As stated before, you must complete the entire game in one sitting. If you ever exit the game, shut off the computer, or pick up the retirement fund, (retire and exit to main menu) all of your progress will be erased and you must start from the very beginning again.
Also, it’s VERY important to disable your automatic updates on your PC. Otherwise, it can restart to apply an update.
If you really need to use your PC for something, you can theoretically stop your bus in the middle of the road and alt-tab to do whatever you want. However, I would not recommend this, especially after you’ve been going for a few days, because for one, you want to get this done as expeditiously as possible, and two, some games (not necessarily this one) and Windows itself tend(s) to become unstable when left on for long periods of time. Extra actions can cause the game or the PC itself to crash, making you lose your progress. For this reason, I recommend keeping excess actions to a minimum, and just only using this PC for Desert Bus for the next ~23 days.
While the achievements measure in hours and miles, the easiest way to track your progress is through the ‘points’ that you get. You get one point for every eight-hour shift, and you require ~70 points to get all of the achievements.
Every single trip is roughly 8 hours, and 360 miles. The blue-lit display behind your steering wheel is the time of the current trip in hh:mm. Your odometer for the current trip is the six digits that slowly roll to the right of your steering wheel. While it’s not too hard to read, it’s important to note that the digits roll because it’s an old odometer, and they don’t line up all the time. (For example, for 350 miles, the third from the left digit will be between the 3 and the 4) Once this odometer reaches 360 miles, your trip will end immediately and you’ll get a point.
When you finish an 8-hour shift, you will see a results screen. The results screen will show your points, and your total time spent in hh:mm. There’s also some less important statistics.
Another interesting thing to mention is that I noticed that the 8-hour legs are actually a little under 8 hours real-time. (Very slightly, clocking in at about 7:56 despite the in-game clock saying 8:01.) It's as if the in-game clock runs very slightly faster than real time. Very insignificant difference, but I thought I'd mention it.
Lastly, the game is playable in VR. But I will say that it is borderline impossible to complete it that way. You would have to have the headset on and be actively playing it for the whole 23 days straight. For this reason, we will be playing it through non-VR.
Find anything you think is wrong with this walkthrough? Help us fix it by posting in its
Walkthrough Thread.
This walkthrough is the property of TrueSteamAchievements.com. This walkthrough and any content included may not be reproduced without written permission. TrueSteamAchievements.com and its users have no affiliation with any of this game's creators or copyright holders and any trademarks used herein belong to their respective owners.