Coaches & Road Trip: Mode Switch

Ready to hit the road? Today, we're taking a closer look at one of the new systems created for our upcoming Coaches DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2 and Road Trip for American Truck Simulator; Mode Switch. This feature helps bring different types of gameplay together, allowing you to move between your trucking career and new adventures behind the wheel of a car or coach!

ETS2 & ATS are expanding beyond trucking, and with that comes the need to clearly separate the different careers and gameplay experiences available to players. This is why we have divided the game into different modes, Truck Mode, Car Mode and Coach Mode.

Each mode has its own gameplay, progression, and career systems. Truck Mode remains centred around transporting cargo and building your trucking business, while Car Mode, introduced with Road Trip, places a greater emphasis on exploration and building your reputation with customers. Coach Mode will focus on operating routes, providing passengers with a smooth journey, and keeping them satisfied along the way.

Progression is separate between these careers, with Car Mode using reputation rather than traditional experience points. However, some important parts of your profile remain shared. Your money and map exploration carry across all modes, meaning roads discovered while travelling by car will remain explored when you return to your truck, and vice versa.

Separating the experience into different modes also allows us to keep everything relevant to your current career together in one place, including your vehicles, progression, statistics, and other mode-specific information.

Switching between modes is straightforward. You can enter another mode while you're not driving to manage that career, although you cannot have more than one active job across all modes at the same time. The full switch between modes happens once you press the Drive button.

As of right now, the navigation system remains tied to the mode you last drove in, so you won’t be able to set or adjust a route for the newly selected mode. As soon as you hit the road, the correct navigation and gameplay systems for that mode will kick in. Looking ahead, we’re already looking at ways to make navigation between modes feel even smoother in future updates. 

Wonder where you last left off in your vehicle? The map will also show the positions of your other vehicle, as well as your current position when undertaking a Quick Job. When you mode switch, you'll continue from the location where you left your truck, coach, or car.

The introduction of multiple modes also played a part in our recent changes to the fatigue system. Fatigue Simulation is now separated into Rest State and Mandatory Breaks. Your Rest State represents how tired your character is and is shared across modes, while Mandatory Breaks represent legally required rest periods. Trucks and coaches are subject to Mandatory Breaks, while cars are not.

The introduction of different modes is an important part of expanding Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator while keeping their various gameplay experiences connected. Each mode offers its own career and progression, while shared systems such as money and exploration help ensure everything still feels like part of the same world and profile.

We hope this gives you a better understanding of how Mode Switch works and some of the thought process behind the creation of the system. We're looking forward to getting you behind the wheel of some new vehicle types in Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator!

Until next time, keep an eye on our blog and social media for all the latest news, and we’ll see you on the road!

South Dakota DLC Release

The road is calling! The South Dakota DLC for American Truck Simulator has arrived, bringing local industries, rolling prairies, stunning scenery, and some of America’s most recognisable landmarks to your journeys.

The South Dakota DLC is now released and available on Steam!

It’s been an exciting road since we first announced that South Dakota was in development, and today we’re excited to finally release it to you. So saddle up, warm up the engine, and get ready to roam the Mount Rushmore State! To help you get your bearings, here is a look at the full map of the DLC, showcasing the cities, towns, and road networks waiting for you.

We can’t wait to welcome you to the Mount Rushmore State! So what can you expect from this DLC?

• Explore 13 faithfully recreated cities, including Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Pierre, and more!
• Discover 21 scenic towns and settlements across the state, such as Hot Springs, Wall and Sturgis.
• Travel across a road network representing around 680 miles of real-world roads, with connections to Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa.
• See iconic South Dakota landmarks including Mount Rushmore, the Corn Palace, Sioux Falls, and the Dignity of Earth and Sky sculpture.
• Deliver cargo to 10 custom depots and discover new industries, including trailer manufacturing, residential housing, and a landmark food production facility in Sioux Falls.
• Explore stunning natural locations such as the Black Hills, Badlands, and the landscapes surrounding Reva.
• Experience the variety of South Dakota’s scenery, from dramatic rock formations and forested hills to wide-open plains and bustling cities.
• Discover famous sights, local landmarks, scenic roads, and hidden details as you travel across the Mount Rushmore State!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

From busy roads in Rapid City to the wide-open Great Plains, dramatic Badlands, and winding roads of the Black Hills, South Dakota offers plenty of variety for truckers to discover. Along the way, you’ll encounter some of the state’s most iconic sights, including Mount Rushmore and the waterfalls of Sioux Falls, while hauling cargo through the diverse landscapes of the Mount Rushmore State. We can't wait for you to start explorin'! 

