Can't access garage in an expedition to get another truck? Plus some initial feedback/thoughts

[gordongreig]

OK, so played a few hours, mostly still in the tutorial map, but I've noticed that during an expedition, there seems no way to go back to the garage and get another truck. Maybe I'm missing something obvious? It seems like I can choose up to 4 trucks at the start of an expedition, but that's it. The problem with that is that I've no real idea what I might encounter along the way, so I;m just guessing what trucks to take. One of the most fun things about Snowrunner was that when you hit a problem, you could see what options you have in the garage/truck store to try to fix it. Finding unique solutions to problems in Snowrunner was what made that game great - I have A LOT of hours in that btw! Seems like this doesn't offer that same kind of challenge?

Some other thoughts:
* having a legacy Snowrunner controls set up would be nice (lost count of the number of times I've changed camera angle by mistake
* can't pause the game or go to the map whilst the metal detector animation is playing, which is just irritating
* disappointing to only have 3 truck types perhaps?
* I'm hoping there are a couple of extra map areas on full release - maybe a vain hope
* not sure I;m liking the expedition v free roam mechanic - would be nice to just be in the maps with choices of missions at any time
* anyone any idea what to do with slopes once you've found them?
* there's quite a lot of buggy text and incorrect text in the codex
* can't decide if I like the anchor or not - reduces jeopardy too much?
* the GUI needs a lot of polish - feels clunky, especially as the back buttons/accept buttons seem the change on the truck customisation screens - keep going round in circles there
* I'm not a fan of losing half the money you put into the inventory equipment - one of the best things about Snowrunner was that you didn't lose any money for trying things out - so it really encouraged experimentation and trying stuff out
* can't see any obvious way to turn on the headlights
* when skipping time in the map, there is no indication of what time you are skipping to, so it's guesswork how many times to press the button

Overall enjoying it so far, but a few annoying things and feels like it needs a patch or two of polish before I invest a lot more time in it. Still catching up on Snowrunner DLC in the meantime.

In some ways, Snowrunner feels like hardcore whereas this feels a bit too sanitised at the moment? I've never played mudrunner, and suspect that is even more hardcore than snowrunner.

[Pandorian]

Originally posted by gordongreig:

Some other thoughts:
* disappointing to only have 3 truck types perhaps?
* I'm hoping there are a couple of extra map areas on full release - maybe a vain hope
* anyone any idea what to do with slopes once you've found them?
* can't decide if I like the anchor or not - reduces jeopardy too much?
* I'm not a fan of losing half the money you put into the inventory equipment - one of the best things about Snowrunner was that you didn't lose any money for trying things out - so it really encouraged experimentation and trying stuff out
* can't see any obvious way to turn on the headlights

I'll just address these points with my own thoughts since most of the other I can agree with to some extent.

Truck types in Snowrunner were basically a misnomer anyways but if we go with the types that are missing from it we get Highway and Super Heavy. There are obviously no highways and Super Heavy is not useful since they were for hauling but Expeditions doesn't have that. As for using Highway trucks, I don't know about others but they basically sat in my garage or had utility items such as fuel tanks slapped on them and parked. There were also only 5 of them in the game with 2 being DLC. Using legacy classification system was probably not a good idea overall.

Mapwise there are definitely less base game maps than Snowrunner had at release. Snowrunner had 11(Taymyr-Rift was added later) yet 3 of those are the same area(1 square Kilometer) as Little Colorado(Drummond, Mountain River, Zimnegorsk) so I'm not sure how much weight a quantity argument can have behind it. There's a 10th map in Expeditions that is just for testing which can be found in the mod menu so it's nice the devs provided that base game at least. If you go by Contracts/Tasks/Expeditions quantity wise then it's good to remember that a lot of the missions in Snowrunner base game were added as free content later.

Slopes are just there to help signify areas to go up and down. Them being a "?" texture on Little Colorado is just a bug.

I'm not sure about jeopardy but anchors main usage for me are to pull me across hard to navigate areas. For truck recovery purposes only the Scouts can make full usage since they have Autonomous winches. (I like that all winch upgrades for Scouts are Autonomous now.) Jacks are useful on the other types since they can't use the anchor with stalled engines. Overall I feel anchors and Jacks fit nicely with the decision to only deploy 4 trucks, have limited map fuel, and making recoveries after the 1st one cost money.

On losing half your money, the intention seems to be to store those items on the map and reuse them on your next expedition. If you've done a good job driving then your recovery is free and you can store them. Sort of an extra cash bonus that isn't tracked.

Headlights: Are you playing on a controller? I've seen controller users also have issues with the horn. Keyboard the headlights are still L key. I'm not sure if that's still listed in the control menu and can be rebound but it can definitely be bound to wheel setups.

[H5N1]

headlights are R stick button on controller and I had no idea about the store items thing that will make life easier as I was starting to run out of money.

[Pandorian]

Originally posted by H5N1:

headlights are R stick button on controller and I had no idea about the store items thing that will make life easier as I was starting to run out of money.

If you're running low on money in Colorado then you can also sell the Reusable anchor for 5k. It'll respawn every time you launch a new Expedition / Free Roam. After Colorado, money starts to flow a lot easier and isn't really necessary to grind money.

[vandalism]

I have been trying to find a way to access the garage mid expeditions or free roam, myself. As far as I can tell, you can only set up vehicles at the beginning of the expeditions and they are all recalled when you leave. Same with free roam sessions, so there is no permanence between sessions aside from the base upgrades.

I just unlocked free roam on Arizona and have only done 1 or 2 expeditions in carpathia.

