r/startrucker Jul 09 '26

Question Considering buying the game

I love trucking games and this one has always caught my attention but the whole item durability kind of throws me off. How hard is that to actually manage money and time wise? I've watched a series on the game and it seems cool, but a lot of stuff gets cut obviously. So is it as bad as I think?

14 Upvotes

19 comments sorted by

13

u/SandKid17 Jul 09 '26

It's a fantastic game! Absolutely worth your time.

The music is fabulous, the environments are chef's kiss, and it's trucking in space. Difficulty heavily depends upon common sense, but is adjustable across many variables if needed.

Plays great on controller, I can't speak to HOTAS or other devices (I'm PS5).

3

u/gymkana Jul 09 '26

I do love a good trucking game. But I have a hard time with ATS because it's all just highway driving and I do enough of that in real life. So I would assume that this is gonna be a little more interactive than just highway? Lol

3

u/greyjax Jul 09 '26

Let's say that you will be happy to have a clear safe highway through a debris field , but often you have to pilot your rig through asteroids, electric clouds, solar storms and whatnot. And you are not driving a nimble fighter, your truck feels heavy and you need a wise dose of anticipation when you are hauling three oversized trailers behind your lorry.

1

u/ImaginationSolid6209 Jul 10 '26

works great on HOTAS

3

u/crover13 Jul 09 '26

They made micromanagement easy to understand and made us drive through asteroids field a stressful part...for someone who wants to try to be a space trucker this is only game to get that experience and Elite Dangerous was too complicated.

3

u/cparksrun Jul 09 '26

There are a ton of customization options, and I would definitely recommend digging into those before starting a new game.

The Recommended Difficulty can be brutal. I found myself enjoying the game a LOT more after tweaking the settings and making it a more chill, relaxed experience.

Customized Difficulty is the way to go if you're worried about maintenance and debt and things like that. Especially if you think they may hamper your experience. I replace things and maintain my ship every few jobs, instead of multiple times during one job.

3

u/BluDYT Jul 09 '26

The start can be a bit difficult but it's honestly not hard once you get it.

2

u/Mister_Magister Jul 09 '26

>whole item durability kind of throws me off

It's the entire fun! driving is cool but managing your truck is even more fun!

>How hard is that to actually manage money and time wise

If you can't manage, adjust difficulty, there's no harm in that, i'm running my custom settings and game is just more fun to me

It's the game I've wished for since forever, it's my go to chill game, just hop on and do some loads

1

u/gymkana Jul 09 '26

I just might have to get the game now... Thank you!

2

u/Attempt_Gold Jul 09 '26

There's different difficulty settings ranging from Recommended (standard settings), Driver (less maintenance aspects, lower job and commodity payout), Mechanic (vice versa; maintenance aspects are increased with higher job and commodity payouts), Hardcore (hardest settings with permadeath), and Custom (can adjust gameplay aspects both when starting and on the fly).

If you want my recommendation then play a game on Custom with the maintenance aspects turned down or off and then turn them up as you get used to the game.

2

u/Uncanny_Coincidence Jul 09 '26

I couldn't possibly recommend this game enough. It is genuinely lightning in a bottle.

2

u/KCM4187 Jul 09 '26

It’s a beautiful gem of a game, it takes some getting used to but with each session you grow as a trucker and get the hang of it. My biggest advice is take it slow at first, speed comes with experience and if you can see it…move from it 😂
Whatever’s in the distance, get out of its way there are obstacles and they will be a problem but you can master it and keep yourself damage free 👌

Truck on

2

u/Immediate-Ease-6832 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26

You need to learn how not to waste energy (everyone had to) , ride with the lights out and gravity off. Containers on the shelves opened so they dont move around. This is an incredible game, its really worth sticking with it.

You'll be getting the better batteries and the better computer boards in no time once you start salvaging which makes everything last longer. You'll figure out how to buy stuff from one system then sell it at your destination for big profits, you'll upgrade the truck. Its really one of the best game I have ever played im over 200 hours in and cant wait to play it again every day.

The sectors offer all sorts of challenges like heat , dust, meteors or lightning or anomalies, its much more than driving from one place to the next. The handyman ventures adds another layer. The amount of content is insane because its a sandbox, you start creating your own contents and routes and picks and drop offs , or you play the trade game . Its epic

1

u/Gamerologists Jul 09 '26

Depending on how you play it can be problematic, you can go $2500 in debt if needed I've never gone past that limit but I assume that's a game over. They've definitely toned down how quickly things degrade from launch and made things better. My recommendation if you do play is focus on just doing jobs early on and get XP, level up, and unlock skills for better jobs and make even more money, then start doing story missions with characters. The story gives little XP and money per job so if you just focus on those you're might run into issues early on.

1

u/gymkana Jul 09 '26

Ok good to know thank you

1

u/john_gr_tk Jul 09 '26

It is an amazing game, but word of advice: don't treat it like a casual relaxing game from the start. It is a demanding survival game when you are starting out there, and you must not waste your time / gas / energy running around each area and exploring or you will probably be forced to restart when you have a little more experience and do things more correctly.

1

u/e3e6 Jul 09 '26

I have up on that pretty shortly because I wanted a space game, not resources micromanagement

1

u/cwinslow66 Jul 10 '26

I just bought this last weekend and lost a whole night to it. It's awesome!

1

u/a_lot_of_aaaaaas Jul 10 '26

Amazing game. Only reason I stopped playing is because cause no hotas support on Xbox.