We’re completing this game in three stages.
- We will start the game, immediately run off the road, and get towed back. This will get you two achievements. This will take only a couple minutes.
- We will do 70 driver runs, taking 8 hours each. This will net you 11 more achievements. This step will likely take around 570-600 hours, depending on how quickly you reset the bus when it finishes its trips.
- We will do one passenger run. You have to ride along (In the back) for a complete trip while someone else drives the bus. (Another PC for example) This is done comparatively quickly, taking 8 hours. After doing this, you will receive the last two achievements.
Task 2: (570-600 hours)
Open the game once again. This time, be prepared before you open it. Ensure your Windows auto update is disabled and your PC is in a state in which it can be left on for 600 hours. Cancel any services that may interfere with the process. Remember, if you ever close the game, turn off your computer, exit to the main menu, or pick up the retirement fund, (will tell you about that soon) you will lose every single bit of your progress for this section, and must start over.
Once you're at the bus stop again, pick up the timecard and insert it into the slot exactly as before. It is recommended that you turn off the radio by pressing the red button on the radio. (To your left) Go ahead and follow the instructions listed on the "Setting up the macro" page. When you're ready, press the circular blue play button on Pulover's Macro Creator. This will make it so you can enable it at any time by pressing the blue play button on your main screen. Make sure OBS is visible on the screen and in the same exact spot it was when you set up the program. The script will scan the region of the screen you selected regardless of whether OBS is in the field of view.
Go ahead and place your time card into the slot. The screen will fade out, and you will spawn in. Before we begin, I would like to point out that there is a yellow box labeled "Retirement Fund" to the right of your steering wheel. If you EVER pick this up, you will retire and lose all of your progress. It is an equivalent to exiting the game, turning off your computer, or exiting to the main menu. All of your progress will be erased, even if you've made 400, or 500 hours.
Enable the script by pressing the blue play button. (Sideways triangle) on the macro. Once this is enabled, it can be permanently left this way. You don't have to disable it. Once you do this, you also have to make sure your camera is centered. Just make sure that you're facing the steering wheel, like the traditional way someone would be facing if they were driving the bus. It's not too sensitive, but the better you can center it, the more it will lower the likelihood of the script failing.
Once you have this ready, go ahead and place your coin, weight, or whatever mechanism you had in mind to indefinitely hold down the W key. You can also leave this on permanently, and you never have to reapply it, even between legs of your trip. Once you start holding the key down, you should notice your bus starting to advance forward across the road, at a speed of 45 miles per hour. You should also notice that after about 1 second of running over the rumble strips on the road, the bus will steer to the left to correct itself. If you do not notice this, it's likely that the script is set up improperly.
Now that you have that going, you have now satisfied all of the required elements to complete the first leg. You can either sit there and watch the whole thing play out, watch it periodically, or leave for the entire 8 hours. Regardless of your choice, you should be set for the whole trip to Las Vegas.
I would like to note, that turning off your monitor(s) will not affect the way the game plays out. If you wish to do this, you may without any consequence. The only downside is that it will be more difficult to monitor your progress through that individual leg.
Once you reach one mile, (1.33 minutes) you will receive this achievement.
Once you reach ten miles, (13.3 minutes) you will receive this achievement.
After about 4-6 hours, a bug will hit your windshield. It does occur every single leg but happens at a random time between 4 and 6 hours. Since it happens at a random time, it's unlikely that you'll see it unless you're watching it continuously. Whether you're there to see it or not, once the bug hits your windshield, it will yield this achievement.
You may have noticed, but the game does have a day/night cycle. It starts off during the day, the sun sets, and rises, all within the 8-hour leg. Your headlights also automatically come on when need be. This is an interesting addition to the game, and it is nice to see a shift in the environment to make it more like a real-life experience.
Now, all that's left is to let it run until the in-game clock reaches about 8 hours, and 360 miles. When you get close, you will see a bus stop appear on the left side of the road. You will pass by it, and when the odometer reads exactly 360 miles, your screen will fade and you will appear at the bus stop. If you're present to watch the events play out during this ending, you will be able to view this wonderful achievement popping.
On the bus stop screen, you will see that you have one point. These points are the easiest way to measure your progress. Once you reach 70, you will have completed this section. You will also notice that your total number of hours is displayed in the top right corner. As long as you aren't idling in the middle of the road, this is also a decent way to measure your progress, and an excellent way to measure your progress towards the time-based achievements. There is no way to view your total number of miles driven. The takeaway here is that once your total number of points reaches 70, you will have completed this section
You also may notice another yellow "Retirement Fund" box to your right. This behaves in the same way that the one in the bus does. Therefore, do not pick it up, or you will lose all of your progress.
Don't worry if you aren't present when any leg of the trip finishes. You will simply sit at the bus stop for however many hours it needs to until you are back to reset it. Having the script running or the W button engaged does not affect your ability to idle at the bus stop. With that being said, it's also important to note that you should try to reset the bus as promptly as possible after each leg. We want to get this done as expeditiously as possible, and you are not making progress by sitting at the bus stop.
Anyway, go ahead and put your timecard back into the slot, and you will begin to head back towards Tucson. You will notice that your bus will start advancing down the road and the script will continue to steer the bus automatically. Don't forget to turn off the radio! This entire leg of the trip is nearly identical to the previous one, the only difference being at the very end when you arrive at the Tucson bus stop. Complete the leg just like you did the last one. If you're present when the trip finishes, (360 miles) you will be able to experience the joy of this achievement popping.
You will appear back at the bus stop and will have banked your second point. You should have around 16 hours at this point.
Recap: We've now completed two legs of our trip, got two points, and completed the full circuit from Tucson back to Tucson. Now, all of the gameplay in this section is completely identical to what we just did. All that's left to do is travel between Tucson and Las Vegas a total of 68 more times. The only human input required is to reset the bus every 8 hours by placing your time card in the box, and turn off the radio. For every leg you complete from here on out, you will get a point, bringing you closer to completing this section.
Since each leg takes 8 hours, and there's 24 hours in a day, you can complete 3 legs every single day. To make this process as efficient as possible, try to plan on a schedule in which you will be around to reset it every time it finishes a trip. For example, maybe 7:00 AM (07:00), 3:00 PM (15:00), and 11:00 PM (23:00). Doing this, you will gain three points a day, making it so you'll need to play for around 23 days to complete the game.
Go ahead and put your timecard in again. Complete the leg. This is your third point. You now have 3 points, 1,080 miles and ~24 hours. I will no longer be narrating every leg, since it's the same thing every time, and you should be used to completing the legs by now.
With that being said, let's continue our long journey to 70 points! You will unlock this slew of achievements in this order by doing so.
Once you reach 7 points, you will unlock this achievement.
Once you reach 8 points, you will unlock this achievement.
Once you reach 15 points, (or 120 hours, whichever occurs first) you will receive this achievement.
Once you reach 30 points, (or 240 hours, whichever occurs first) you will receive this achievement.
Once you reach an unknown amount of time (between 53-58 points, the achievement is for an unknown number of hours, likely around 435 hours), you will receive the penultimate achievement for this section.
Once you reach 70 points, you will receive this huge achievement.
Congratulations, you've now certainly completed the bulk of the game, and have essentially secured the completion for one of Steam's most unrealistic game completions. (while still being possible) Now, the pressure is off, so you can feel free to close the game, pick up the retirement fund, or do whatever you need to do to prepare for our last section. You might want to take a screenshot of your screen showing your number of points, both for proof of completion and to have a visual memory of what you've done on Desert Bus before all of your progress vanishes.
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