The changes are purely cosmetic but allow you to create a little bit of your brand as a budding bus company empire. Most of those are unlocked as you gain experience, encouraging you to keep playing. You’ll also be able to customize your fleet of buses with a variety of decals, colors, and even advertisements that will earn you money.
So it makes good sense to drive each route yourself a few times, in the best possible manner, so that your drivers will then earn the highest available income for your company. Of course, your hired drivers will manage those routes while you’re not looking, but the way their income is determined is based on your best performance on that particular route. You then create bus routes, purchases buses and hire drivers, and drive the routes. As you complete tasks, such as creating routes connecting specific areas of the map using a limited number of stops, for example, you’ll unlock larger areas of the map. I was surprised by how entertaining the management portion of Bus Simulator 18 was. Your mileage will vary depending on your setup and desire to recreate the authentic bus driving experience. Since you’re required to do a fair bit of menu navigation and walking around your bus, however, I found it far more efficient to not tie myself behind the wheel. Bus Simulator 18 does, however, support the Logitech G27 steering wheel among many other popular variants. Granted, using a gamepad to control a vehicle is less than ideal, but it is far better than a mouse and keyboard, and getting out the wheel just seemed like too much effort. The controls are straightforward, and force feedback will immediately let you know when you’ve strayed off the road. Using an Xbox 360 game controller, all functionality was at my fingertips, and I never had to reach for a mouse and keyboard unless I was in the menus or planning my next trip. For the most part, I stuck to the simple controls, in part because I played Bus Simulator 18 as a way to have a relaxing few hours after work. These control not only whether the bus has an automatic transmission, but also affect how forgiving the physics are, and generally how easy it is to drive the bus. There are two sets of driving realism levels, simplistic, the default, and a realistic setting. Is it Fun?ĭriving a bus is, of course, the core mechanic of Bus Simulator 18, and I’m happy to say that getting behind the wheel is extremely easy. It’s one of the reasons I never bothered hooking up my Logitech G27 steering wheel for this game, but more on that later. This means that during certain situations you’ll have to get out of your driving seat and wander over to a passenger that’s blocking a doorway. In fact, the game begins with you standing outside of the bus. Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects I first took note of when firing up Bus Simulator 18 is that your character is fully capable of moving around the environment. Use your indicators properly and stop the bus in the proper positions, and little green notices will appear, making you feel good about your performance. You also earn money and valuable experience from driving like an actual bus driver. Hit a person in the crosswalk, and you’ll inevitably lose money on that particular trip. Each aspect of your drive will be scrutinized, from returning too much change to a passenger to hitting potholes and speed bumps at too high a speed. The way that Astragon has structured the management portion of Bus Simulator 18 means that to earn money, something every organization strives to do, you’ll have to perform well as a bus driver. After that, it’s time to manage the company, by creating additional routes, hiring drivers, purchasing buses, and completing tasks in order to unlock more parts of the map.
You’ll learn how to charge passengers for the correct ticket and how to complete a bus route from start to end. You’ll learn how to drive the bus, from a physical point of view, utilizing the various controls on your dashboard, all of which can be individually controlled by a mouse or shortcut keys on your keyboard or controller. You’re the proud owner of your own bus company and you will be ushered through the early stages of the game by various advisors.
While yes, the core of the game is about driving a variety of officially licensed buses across an ever-expanding network of routes, you are not just a mere bus driver. In fact, you do a lot more than just driving a bus in Bus Simulator 18.