Welcome back, Bus Drivers!
Please welcome a brand-new game mode in Bus Simulator 21 Next Stop — Career Mode! We had a lot of messages asking us to add a sandbox feature of sorts to the game. And we listened! That’s how two new game modes came into existence: Sandbox and Career Mode. While Sandbox is pretty much a classic 'infinite resources, infinite possibilities' type of mode, Career is different. Very different.
Let’s talk about it.
What’s the fuss about?
The goal of the Career Mode is to build a company in a real economy – much like campaign mode. But everything you need is unlocked from the start and there are no missions, no story, no quests – only you, the city and the roads. The only limited resource is – money. So, when we say 'real economy', we mean it – Career Mode will have a more realistic route planning model and a new way of calculating your payday.
At the beginning, you'll only have enough money for one bus and some extra money for small expenses (fines). After that it’s free for all and your planning and money-making skills will be put to the test. Where and how to start? Which bus to get first? What routes will net the most money fast? These are the challenges and questions you need to find a solution for in Career Mode.
So it’s a hard mode?
Not at all! Career Mode isn’t really easier or harder than the normal campaign – it’s just different.
First and foremost, Career Mode is about a different economic system. To give you interesting choices and let you create an actual working economy, we’ve had to tweak a lot of things that were already present in the game. Some of the changes were so good that they even made their way into the main game as well.
These were our design goals for the game mode:
- Length of your routes will become more important than before.
- Demand-balanced routes that are focused on a certain peak-time will become much more interesting to play with.
- More skillful and careful driving = better income.
- Your bus model, manufacturer and its engine will matter a lot more now.
So far, our closed playtests have shown amazing results and we can’t wait to release Career Mode for everyone! We are curious to see how you will adapt to the new economy system of the Career Mode.
But how do I manage all those new data points?
The information about your balance, the income and outgoings, wages, expenses, and other things concerning the wealth of your company are crucial for successful planning. It should be as transparent as possible, which was the main goal of this change. Take a look at the updated Payday Screen:
As you can see, the new UI holds much more information that affects your final paycheck. Notable additions are ticket sales, accidents, and insurance. We also have a much more detailed and transparent showing of what is earned by NPCs and by you. Pay attention to the new symbols and categories for drive events – they will represent 'the weight' on the given event and will be sorted by it. Higher drive event rating will give better results too, so hone your driving skills!
Get involved!
We spent a lot of time gathering reports from all over the internet: Steam reviews, Steam forums, Twitter, Discord and our in-game bug reporting tool. But we still like to hear from you! Go to our online Feedback Tool to send us what’s bothering you. We’re still listening!
tl;dr
- Career Mode will give everyone a brand new way to experience Bus Simulator 21
- Treat it as a something different, not something easier or harder than the campaign
- Optimized routes are of much more importance than before
- Large focus on payday changes: new income modifiers and data points
- Classic sandbox mode is also included!
Career mode will be a part of the free Bus Simulator 21 Next Stop update, launching May 16, 2023 on all platforms.
Your teams at stillalive studios and astragon Entertainment
https://store.steampowered.com/app/976590/Bus_Simulator_21/