Somebody must have lit a simulated cigarette, because Bus Simulator 16 has arrived (talk about pulling out an obsolete joke!). The Bus Simulator 16 website has details on where to pick this up, including Steam, and this recent release trailer shows off what to expect. Here's word:

Publisher astragon and developer stillalive studios are happy to announce, that the long-awaited Bus Simulator 16 has officially left the depot today and is now available in retail and as digital download. Players will not only be able to drive busses themselves but will also get the chance to start and manage their very own bus company in cooperation with their friends.

In Bus Simulator 16 the player slips into the shoes of a budding bus operator in the lively city of Sunny Springs. In this role he will be able to steer busses which have been especially created for the game as well as originally licensed vehicles by the famous German bus and truck maker MAN. Among those are the MAN Lion's City A37 citybus as well as the MAN Lion's City A 23 articulated bus – two busses that will make every bus fan’s heart beat faster.

The brand new bus driver starts in the fringe parts of the city with learning how to drive the busses and work with their faithfully reproduced, fully operational cockpits. He will also need to prove his skills at the friendly and professional transportation of passengers and create his first bus lines and timetables. The better the player manages all these tasks, the better the image of his company will become. This of course will not only reflect upon the popularity - and with that the finances - of the bus operator, but will also unlock other city districts and new busses bit by bit. With the so earned money he can not only buy new busses, but also hire additional drivers, who can in turn be assigned to the player’s bus lines. The AI drivers possess individual skills and will be able to improve so that they will become steadily better at driving their lines. This will in turn improve the image of the company and result in the rise of its revenue.

The built-in route editor will enable the player to easily create completely new bus lines as well as amend already existing ones. This guarantees lots of long-term variety within the open, freely drivable game world.

Randomly occurring events will provide new challenges to every bus driver’s day: Be it passengers running late at the bus stop, wheel chair user who need the assistance of ramps for boarding, stuck doors, emergency vehicles, construction sites, traffic jams and even passengers who have had one drink too many. Just as in real life the player will have to make the right decisions and take the correct course of action in all these situations so that he will not only avoid running behind schedule but also make his customers happy.

Virtual bus operators who love to play together with others will enjoy the game’s multiplayer mode. Here, up to 32 participants at once will be able to operate a bus company. All of them will have joint access to the management menu of their business and will be able to create and change routes, buy new busses, manage the staff, assign lines to others, talk to each other in the game chat and much, much more.

Not only special events and hidden fun missions will keep the player busy but also the option to repaint busses or add decals and advertisements to their vehicles – the latter adding funds to the company’s coffers of course. Thanks to the game’s modding friendliness creative minds can not only add new designs or busses created by the community to Bus Simulator 16 but also customize the game world by changing already existing objects or adding new ones.

Bus Simulator 16 is available now for PC and Mac for 24.99 EUR/26.99 USD/18.99 GPB (RRP) in retail and as digital download.