Bus Simulator 18: Tips & Tricks for 5 Star Journeys

Tips & Tricks for 5 Star Journeys in Bus Simulator 18

When going on journeys in Bus Simulator 18, there are a number of things you can do that will positively or negatively affect your score and ranking. Achieving five stars can be very difficult. You basically have to drive a faultless journey, while also performing as many things that positively affect your score as you can. Below is a list of things that you should try to do and what you should avoid when aiming for a five star journey.

What will positively affect your score:

• Indicating at stops – When approaching a stop, indicate to the right. When leaving a stop, indicate to the left.
• Alert cars blocking the stop – If a car is blocking a bus stop, honk the horn using the H key when close.
• Perfect parking – You have to park perfectly at a stop. Keep your car straight, and try to park near the bus stop’s bench. If the bus stop doesn’t have a bench, try to park as close as possible to the people at the end of the stop. I find it easier to achieve perfect parking using the third-person camera, which is set to F1 by default.
• Perfect timing – Try to get to a bus stop at the right time. Aim for between 0:45 and -0:45 on the clock.
• Silence the music – If someone is listening to loud music, stop the bus and tell them to turn it off. You can do this by pressing F3 to switch to passenger view.
• Alert people blocking the doors – If someone is blocking the bus door, use passenger view and interact with them to get them to move.
• Let people off the bus if they need to – Occasionally, people will call out to you letting you know that they have to get off the bus. Just stop the bus and open the doors.
• Return lost possessions – If a message pops up saying that someone has left something on the bus, you need to return it to them. Quickly leave the driver’s seat, retrieve the lost item, which should be on one of the passenger seats, and run after the passenger. They should have an arrow above their head.

What will negatively affect your score:

• Driving over potholes – Potholes are small ditches on the road. Either drive around them or drive over them slowly.
• Driving over speed bumps too fast – If you see a speed bump, slow down to around 20km/h.
• Driving on the curb – Stick to the road!
• Hitting anything – Don’t touch anything with the bus. Be especially mindful of pedestrians. They don’t cross the road too often, so it can be easy to forget.
• Arriving too late – If you’re following the path and driving well, this shouldn’t happen. If you are falling behind, you can attempt to drive past stationary cars blocking your way, but it’s pretty risky.
• Arriving too early – If you’re running early, you can simply wait at a bus stop. You won’t be penalized for this until you pull away from the bus stop, so just chill for a bit to avoid this.
• Jumping red lights – If you see a crosswalk, look around for traffic lights. If there are traffic lights and they’re red, stop before the crosswalk and wait for them to turn green.
• Giving too much change – Be careful when giving change to a passenger. Get the math wrong, and you will be punished.
• Indicating on a straight – The indicators should turn off automatically after a turn, but occasionally, the indicators can get stuck. It seems to happen often when pulling away from a bus stop. Be sure to glance at the indicator LED on the dashboard every now and again to make sure you’re not accidentally indicating on a straight.
• Speeding – If you use the Z key to enable the speed limiter, you probably won’t be penalized for this too often. However, it can still happen, though it is rare. Just be mindful of speed limit signs.
• Passengers left behind – Passengers can take their time getting on to the bus. Use the passenger view mode to make sure you don’t miss any stragglers.

Hopefully these tips will help you achieve the coveted five star journey in Bus Simulator 18. For more on Bus Simulator 18, be sure to search for Twinfinite.