Good morning, folks. I have been so immersed in doing web sites that I have not blogged in a while, but over the last few days things have slowed down just a tad and I had a chance to review some new content on the gaming side of things.

Before I get started with this article, I want to do a shameless plug and invite you all to visit whatever site I run that may prove to your liking. If you are into the Renaissance, I started a site that has already started becoming a great success in the Rennie community – http://renaissancedirectory.com – as it is a directory of EVERYTHING in the Renaissance community. Not just a list of faires, but actors, merchants, non-profit groups, SCA kingdoms, and much more! Or if you want to just keep up with me personally visit https://faelandaea.com – and I also help with code for a site a friend of mine runs to sell clothing that is gothic and steampunk (and renaissance also) – http://fantasylifeclothing.com – go check it out, and tell him Faelandaea says Hi!!! (I am hoping for a discount if he finds out I am promoting, so help me out here LOL)

All right, so on to the article. Yes, Goths DO drive trucks in real life, and it so happens that I love driving them in a virtual world. This week there is a FANTASTIC sale going on at Steam, and I managed to get my claws on a bundle package of Euro Truck Simulator (ETS), ETS2, ETS2: Going East, Scania Truck Simulator, ETS2 Halloween Pack, ETS2 Ice Cold Pack, ETS2 Metallic Pack and . . . gods I know there was another DLC in there, but you get the drift – a lot of stuff for $19 USD. Separately that’s like $65 worth the stuff, so I grabbed it in a hurry to try it out.

Now one thing that bugged the CRAP out of me in ETS2 was that, in some European countries, the traffic signal turned yellow then green when I was stopped at a red light. That’s so bloody ridiculous! So I contacted the developer and reported this obvious bug, to which they replied this is working as intended. They work as I intend them to in the Netherlands and some countries, but as I head East into Germany, they do this stupid yellow then green bit. WTF? So I hit Google . . .

Apparently the combination of red/amber “warns drivers that the lights are about to change green and gives them time to release their handbrake and prepare to move off as soon as the light is green. This was introduced in 1958.” What the hell? Now as an American (an unwilling one at that), I always considered Europeans MUCH smarter than Americans. Out of everything I have ever written articles on comparing the two cultures, this is honestly the FIRST time I ever had to shake my head at those countries and ask, “Really???” 1) Why the hell would you need a hand brake just stopping at a traffic light? Do you REALLY need to forget about driving and do other things, like make a sandwich or do your makeup?

So, even though I now know that this is NOT a bug and this IS intended, it drives me absolutely bonkers. Even in a truck with a heavy haul with manual transmission and clutch, I am still okay to, oh I don’t know, GO when the light turns green. If I need to get off the controls to go make a sandwich I’ll pull over off the road, thanks.

EDIT: Now THIS bit of information DOES make sense. This information came to me after I wrote this article, and THIS does make sense for such a system. Both are quotes from a conversation in a forum I read:

• “In some countries you are encouraged to turn off the engine on red (to reduce pollution), so the yellow before green tells you that you can turn it on again and prepare to go.”
  
• “As long as you are wating for more than about 15 seconds, most modern cars save petrol by turning the engine off. The starter should cope just fine. Older cars – not so much, maybe :-)”
  
• “I would find such an indication helpful. My car shuts the engine off at stops automatically, and having a bit of advance warning before the light turned green would permit me to restart the engine (by easing off the brake) a bit sooner, making for a much smoother start.”

However this was also debated by another answer in the same thread that also is a logical observation that I agree with:

“To play devil’s advocate, the Red-Yellow > Green pattern of lights can be more dangerous than a plain Red > Green. With the Red > Green pattern, When you are approaching a red light, unless you know the intersection very well, you must make the assumption you are going to come to a full stop.

With the Red-Yellow > Green pattern, you are given warning that the light is about to turn green, which in turn means that you can anticipate the green light and not brake as hard, or perhaps even realize you have time to speed up or not brake at all, which means you would reach the intersection sooner than you otherwise would.

This is a problem if someone at the crossroad is impatient and runs the red light at the very last second. If a Red>Green scenario, the driver approaching the intersection will typically have a much lower speed, meaning that the impact of any accident is severely deceased, perhaps even avoided. If the approaching driver anticipated the green light, the impact would be much worse for both parties.”