Release Live Stream

Don't forget about our special Release Live Stream, which starts today at 3 pm CEST! Joining us will be some special guests, including the CEO of SCS Software, Pavel Šebor, all of whom will be chatting with us about this exciting new addition while we drive through South Dakota.

Towards the end of the live stream, we'll officially release the South Dakota DLC together, with a live video feed from our office release party, so make sure to be there!

World of Trucks: Cruising South Dakota Event

With the release of our South Dakota DLC, we're excited to welcome you all back & invite you all to join us for our World of Trucks event - Cruising South Dakota! Roll through the Mount Rushmore State and take in its wide-open landscapes, natural beauty and rich history.



This event invites you to explore the new map, deliver cargoes to and from its many cities, and contribute to a community goal, which will you earn you special & unique in-game rewards. 

Rewards

Personal Goal: Players who complete deliveries to or from all 13 South Dakota cities will earn a personal World of Trucks Achievement and a Call of the Badlands ATS truck paint job Steam inventory item.

Community Goal: When the community goal of driving 150,000,000 miles (241,402,000 km) during deliveries to or from any city in South Dakota is met, players who have also achieved their personal goal will receive a Ring-necked Pheasant Steam inventory item.

And there’s an extra treat as well! Truckers who complete a job using External Contracts or the External Market TO or FROM Rapid City will be rewarded with the Quartz Triceratops hanging item for their cabin. Combining South Dakota’s official state mineral, rose quartz, with its official state fossil, the Triceratops, it’s the perfect souvenir from your travels across the Mount Rushmore State!

You can find all the rules and further details about the event in our dedicated Cruising South Dakota DLC event blog!

We are eager for you to start trucking in the Mount Rushmore State. Remember to tag us in your photos and videos from this map expansion using the hashtag #CruisingSouthDakota on X, Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky. If you'll enjoy your time in South Dakota, we'd really appreciate it if you left a review on its DLC Steam store page. We thank you for all your support, and until next time, happy haulin'!

Soul of Anatolia: Building Intersections with Pavel

Today, we’re taking a look behind the scenes of the Soul of Anatolia DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2, this time focusing on the complex work that goes into creating the roads and intersections that connect its cities and landscapes. We spoke with Pavel, one of our Map Designers, who shared more about his work on the project and the process of building a road network.

Hi! My name is Pavel, and I’ve been working at SCS Software as a Map Designer for more than 7 years.

For the past two years, I’ve mainly specialised in everything related to roads and highways.

For Soul of Anatolia, I design large highway interchanges and create specifications for other departments for prefabs, tunnels, and traffic lights. I also work with my colleagues to place these elements throughout the map and strive to create a consistent driving experience for players.

What similar projects have you worked on in the past, and how is working on Soul of Anatolia DLC different?

The project that comes closest to my work on Soul of Anatolia is the Greece DLC, where I had some experience with the geometric design of interchanges and maintaining consistency in road elements such as toll gates.

Working on Soul of Anatolia is different mainly because of the scale of what I’m responsible for. I’ve been given much more room to influence the road layout.

How large is this DLC, and what challenges does it bring for you?

From my perspective, with my focus mainly on roads, this DLC is truly huge. For example, we have more than a hundred large highway interchanges on the map.

The challenge for me is to make sure these interchanges meet our requirements while also making sure everything fits within the map.

How does the creation and implementation of highway interchanges work?

Since the project is usually already underway in some form by the time I start working on it, I create pre-assembled interchanges separately from the project in a dedicated test map, where I also test newly created prefabs.

In this map, I always start with a rough prototype built by hand, where the main focus is choosing the right number of road lanes and the type of road intersection. I then iterate on this prototype, adjusting curve radii and fine-tuning road lengths to meet the rules we have established, such as clearance heights under bridges, road banking, and maximum gradients.

