My thoughts and hints for hard mode.

[Vert Startail]

Firstly if you haven't spent time playing the game in normal mode DO NOT play hard mode. This game has difficulty to start with (some of the difficulty is unfortunately artificial sadly) and hard mode just adds a bit more to that. Honestly I'd like to see an option to start hard mode normally or skip tutorial.

Now for a few hints.

1) Go SLOW! Its better to take a little extra time doing something that paying for a recovery and or reapirs.

2) Don't be in a rush to fix the Fleetstar. Yes this will be your primary truck but its worth waiting. *edit* I say this because you might be tempted to drag it to the garage entrance with the pickup and pay to fix it. Don't do it. See #2.

3) Don't sell the GMC. It is useful. It has a free bed on it. You can use it to pull the free repair trailer over to repair the Fleetstar for FREE. You can borrow the fuel from it to get the Fleetstar going to go get the free fuel trailer. It can also pull the semi trailer from town around (stick to main roads).

4) When you go to get the GMC use it to get the upgrade from the oil rig island and do the wooden bridge mission. You can struggle to pull the trailer with the wood to the wooden bridge mission or just pay the fee ($300 for 2 wood) and save a ton of struggle.

5) Don't buy tires till you have a better option. The Fleetstar doesn't get a worth the money upgrade till level 6. The Chevy pickup is capable to unlocking all of the watchtowers and collecting all of the upgrades in stock form so don't buy tires for it till after you get the lift at a minimum.

6) Its faster but don't be tempted to use recovery as fast travel. Nothing will bankrupt you faster than recover cost.

7) Try to make sure you are not driving work trucks around empty. For example when you fetch the fuel trailer from the trailer park take the curtain side trailer down to the farm to complete the farm tools mission.

8) Clear the path to Smithfield Dam as soon as you can. This includes the road block on Black River and the road block on the Smithfield Dam map. You will want easy access to the repair restock location.

This is just my opinion and your results may vary. Hopefully someone finds it helpful and if you have tips I'd like to see them so post then here. I'm only about 1.5 hours into a hard mode save so I'm sure there is more to add to this list.

[mendel]

I agree that everyone who wants to start SnowRunner in hard mode should spend an hour or so in normal mode to see most of the tutorial. It helps those coming from Mudrunner or Spintires to understand the changes. (If you want a driving tutorial, get MudRunner at 80% off and play the "challenges".)

I don't really understand 2). It's perfectly possible to send the CK1500 to get the GMC, bring the fuel trailer from opposite the farm along, and then fix the Fleetstar up immediately. Uninstall the sideboard from the GMC, install it on the Fleetstar, activate the AWD add-on (sell the RWD), and buy the yellow loading crane so you never have to pay for auto-load ever again.

The best way to deal with the lack of traction is to load some weight. With the crane, cargo is still free, so put some weight on every truck if you plan to go off-road. With weight on it, even the GMC can pull the flatbed with the concrete on it (barely), the Fleetstar can do it easily.

For future use:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2493493669 Please leave a +1 at https://steamcommunity.com/app/1465360/discussions/0/3111403360727918077/ if this helped you.

[Vert Startail]

Originally posted by mendel:

I don't really understand 2). It's perfectly possible to send the CK1500 to get the GMC, bring the fuel trailer from opposite the farm along, and then fix the Fleetstar up immediately. Uninstall the sideboard from the GMC, install it on the Fleetstar, activate the AWD add-on (sell the RWD), and buy the yellow loading crane so you never have to pay for auto-load ever again.

The best way to deal with the lack of traction is to load some weight. With the crane, cargo is still free, so put some weight on every truck if you plan to go off-road. With weight on it, even the GMC can pull the flatbed with the concrete on it (barely), the Fleetstar can do it easily.

For future use:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2493493669
Please leave a +1 at https://steamcommunity.com/app/1465360/discussions/0/3111403360727918077/ if this helped you.

What I was referring to in #2 is people using the pickup to drag the Fleetstar into the garage and paying to repair it. It is also possible to drag the repair trailer with the pickup and position it behind the Fleetstar and after connecting the trailer fixing the Fleetstar on its own. In that case you'd be borrowing the fuel from the pickup to fetch the fuel trailer. Also pulling the fuel trailer back with the GMC would work.

[mendel]

Non-obvious hard mode hint: if you ever play through the night, go to the garage as soon as the sun comes up and do a region change (go to the garage in Alaska, then come back). This makes the game load into the morning the next time you play Snowrunner.
If you don't do that, you might soon find yourself always starting late in the day.

[jones]

Go to smithville dam and take eastern route to island lake, drive through to drummond island. Fix the bridge ang get P16 . Sell it or use.

[mendel]

Originally posted by jones:

Go to smithville dam and take eastern route to island lake, drive through to drummond island. Fix the bridge ang get P16 . Sell it or use.

better than the eastern route is to take a left turn before you get to the dam, go across the water and up the hill, and then turn right and go along ridge. Easy going on highway tires, and only one spot that's somewhat dangerous to tip at. and you can take one of the trailers with you while you're at it