“Where does Bus Bound fall on the various scales of vehicle simulators?”
It’s more fun that all the others I’ve tried.
“Is it a complete accurate-to-the-last-decal vehicle simulation that in order to enjoy, you basically need a bus licence and a lifelong obsession with bus manufacturers?”
No, but the buses look great and feel responsive and intuitive to drive.
“Is it a casual bus driving game like what Euro Truck Simulator 2 is for lorries?”
It’s more fun and instantly playable than ETS2 and takes itself a bit less seriously. Also, there aren’t a million, bajillion settings to tweak.
“Does it have a management aspect, and if so, how deep does it go?”
I’ve only scratched the surface of that. You develop bus routes and get more and more buses and the more you succeed in getting likes, the more the town itself changes and improves.
“Is it particularly moddable?”
It’s just come out so I don’t know.
“Is it made for wheel-and-pedal players?”
Ah, that I do know! It worked instantly with my Thrustmaster T248 wheel and pedals. The thing is I kind of prefer playing it with my keyboard. Not sure why…

I love that guy! So I guess yeah… good first impression 🤣 and no it’s isn’t GTA5 Bus Driving. It’s just a really nice, not overly complicated bus game. Unlike so many other bus games for me in this one they’ve really nailed the environment. It feels bustling and busy and not like a bad film set. That’s one of the issues I had with Bus Simulator 21. This one’s fun and great looking.

An interesting point (and I like your username 🙂) But not what I was talking about. Maybe you should post this point as a post of it’s own? It’s certainly a thought-provoking topic.

By harmony I mean the people of the UK making peace with each other again in order to present a united front against external threats (I thought that was obvious but my bad if it wasn’t). Putin has tried to divide us in a bunch of different ways from amplifying our differences over Brexit to encouraging people in the UK to hate immigrants. I’m not making any of that up. For example just check where Nathan Gill, the former leader of Reform UK in Wales is right now and why…

I’ve come to realise over the years that it’s the people fanning the flames of discord on both sides (edit: of the Brexit argument) that are helping the external forces that want to sow division in the UK. There are many who benefit from a divided Europe, including Putin and his orange puppet. These days I focus on the voices (edit: in the UK) that want to move us towards harmony rather than away from it. Unfortunately, there are fewer of those voices on social media than there should be and it’s a pity.

It’s not that simple for Slovakia…

Firstly Fico risks isolating Slovakia now that he doesn’t have Hungary as an ally to protect him from any disciplinary actions from the EU.

Secondly, the EU has developed a bilateral loan system from individual member states that doesn’t require a unanimous EU vote.

Thirdly, there’s also a “enhanced cooperation” system now that allows groups of countries to proceed without unanimity.

Fico is going to have to balance the benefits he gets from doing Putin’s bidding with the blowback he is going to get and the consequences that will generate for Slovakia.

…and with him goes the most significant and consistent opponent to funding for Ukraine within the EU. Good.

Why doesn’t he give Churchill a call

Step 1 - Get really excited and wishlist this.

Step 2 - Wait… lots.

Step 3 - Finally it’s available! Go to Steam page reviews and it’s “Mostly Negative” and filled with comments that start with “I really wanted to like this but…” and “Trash”, “Slow, laggy even on my Geforce Quantum Space Folding powered by unicorn tears GFX card”.

No shade on the game which looks awesome but the Steam review system is so badly broken it’s such a bummer.

This raises an interesting point actually… I have a new Win11 machine but my old Win10 one is just being kept around for low level, non essential tasks. I don’t have any essential apps left on there really now. I signed up for that extra year of Microsoft support that was offered but when that runs out I guess what a perfect time to have a play with Linux and see what all the fuss is about.

Starbucks feels like the Blockbuster of the quick-stimulation market. Once there were no alternatives, now there are loads, often cheaper and better. Without constant customer flow, it’s suddenly just vast amounts of premium real estate that need paying for. And unlike smaller competitors, it doesn’t have much room to pivot. Watching how that unwinds will be interesting.

So the last time Cuba got nervous about the intentions of the US we ended up with the Cuban missile crisis. What’s different this time?