If Tally-Ho Corner had a hall of shame ViewApp would be its most recent inductee. Yesterday the Viennese studio behind City Transport Simulator released the omnibus component of its latest sim either not realising or not caring that many early adopters would instinctively strafe a mouse on pulling away from the kerb or entering a corner for the first time.
Putting aside the missing mouse steering, City Transport Simulator: Bus makes a pretty good first impression.
The Gräf/Steyr Solobus NL205 and MAN Lions City Solobus A21 – the two unarticulated bus types I’ve tried so far – have palpable mass, and react naturalistically to things like kerbs and slopes.
They possess a rich repertoire of type-specific sounds including OMSI-reminiscent rattles, hisses, and whines. A fair proportion of the latter emanate from passengers rather than transmissions. When jostled by kerb collisions, or rocked by violent braking, steering, or acceleration, fare-payers express dissatisfaction with a directness that may surprise British bus users.
Most of the dashboard switches and buttons – including the ones that control kneeling – are wired-up.
If ViewApp had addressed CTS’s occasional traffic bugs and implemented mouse-steering before unleashing omnibuses, all – or nearly all – would be well.
My only complaint with Unreal engine games and simulators is that weird white light and white shine it has. I don’t know why many developers choose to keep that in. It is just so distracting :/
But on the other hand, the afternoon light I can see on the screenshots here seems quite fine.
How are the controls? Can most of the usable buttons be mapped?