For the most part, driving games are almost always considered synonymously with racing games with top speed and acceleration being the most focal elements of the adventure. Indeed, even players who drive in real life get an adrenaline rush out of reaching speeds that go well beyond the city speed limits. In some racing games, part of the excitement can also be attributed to collisions and wreckages with even racing game subgenres focusing more on damaging and destroying the opponents’ vehicles.
Although the idea of excitement in driving games may be considered by most gamers as attributable to the more competitive atmosphere inside virtual race tracks, there are driving enthusiasts who prefer driving experiences more anchored on reality. If you are more of the latter, then Truck Simulator PRO USA is a gaming experience you can sink yourself into, especially if you are a fan of trucks and trailers.
We have played countless truck driving simulation games on mobile for the past years and as much as there are a lot of similarities in terms of the core mechanics, we can say that Truck Simulator PRO USA is one of, if not the, best one in terms of graphics and physics, provided of course that your device can handle it on its best settings.
The gameplay that revolves around pick-ups and deliveries might not appeal to everyone, but for those who agree that professional driving should take precision and care over speed and overtaking, Truck Simulator PRO USA will be right up your alley.
Truck Simulator PRO USA does offer simple enough mechanics and a more than decent user interface. It can still be quite challenging for complete beginners as the sim game’s dedication to realism necessitates the inclusion of a truck’s most basic functionalities as well as the presence of activities and scenarios relative to driving trucks.
The game will only take a short while to fully understand but it may require some time and patience to fully master. With the help of our Truck Simulator PRO USA Beginner’s Guide, you will travel a shorter route from newbie to pro and ace every mission in no time!
1. Check And Tinker With The Settings
Truck Simulator PRO USA starts you off by picking your avatar and will provide you with just enough starting funds to rent a truck and a trailer to begin taking on the most basic of job offers or missions. There will naturally be opportunities to grow your business through the acquisition of assets and you can almost immediately start earning profits as soon as you can drive.
You can say that the initial minutes and drive forms part of the tutorial but, to be honest, it is a lot less detailed than a complete beginner may need to start things off with perfect confidence. There are a lot of things left for you to explore early on and you should consider getting to know all the basics before even leaving the starting garage.
Even before exploring and getting to know the interface, we recommend going on a quick trip into the in-game settings and customizing what you can for the best gaming experience. Naturally, the default settings are decent at the very least but given that different players can have varying preferences, there can be no default setup that fits everyone’s taste perfectly. You can access the in-game settings via the 3-line icon at the upper right side of the main screen.
First up is the Video Settings where you can make adjustments to the overall quality of graphics. By default, your device’s processing capacity is considered for initial settings but if somehow you are experiencing lags or slowdowns, then you may want to tone down on the graphics quality and turn off some of the added effects.
The Audio Settings does not have a big impact on how your device will perform while running the app but rather, it is a means for you to balance out between the background music and sound effects to your liking.
The Controls Settings offers a wide array of options for you to customize the in-game user interface most particularly when you are inside your truck and on the road. Truck Simulator PRO USA offers 3 distinct ways for you to steer your truck left and right and this is perhaps the part of the controls settings that would differentiate player preferences when it comes to being virtual drivers.
The Arrows Method gives you a left and right directional pad on the lower left side of the screen. Tapping and holding on each button initiates a turn and quick taps on either one are needed to lightly turn your truck. The Wheel Method gives you a steering wheel that you can slide your finger across.
This can be a little more challenging for complete beginners to use but experienced virtual drivers may be more accustomed to it. Last, but not least, is the Tilt Method which requires no buttons at all. As the name suggests, this method lets you swerve your truck left and right by tilting your device accordingly.
In addition to choosing among the 3 methods as to the best one that suits your taste, we also recommend taking note of the sensitivity levels. You may have to drive around and make adjustments to sensitivity more than once but setting it at the right amount should be done sooner than later to ensure that you will be driving with the best possible steering setup.
There is more to control settings than steering, though, and Truck Simulator PRO USA provides just about every other customization option available for you to set the driving aspect of the adventure as close to your liking as possible. A Manual, Sequential, and Automatic Transmission can be selected.
While the manual and sequential transmission options may prove to be more immersive, they are also more challenging so for beginners, we recommend sticking to going for an automatic transmission gear. You can always change this later when you are a little more experienced.
