Trukz, the trucking sim

[Clark]

I joined up as "Clark".

Taking a load of medical supplies from St. Louis to Richmond.

[JonInMiddleGA]

In as "DiamondCutter"

And after completing a newb load of general merchandise from Atlanta to Jacksonville, I set out to Corpus Christi with a load of glass. Just two hours into the trip ...

Your truck has had a random mechanical failure beyond normal wear and tear. Your truck is now at 48.9% condition.

Off to a flying start I see.

[BrianD]

I just completed a cardboard run from Monterrey to Houston. Sadly, I don't think I'll be able to get back to Monterrey in time for another load, so I'll probably just start another short haul and hope to be in a good place tomorrow. At this point, I am just over $4500 and at a rating of 0.77. I wonder if I should look to do some shopping?

[molson]

What is exactly changes at midnight - individual cities' supplied and demanded products, or just what products are in biggest demand? Because it seems like the latter depends on the former.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by BrianD

I just completed a cardboard run from Monterrey to Houston. Sadly, I don't think I'll be able to get back to Monterrey in time for another load, so I'll probably just start another short haul and hope to be in a good place tomorrow. At this point, I am just over $4500 and at a rating of 0.77. I wonder if I should look to do some shopping?

My strategy for now was to try to become more effecient with my loads and faster. So I went with a more effecient/faster truck and also added an item to make it more effecient. Hoping i will see the return on that money in the next month.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by molson

What is exactly changes at midnight - individual cities' supplied and demanded products, or just what products are in biggest demand? Because it seems like the latter depends on the former.

It sounds like the former. Then the top 5 demands is just based on what cargo has the most demanding cities with the least suppliers.

[BrianD]

Should people be throwing all of their money into the bank tonight before going to bed? I know the interest rates aren't great, but it seems like a bit of free money.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Alan T

It sounds like the former. Then the top 5 demands is just based on what cargo has the most demanding cities with the least suppliers.

I wonder if it could be just demands that are changed. Because it seems like supplied products fit in with the geography, at least to some extent (Detroit supplies cars, Houston supplies Gas, St. Louis supplies beer, etc.)

The relevance, obviously, is deciding where one should be when the clock hits midnight.

[molson]

Originally Posted by BrianD

Should people be throwing all of their money into the bank tonight before going to bed? I know the interest rates aren't great, but it seems like a bit of free money.

There's no reason not to.

What I'm wondering though, is if there's any reason to keep any money in the bank at all except for throwing it all in Sunday night. The guide says something about "keeping it safe". Can money be lost somehow?

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Alan T

My strategy for now was to try to become more effecient with my loads and faster. So I went with a more effecient/faster truck and also added an item to make it more effecient. Hoping i will see the return on that money in the next month.

How much did you spend on your truck? Anything less than $9850 will give you a faster but less efficient truck. I'll probably save until at least $11,000 before looking at a new truck to make sure I can upgrade both speed and efficiency at the same time.

[EagleFan]

Damn you Frogman!!! Now I have something else to keep checking up on...

In the middle of a stupid cross country trip (now looks like a bad idea this early in the game) and trying to figure out how to make this close to on time with work and everything going on tomorrow.

[MrBigglesworth]

Originally Posted by molson

I wonder if it could be just demands that are changed. Because it seems like supplied products fit in with the geography, at least to some extent (Detroit supplies cars, Houston supplies Gas, St. Louis supplies beer, etc.)

The relevance, obviously, is deciding where one should be when the clock hits midnight.

Some of it might be random, and some of it fixed. Yucca Mountain, for example, probably always has demand for the waste. This screen show also shows Detroit supplying one thing it supplies now, and one it doesn't:


And this screenshot has completely different ones for St. Louis:



Some cities might be more likely to get certain resources.

[Radii]

I'm banking all my money, I don't see any reason not to really, i am curious about the "keeping it safe" thing.

I know i'll be up a little past midnight tonight so i'm resting to make sure i'm fully rested and can head towards the right location for the in demand items before bed tonight. I'm right at $4000 right now and am hoping to easily hit $7000 this week. I'm at 2740 miles driven, without upgrading to a better truck 10k miles might actually be harder to hit than I first though. I guess about 1000 miles a day is reasonable(50 mph for 20 turns a day).

[Izulde]

Just got done with my Minneapolis to Alberquerque route.

Got paid $874.71.

Had to refuel halfway through for $212 (at $2.05/gallon) and spent $9.72 repairing my truck just now.

I have half a tank of gas left, so I'm gonna have to refuel eventually when it's cheaper. So all told, this trip netted me $655 profit, not counting the reful I'll have to do on the next route.

At 10 fatigue right now, so I'll just wait until everything changes over before starting a new route.

Oh yes, I also banked my money. Got $1,152 and 19 cents in my pocket right now.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Radii

I'm banking all my money, I don't see any reason not to really, i am curious about the "keeping it safe" thing.

