I'm an experienced operator so I already know about heavy equipment. So I will make my comparison based on that.

For the most part, the stick controls are correct. It does feel like a real excavator. So all my skills and nuances translated perfectly into this simulation, albeit a few changes. The controls for the tracks, however, don't feel right because of the right shoulder used as a modifier. It just feels weird pressing that then the sticks.

The digging aspect seems nominal at most. You don't see every grain of sand going into the bucket due to game engine limitations so its mostly graphically and mathematically simplified. What it doesn't do is (1) sloping, (2) bucket grading, and (3) platforming.

Sloping is important because you need to have certain trenches at a certain angle of repose; an angular ratio between its verticality and its horizontalness. Most common sands are good with 1:1 ratios, wetter stuff could be like 3:2 and it matters greatly because of the chances of a trench collapse. The game doesn't do sloping very well, nor does the sand contour with the bucket at all, so you are left with pregenerated, precalculated sloping angles that it thinks sand can do.

The bucket can't grade those slopes either. All the bucket does, on its back side, is bump into the sand (even with just a tiny windrow) or bounce off it. Even the bulldozer got stuck on a simple windrow. Not very realistic... which is fine, but I prefer the ability to manipulate sand to my needs.

Platforms are one such need. Most times, ground isn't always level. In gravel pits, you dig and dig and dig until all the sand around the machine is gone. And each time you grab a full bucket, you already chancing to tip over unless you have a stable foundation to dig from. Even then, depending on your counter weight, you might tip if you grab wet stuff when fully extended and perpendicular to the tracks.

Sometimes you gotta fix your foundation or slope yourself up it before grabbing. And when you're done, you gotta get off the foundation (which is probably a platform by then) which is no safe feat. Sometimes you gotta make a platform to get up on to grab the fill. The game doesn't let you spear into the sand to pull the machine, nor does it let you push the machine up or down the hill. Nor does the angle of the machine's tilt matters, you dig without worry of tipping.

The camera controls are wonky and it's weird operating from third person. I don't know whose idea it was to have the horizontal controls of the camera to spring. That was just an idiotic design decision. You need the camera to follow the bucket or look where you need to without these interferences.

The other machines (loader, truck, and dozer), kind of follow the flaws of the excavator too. The dozer can seriously do without the right shoulder modifier being pressed. I also noticed that there's no vertical tilt or horizontal angling on the blade. It's just a raise and lower dozer blade. (Might be a feature exclusive to D4 Cat dozers though). This makes the final grade an annoying task not because of the top level, but the sloping can't be done very well or at all.

And as I said previously, it stops dead on a simple windrow. In the real world, even a small D4 bulldozer can cut through gravel like its butter. Here, the game doesn't do that.

No real comments about the front end loader or the truck. Ultimately, I think the game is only fine as a simplistic digger only game. It does not have the additional nuances I wished it did have. I recommend it only as a taste of heavy equipment but nothing more serious than that.

For any simulation game, you want to experience the heart of the simulator as much as possible. The idea of a digging company would be to create a digging site for a big major contruction company or even mine a location down to size for money. Sadly, this game dosent have that. In my short play through this is what you get. You get a sandbox, where size decides how big your vehicles are, not the size of the location your working on. The location you work on is overly small with options to only a few vehicles. In sandbox, you do not buy vehicles. You can not even travel your lot. The map is so small you can travel it from one end to the other end in about 10 seconds. In short, the sandbox has no purpose.

The campaign is, sad. You do create a company, but all your doing is going from lot to lot. It's boring, the money you get unlocks better vehicles, sadly thats all it does. Playing an hour of it is the most boring game I have. It would be more interesting if the city itself was freeroam. It would be great if you can roam a construction site instead of just a lot. What you get is a very short game with nothing going for it and sadly will scare away most modders that would come to a game to make it better. Secret to fixing the game? Make the map bigger, and make sandbox mean something more than just toying with small vehicles.