I try to calculate and build everything so that the interchange matches its real-world counterpart as closely as possible, is as compact as possible, and is also comfortable to drive through.

Once I’m happy with the prototype, it is copied into the project and placed in its designated location, where it may still undergo some minor adjustments. At that point, my work on the interchange is finished.

You spoke about prefabs; how does the creation of new prefabs work?

First, I consider whether a prefab really needs to be created for a particular situation, or whether the situation could be solved with a prefab we already have, perhaps with a small compromise.

If I conclude that a new prefab is necessary, I start designing it. I begin by putting together a rough prototype using roads. For the design, I use simple geometry, such as calculating the radius and sector of a circle.

It’s important not to make the prefab unnecessarily large while also finding the right compromise that allows both our AI traffic and players to drive through it without problems.

Once I’m happy with the shape, I create a simple blueprint of the prefab. In addition to its shape, it also shows the road markings and the routes that AI traffic will take.

Once that is ready, I create a specification for our road department. Along with the coordinates of the pre-assembled prototype, I include the blueprints and a basic description.

After that, I simply wait for the prefab to be created. Once it comes back to me, I either provide feedback on it or approve it for use on the map.

What are you most looking forward to seeing completed on the map as part of Soul of Anatolia DLC?

A little selfishly, I’m looking forward to finally having all the highway interchanges and prefabs completed. Toward the end of the project, I’ll also add the necessary accessories to them, such as traffic lights.

After that, most of my work will be focused on details and small touches that will allow me to give the project some extra care and bring the level of detail closer to the real-world references.

What have you enjoyed the most about Soul of Anatolia DLC so far, and what are you looking forward to the most?

I’m really enjoying one new type of interchange, and one modified existing type of prefab that I’ve wanted to have ever since I joined the company. I’ve now managed to get them created, and they’re already waiting for you in the map for you to drive through.

What do you think players will like the most about Soul of Anatolia DLC, and what shouldn’t they miss?

Of course, waiting at traffic-light intersections!

No, just kidding. It will definitely be the landscapes and landmarks. Even now, at a really early stage of the map’s development, some places can really surprise me with how detailed and beautiful they already look.

We hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at the work that goes into building the roads and intersections of Soul of Anatolia. A huge thank you to Pavel for sharing more about his role and giving us a glimpse into the process behind creating the region's road network.

If you are excited to be cruising in this map expansion, don't forget to support us by adding the Soul of Anatolia DLC to your Steam wishlist.

Also, remember to give our X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and TikTok a follow, as you'll receive updates from our games straight to your feed. Or subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed. Until next time, safe travels!

Road Trip: Ford Release Date & Video Trailer Reveal

Get ready for a brand-new experience in American Truck Simulator! It's time to grab a different set of keys and hit the road in amazing vehicles that are a little different than what you've been used to. We're excited to announce that the

Road Trip: Ford DLC for American Truck Simulator will be released on September 29th, 2026!

We are so excited to be almost finished with this upcoming DLC and that our #BestCommunityEver will be able to enjoy it too! To get you in the mood for driving the stunning cars from Ford, our talented video team has put together an official video trailer. Watch it below to see all that is coming!

Road Trip will bring a whole new experience for players of American Truck Simulator. Not only will you be able to drive in completely different types of vehicles than before, but you will also have the opportunity to complete smaller delivery jobs, customize your cars with accessories, paint them in different colors, or explore the vast landscapes of the U.S. from a completely new perspective while also discovering and learning about beautiful landmarks with the new Atlas feature!

Just imagine driving legendary cars like the 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback, 2023 Ford F-150, 2023 Ford Bronco, and 1998–2012 Ford Crown Victoria on Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles, through the rolling hills of the Midwest, or over the beautiful mountains in Montana from the comfort of your home.

And if you are a pure truck driver and don't feel like ever leaving your decked-out rig, don't forget that the Atlas feature available with Road Trip DLCs is not just for cars. You can still enjoy the feature behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler - just make sure to own the Road Trip: Ford DLC so this feature is unlocked for you right after its release. 

