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Tonakai Gaming

Taking the new truck for a test drive

Since SCS added the Western Star 5700XE model to American Truck Simulator and it happened to coincide with me being a bit bored, I decided it was time for an addition to the stable.

For now it’s the day cab version, so I guess it’s no sleeping in it. It’s a pretty good hauler though.

My first trips all took place in Oregon before going north a bit. Sometimes I find myself longing a bit for the somewhat greener pastures up north.

And what could be better than finding oneself driving along the Olympia peninsula at sunrise with a big load of explosives in tow?

Ending the tour with a nice ferry jump over the sound. It was actually the first time I used that route so all new for me.

Colour coordinated farming

Sometimes it’s important to keep a theme it seems. Welcome to the yellow farm.

This gathering of yellow occured on DJModding’s Upper Mississippi River Valley map and the machines are two Challengers, an American style Claas, and a tree stump remover that I forgot to ask my friend who had it which brand it was.

Göweil Pack coming in March

The first DLC pack for Farming Simulation 22 in 2023 has been revealed. It is going to be a collection of equipment focused on baling, with nine new tools from the Austrian Göweil brand.

It will not only be a bunch of new equipment, but also new possibilities when it comes to gathering stuff into bales. With the new machines corn silage, sugar beet pulp, mixed feed, and more can be baled and wrapped. It will also be possible to choose between net-binding and foil-wrapping when it comes to some of the resources.

As for the equipment there will be an assortment of both moveable and stationary machinery for baling and wrapping. In addition there will be new bale forks and grippers as well as a bale turner which supposedly will help in reducing the number of times you’ll have to chase after round bales going downhill.

The Göweil Pack will be released March 21 but can already be pre-ordered. The pack is included in the Year 2 Season Pass so those who have that will get it automatically on the release date.

New Truck for ATS

With the latest patch for American Truck Simulator there’s also a new truck coming. The Western Star 5700XE.

It comes in three different main types – a day cab, the 54″ High Roof Stratosphere and the 82″ Ultra High Roof Stratosphere. Chassis available are short, medium and long versions in 6×2 and 6×4. The engines are Detroit Diesels, which offers the options of DD13, DD15 and DD16 up to 600HP.

Future Map DLCs for ATS

SCS Software has now publicly announced both of their ongoing map projects for American Truck Simulator.

Already earlier they had announced that now when the big Texas map DLC has been successfully launched, it is time for neighbouring Oklahoma. And maybe not all that surprising the state coming thereafter will be Kansas.

Farming Simulator 22 enters year 2 with new season pass

Just like for the first year of the game’s existence, Farming Simulator 22 will have a Year 2 Season Pass which will grant the season pass owners automatic access to all DLCs released during 2023.

As of now, that means five planned DLC releases plus a small bonus in the shape of an oldtimer Volvo articulated loader, the BM-Volvo LM 845. Without specifying any dates at this point, the roadmap is for one DLC pack in early 2023, two during the summer-early autumn, and one plus the traditional yearly bigger expansion pack in late 2023.

Giants Software also states that they plan to develop and refine the current iteration of the game quite a bit further before the eventual release of a successor game.

The Year 2 Season Pass is available for purchase now and the DLCs included will be accessible on their respective release days during 2023.

FS22 Platinum Expansion is coming soon

[Edit Nov. 25: There is now a more in-depth review page available.]

It has been a year since Farming Simulator 22 premiered and following Giants Software’s traditional release pattern it is now time for the Platinum expansion to arrive. The exact date is set to November 15 and as usual it will arrive both as the complete Farming Simulator 22 Platinum Edition for new users and as an expansion DLC for us who already have the base game.

The Platinum expansion this time has a main focus on forestry and comes with new things to do in-game as well as with new things to use for doing it. It also comes with a new map – Silverrun Forest – which of course will be ideal for testing out the new machinery and methods.

Since it is about forestry the handling of trees have got an overhaul with new tree species, new planting and harvesting methods, and new ways to transport the timber from the forest with the help of winches, loaders and containers.

Tree time.

One of the new things in FS22 – production chains – is developed further by adding new ones (I have counted to eight new factories) and the brand new construction projects. By growing and selling your trees you can help in the construction of big projects such as a rollercoaster (and yes, you will apparently be able to ride it when complete), or making sailing boats at the local wharf.

Whee!

There will naturally also be new brands showing up in the game. The most well-known probably being Volvo. The Platinum Expansion provides no less than twelve machines from the Swedish brand – from the oldtimer Volvo BM 2654 tractor to the state-of-the-art Volvo FH16 truck and a Volvo L200H wheel loader. There will also be new content from such brands as John Deere, Schwarzmüller, and Komatsu – just to mention a few. A more complete list is to be found at Giants own site.

Big and beautiful.

The Platinum Expansion and Platinum Edition (base game + expansion) will release on November 15th for PC, Mac, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

The official Platinum Expansion trailer shown at Gamescom.

Milk. Lovely milk

It took a while but by now the milk production at the Atcham farm is in full swing. Which is good because that means that now we can actually start to get some money in for a change.

The MAN milk transport is a mod made by D-S-Agrarservice [Kastor, Floowy, Steven aka W7K] and is available in the official modhub.

Of course since the cows now produce more milk they also needs more feed. So a not insignificant amount of the autumn day had to be spent mowing grass. Both on our own fields and doing contract work for others. This evening job is a contract job, which has the benefit of me having the opportunity to play with some more powerful machines for a change. A heavy duty Case is not within my own budget for sure.

Texas DLC for American Truck Simulator

November 15th is the date for the release of American Truck Simulator’s largest map DLC this far. The state in question is of course the big state of Texas and with this addition to the map it will for the first time be possible to drive from coast to coast – if we count the shore of the Gulf of Mexico as that, that is.

But the fact remains, this is a big DLC. Like everything in Texas.

Happy Hauloween

Hauloween – SCS Software’s latest World of Trucks event – is in full swing and as usual those little trinkets one can get pulled me in. So let’s have some nice photos from the latest Corsica trip.

The benefit of a nighttime start is that you get to experience the first sunrays rise over the Mediterranian while transporting whatever is in the spooky trailer.

Yum. Borat’s pizza…
I must admit this is an interesting delivery place. Why a slipway? Am I hauling Halloween things that are supposed to be put to sea? Does the delivery papers say “Customer: Davy Jones” or something?