Both throttle and brakes can be set to take effect gradually and in both cases, we recommend testing each option out. Even the steering wheel angle can be adjusted to ensure that you have the utmost comfort on the steering part of the driving. Above all, you can make adjustments to the entirety of the button layouts on the screen, concerning driving.
You can easily tap on the change button at the bottom of the Controls Settings and then hold and drop icons as you please. While the steering controls and horns are on the left by default, and the gear stick, brakes, and gas pedal are on the right, you have absolute freedom as to how you want to lay the control buttons out as you please. Just like most of the settings here, you may have to try some combinations out first before finally deciding on the best setup for you.
2. Practice A Bit Before Heading Out
To earn income in Truck Simulator PRO USA, you will be engaging in delivery services. You might initially perceive the set of tasks to cycle across the same usual items and supplies as what you would normally expect to be picked up and delivered by trucks. Truck Simulator PRO USA, however, provides a wide array of items you can pick up and deliver in line with your job, some of which require specialized or unique trailers that you can each purchase as you further progress through the adventure.
As you step into the truck, you can immediately proceed to the target destination to pick up the package that you need to deliver. However, before you even leave the garage, we recommend familiarizing yourself first with all of the controls as well as getting a good feel of actually driving the truck.
Despite being spacious, the initial garage certainly will not be sufficient training grounds for what is ahead of you in a real job but at the very least, getting a good grasp of how wide turns can go and how receptive each button is in comparison to what you might expect.
It might take a while for some to get this, but you need to start the truck’s engine first before you can start moving it. By default, the ignition is at the upper left side of the screen, just below the map. You will get accustomed to this a lot sooner as you will consistently have to turn your engine on and off through your adventures. This area is also where you will find the truck horn and while honking it in traffic kind of gives a more immersive feel to driving, it has zero effect on the behavior of vehicles around you.
Beside the engine button and above the horn is the jack brake. For even some experienced drivers in real life, this can still be an unfamiliar feature. It is a compression-release engine brake that serves as a supplemental brake that assists in slowing down the truck.
As it creates a lot of noise, using this is prohibited in general, and if you use it in Truck Simulator PRO USA while in town, you will be fined $200 instantly. We have yet to experience scenarios that necessitated the use of this feature, so just to be on the safe side, manage your speed and avoid using this.
Finally, to the left of the horn is the cruise control. This, in contrast with the jack brake, is a very useful feature that makes long drives a little bit easier. Cruise control works a little like autopilot and instead of constantly managing your speed across a long highway, activating it will allow your truck to maintain the current speed. Cruise control will neglect turns and stoplights so be sure to utilize it only in long straights. You will still need to steer while cruise control is active.
There will only be 2 pedals at the lower right side of your screen. The longer, rightmost one is the gas pedal and the shorter one closer to the center is the brake pedal. For automatic transmission gear, you have to tap D or drive to move forward and R or reverse to move back. By default, it is on N or neutral. The bottom center of the screen not only houses the speedometer but you can also see your fuel tank underneath it.
Don’t forget the slew of other features that you can access via the dropdown menu at the top center of the screen. This lets you control the camera, headlights, handbrakes, windows, and more. While parked be sure to check the bed icon that replaces cruise control. As a driver, you will naturally get tired so always keep a lookout on your fatigue level and remember to rest as needed.
Driving around in the starting location will be a lot easier compared to what awaits you outside the garage, especially after you pick up the goods for delivery and travel the long distance towards the drop-off point. At the very least, you can have a much better grasp of the controls make the necessary adjustments as you see fit, and be able to choose the camera view that perfectly fits your taste and preference.
3. Take Your Time On The Initial Trips
As a truck driving simulation adventure, we have already mentioned earlier that Truck Simulator PRO USA makes it a lot more important for you to value care and precision over speed. The in-game world has day and night and time does affect your performance. However, your primary goal is to ensure that you not only make a successful delivery but also keep your truck and the package intact, avoiding all sorts of penalties and hassles along the way.
Starting with your first truck is advantageous as it will not be as powerful as the other trucks you can purchase later. This means that even at its top speed, it will still be relatively easier to manage. To be honest, even maintaining speeds of about 30 km/h can be challenging for beginners as the roads you travel on are hardly ever perfectly straight and there are other vehicles on the road to keep an eye out for.