I know i'll be up a little past midnight tonight so i'm resting to make sure i'm fully rested and can head towards the right location for the in demand items before bed tonight. I'm right at $4000 right now and am hoping to easily hit $7000 this week. I'm at 2740 miles driven, without upgrading to a better truck 10k miles might actually be harder to hit than I first though. I guess about 1000 miles a day is reasonable(50 mph for 20 turns a day).

Do you know if you can pay for repairs and gas from the bank, or do you need on-hand cash for that?

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by BrianD

Do you know if you can pay for repairs and gas from the bank, or do you need on-hand cash for that?

My guess is that you have to have it in hand to pay for repairs.. if not, then i really don't get this banking system at all.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Alan T

My guess is that you have to have it in hand to pay for repairs.. if not, then i really don't get this banking system at all.

I think it's irrelevant, since if you run out of money on the road and need to refuel, you just go into a negative balance. (There's no "game over")

Right now, it looks like banking is one-dimensional. Just put in your money Sunday night, and you get paid a little interest.

[SnDvls]

Originally Posted by Alan T

My guess is that you have to have it in hand to pay for repairs.. if not, then i really don't get this banking system at all.

I've gone negative on my route due to tickets, gas or repairs...they just take it out of your pay once you reach your destination city.

[JetsIn06]

Just signed up.

Name is Buster Hardiman, located in NYC at the moment.

[tarcone]

I have $100 in the bank right now and it has been in there and present for about 3 days. I just withdrew it. It appears that your money is "safe" from thiefs, or corrupt cops? Maybe loss, like I lost it at the truck stop? Not sure.

Im banking all my money.

[tarcone]

Ok I banked $4000 and kept 84.13 pocket money. Just in case.

[FrogMan]

here are soms numbers I went through while resting in Monterrey, for some possible routes hauling cardboard, the most in demand cargo this week:

from	to	terminal?	demand?	miles	ppm	total	w/o bonus	ppm2
Monterrey	Atlanta	yes	yes	1324	1.12	1482.88	982.88	0.74
Monterrey	Los Angeles	yes	yes	1460	1.09	1591.40	1091.40	0.75
Monterrey	Billings	yes	yes	1753	1.05	1840.65	1340.65	0.76
Monterrey	Vancouver	yes	no	2443	0.92	2247.56	1747.56	0.72
Monterrey	St Louis	yes	no	1284	1.07	1373.88	873.88	0.68
Monterrey	Denver	no	yes	1219	1.08	1316.52	816.52	0.67
Monterrey	Houston	no	yes	497	1.66	825.02	325.02	0.65
Monterrey	Minneapolis	no	yes	1672	0.99	1655.28	1155.28	0.69

ppm: pay per mile

My conclusion, and probably the one everyone had come to, when hauling the top paying bonus cargo, pick the shortest route possible to a city that demands the cargo. Your gain per mile is very, very good. and it leaves you with the chance of picking up maybe that top cargo a second time before supply & demand change.

FM

[daedalus]

In like Flynn. Name's Kildar.

[FrogMan]

also, to me, the increase on the payout on overloading your truck is not worth chancing it.

Take that Monterrey-Houston route. The increase in payout on going to 45k lbs puts the fee at 864.01, or about $40. As per vex's previous data about tickets regarding weight, 45k is a possible $100 ticket. The route is 497 miles, so 9 hours of driving at 57 MPH. So you are rolling the dice 9 times where you have the chance of being a $60 loser on the bet. Don't think it's worth it...

FM

[SnDvls]

FM you left off a city that demands cardboard and is the closest to Monterrey...Vera Cruz

[SnDvls]

Also if you haven't gotten the link credit they just reduced it from $3,000 to $2,000

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by SnDvls

FM you left off a city that demands cardboard and is the closest to Monterrey...Vera Cruz

dang, you are right, I missed that one and now I've started driving on my route, so I can't check it anymore. Oh well...

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, actually no, the distance between Monterrey and Veracruz is showing as 626 miles, so Houston is still closer.

FM

[Alan T]

I think Mexico city is better than Houston FM

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by SnDvls

Also if you haven't gotten the link credit they just reduced it from $3,000 to $2,000

Good thing I got in before the buzzer.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I think Mexico city is better than Houston FM

Yeah, but Mexico City has doesn't have cardboard as a cargo in demand...

FM

[SnDvls]

Vera cruz does have cardboard as a demand too

[Radii]

I think with the bonus in play whether there's demand or not is not as relevant, it'll tip close decisions but if you have a 300 mile route w/ no demand and a 600 mile route with demand you almost certainly want to take the 300 mile route every time.


It'll be fun to play with and see what we can do when the demand changes now that we have had some time to learn some.

[Poli]

I got 3k for a joke link...too easy.

[Brillig]

A cargo doesn't have to be in demand to get the $500 bonus. There's an additional 10% bonus for an in-demand cargo, but a shorter route may be better than a longer one with 10% bonus.

