liam to Germany for his graduation gift.

Ever since traveling to Greece with Christine for her graduation, I wanted to go back to Europe. Having family who emigrated from Germany, I loved the idea of Liam choosing that as his big trip. We worked tirelessly to make sure that we saw as much as he wanted.

One part of the trip that stayed with me is we traveled by the infamous Deutsche Bahn train line. Christine commented how ridiculously happy I looked while riding the train. Aside from an semi-autistic obsession with trains, I just advocate as much as possible for public transit. When we came home, I remembered a Humble Bundle that included Train Sim World and some DLC.

My current laptop is only for basic office tasks. Besides, the Windows partition got stuck in an infinite reboot loop. So, I can’t use it for gaming. That’s when I came up with the idea to resurrect the old Alienware. I’m glad that I did.

Euro Truck Simulator 2

While I only played the Train sim game for a couple of weeks, (I got frustrated at the realism of the game and took a break. I returned after doing some research to figure out the brakes of the train that baffled me. By that point, though, I found another passion. You wouldn’t think that staring at life through a windshield like the one in the screenshot above would be very much fun.

Well, I assure you that it keeps me entertained for at least a half an hour a day. I start up the game, log in, find a job, tune into my favorite radio station, and start driving. Sometimes I take in the scenery. Other times, I marvel at the realism of the game. Okay, once in a while, they take the realism a bit too far like when a helicopter lands on the highway and cars just drive through it. Most of the time, though, it astounds me the detail that they put into the game.

Recently, I got a bit impatient and I took out a loan to expand my operation. Several people advised against that in the Steam community. But, I generally don’t take financial advice from strangers. So far, the strategy worked out for me.

The Verdict

Other than the two simulation games, I’m thankful for console/PC in 2023 because Liam used the laptop a couple of times. He played Marvel Puzzle Quest. I played through a bit of Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 to celebrate the release of the third game. I always find time for Minecraft. You may notice that I never mentioned consoles. Well, our XBox broke and I want to buy a PS5 for Christmas because of the new Mortal Kombat and Spider-Man games. Look for them in the coming year.

Digital Playground

Trucking Through Europe

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Introduction

As promised in the outro to the latest episode of Noob’s Book Club, I’m covering a couple of simulation games that I’ve been playing over the last few months. I think I picked them both up as a Humble Bundle deal. But, I don’t remember exactly. I just looked it up. I received Euro Truck Simulator 2 through some Humble Bundle or another. And, so, I started trucking through Europe.

Point of fact. We took Liam to Germany for his graduation present. Actually, we ended up traveling to Prague in the Czech Republic and a couple of places just over the Austrian border, too. But, we spent most of our time in Germany. I enjoyed the trip so much that I seriously considered moving to Europe in 6 years or so. Christine eloquently said, “You want to live anywhere but here.” To which I responded, “Yep.”

Top is my in game shot of Allianz. Bottom is my trip to the stadium over the summer.

Wait, that’s it?

I know what you’re thinking. Because, honestly, I thought the same thing. You just drive trucks? Through European countries. And, to answer the question, at the heart of the game, that’s it. You pick a base of operations to start. Since we went to Germany and I liked Munich, I picked there. You take different jobs to make money. Eventually, you buy a garage, a truck, then another truck, then hire some drivers, and buy another truck. I’m currently at the point where I want to buy a new garage to expand my operation some.

Because of the basic premise, I skipped this game for a long time. I played much more of the train simulation game because I thought it might take more skill. In fact, it does. So much so, sometimes, that I get frustrated why my train isn’t acting the way that I want. In the truck game, I get in, drive to a job, take the job, and off I go across the European countryside.

The Verdict

Don’t be fooled by the basic premise like I was. This game takes skill. Sometimes you even have to think a little bit. Do you rest now or try to make it to the next spot to rest? If you do that, will you get tired and find it harder to control your truck? What happens when they land a helicopter on the highway, blocking every single lane? Yes, that happens. Quite often, actually. Those are just some of the scenarios that you’ll face when you come trucking through Europe with me.

Note: I meant to release this yesterday. But, I’ve felt crummy for the last 24 hours or so. Expect delays on all content this week while I get caught up. Sorry!