Building British Columbia with Davido

Today, we’re excited to take you behind the scenes of an ambitious project. We spoke with Davido, the DLC Lead for British Columbia, who shared insights into the scale, challenges, and inspiration behind bringing Canada to American Truck Simulator for the very first time.

"Hi, I’m Davido, and I’m the DLC Lead for British Columbia (BC). As a DLC Lead, I'm essentially the project's manager. This means that I primarily manage a team of 14 people who are responsible for the visual appearance of the DLC, and I have to keep track of everything that people create in the map. I have to make sure that nothing is forgotten in a given DLC, that everything meets our technical and visual standards. I spend a lot of time consulting and providing feedback not only with people in the team, but also across the entire company because a DLC is not just about visual work, but it's a combination of several things that must work both on its own and in conjunction with the rest of our game world. In addition to all this, there are also a lot of administrative matters related to the regular evaluation of people, marketing, reporting of the DLC ​​status to top management, recruiting and training new map designers, etc. I’m also still able to participate in some of the production. In BC, I would like to build the city of Kelowna."

For the first question, we asked Davido how extensive this DLC will be.

"British Columbia is a really big and vast territory comparable to the area of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas combined, just to give you an idea. Anyway, a large part of the territory consists of uninhabited islands off the coast or wilderness in the North. Many cities are located mainly in the lower half of the territory and on the border with the United States. Logically, it doesn't make much sense in our game to create all of it from the South to the North to the border with Yukon, where only a few one-way roads lead to; in that case, the community would have to wait a really long time for this DLC. We're going to cover about two-thirds of the territory with major cities and roads, and that should be an amount of work roughly equivalent to 1.5 - 2 times the size of our standard US DLCs." Davido explains.

Since we are moving away from the USA for the first time in American Truck Simulator, we wondered what new challenges the DLC brings.

"First of all, after a long time, we're again facing a completely different landscape and environment, where breathtaking mountains, rocks, forests, and lakes play a significant role, which is what my team and I did previously in the Montana DLC. Canada is also, of course, a new country, with its own road metric system, rules, signs, different architecture, but partly also cultural customs and language. For the first time in ATS, we're going to have border crossings. But it's already clear to us that the biggest challenge will be the mountains, rocks, and road elevation presented everywhere. These elements are not easy to create in the map; not every map designer has the talent for it, and we will have to share know-how with each other, probably also with a few people who were able to capture such landscapes perfectly in the rework of Austria and Switzerland." Davido told us.

To truly understand British Columbia, part of the team traveled there last year.

"We visited British Columbia last year in July. The team included several of my senior guys who also work as specialists in vegetation, generic assets, and custom depots. Also, the person who will be creating Vancouver and the border crossings was a part of the group, and several representatives from the Asset department and people responsible for branding went with us as well. The intention was to spend 10 days there, but due to bad weather, we had to stay 1 day in London, UK, so we were forced to shorten our schedule, and unfortunately, we didn't have time left for Vancouver Island. But apart from that, we managed to visit all the places that we wanted to," he shares.

Of course, we were curious to learn more about how a research trip like this actually works and what it involves, so we asked Davido to walk us through it.

"After our arrival in British Columbia, we spent the first day in Vancouver, where we toured the downtown and the area around the harbour. We tried to get as close as possible to the container terminal and river port to get a better idea of ​​how big these areas are, how it works there, what can be seen there, where the trucks get in, etc. The following days, we drove into the mountains, and along the way, we stopped at several lakes and spent the night at the Whistler Olympic Village. After that, we headed towards the city of Kamloops. There are a few mines, paper mills, and other industries around that town that we wanted to document. We also got close to the border with Alberta, passing the important Summits on the way, such as Roger Pass, for example. On the way back, we took it through the Okanagan Valley, a region rich in vineyards and orchards, stretching from the city of Kelowna down to the city of Osoyoos, which lies on the border with the United States, and from there we returned to Vancouver," he explains.

Looking back on the trip, we asked what stayed with Davido the most and how British Columbia left its impression on him.

"It was great to get this opportunity, and each personal visit enriches you both personally and professionally. I had the chance to see places that I would probably never see under normal circumstances. British Columbia is a truly amazing place, and at times, I was amazed by some of the scenery. There was always something to admire."

Davido then continues.

"If I had to say in general, Canada impressed me as a mix of American and European culture. The people are nice and helpful, and speak the same language as in the United States. They also drive big cars. You can see American trucks there, some American brands, etc. On the other hand, in many places, Canadian patriotism and pride in their own products were quite noticeable. Also, as a European, the metric system suited me much better," he says.

We were also curious to know what truly defines British Columbia, especially when it comes to its architecture and the overall character of the map.

"I think that small towns, where it is often really difficult to find something that would meet our requirements for a landmark, are more typical of Canada. Only Vancouver meets the definition of a metropolis, and even there, the architecture is different from the US. In this respect, American cities are much more interesting, and their federal buildings, like city halls, post offices, banks, courts, etc., are very beautiful and recognizable buildings in every city. There are also a lot of beautiful churches in America, which we usually recreate as landmarks. It's always fun to give such places care in the game. Unfortunately, I am missing some of this a bit in Canadian cities. Also, the network of large truck stops that we're used to seeing in the US is simply not there, so it will be a bigger challenge for us to capture the right feeling. British Columbia will simply be much more about the natural scenery and interesting industry," Davido answered.

At the end, we asked what he was most looking forward to seeing in the finished map of British Columbia.

"I would say everything. We are currently at a stage where we have thought up and created designs for all the roads and cities, and I can already say that players will have a lot to look at all the time. Personally, I'm looking forward to Vancouver and its surroundings. It's a truly significant and beautiful city that we want to take care of. I'm also looking forward to the capital, Victoria, which we were not able to visit in person, but it's also one of the beautiful, architectural cities, and I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to see it at least in the game. And of course, all the mountains, peaks, rivers, and lakes that we can offer to players," he shares with us.

Davido and all of us here at SCS truly believe that you, our #BestCommunityEver, will fall in love with British Columbia. Opening the gates to Canada is a major milestone for American Truck Simulator. As you’ve read, bringing an entirely new country, landscape, and atmosphere into the game requires a tremendous amount of work and dedication. But we’re confident that once you hit the road and take in those mountains, forests, cities, towns, and lakes for yourselves, you’ll agree it was absolutely worth it.

We hope you enjoyed this peek behind the curtains of this upcoming expansion. Don't forget to add the British Columbia DLC to your Steam wishlist! Make sure to follow us on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and YouTube, or sign up for our newsletter for future updates. Until next time, safe travels and happy haulin'!