[RPI-Fan]

Is the 10% on top of the $500 add-on?

a) (baserate x miles x 1.10) + $500

or

b) (baserate x miles + $500) x 1.10

??

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Is the 10% on top of the $500 add-on?

a) (baserate x miles x 1.10) + $500

or

b) (baserate x miles + $500) x 1.10

??

the 10% is on the per mile pay rate, so it would be a). The $500 is like a flat fee you get for picking up a top 5 cargo. The way they present it when you are choosing a route still present a global per mile fee, but I think it's only for representation...

fM

[Alan T]

Yeah, even though mexico city doesnt demand it, the $500 bonus is what makes it worthwhile.

[FrogMan]

ahh, good to know.

FM

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SnDvls

Also if you haven't gotten the link credit they just reduced it from $3,000 to $2,000

I'm glad you said that, 'cause I thought I had done something wrong or something.

First time I looked at it the bonus link was for $3k, I figured "cool, I'll do that tonight". Went back to grab the code & it was $2k, I thought I was hallucinating or something.

[daedalus]

just FYI:

the page says 2K.

the email says 3K.

the money is 2K.

[Brillig]

Hmm, caught this in the game update log:

7-12-07
- The random city supply and demand schedule that ran on Mondays at 12:00 AM will now run on Mondays and Thursdays at 12:00 AM server time.

So don't plan on cashing in for a whole week I guess

[Brillig]

Originally Posted by Radii

As to the question of whether we make our company exclusively FOFC, my reason for thinking that's a bad idea is that I'm assuming this will play out like many FOFC Online Endeavors. We have a large number of people checking this out now, its new and a big thread that's getting updated a lot. But in the end I would expect a much smaller contingent of people to stick with it and play it consistantly over any sort of long term period. If we're down to 10-15 people in a couple weeks there won't be nearly as much that we can do.

I agree completely... which is why I think we should start out as a private company. Assuming the dev fixes the private stock buying, we should be able to get a lot of stock contributions early. And hopefully folks that are losing interest can plow some money into the company.

Once we settle down to a steady core, then we fling open the doors...

[Celeval]

Any idea what the server time is?

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Celeval

Any idea what the server time is?

I believe central time

[Brillig]

Central time - it's in the upper right corner of your driver profile.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Brillig

I agree completely... which is why I think we should start out as a private company. Assuming the dev fixes the private stock buying, we should be able to get a lot of stock contributions early. And hopefully folks that are losing interest can plow some money into the company.

Once we settle down to a steady core, then we fling open the doors...

I've been thinking about this for a bit, I think right now as a collective we can all do better by doing better individually in other companies to pool up our resources more. Jumping to form our own corporation at the start does nothing other than get us started slowly with less resources to deal with, and make the next phase slower for us than it had been if we had stayed with our previous companies.

I think what we need is to start off by having a group of people each have enough for one truck stop each going in. Then form the company starting off with the CEO buying the company + a truck stop, and each of the others buying one as well. That would help us become fairly competitive at the outstart, as well as having what is necessary to attract other non-FOFCers. Those initial people pooling money could be the ones to start off with the corporation jobs and wages to help them recover that investment as well. I am hoping by that point they will have the company only purchases working out right too.

I just don't see a huge reason to try to rush to start another small company that will struggle to get its feet wet. We should work to improve our own personal portfolios to the point where our first step could be a big one.

[Brillig]

I don't think it works that way though. Aside from the escalating cost of terminals (it's 5,000 for the first one, then 1.5x for each one after), I don't think that we can buy anything for the company from personal money - it has to be the company's money.

Working for other companies isn't much of a deal - for the most part, the contribution exceeds what we get back in assistance, unless you're going to a terminal. But since the $500 for most-wanted outweighs almost everything else, it seems like the only reason to go with any company is if they have a terminal at/by the most-wanted resource.

I'd rather we start a company and start putting funds into it than building up the coffers of what will one day be our competitors.

[Brillig]

D'uh. Right below what I looked at in the changelog

7-11-07
- Company CEOs now have the option to sell stocks to anyone in the game, company members only, or not to anyone at all.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Brillig

I don't think it works that way though. Aside from the escalating cost of terminals (it's 5,000 for the first one, then 1.5x for each one after), I don't think that we can buy anything for the company from personal money - it has to be the company's money.

Working for other companies isn't much of a deal - for the most part, the contribution exceeds what we get back in assistance, unless you're going to a terminal. But since the $500 for most-wanted outweighs almost everything else, it seems like the only reason to go with any company is if they have a terminal at/by the most-wanted resource.

I'd rather we start a company and start putting funds into it than building up the coffers of what will one day be our competitors.

I agree for the most part. Except for the fact that personal money can become company money fairly easily through stock purchases (though those are limited to $500/day).

But if we started a company in a week, then grew over a month to a bigger company, with say, 3 or 4 terminals, I don't see how that's worse then starting the company in a month with 3 or 4 terminals. You're getting to same place, but like you said, the longer we wait, the more money we make for other companies.