Also in some maps your vehicles are too large for you to move around or even dig. Dumptrucks are also useless. I mean completely useless, its faster to drive to unload instead of unload to the dumptruck and dump on the other side of the map. The other side of the map is 7 to 12 seconds away. And thats not going 30 mph, or even close. Would only recommend this game to children. Too simple for adults to play.

Best digger sim I ever tried!

Im using an XBOX One controller and it works perfectly, the two joysticks work just like the joysticks in a real excavator and the feel is actually pretty impressive considering its "just" a game.

One thing that annoys me is, that the right joystick left/right is inverted on the excavators, so that the bucket tilt outwards when u move the joystick left and vice versa, while it shd be the other way around.
U can easily invert the bucket control under settings, but while it fixes the issue for the excavators, it messes up the wheel loaders as theyre actually not wrong by default.

Basically it means u have to constantly switch the "invert bucket" on and off according to when u switch between a wheel loader and an excavator, hopefully they will fix this in a patch soon.

While the excavators have a nice feel of realism, the wheel loaders dont, they feel weird both when driving and when moving the arm and bucket.

So it goes for the dumpers, first of all their sound is awful, nothing like the real thing at all, second the acceleration is almost instant and anyone who has driven one knows that theyre not the fastest things off the line, especially when carrying a full load, and finally their top speed is more or less about half of what it shd be.

Its a bit hard to actually level dirt with the excavator using ur digging shovel, I know that there are a wide shovel for leveling, but the point is, that irl u do actually use digging shovels to level out small areas as u go.

U cant dig with the leveling shovel, again I know u normally don't do that, but irl its done all the time when u need to move such small amounts of material that changing the shovel is too time consuming.

Pushing material would be a neat feature too, like when u excavate and build a pile, u can push into the top of the pile, forcing the top to move away from u, leaving new space to unload ur shovel.

None the less, those are minor issues and prolly something we'll see addressed in a future update.
As for the XBOX controller support, it works great and it makes it easy to control the machines.

Compared to other digging sims, this one has good control, good camera, nice physics and if u drive the excavator like u would with a real one, itll behave pretty much the same way.

One thing that's really missing is the ability to control the excavators arm and belts at the same time, like irl when u need to drive up on the top of a pile of material, u use the shovel to grab hold on top of the pile while u drive and pull urself up; That really isn't possible in this sim and that's a real shame, because u can easily end up digging urself into material that u would normally be able to easily dig urself out of, IF u could use the arm and belts at the same time.

Also forgot to mention in my initial review, that there are bugs, like suddenly a yellow button with no text appearing in the middle of the screen obstructing ur view.

In addition, from time to time the excavator wont dig, when u put the shovel to the ground nothing happens no matter what u do.

Can't change controller bindings....

It's good but plz add a backhoe

Fun little game, worth the price! Graphics and physics work pretty well and the sounds are great. Vehicle models are well done. If you want to dig then this is the best I've ever found.

GunninGamerz on YouTube/Twitch

DIG IT! A Digger Simulator is a great simulation game.
The game has good physics and gameplay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJglwQpOv0w

The Graphics are nothing that would wow you, but this Digger Simulator deserves the name more than any other of those so called Digger Sims out there ( except maybe the professional ones but they are hundreds if not thousands of Dollars)

The Controlls work well especially if you use a controller or like I do, rudder pedals and two Joysticks, which really enhances the experience.

I have played it now up until Level 6 and it seems that the progression is a bit too easy. I would have wished for a bit more of a challenge in the progression or more levels as I am afraid you will beat the game fairly quickly.

Having said that; I am pretty sure if you try to have your Construction site as tidy as possible and a hole that is as accurate as possible, you will have a bit more of a challenge, when I tested the game I was too tired to give a darn about tidyness.

Overall I would recommend the game to everybody who was deeply dissapointed with the other Digger Simulators out there.

this is a great game for someone that wants to simply move dirt. it's not a sim, just fun.

Not bad.. good graphics.. running a xbox controller so that's cool with two joysticks..

Anyone know how to assign boom to the other joystick as its on the wrong side?