Okay I have ranted about this silly thing for long enough. You started reading this because of the title . . . it is a Mod article . . . so I will get to it.

I have only had ETS2 with the expansion and DLCs installed for about 48 hours. But I have already come across some absolutely OUTSTANDING mods that make it a LOT more immersive. If you are like me, when doing anything simulation related you love having logos and such that you recognize present. Not fictional names and logos that remind you that you are just in a game, right?
The following mods are all installed and activated in my game, and have no conflicts or crashes, but I will start with one I am currently troubleshooting that is NOT working:

Upgrade for Scania v2.0 – http://www.etsmodding.com/upgrade-for-scania-v2-0/ : This mod is supposed to add a number of additional features for your Scania trucks. For example, you would get new chassis options (8×4/4, 8×6/4 and etc.), 4 exhaust pipes, roof-bars, side-panels and many other things. My guess is that this mod came out before Going East, so I may have to edit the mod to point it to the new filename Scania.streamline instead of Scania.r

Okay that said, on to the ones that DO work:

The following mods are all by a modder who goes by the name “Jazzy Cat”, from Russia. His/Her site can be found at http://jazzycat.ucoz.net/

Trailers and Cargo Pack v2.4: This Pack adds in game 230 new cargos and about 1500 skins for default trailers. All standalone. Works on default map+DLC, TSM Map, ProMods, Poland Rebuilding, Map EU by MsHeavyAlex. Tested on 1.8.2.5 and 1.9.22 by the modder, but also tested on Going East and 1.10+ by me and it works beautifully.

Military Cargo Pack v1.4: Pack adds in game 90 military cargos. All standalone. Works on default map+DLC, TSM Map, ProMods, Poland Rebuilding, Map EU. Tested on 1.8.2.5 and 1.9.22 by the modder, but also tested on Going East and 1.10+ by me and it works beautifully. Now one thing I have to say about THIS pack is WOW! Holy warzones batman! I can;t drive a quarter mile without seeing some military equipment on a flatbed being hauled! I feel like I am driving through Ukraine or something at the moment – but – I think it’s bloody cool and it makes driving more interesting and fun so I love this pack!

Railway Cargo Pack v1.4: Pack adds in game 60 railway cargos. What this means is that you will see trailers hauling railway cars and even engines! I think in the game the engines are rated too light – they should be heavier and need more horsepower, but hey – the pack still rocks! All standalone. Works on default map+DLC, TSM Map, ProMods, Poland Rebuilding, Map EU. Tested on 1.8.2.5 and 1.9.22 by the modder, but also tested on Going East and 1.10+ by me and it works beautifully.

AI Traffic Pack v1.1.1: Pack adds in traffic 20 new AI cars: Hammer H2, Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Avalanche, BMW E36, Citroen C8, Alfa Romeo 159, Citroen C6, Renault Master, Dodge Grand Caravan, Bentley Arnage T, Ford Scorpio, Renault Master Cargo, Harley Davidson, Lexus IS350, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter(903), Subaru Legacy, Mercedes-Benz C63, Volvo 850, Toyota Yaris, Chrysler 300C. Included painted default Opalin and Ford Transit, 3D logos by Srele. For version 1.9.22 or higher. All standalone, works on any maps. This is definitely a go-getter. The roads feel a LOT more alive and dynamic with this one installed.

Painted Truck Traffic Pack v1.3.1: Pack adds truck traffic with about 400 skins of real companies.
For version 1.9.22 by the modder, but tested successffully on 1.10+ by me. All standalone, works on any maps.

Truck Traffic Pack v1.2.1: This pack adds in traffic different trucks. All standalone. For version 1.9.22 or higher.

Russian Traffic Pack v1.0: Adds Russian traffic model cars and trucks. For versions from 1.4.x and above. Stand alone.

All I have to say is THANK YOU, Jazzy! Even if I had no other mods, these packs alone make my game experience totally alive. Not only does it REALLY enhance my AI surroundings, but it also gives me as a driver a LOT more options for cargo to haul!!!

