Video summary

ENJOADO DO ETS2 E DO ATS? CRIE UMA CARREIRA REALISTA!!!

Main summary

Key takeaways

Educational

Main ideas and concepts

The video explains how to create a “realistic career” in American Truck Simulator (ATS) or Euro Truck Simulator 2 (ETS2) using:

  1. a game setup phase (console/config changes)
  2. campaign rules (a 4-phase career structure)
  3. gameplay rules (how to operate shifts, money, time, deliveries, and logistics)

The core lesson is that realism comes from enforcing constraints that make trucking feel like real work: time schedules, costs, limited travel, fatigue/rest, unloading time, tolls/tags, commissions, and consequences for accidents.

Methodology / instructions (detailed)

A) Setup: enable console + permanent command tweaks + optional commands

1) Write down rules

The creator repeatedly emphasizes writing everything down because there are “many rules.”

2) Edit game configuration to enable console

  1. Go to: Documents → (ATS or ETS2) → config.cfg
  2. Open with a text editor (recommended: Notepad++).

  3. Find and change:

    • Console setting: change console from 0 to 1 (Subtitle text is garbled, but the meaning is clear: enable console) Example (as shown in subtitles): use_tg_con_c console

    • Developer setting: set developer to 1 (He mentions 2 as a possibility, but he leaves it at 1.)

  4. Save and close the file.

Important: Do this with the game turned off.

3) Open console in-game

Use the key with quotation mark above Tab to open the console.

4) Console commands to change realism-related variables

Permanent changes (typically set once and affect future sessions):

  1. Reduce brake intensity

    • Command pattern: g_set brake <intensity>
    • Example described: braking power becomes about 30% (he also references a value around 0.28).
    • Intended effect: braking is weaker → more realistic, more challenging driving.

  2. Increase traffic density

    • Command pattern: g_set traffic <value>
    • Change from default 1 to 2 (optionally 3, “at your own risk”).
    • Intended effect: more traffic → more realism and higher accident risk.

Optional / reset-every-session command (must be re-entered each time you start the game):

  1. Warp / speed adjustment
    • Command: wp 0.92
    • Intended effect: game-time progression feels closer to realistic approach speed.
    • He notes it resets to 1 when the game starts.

Time-change command (for schedule realism):

  1. Set game time
    • Command pattern: g_set time <HHMM>
    • Rules:
      • first two digits = hour
      • next two digits = minute
    • If the time is earlier/later, it may effectively jump (e.g., from 8 PM to 5 AM skips day; from 5 AM to 8 PM sets evening same day).

B) Game options: fatigue vs mandatory stops, realism toggles, and control settings

  1. Fatigue: keep enabled.

  2. Mandatory stop: turn OFF Reason:

    • Long loads (example: ~500 miles in ATS, ~700–800 km in ETS2) often don’t allow enough time to fully rest to meet mandatory-stop requirements.
    • If enabled, it would frequently cause missed delivery limits / wasted work.
    • With the “new rest system,” fatigue realism still works well.

  3. Traffic violations: keep enabled.

  4. Parking difficulty: set to random.

  5. If using an H-shifter:

    • Transmission behavior: advanced
    • Gear change: with clutch press
    • If you don’t use an H-shifter, he says these settings aren’t necessary.

  6. Do NOT change income factor

    • Keep income factor = 1 (default) Reason: changing it “would mess up your realistic campaign.”

  7. Profile usage

    • You can use any existing profile—no need to start a brand-new save.

  8. Early cargo-distance strategy (campaign pacing)

    • The campaign has four levels/phases.
    • Early on (phase 1 / first level): reduce cargo distance → more local work around your base.
    • Later (second level): allow longer shipments.

  9. Cargo selection setting (time/inspiration)

    • In cargo selection, keep the date-based inspiration time option enabled/selected (for phases 1 and 2 as described).

  10. Disable “Fernandinha”

    • In audio options, disable “Fernandinha.”

C) Campaign rules: 4 phases with increasing independence and responsibility

Overall structure: your career is divided into 4 phases:

  1. Employed by a company (no personal truck ownership)
  2. Employed by a company but using your own truck
  3. Self-employed (you own truck + trailer)
  4. Entrepreneur (you own operations and manage employees)

Phase 1 — Company employee

Schedule

  • Base shift starts 7:00 AM
  • Each day you must be at your company at 7:00 AM
  • You have:
    • 1 hour lunch
    • 1 hour dinner (if “on the move”)
    • 1 hour breakfast (if “on the move”)
  • The workday is framed as effectively ending around 6 PM.

Costs (initial costs)

  • Meals when not covered by the employer:
    • Breakfast: €15
    • Lunch: €25
    • Dinner: €20
  • Lodging when not “on the move”: €45

Income

  • Salary: €/$1300 per month, paid every 30 days
  • Commission: 5% of freight value
    • Example: if freight value is 4,956, you earn 5%
  • Commission is tracked in addition to the salary.

Who pays what

  • Employer pays:
    • tolls
    • fuel
    • accommodation and food when traveling
  • Unloading:
    • 2 hours unloading required (timing realism)

Loads / where cargo can come from

  • Transport is only for your company
  • You load cargo at your company
  • You can pick up freight from other companies only if you are physically there, but the intent is: only haul loads belonging to your employer.

Travel-time realism

  • You must “factor transit time” to cities to pick up the next load, including unload time and rest.

Fines and consequences

  • Fines are deducted from you
  • Accident/rollover consequence:
    • If you roll over: you are fired
    • After being fired: out of work for 10 days until you find a new job
    • During those days, you still handle food/lodging

Other constraint

  • Don’t “turn on” Fernandinha.