We would like to thank Ford for their cooperation in bringing their amazing vehicles into our game! If you are looking forward to hitting the road in a Ford, make sure to add the Road Trip: Ford DLC for American Truck Simulator to your Steam Wishlist. 

Remember to stay up to date with the latest American Truck Simulator news by subscribing to our newsletter or following us on X/Twitter, Facebook, BlueSky, and Instagram. Until next time, we wish you happy journeys!

World of Trucks: Cruising South Dakota Event

With the release of our South Dakota DLC, we invite you all to join us on Thursday, the 24th of September, for the newest World of Trucks event - Cruising South Dakota! Roll through the Mount Rushmore State and take in its wide-open landscapes, natural beauty and rich history.

So, what is the challenge? Haul cargo to or from any city in South Dakota and help the community reach a collective goal of 150,000,000 miles (241,402,000 km). With the strength of our #BestCommunityEver, we know you will smash it! 

Hit the road by #CruisingSouthDakota, where vast prairies meet the rugged Black Hills and the otherworldly Badlands, with long crossings over the Missouri River along the way. But this land carries far more than scenery, it holds stories that reach deep into the past. The Black Hills, known to the Lakota people as Paha Sapa, are sacred ground, while Badlands National Park preserves one of the richest fossil beds on Earth. This is where giants like SUE the T. rex slept for millions of years before being discovered.

During your travels, you can look forward to many spectacular views and highlights, such as:

• Mount Rushmore National Memorial, the iconic monument carved into a granite face in the Black Hills.
• Badlands National Park, a dramatic maze of layered rock spires and buttes unlike anywhere else in America.
• Deadwood, the legendary gold rush town where Wild Bill Hickok played his final hand.
• Missouri River crossings, where the great river divides the rolling east from the rugged west of the state.

As with past Cruising events, you can also participate using your own trailer by selecting jobs from the External Market!

The South Dakota DLC features 13 incredible cities to explore, and we're offering an exclusive reward for completing your personal goal, which will require you to deliver a job to or from all of them. All jobs for the event must be at least 100 miles (161 km) long.

Take part in this breathtaking journey across the Great Plains, from South Dakota's sweeping landscapes and Black Hills to its frontier towns. Let's roll through the Mount Rushmore State!

Rules

Using External Contracts or External Market, with a World of Trucks-connected profile in American Truck Simulator, the community goal is to drive 150,000,000 miles (241,402,000 km) while delivering cargoes to or from any city in South Dakota.

When a player has completed deliveries to or from all 13 South Dakota cities, they will achieve their personal goal.

All jobs for the event must be at least 100 miles (161 km) long.

You can check if your recent deliveries met these conditions using your Log Book in your World of Trucks profile.

Rewards

• Personal: Players who complete deliveries to or from all 13 South Dakota cities will earn a personal World of Trucks Achievement and a Call of the Badlands ATS truck paint job Steam inventory item.

• Community: When the community goal of driving 150,000,000 miles (241,402,000 km) during deliveries to or from any city in South Dakota is met, players who have also achieved their personal goal will receive a Ring-necked Pheasant Steam inventory item.

Note: In order to qualify for the community reward, you must complete your personal goal in American Truck Simulator. Each reward will be a Steam inventory item for American Truck Simulator. Once completed, claim your rewards on the Events page of your World of Trucks profile.

The event will conclude on Sunday, the 22nd of November at 23:59 UTC.

Gear up for the latest addition to American Truck Simulator and join us for #CruisingSouthDakota! Share your screenshots and videos with us on our Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram profiles, and we will share our favourite ones (we may even feature some of them in a future blog post!).

Indiana: Research Trip

In June, we announced that we are working on the Indiana DLC for American Truck Simulator. While our map teams are busy bringing the Hoosier State to life, they first had to experience it for themselves. Let's take a look back at their research trip to Indiana!

The team that set out for Indiana consisted of the map DLC lead Dubak, our map designers Lukáš and Martin, and our researcher Spekin. Today, they will share their impressions from the trip and a couple of photos they captured along the way. Below, we are also bringing a few screenshots from the work-in-progress map!