Now that I have Jazzy’s collection out of the way, let’s get on to the rest:

Agricultural trailers pack v1.0 – http://www.etsmodding.com/agricultural-trailers-pack-v1-0/ : This mod adds 6 agricultural machinery trailers:

• – Amazone Pantera
• – Buehrer 6135A
• – Deutz 6095hts and Agrofarm
• – Fahrm 66
• – Grimme Maxtron 620
• – Kuhn SPV Confort 12

Mod tested on version 1.9.22 by the author, but tested on 1.10+ by me and they work fine. Trailers are fully autonomous.
Trailer mod pack v3.0 – http://www.etsmodding.com/trailer-mod-pack-v3-0/ : Changes in version 3.0: Added new trailers and oversized cargo: Large tank, dual tank, drilling rig, house, wind vane. You will find much more here. So download and enjoy. For version 1.9.h. but tested in 1.10+ by me. By the way that drilling rig is bloody huge. I have yet to pull it but if I do I hope no overhead bridges exist between me and my destination!

Trailer Skin Pack v1.4 – http://forum.scssoft.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=123 – Mod replaces all default trailers skins
Profi Liner Pack v 1.0 – http://ets.modhoster.com/mods/standalone-profiliner-pack – a pack of six standalone trailers, which are to be found with its own charge at several companies. They have individual scs files, so I like being able to select which ones I install. Of course – I installed all of them: Burger king (love this one), Ikea, Euronics, DHL, Bose and Audi

Drivers v2 . . . oops you can;t have the link to this one. It’s a mod I made for myself using all goth faces to have an entirely goth driving crew. I used random faces from around the net so i will not distribute this one as I do not have permission from any of the models. But I wanted to slap this in here as it IS possible to change the driver avatars from those pedophile images that the devs included. The game has some CREEPY default faces – I HAD to replace them.

ETS2 Essentials V3.5 – http://forum.scssoft.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=2630 – THIS one is HUGE. You just have to click the link and read the list of everything it does. Now the thing is, I’d rather use the Trailer Skin Pack listed above for my reskins, but the GOOD news is this pack separates everything into 3 different scs files, so I was able to install the real logos and game fixes, but leave off the trailers. Don’t worry: the fix scs, not the trailers scs, will have your AI pulling all the trailer types!

Nightwish Trailers pack – http://www.modhub.us/euro-truck-simulator-2-mods/nightwish-trailers-pack/ – 3 standalone trailers featuring the band Nightwish.

New Concept Route Advisor Mod Collection v5.0 by Hemil – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bauWJDll158 – For those like me who uses triple monitors and even some with preferences on single monitors – this is an absolute MUST!

Scania Fantasy Pack – Again my own mod I created that has various Anime girls on the sides of the Scania Streamliner. I am not publishing this one, but I’ll do some screenshots later on just to show them off. They turned out just beautiful.

Silver transports Trailer Pack – http://ets.modhoster.com/mods/silver-transportetrailerpack-by-dark-silver – The 11 trailer was made by the modder from GTS / ETS, and ET to ETS2 konvertiert.Es Here are 11 standalone trailer with 31 cargo Tested under ETS2 patch 1.8.xxx. This works in 1.10+ as well, as just last night I pulled the Silo from Hungary to Slovakia.

SimuNews Year Trailer – http://ets.modhoster.com/mods/simunews-de-1-year-annyversary-trailer – made by one of the admins of Simunews for the 1 year anniversary of SimuNews.de

Crown 4Axles Jumbo curtainsider – http://ets.modhoster.com/mods/krone-4axles-jumbo-curtainsider – I have yet to see this trailer in my missions list but the game hasn;t crashed so I hope to see this trailer soon.

TSM Trailer Pack Heavy 1 of 3 – http://ets.modhoster.com/mods/tsm-trailerpack-schwerlast-1-3-by-roadhunter-convert-by-man-trucker-trucksim-map
TSM Trailer Pack Heavy 2 of 3 – http://ets.modhoster.com/mods/tsm-trailerpack-schwerlast-2-von-3
TSM Trailer Pack Heavy 3 of 3 – http://ets.modhoster.com/mods/tsm-trailerpack-schwerlast-3-von-3

All of these heavy packs work great and I love them – just be careful pulling that damned house on skinny roads with crazy AI traffic coming on . . .

Audi Trailer – http://ets.modhoster.com/mods/audi_trailer

Dryliner crown – http://ets.modhoster.com/mods/dryliner-krone-version-3

Well that’s all of them. Thanks all and take care. This article was written for a couple of friends who wanted to know what mods I am running and reccomend. I might edit this later on if I add more stuff.