Part of the immersive experience that Truck Simulator PRO USA provides can be attributed to cash penalties imposed on recklessness. Running a red light, for example, automatically deducts cash from your earnings. Getting involved in an accident can lead to various pay cuts not just for the other vehicles you damage but damages inflicted on your truck and as well as the cargo you carry.
Consider a bright and sunny or cloudy day to be the best scenario when you are out picking up and delivering a package. With time shifting from day to night and vice versa, as well as the inclusion of weather in Truck Simulator PRO USA, it can be extra challenging to travel when it is nighttime and whenever there is rain, especially if both are taking place simultaneously.
Your average running speed should be a little slower even during these times as the relative reduction in visibility and maneuverability of your truck, in the case of wet roads. Note that even short drives will tend to take you across towns and there are plenty of areas that are not as well lit. Even with your high beam on, it can still be very challenging to see far and wide so run at a manageable speed to avoid any sorts of accidents.
Keep in mind as well that there can be such accidents that will render your truck stuck or immovable, in which case you would have to resort to using the reset button via the menu at the top of the screen. This is a last resort but can sometimes be the only option available for you and will cost you some money as well.
Once you reach the gate of the delivery point, you will be presented with a trio of options on how to complete the mission. The Difficult Parking gives you an extra 50 EXP and 1,000 cash. You have to do reverse parking, which can be very challenging, especially for beginners. The next option is Easy Parking, where you only need to park the trailer front first. This gives you an extra 10 EXP as well as 400 cash. Lastly, you can skip the whole parking task if you are in a rush but it naturally gets you nothing.
Considering everything, we recommend that you take on the first option, difficult parking, as often as possible. As challenging as it can be and as time-consuming as it may seem, you will naturally get better at it and improve your overall driving skills. Likewise, the extra rewards associated with this feat are very much worth the effort.
4. Do Not Hesitate To Make Pit Stops As Needed
Even starting with relatively shorter missions as the distances and respective payouts suggest, going as slow and as carefully as we recommended earlier would take you some time to complete a pick-up and delivery mission. There is such a thing as a learning and experience curve that applies to your performance moving forward but the vastness of the cities you explore coupled with nighttime and weather conditions add a bit of randomness that can make some similar trips vary in completion time and relative difficulty.
In addition to keeping an eye out for other vehicles and stop lights, another pair of important elements to keep tabs on are fuel and stamina. Unlike in some of the other truck-driving simulation games we have played before, fuel in Truck Simulator PRO USA seems to be consumed a lot slower. You will find yourself with still a lot of fuel in your tank, as can be seen at the bottom center of the screen, and it will take several of the initial missions for you to even need to make a stop for refueling. With this consideration, it is best to consider the initial missions as your determinant as well as to gauge fuel consumption based on distance traveled.
Although spending time to refuel well ahead of time stretches the time it would take you to complete a mission, it is better to make a conservative calculation and take the safe route toward fuel management. It will be more time-consuming and costlier to run out of fuel on the road as you would require the services of a tow truck to take you to the nearest gas station. Likewise, this may also lead to accidents that further take away cash from the savings you so very much worked hard for.
Regarding fatigue, it is common for truck drivers in real life to take breaks and even sleep inside their trucks when the need calls for it. In Truck Simulator PRO USA, you can always take naps inside your truck while in the garage. There are also designated rest stops on the side of the road where you can park and take a break to recover from your fatigue. In both these cases, fatigue does not fully recover and the best way to recover fatigue is to sleep in motels across the map. In some cases, motels are found within gas stations, making it more convenient for you to make a single pit stop to replenish both fuel and energy.
Naturally, refueling and taking a rest at a motel costs money but you should always consider both as necessary costs to ensure a smooth flow of your endeavors. You will naturally take more of these stopovers early in your adventure as part of being more careful while you are on a mission. At some point later in your adventure, both these, along with the usual care and caution you exhibit on the road become so natural that you will instinctively be doing it.
5. Let The Chapter Missions Guide You
You might initially assume that Truck Simulator PRO USA, much like every other truck-driving sim game, is just a cycle of picking up goods for delivery, actually delivering them, and getting paid for the task. Although that may be the gist of your adventure, the variety of missions you can take on is not the entirety of what the adventure offers as far as you also reach higher levels, get to earn and allocate skill points, and grow your company with purchases of not just trucks and trailers, but properties as well.
