First off a run down of what exactly desert bus is. The following is information found on wikipedia.com
Desert Bus is the best known mini game in the package, and was a featured part of Electronic Gaming Monthly’s preview. The objective of the game is to drive a bus from Tucson, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada in real time at a maximum speed of 45mph, a feat that would take the player 8 hours of continuous play to complete, as the game cannot be paused.
The bus contains no passengers, and there is no scenery or other cars on the road. The bus veers to the right slightly; as a result, it is impossible to tape down a button to go do something else and have the game end properly. If the bus veers off the road it will stall and be towed back to Tucson, also in real time. If the player makes it to Las Vegas, they will score exactly one point. The player then gets the option to make the return trip to Tucson—for another point (a decision they must make in a few seconds or the game ends). Players may continue to make trips and score points as long as their endurance holds out. Some players who have completed the trip have also noted that, although the scenery never changes, a bug splats on the windscreen over halfway through the first trip, and on the return trip the light does fade, with differences at dusk, and later a pitch black road where the player is guided only with headlights.
So now what you know what desert bus is and what it looks like, time to get down to the rules.
- There will be a total of 4 drivers. James Turner, Bill Watt, Morgan vanHumbeck and Jeremy Petter. Each driver will take 4 hour shifts.
- If we are stupid enough at any point to drive the bus off the road, the game will be reset and we will start over. It makes little sense to sit there and wait for a tow truck and then watch ourselves get towed all the way back to the start, and would artificially extend the length of the drive.
- Drivers are not allowed to leave their post at anytime. If it is an emergency and they need to leave one of the members of the pit crew will briefly take over
If this sounds pretty boring to you (the game that is) it’s because it is. And if you would like to see first hand what the game looks like here is a short video that is up on youtube right now.
