Planning for the job?

I'm curious if anyone does any sort of planning and tries to haul certain equipment to the various job sites in an effort to economize and inprove overall efficiency?

I wonder if there is a "best" load out to reduce the number of trips? I'm not looking for cheats or anything like that, I enjoy the process. But especially when I play solo, it seems like a bunch of extra trips that distract from the game. For instance, I want to position a truck with a crane at the loading area, I'll need fuel there and probably a maintenance shed of some sort. Then I'll need a skidder, which is going to need fuel also. (The skidder will likely be parked where I need it at the start). So what or how might you load a low boy trailer with to make the overall job seem realistic?

This all changes a bit when we switch to multiplayer.

last edited by diggydog

I don’t think there is any one answer here. It all depends on the map you’re on and the route or challenge you choose to give yourself. On MP, to give myself a level of autonomy, I would like to take two trucks eg c255, one set up with a crane carriage pulling a short log trailer, the other usually set up to carry one short log and fuel. Depending on the map, and which phase I would prefer to have best traction on, I might choose fuel cistern and trailer, or log carriage and fuel or support trailer. This would allow you to carry 9 log points in one convoy and fuel and repair points if required, the idea being never to return to a garage. At other times, I might set myself a challenge of eg long logs only, then setting up loaders and fuel supplies along the way as necessary. Sometimes I might set myself a challenge of using only one truck, sometimes convoy. I still think the best way to go generally, for sake of challenge, is one star hardcore no quick recovery, using only the vehicles given to you. If possible, using only the initial loadouts of those vehicles as they are found. If I want to step it up, I don’t allow truck changes through the map menu, but I still generally give myself access to the map.

i will set up a fuel and repair truck along the route i plan out if i think it is needed. although really it just depends on how you drive/play that will dictate where you will want to have your support vehicles set up. pretty simple and basic plan really, which i find works best for me. i do tend to park a rescue vehicle near any known bad spots if needed, ie... D, E and K types i consider rescue vehicles. using them for logging just seems a bit OP to me, but to each their own. πŸ˜‰

i will also admit i am very biased when it comes to what vehicles i generally use, but i usually use the C375 or C4320 Urals for the vast majority of my logging, watchpoints, unlocking vehicles and garages (even trailing/crawling as well). i just use a couple other vehicles for my supports, unless there is no Urals on the map. in this case i use what i have available.

My way of improving efficiency and reducing repeated trips is to haul some unpacked logs to a distribution point from which multiple lumber mills are accessible and reasonably close, then load the final trucks and pack them and drive them to the lumber mills. Is that cheating? Maybe, but I look at it as optimizing, and I never drive unpacked to reduce weight or tipping, just to haul multiple loads, since packing would remove them.

Sometimes I wish the game would do away with this packing feature in hardcore mode and require fully manual loading & packing, so I wouldn't be tempted into these shortcuts.

@unster I think that this was discussed already elsewhere.
Packing feature is a thing of simplification of the game. In terms of physic simulation (computing of one load instead of twenty logs bouncing each other), in terms of loading (driving simulator, not loading simulator).

And I can't help myself, but your way of hauling multiple loads via unpacked logs I see somewhere inbetween cheating and exploit.
But play your game as you wish πŸ˜‰

@sodoma Yes, this has definitely been discussed. I just wasn't sure if the OP was part of the discussion or saw it, so I mentioned it again. And I don't mind discussing it some more. I actually got this idea from another poster on this forum, don't remember who. IIRC, he actually transported all the logs to the lumber mill, then unloaded and packed on the spot. I prefer a halfway point, so that I still get to drive packed at least some of the distance and not "cheat" as much.

And I wasn't suggesting to do away with packing completely, just require more logs (like close to full) in hardcore before being able to pack. It's not something I'm insisting on, but I'd be interested in trying that out.

BTW, I currently play a map called Kalyma (not sure about spelling) where it's in your interest to finish or repair bridges, and to do that you need to place 3 medium logs across the gap and then "pack" the logs to create the missing piece. For that you actually need to transport the logs in the unpacked state. So there, my "cheating" has found a legitimate purpose. πŸ™‚

Kolyma is one of my favorites. the MP version of that map requires 6 logs per bridge (fyi).