The starting city of Washington offers a huge map that would take several missions to fully explore and Truck Simulator PRO USA will take you to several other cities for a host of other missions as well. Although you can just take on one mission after another in pursuit of profits and skill improvements, Truck Simulator PRO USA provides you with extra goals or missions for added incentives.
With the high costs of purchases ahead and the relative “grind” it would normally take to make your actual first purchase, the Chapter Missions in Truck Simulator PRO USA helps you earn a few extra bucks to help you on your way. You can always check the chapter missions through the banner at the lower left side of the garage screen. There are 4 missions to complete per chapter and a total of 30 chapters to accomplish. What is nice is that you do not necessarily have to complete a chapter to progress and accomplish some missions in the subsequent chapters, although some rewards can only be claimed after you reach the level requirement.
Considering the typical missions you need to accomplish, chapter mission objectives can be viewed not as an extra layer of chores to hinder you from simply engaging in missions and practically living on the road. Instead, the chapter missions also serve as your basic guide towards progressing your adventure.
Given that the earlier chapter mission objectives are the easiest feats to accomplish, the 30-chapter mission spree is very much comparable to the main story quest features of adventure RPGs. In addition to coins, you can also earn gems and badges from completing objectives. Additionally, there are also chapter completion rewards to earn for accomplishing all 4 chapter missions.
In addition to the chapter missions, you should also take a peek at the map menu from its icon on the garage screen. Not only will you be able to see the maps across every available city, as well as important landmarks like gas stations and motels, but you will also find a different set of tasks associated with each city.
By clicking on the “Tasks” button at the upper left side of the map screen, you can see objectives typically revolving around delivering specific product types, and completing 3 for each kind will reward you with badges. You can choose to accomplish 1 task at a time to earn the badges sooner, or switch across different types and raise the chances of not getting over the minimum required accomplishments.
6. Allocate Skill Points Wisely
It is almost a guarantee that every minute you spend immersing yourself in the world within Truck Simulator PRO USA positively contributes to your experience and improves your overall truck driving skills. Beyond getting more accustomed to all the controls and basic mechanics and a constantly improving sense of familiarity with changes brought about by day and night time differences and changing weather conditions, there are quantifiable indicators of your progression in terms of skill.
As you continue to accomplish missions and tasks, you gain experience as indicated by the bar underneath your name and beside your avatar at the upper left corner of the screen. Filling up the bar completely takes you to the next level and each new level reached earns you a stat point that you can allocate across a range of perks.
To access these perks, simply click on your avatar and then tap on the “Perks” tab. There are 7 different types of perks with 6 of them having 5 levels of upgrades. Although each one is important and beneficial, we recommend going for perks that are useful or those that will be useful more often, if not always.
It will certainly take some time to max out these perks and if you happen to need resetting the allocated stat points, you can pay 200 gems to do so. With gems serving as a premium currency in Truck Simulator PRO USA, we recommend taking extra care in allocating stat points to avoid being compelled into having to reset your perks.
The first 2 perks are Long Distance Haul and Short Distance Haul, increasing your profit by a fixed percentage if the mission is more than 200 miles and below 100 miles, respectively. You can expect the initially available missions to swerve more towards having shorter distances so if you feel the need to invest in this, then consider the second option.
Efficient Driver relates to fuel costs. The more you invest points in this perk, the lower you will be charged for fuel. Race Driver reduces the fees you pay for breaking traffic laws and causing damages to other vehicles as well as public property. Driving at night time in Truck Simulator PRO USA leads to an increased buildup of fatigue. The Night Owl perk reduces fatigue increase whenever you are driving at night.
The Mechanic is yet again a cost reduction perk. This attribute lowers the costs of repairs on your truck. Last but not least is the Auto-Pilot, which is the only perk in the list that axes out with just a point invested. This perk gives you a free teleport to your output once a day. Initially, you will have a series of missions where the start of the other is on the same garage where the previous mission ended. As this will hardly be the case moving forward, we recommend investing in this perk to save time on travel that is not part of a mission.
And that about sums up all we have for you on our Truck Simulator PRO USA Beginner’s Guide. We are certain that the adventure still holds plenty of content for you to discover and revel in and we are likewise confident that the tips and tricks we shared with you will more than suffice to give you a head start on your virtual truck driving career. If you have spent some time in the game and stumbled across some nifty tricks and strategies of your own, don’t have second thoughts about sharing them with us below!