The mission I just completed, I REALLY would have liked to access a garage and get a repair Kung thing and then keep going, or add a truck with that. But there was no way.

Guestimating what you will need for an expedition might be what they were going for since it's like wilderness.

The problem with that is... I don't like it. Lol. You lose money for a return to garage if you are using specialists and then I think $700 per car deployed. So if you don't use that extra repair vehicle, you are punished. If you need something but didn't have it, then you are screwed and have to just restart, losing money and then also I think losing out at the bonus pay in some cases (find new landmarks type ones, can't find a new landmark if I already found it).

There is text at the beginning of the expedition that tells things like "elevation change" and "high water". The one I did and had to restart that I wish I had access to a garage was one that said "extra spare parts needed". So I guess they told me but I didn't realize. Next time I see that I suppose i will need spare parts. Or I can go now and build bridges in free roam mode.

I think they wanted it to be kind of like Hitman levels where you go in and take what you need. I don't think it translates well.

It's more complex than snowrunner and needlessly so. Frustrating imo. I hope they make garages accessible mid expedition but it doesn't look like they want it that way. Hope a mod comes out for it.

[gordongreig]

Originally posted by Pandorian:

Originally posted by gordongreig:

Some other thoughts:
* disappointing to only have 3 truck types perhaps?
* I'm hoping there are a couple of extra map areas on full release - maybe a vain hope
* anyone any idea what to do with slopes once you've found them?
* can't decide if I like the anchor or not - reduces jeopardy too much?
* I'm not a fan of losing half the money you put into the inventory equipment - one of the best things about Snowrunner was that you didn't lose any money for trying things out - so it really encouraged experimentation and trying stuff out
* can't see any obvious way to turn on the headlights

I'll just address these points with my own thoughts since most of the other I can agree with to some extent.

Truck types in Snowrunner were basically a misnomer anyways but if we go with the types that are missing from it we get Highway and Super Heavy. There are obviously no highways and Super Heavy is not useful since they were for hauling but Expeditions doesn't have that. As for using Highway trucks, I don't know about others but they basically sat in my garage or had utility items such as fuel tanks slapped on them and parked. There were also only 5 of them in the game with 2 being DLC. Using legacy classification system was probably not a good idea overall.

Mapwise there are definitely less base game maps than Snowrunner had at release. Snowrunner had 11(Taymyr-Rift was added later) yet 3 of those are the same area(1 square Kilometer) as Little Colorado(Drummond, Mountain River, Zimnegorsk) so I'm not sure how much weight a quantity argument can have behind it. There's a 10th map in Expeditions that is just for testing which can be found in the mod menu so it's nice the devs provided that base game at least. If you go by Contracts/Tasks/Expeditions quantity wise then it's good to remember that a lot of the missions in Snowrunner base game were added as free content later.

Slopes are just there to help signify areas to go up and down. Them being a "?" texture on Little Colorado is just a bug.

I'm not sure about jeopardy but anchors main usage for me are to pull me across hard to navigate areas. For truck recovery purposes only the Scouts can make full usage since they have Autonomous winches. (I like that all winch upgrades for Scouts are Autonomous now.) Jacks are useful on the other types since they can't use the anchor with stalled engines. Overall I feel anchors and Jacks fit nicely with the decision to only deploy 4 trucks, have limited map fuel, and making recoveries after the 1st one cost money.

On losing half your money, the intention seems to be to store those items on the map and reuse them on your next expedition. If you've done a good job driving then your recovery is free and you can store them. Sort of an extra cash bonus that isn't tracked.

Headlights: Are you playing on a controller? I've seen controller users also have issues with the horn. Keyboard the headlights are still L key. I'm not sure if that's still listed in the control menu and can be rebound but it can definitely be bound to wheel setups.

Thanks for this - really helpful.

Truck types - maybe a future opportunity for more types related to expeditions?

Couldn't see controller mapping for headlights anywhere, but found it now - my bad

Thanks for info on slopes

Wasn't aware you could store inventory on the maps, so will look into that

Anchors - the jeopardy part (in Snowrunner) was that picking your routs would be influenced by where available winch points might be - and always the risk that you get stuck without a winch point nearby. This feels like the potential to be a get-out-of-jail-free card. Will see how that goes as I play more

And Maps - fair comments

Originally posted by vandalism:

Guestimating what you will need for an expedition might be what they were going for since it's like wilderness.

The problem with that is... I don't like it. Lol.

Yes, this is pretty much my initial reaction. Suspect it will grow on me though

[PUNISHFOOLS]

Overall I feel anchors and Jacks fit nicely with the decision to only deploy 4 trucks, have limited map fuel, and making recoveries after the 1st one cost money.

On losing half your money, the intention seems to be to store those items on the map and reuse them on your next expedition. If you've done a good job driving then your recovery is free and you can store them. Sort of an extra cash bonus that isn't tracked.

Really? Recoveries cost money? Cause i'm pretty sure that in my playthrough i've tried it many times and was always free, also after the first one... really bad.

[Pandorian]

Originally posted by PUNISHFOOLS:

Really? Recoveries cost money? Cause i'm pretty sure that in my playthrough i've tried it many times and was always free, also after the first one... really bad.

After Colorado you get one free recovery per expedition.

[PUNISHFOOLS]

Originally posted by Pandorian:

Originally posted by PUNISHFOOLS:

Really? Recoveries cost money? Cause i'm pretty sure that in my playthrough i've tried it many times and was always free, also after the first one... really bad.

After Colorado you get one free recovery per expedition.

Thanks for the info! Hoping to see an hard-mode cause i found this game really easy and consequently boring.
I'm only on the 4th mission in Arizona but i found it very easy, no need to really pay attention.