@unster I am not 100% sure, but I have strong feeling that I've already played that map. Definitely met that bridge somewhere.
That building feature is new to me. I recall it as two special wooden beams were there (to be found) and they were simply placed on bridge... Maybe an update from creator.
On the other hand, that should be possible to solve by "unpacking" medium load at place, but if I recall it correctly, some logs are always missing after that. Still not sure, if that is caused by some mod (it was at ST), or it is a bug or a feature... πŸ˜•

@sodoma Right, that unpacking bug (I'm pretty sure it's a bug) prevents you from unpacking to fix the bridge. Most of the time you'd be losing logs in the process. In this map, at least the current version, you actually take over the bridge like a vehicle, start the "engine", then pack the placed logs which fixes the bridge.

@unster it is amazing, what are MODders able to do with very basic tools that the game provides... πŸ™‚

I know we're completely off-topic from the original post, but the creator of Kolyma has other maps with the bridge you're thinking of. Sovkhos is probably the one you're in reference to. Kolyma requires actual logs to be placed on the bridge, then you have to "enter" the bridge like a vehicle, start its engine, then pack the load to complete the build.

As far as planning for a map, i usually play on casual mode because i don't like not being able to use diff lock all the time since i do a lot of rock crawling in the game, but i haven't really had an issue with running out of fuel unless it's a truck that spawns on the map that way. But i also like to carry multiple loads of logs and make one trip to lumber mills...

Edit: dmitriy1815 (steam) is the creator of Kolyma and Sovkhos if anyone is interested

last edited by ssvqwnp

@ssvqwnp Another way to get around the diff lock restriction is to use a manual shifter, even in hardcore mode. I always thought the diff lock damage penalty was excessive and unrealistic. But even without the damage penalty I turn off my diff lock (if I can) when I need to make a tight turn, since the diff lock increases your turning radius.

last edited by Unster

@unster I almost always use 1 or 1+ unless i'm on a flat and straight enough road to justify using the extra gears in auto. Maybe i haven't played hardcore enough, but i seem to recall having issues with the diff lock on hard surfaces even when not trying to negotiate tight turns.

@ssvqwnp Right. When I say "manual shifter" I mean an actual external device attached to the PC. I'm not talking about that little shifter on your screen. With that you'll get the damage penalty if you drive too fast with diff lock on (in hardcore).

πŸ€” maybe a short list of terms and their descriptions thread is needed? although i feel a few things will be headache of sorts, much like the "manual shifter" vs manual shifting" thing. example: in the game they now call it Cruise Control which it is not. CC holds a set speed. which it does not actually do in the game. Force Acceleration, as i have always known it, holds a set throttle position which is throttle control, which is exactly what it does in the game. personally i feel this is someone just being lazy and naming it the generic term that some people started calling it, do not even get me started on the "gears" for gear 1 lol, but this is nit-picking for another thread. πŸ˜‰

last edited by A Former User

@Unster Oh, i understand what you mean now... That's interesting. I assume you use a wheel to play, if so, are you forced to use the mouse to rotate the camera? That's the only advantage i see to a controller over a wheel.

I move my camera around a lot...

@8up-local Yes, the "gears" on this game are laughable at best... What is 1+ even supposed to mean? It's usually the same ratio as gear 3 or 4 in auto, but some trucks have it as an extra gear higher than auto will go (which actually makes the most sense to me).

Then there's auto... Truck shifts up a gear into say gear 7, but the truck can't climb the hill in gear 7... Oh, well lets go back to 1 and start this process over instead of going back to 6....

@ssvqwnp Yup, that's my old pet peeve (the automatic). That's why I have the manual shifter! The automatic is absolutely horrible in this game.

1+ is an extra gear for automatics. Think of it as a selectable gear on an automatic (that's what 1, 1+ are). 1+ is usually something between 1st and top gear, but it can really be set to anything.

Yes, I also have a wheel. Luckily it has a d-pad for the camera so my hand mostly stays on the wheel, at least with the non-centered camera. I still have to use the mouse occasionally since the game kind of randomly (mostly on winching) changes the camera zoom.