"This was my second research trip to the US, and every time it's an incredible experience for me. It boasts not only amazing nature and landscapes, but also rich and beautiful cities. Before the trip, we were a bit worried that Indiana would be a state full of fields, but we were completely wrong. It was a great experience, and I'm really glad that my team and I get to build this wonderful state and show players all the beauty and hidden gems Indiana has to offer," Dubak told us.

They travelled across the state, visiting many of its cities and landmarks, from Indianapolis to Fort Wayne, Evansville, South Bend, and more. "We were blown away by the memorial and the Capitol in Indianapolis, and we also checked out a massive steel mill in East Chicago, Lake Monroe, and the Indiana Dunes National Park," Dubak said.

During their nine-day journey, the team gathered plenty of references and experienced the atmosphere of each place they visited. They explained that walking the streets and visiting these places in real life before recreating them in the editor was a completely new experience.

"As a map designer, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to visit the US in person. You can feel the atmosphere and the scale of everything around you. Personally, I enjoyed all the landmarks in Indiana - from courthouses and churches to banks, statues, historical monuments, memorials, and murals, not to mention the small details here and there. History has shaped the US greatly, and you have the opportunity to experience that," Lukáš shared with us.

Being there in person also reveals smaller details that can be difficult to notice through street view or other sources. This helps the team understand what is important to include in the game and what gives each place its authentic feel.

"As a map designer, I looked for all the details that make every corner authentic. If you are sufficiently attentive, you can find a lot of interesting stuff around. For example, I learned that bigger is better. You can hardly go wrong with that. I also love discovering all the different advertisements, billboards, and signs. I created a large photo gallery of them so that our branding and asset team could use them as inspiration for the state of Indiana and upcoming projects. We also saw an Amish community in the region, which was really interesting. Overall, the research trip was a great experience, and I would love to come back for more inspiration," Lukáš said.

For Martin, it was the diversity of Indiana's landscapes and the roads connecting them that made the biggest impression.

"I was amazed by how diverse the landscape actually is, with plenty of forested areas that transition into national parks, wetlands, prairies, and even sand dunes up north along Lake Michigan. What captivated me the most was probably the scenic IN-46 highway between Bloomington and Columbus. The road winds through the Norman Upland, home to Indiana's largest state park, Brown County State Park. We drove through many towns packed with truly memorable landmarks. In the capital, Indianapolis, it was fascinating to see modern skyscraper architecture blending with historic buildings, churches, cathedrals, and beautifully maintained parks," Martin shared with us.

Even Spekin was surprised by some of the things he saw during the trip, despite his role as a researcher, which means he spends a lot of time studying upcoming DLC areas and preparing references for the rest of the team.

"I was shocked by how big everything is in the US. For example, flags, totems, grain bins, or even roads and countryside are not as straight as they seem on street view, and you can also see the elevation. We observed and measured everything from a random curb in the city to grown corn in the countryside, so the biggest task was just not to look suspicious while capturing those details," he told us.

As a researcher, Spekin records everything that could be useful to other departments and considers how these references could be used in the game, while keeping our scale and other map limitations in mind: "Sometimes a reference can be just for inspiration, like night photos of buildings with neon lights or backlit advertisements, which are often difficult to find. During the trip, however, this was much easier, as we often arrived at our final destination late at night," he shared. 

"It might sound weird, but I like farm areas, so grain elevators, barns, and animals are my favorite ones, so you can probably guess what my photo library looks like. I also love industrial zones, so I really enjoyed Gary Steel Works, even though we saw it only from the outside. We also visited a few old covered bridges in Indiana, and I know it's just an old bridge, but I liked it a lot. Of course, I enjoyed the whole trip, every city and every town. I wish we could put everything into the game," Spekin says.

While our work on the map is still in its early stages, we also wanted to give you a small preview of what's already getting done. 

Here, you can see a few locations that are taking shape for the Indiana DLC, including the public library in Evansville, Acy Lake, and locations around Indianapolis and along I-69 and US 30.

And that's it from today's blog! We hope you have enjoyed this report from our research trip to Indiana. If you are looking forward to exploring the Hoosier State like we did, be sure to add the Indiana DLC to your Steam wishlist and show your support to our team working on it!

Don't forget to follow us on X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and TikTok, or subscribe to our newsletter for the latest development updates. Until next time, we will see you on the road!