Overview
ATS SETUP TIPS T150 WHEEL & TH8A STICK FOR 18 GEARS (PC) v.1.0FOR ATS (may be helpful to ETS players as well)
SETUP TIPS THRUSTMASTER T150 + T3PA
SETUP TIPS T150 WHEEL & TH8A STICK FOR 18 GEARS (PC) v.1.01
FOR ATS AND ETS
I have been using the T150 wheel for several weeks. Later, I recently purchased the TH8A shifter and the T3PA 3-pedal set to go with the new shifter. I got the 3-pedal set to replace the 2-pedal set that comes with the T150. Here are tips based on my experience.
Also, for new players with no wheel or shifter, I recommend to play for some time with just a mouse and keyboard as it is great that way as well. I never had a wheel until I drove enough jobs to buy my own truck. By then I was getting used to the game and knew I liked it. I recommend to start out using automatic transmission, get familiar with game and gradually add higher difficulty challenges (control, parking, etc). Nice pictures can be obtained with Photo Studio-Photo Mode.
First, an important note in case anyone has the same experience: At first, I thought the 2-pedal set that came with T150 wheel was broken, as only the brake was controlling both acceleration and braking, resulting in strange behavior. After some time messing with it, I realized that the throttle pedal needs to be mapped. Without mapping the throttle, the game assumes one does not have a throttle, but kindly lets you control acceleration via the brake! This is frustrating at the beginning, but it is just a game setup issue. Your pedal is not broken!
1. Put T150 Wheel in PS3 mode. Put a little piece of DUCT TAPE over the PS3/PS4 switch to avoid knocking it into PS4 mode during gameplay. Without the tape, it is easy to knock the switch with knuckles while driving and the T150 does not work when in PS4 mode.
2. Also, I noted that Thrustmaster says that to connect stick (for PC), use a separate serial port (not the PS2 connector on back of T150). It came with the cable for this.
3. Either use Wizard to select wheel or use Option-Controls and select “Keyboard+Thrustmaster T150 Racing Wheel.” If using shifter also select “+ TS500 RS Gear Shift” on the next line. Select Controller Subtype: Wheel. If using shifter select Transmission: H-Shifter.
4. As noted, be sure the Acceleration Axis is mapped to “Joy Throttle.” Just click the button next to Acceleration Axis in Option-Controls and then push the throttle with your foot. Without proper mapping, at first it seemed the throttle/brake behavior was “wierd” with braking and throttle combined on one pedal. Once mapping is done, this wierd behavior is cleared up. (This can be frustrating at first until the mapping is done — the pedal is not broken, it just needs to be mapped.)
5. The wheel/pedal/shifter setup is tied to the game profile. If you are starting a new profile, be sure to jot down any wheel setup notes you need to set up a new profile before deleting the old profile. If you have an established profile, I’d recommend to use a test profile while experimenting with new equipment.
6. If using clutch & stick, the clutch must be mapped similarly. Clutch Axis maps to “Joy Slider” when clutch pedal is pressed. Note: The game seems to work even with the clutch unmapped, but then the shifter is simply selecting a gear without simulating a clutch, and there is no “stalling out.” With the cluth mapped, stallouts are possible (and common while getting used to it.)
7. 18 gears are achieved with the H-Shifter by selecting Options-Controls, then I suggest:
Shifter Layout = Eaton Fuller 18 Speeds
Shifter Layout Behavior = Advanced
Shifter Fast Split (Advanced Only) = as preferred, I am using Cluth or Throttle
Shifter Position Reverse: = Joy2 (button7) OR N/A
Shifter Position 1: = Joy2 (button0) (slot 1)
Shifter Position 2: = Joy2 (button1) (slot 2)
Shifter Position 3: = Joy2 (button2) (slot 3)
Shifter Position 4: = Joy2 (button3) (slot 4)
Shifter Position 5: = Joy2 (button4) (slot 5)
Shifter Position 6: = Joy2 (button5) (slot 6)
To create these mappings, click on the mapping button next to each item such as “Shifter Position 1:” and then operate the stick to select slot 1, etc.
The “Shifter Position Reverse setting seems to be ignored. It seems the game knows what position reverse is, based on the selection “Eaton Fuller 18 Speeds.” However, the mappings of Position 1-6 ARE needed for all the forward gears.
It helps to watch some YouTube videos on how to shift an 18-gear truck in order to understand what is going on with the layout. The TH8A shifter has 8 slots, but only 6 slots are used to get all 18 gears and reverse gears, as in a real truck. The slot numbering on TH8A top plate is not for truck gears–ignore the slot numbers except as a setup reference. (I wish there were a top plate for 18 gears available to mask out the unused slots.) Here are the gear positions:
Slot1 R1L R1H
Slot2 LL LH
Slot3 1L 1H 5L 5H
Slot4 2L 2H 6L 6H
Slot5 3L 3H 7L 7H
Slot6 4L 4H 8L 8H
Slot7/8 not used
Two buttons somewhere must be mapped to do gear splitter and the high/low range selection
Shifter Toggle: 1 is the High/Low selector
Shifter Toggle: 2 is the splitter
Again, I recommend to watch some videos on how the splitter and high/lo selector work in real truck; this helped me. The high/low switch selects whether Slots 3-6 are gear 1-4 (Low) or 5-8 (High). The splitter switch further splits each gear into a low and high mode. (Hopefully I have described that correctly — I am not a trucker yet, just a game fan.)
Note that LL and LH when the Low Range is selected. If you are in high gear and try shifting to Slot 2, it will go to neutral. To get those very low gears, the Low Range must be selected first. On my current truck, shifting to slot1 (reverse) in high gear accesses R2L and R2H.
The SEQUENTIAL EQUIVALENT of gears is shown below. Before I recently purchased the TH8A, while using Sequential Mode, I mentally subtracted one and divide by 2 to imagine what gear I would be in an 18-gear truck (e.g. (15-1)/2 = 7 TH GEAR).
1 LL
2 LH
3 1L
4 1H
5 2L
6 2H
7 3L
8 3H
9 4L
10 4H
11 5L
12 5H
13 6L
14 6H
15 7L
16 7H
17 8L
18 8H
8. The knob that screws on the TH8A shifter did not seem to screw down tightly for me. I solved this by dropping the little eraser from end of a pencil into the knob before screwing it on. The pressure from eraser allows knob to seat firmly.
9. Be careful with Quick Jobs! When driving someone else’s truck, if that truck does not match your profile setup, you may not get the gears you expect. For example, I found myself driving down the Interstate and unable to shift into high gears, only to realize that the truck I was driving did not have 18 gears! To test an 18-gear setup, use trucks that actually have 18 gears :-).
Hope this helps. Cheers to all.