Phase 2 — Employee but with your own truck

Schedule

  • Shift still starts 7:00 AM
  • Meals: still 1 hour each
  • Meal costs same as Phase 1:
    • Breakfast €15, Lunch €25, Dinner €20
  • Lodging outside trips: €45

Income changes

  • Salary increases (subtitle garbles the exact number, but the idea is higher), paid every 30 days
  • Commission increases to 10% of freight value

Tolls and tags

  • Tolls still paid by employer
  • For automatic tolls you need a tag:
    • €15 per country

Fuel and maintenance

  • Fuel: paid by you
  • Accommodation/food while traveling: paid by employer
  • Truck maintenance: your responsibility

Break rules

  • Unloading: 2 hours
  • Rest between shifts: 11 hours

Accident consequence

  • Same as Phase 1:
    • Rollover → fired → 10 days out of work
    • Mentions 30 days to repair and you must pay costs if you can afford repairs

Financing a truck (simulated installments)

  • Payments are modeled as:
    • financed amount + (20% / 12 months)
    • paid every 30 days
  • Example:
    • Finance €10,000
    • Total repayment modeled as €12,000
    • 12 installments of €1,000 every 30 days

Tip for cash flow

  • Start from an already-running campaign so you have enough money on hand.

Phase 3 — Self-employed (truck + trailer)

Freedom

  • You can start whenever you want
  • You can transport for anyone offering the best price

Costs

  • Meals and lodging remain:
    • €15 / €25 / €20 meals
    • €45 lodging
  • Now all living expenses are paid by you

Income

  • No salary
  • You earn 20% of shipping cost (freight value percentage)

Tolls/tags

  • You pay tolls
  • Tag still required per country: €15 per country

Repairs and accident rules

  • Work break: 11 hours
  • Minor accidents (no rollover):
    • repair about 2 days
  • Rollover:
    • repair takes 30 days
  • While down, you must keep paying everything
  • Financing rules continue (20% spread across 12 payments every 30 days)

Insurance mention (ATS-specific)

  • ATS: vehicle insurance of $200 every 30 days
  • ETS2: he says it does not have this insurance

Phase 4 — Entrepreneur (managing employees)

Relationship to Phase 3

  • Same core rules as self-employed (cargo/pay/tolls/financing/repairs/etc.)
  • Main difference: you manage employees

Employee costs

  • Employee salary: €1300 per month, paid every 30 days
  • Government charges: 70% of the employee salary, paid every 30 days
    • Interpreted as: you pay employee €1300, and then 70% of that goes to government

Commissions

  • Employee commission: 5% of shipping cost
  • Entrepreneur commission: 30% of shipping cost shown in the game

Employee travel expenses

  • You pay employees’:
    • travel expenses
    • accommodation
    • food
  • Fines:
    • employee “should pay,” but the game may not directly support this, so you simulate it.

D) Gameplay rules: how to run days, shifts, routing, and logistics

1) Routing and map/GPS

  • Truck generation affects driving automation:
    • Older 1st/2nd generation trucks: manual
    • 3rd generation trucks: automated (example: Volvo as automated)
  • If the truck has GPS:
    • use truck GPS with no audio
  • If the truck has no GPS:
    • use the map, but you cannot access map while the truck is moving
    • While moving, only camera 1 is allowed (camera 2 not allowed while moving)

2) Route planning

Since you can’t open map while moving:

  • plan the route ahead (in your head or via notes like “first left, first right…”).

3) Time accounting: travel + unload + meal timing

Example (Phase 1-like operations):

  • Leave at 7 AM
  • Arrive around 11 AM
  • Unloading takes 2 hours
  • Lunch may occur during unloading depending on the situation
  • Account for return/travel time
  • Finish the shift by arriving back around the end-of-day (described cutoff around 6 PM).

4) When you must fast-forward time

If you can’t finish everything before day end:

  • go to hotel (conceptually rest)
  • then advance time to the next day at 7 AM

5) Selecting next loads

When arriving in a city:

  • use the logistics map to choose the company and destination city
  • must respect:
    • 2-hour unloading
    • rest requirements
    • shift boundaries (start at 7 AM)

6) Driving empty / relocating (Phase 2 requirement)

In Phase 2:

  • If your company doesn’t exist in the city you arrived at:
    • drive to the nearest city where your company operates
    • travel empty
    • still respect rest stops and rules

7) Required record-keeping

He strongly insists on using a notebook to track:

  • days
  • costs (food/lodging)
  • commissions
  • financing installments
  • fines and repairs

8) Starting balance

  • Start with €/$5,000 as the initial campaign balance.

Reported results / anecdotal outcomes (as presented)

  • ATS campaign

    • At day 14: balance 77,786
    • After 14 days, only accumulated about 2,786 (implying slow progress/difficulty)

  • ETS2 campaign

    • Already at Phase 2
    • Around week 5 balance: €22,215, plus truck debt
    • Financed a used truck with high mileage → maintenance costs
      • example: tires nearly €5,000
    • Earnings examples for long trips:
      • Murcia → Seville ≈ €2,300
      • Valladolid → Limoges ≈ €2,343
    • Emphasis: making €5,000 requires hard work and losses (fuel/maintenance).

Speakers / sources featured

  • Speaker: An unnamed narrator/creator introducing the channel “Uncle Restanho” (no other named people appear).
  • Sources:
    • Video channel: Uncle Restanho
    • Games: American Truck Simulator (ATS) and Euro Truck Simulator 2 (ETS2)

Original video