Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
aWhile driving a large behemoth of a truck through some long, winding roads throughout Europe may seem dull and boring, it’s actually quite addictive! And hypnotic – but with a touch of road rage thrown in for good measure.
Conduire un énorme camion sur les longues routes sinueuses et traverser l'Europe peut sembler terne et ennuyeux, c'est en fait assez addictif ! Et hypnotique - mais avec une touche de rage au volant pour faire bonne mesure.
Installing Euro Truck Simulator 2 (ETS2) for Linux is installed via Steam. You purchase the Windows game through Steam as you normally would and let it install. Once the Windows version is purchased and installed you need to go to Steam > Library and right-click on Euro Truck Simulator 2 and choose Properties. In the window that pops up, click the Betas tab. Now you’ll see a list of available betas. As of writing (July 2013), you should choose linux_testing. This will install the Linux launcher and let you launch ETS2 using Steam.
Installation
Euro Truck Simulator 2 (ETS2) pour Linux est installé via Steam. Vous achetez le jeu pour Windows via Steam comme vous le feriez normalement et laissez-le s'installer. Une fois la version Windows achetée et installée, vous devez aller sur Steam > Bibliothèque et cliquez-droit sur Euro Truck Simulator 2 et choisissez Propriétés. Dans la fenêtre qui apparaît, cliquez sur l'onglet des versions bêta. Maintenant, vous verrez une liste des bêtas disponibles. Au moment d'écrire (Juillet 2013), vous devez choisir linux_testing. Cela permet d'installer le lanceur Linux et vous lancez ETS2 utilisant Steam.
Truckin’ The idea behind the game is two-fold. You can either stay as a driver for hire – doing odd jobs for other companies – or (and more likely), you form your own company and accept jobs. With that, though, come responsibilities such as having to get a bank loan to buy a truck, paying off that loan, having to repair your truck from your own savings, and taking the blame when you damage the goods. Once your company is on its legs, you can upgrade your base and hire other drivers to help your cash flow. Of course, this means more bank loans, buying more trucks, paying for their damages, lateness and so on. No easy task! While sitting in your truck, you can check a map of Europe and see all the jobs available. You can filter them by locations, distance, money, and so on. From within your warm cabin, you have access to GPS data (showing you your route), job info, a button to request help (ie: you’ve tipped the truck and can’t move), and several other pieces of info. All of which come in handy at some point. You also have to remember to keep an eye on your fuel level and your alertness. As you drive around, your sleepiness icon will start to fill up. If this reaches red then you’ll be warned to pull over (in a designated area, not just anywhere!), and sleep. If not, you’ll be continually fined until you do sleep. Seems simple enough, but if you’re job requires you to be there in three hours (in game time), and you forgot to take a nap beforehand, then you could be forced to take a rest and turn up at your destination late. Not good.
Conduite
L'idée derrière le jeu est double. Vous pouvez soit rester comme un simple conducteur - réalisant de petits boulots pour d'autres entreprises - ou (et le plus probable), vous formez votre propre entreprise et acceptez les proposition d'emplois. Avec cela, cependant, viennent les responsabilités telles que d'avoir à obtenir un prêt bancaire pour acheter un camion, le remboursement de ce prêt, d'avoir à réparer votre camion sur vos propres économies, et de recevoir un blâme quand vous endommagez les marchandises.
Une fois que votre entreprise tient la route, vous pouvez mettre à jour votre base et engager d'autres conducteurs pour améliorer votre flux de trésorerie. Bien sûr, cela signifie plus de prêts bancaires, l'achat de plus de camions, de payer pour leurs dommages, retards, etc. Ce n'est pas une tâche facile !
Lorsque vous êtes assis dans votre camion, vous pouvez consulter une carte de l'Europe afin de consulter tous les emplois disponibles. Vous pouvez les filtrer par lieux, distance, gains, et ainsi de suite. De l'intérieur de votre cabine chauffée, vous avez accès à des données GPS (vous montrant votre itinéraire), aux informations sur les emplois, un bouton pour demander de l'aide (exemple : vous avez un pourboire le camion et ne pouvez pas déplacer)
, et plusieurs autres informations. Tout s'acquière par la pratique jusqu'à un certain point. Vous devez aussi vous rappeler de garder un œil sur votre niveau de carburant et votre vigilance. Lorsque vous conduisez, l'icône du niveau votre somnolence commence à se remplir. Si celle-ci atteint lea zone rouge, alors vous serez averti qu'il faut vous arrêter (dans une zone désignée, pas n'importe où !), et dormir. Dans le cas contraire, vous serez en permanence mis à l'amende jusqu'à ce que vous dormiez. Cela semble assez simple, mais si votre travail vous oblige à être là en trois heures (en temps de jeu), et vous avez oublié de faire une sieste à l'avance, alors vous pourriez être obligé de prendre un repos et atteindre votre destination en retard. Pas bon du tout.
Anyway, that’s the basics of the game. Take jobs, deliver stuff, don’t crash. There is more to it such as upgrading trucks, adding beacons, and what have you.
Graphics
The visuals for ETS2 are absolutely stunning. Out of the blue, the skies will darken and it’ll chuck it down. The droplets of rain hit your windscreen and smear as you tear down the road. Don’t worry though, you have windscreen wipers. If it’s dark, you must turn on your lights, of course, and your lights illuminate the road ahead giving a glow to anything white and lighting up traffic cones and the like. On a sunny day, you’ll see the sunbeams stream through the trees casting shadows on the road. I usually end up veering all over the road because I’m too busy looking at the scenery.
The physics behind the game are also excellent. Using external camera views lets you see every suspension bump of your truck. AI is also good, sometimes too good, as at times the other drivers really do act like human drivers by overtaking at dangerous times, blocking the road… you get the idea.
Obviously the makers can’t replicate the whole of Europe in a game, but they have included recognisable landmarks from most cities in the game. Which is a nice touch.
Conclusion
I was wary of buying ETS2, but I’m really glad I did. It’s a great game for just dipping into when you feel like it. Fire it up, take a job, maybe take another. I love that aspect of it. The one big downside to ETS2, though, is the lack of a Linux demo to try out your hardware. You have to use Steam to buy ETS2, then, once you’ve bought it, you can download the Linux client to start it up. No demo is the one thing that almost swayed me away from ETS2 and is something the makers should rectify, as I’m sure it puts a lot of people off.
I like the idea that you’re not on rails either. Many times I’ve not been paying attention, missed a turn off, and had to drive for miles before I could find a place to do a highly illegal u-turn to get back on track. While you are expected to follow some laws, whether you decide to indicate is entirely up to you. Same with you deciding to mount the pavement to skip queues – not that I’d ever do such a thing. Arriving at your destination, it’s up to you whether you want to try and park the truck (much harder than it looks) or just skip it.
Time in the game is not real-time. When a job says it’ll take 16 hours including a cross channel ferry, don’t panic! It will certainly take an hour of your time to do, say, an 8-hour job, but it’s always eventful. Especially since the game/GPS seems to love taking me down some small twisty roads when it’s dark and I have a wide load.
Yes, it does sound like the most boring game in the world, but I definitely recommend it.
PROS: • Amazing graphics if your machine can handle it. • Many different ways to drive your truck (I use keys to drive and the mouse to look). • Dozens of cities to visit. • Doesn’t keep you on rails.
CONS: • No Linux demo. • Takes a hefty machine to play. • No in-cab radio/music due to MP3 licensing issues.