Back in the olden days of the 90s, much of the charm of driving sims was delegated to imagination and novelty. Today, there are several thousand dollars' worth of PC addons that can literally turn your rig into a truck or a race car. But, does that fundamentally change anything?
The Game That Thinks It's a Driver's Seat
Take Euro Truck Simulator 2. It’s almost obsessive in its detail. Players don’t just throttle up and drive—they start by checking every detail you can find in a truck, aligning GPS navigation, and checking hydraulics and tire pressure. And soon, who knows? Maybe even driving schools will faithfully incorporate Euro Truck Simulator 2 into their curriculum.
Some trucks have remote driving, where it's possible to be on one continent and drive a truck on the other. Nothing commercial, of course, but enough to say the realism isn’t just hype. And these types of games and innovations are not alone. Some games also do their homework and try to replicate the feeling of being an X type of truck. Others try to mimic it by providing a more arcade-like simulation. Even providing a re-skinning of a familiar concept of a game can count, as some people simply love the aesthetic. This graphic customization is popular in other genres, and it’s become a global gaming phenomenon. From racing games to multiplayer games to iGaming, providers now use skins to give players a deeper sense of personalisation, plus there’s the monetary moment. For instance, online casinos accepting players from the US offer all types of re-skins for popular games like slots or poker, offering players a sense of familiarity. Together with their smooth availability, such platforms are making a difference in that market. What’s more, Counter-Strike skins are probably the most interesting part of the game for many players.
It’s no wonder then that more and more simulation games are embracing skins as one of their features and products; after all, you can change the seat covers on your truck, can’t you? It’s all part of making a simulation as realistic as possible.
Feeling vs. Function
There’s something important that gets lost in the screen-to-road transition: physical sensation. In a real truck or a car, the body feels flight in ways that monitors and joysticks can't replicate. Gravity tugs differently during sharp turns with all the weight behind you. You feel the air resistance, the tremble of the frame, the way the seat presses into you during a climb on a steep cliff. No game—no matter how accurate the physics engine claims to be—can press those feelings into your chest.
Civilian Sim vs. Combat Sim
Need For Speed and Assetto Corsa, where we might be getting a new Assetto Corsa game soon, are two different worlds. Flying a car through mild turbulence during a race is not the same as drifting past 10 police cars. Yet both share one thing: a dedication to systems depth. But while a civil sim might get you close to how a car handles in normal conditions, they often fall apart in edge cases. Engine failures, microbursts, or structural damage in real cars behave unpredictably. Sim engines usually default to scripted responses. This is where real training still holds the line. Real life drivers train to expect the unexpected. Games lean toward patterns.
The Mindset Gap
Another tricky thing to simulate? Consequence. Real drivers operate with a constant awareness that any misstep might cost lives. That weight informs every decision in the driving seat. Games don't carry that pressure. You might practice checklist flow for an engine failure while driving 200 miles per hour, but knowing you can just reload takes the edge off your focus.
Skill Transfer: Does It Happen?
In structured driving schools, instructors have noted that simulator-savvy students often grasp instruments and work quickly. Their hands know the layout. Their minds anticipate the next checklist item. But they still struggle with unprecedented situations, especially in strong winds, heavy rainfall, and snow. Because they still have to learn the feel of a vehicle's responses through physical feedback—not pixels.
The Cost of Realism
Driving sims have grown expensive. High-fidelity modules in ETS run upwards of $80 each. A proper high-end setup for drivers' cockpits and stands can set you back $5000 or more. Add VR or multi-monitor rigs, and you're in the thousands. Professionals and die-hard fans who are playing Forza Horizon 5 have no upper limit but their imagination, as they are dedicated to the game. At that point, the barrier between sim and real training isn't just realism—it's economics.
But there's value in both. Simulation offers something driving school can’t: repetition without cost. You can drive into a hail storm ten times in one evening. Try that with a real truck or a car and you’re in deep trouble—or debt.
Immersion Is Not Competence
The more convincing driving games become, the more tempting it is to overestimate what they prepare you for. But the first time they hit real road turbulence, or sense the car starts waddling on the road due to sleet, the game memories won’t count for much.
Conclusion
Even if you clock thousands of hours into Euro Truck Simulator or a similar one, you're not stepping foot inside a truck without a licence. Just like being a pro at NFS won't guarantee you a first place at any race. But these games are the next best thing, staying faithful to the experience, without having you step outside your room.