French bridges

Hello Truckers! Today we are turning our attention to an undeniably important set of landmarks - bridges. We're re-introducing some of France's most famous bridges in the upcoming Vive la France! DLC map expansion. Can you guess which bridges we're showing?

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The Pont de l'Iroise bridge over the Élorn river, near to Brest

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The Pont de Normandie bridge over the Seine river

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A landmark bridge at the entrance to the port in Le Havre

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A suspension bridge over the Loire river near to Bourges

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The Chavanon Viaduct at A89 autoroute (motorway)

Steering Knobs

The Open Beta for American Truck Simulator's and Euro Truck Simulator 2's upcoming updates is already in full swing. We'd like to thank you all for the feedback and bug reports you've given us!

To get to the point: once a game update enters public testing, we usually just want to stabilize the new features and release it. But this time we have decided to up the scope of the updates even when the beta test is already in flight. Our artists just finished work on an interesting little set of cabin "toys." Our inner circle of trusted beta testers liked it very much, and so we wanted to share it with you as soon as possible.

So here we are, introducing a new little game feature - streering knobs. We've included six different steering knobs in each game; you will be able to install them at four possible locations on a steering wheel. Steering knobs are an exception rather than a rule, they are not frequently used on long haul trucks, and actually their legal status is somewhat shady in certain territories. But we hope that the new feature will please the group of fans who kept requesting their addition to our games.

ETS2 1.25 Open Beta

Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator use the same game engine, so they share the fruits of our labor when we add any new features to the source code. Their common ground allows us to, at least in part, test technical updates for both games during the beta stage of just one of the titles. In fact it has actually proven better to streamline our bug fixing process to start the open beta for ETS2 a few days before ATS or vice versa as it really cuts down on the number of duplicated bug reports.

The cool thing about this process is when we release the open beta for the second game, we can be reasonably certain that any issue that is reported is local to that game and doesn't need to be double-checked, or double-fixed, in the first.

And so, in accordance to the aforementioned practice, after a few days of fruitfully testing the 1.4 update for ATS we are pushing ETS2's 1.25 update to open beta status today.

The changelogs listing feature additions to ETS2 and ATS are not identical for this wave of updates; you can find the condensed Euro Truck Simulator 2 changelog below.

MAIN FEATURES

• Completely revamped DAF XF -  This is not just 50keda's mod you can already find online - we've reworked it and improved the model in many areas, increased the detail of textures, and remodeled quite a few of the parts.

• Custom steering wheel position - You'll be allowed to adjust the tilt of the steering wheel column or telescope it so you can create your perfect driving position.

• Trailer selection -  When you pick up a new job the game will now give you a chance to change the trailer look (or the trailer itself) if it finds that there are alternate trailer styles or textures available for the given cargo.  Even better, it works with modded trailers as well.
  
  

Other Features and Improvements

Here's a log of the additional fixes and improvements that went into this update:

CODE

• Cruise control is not disabled by the throttle anymore.
• Interior camera zoom - You can bind the key for zoom in Options → Key and buttons → Camera controls → Zoom interior camera.
• Option to set preferred job length generation in options.
• Option to set split shifting input.
• More unit display options (volume, consumption).

DATA

• Steering wheels are now a separate model with a default and exclusive version for each truck
• Low air warning sound added.

MODDING

• Separated map_data.sii from game_data.sii
• Look_presets_defaults[] in interior camera
• Change trailer looks to paint jobs.

Please also check out our modding wiki to get the best advice for modding either game.

If  you're so inclined you can find the open beta in the public_beta branch on Steam. (Steam client → LIBRARY → right click on Euro Truck Simulator 2 → Properties → Betas tab → public_beta - 1.25  public beta).  No password is required.

Just like with the ATS release please keep in mind that this is still only a test version of the update: it's perfectly okay if you want to hold off until the final release.  But if you're the adventurous sort that doesn't mind a little instability and/or are an active member of the community who wants to assist us in the polishing stage, we really appreciate your help.  Please report any bugs you find on our forum.

Euro Truck Simulator 2 Company Paintjobs

When we originally released Euro Truck Simulator 2, we gave the players a chance to pick a logo for their company, but never really worked with the visual idenity beyond a tiny rectangle in a widget in the game's main menu.

We have decided to revisit this old little debt. Just now we are applying the final polishing touches to a new set of eight paintjobs that you will find in the ETS 2 Update 1.25. These will become a part of the base game, they are not a part of any DLC - any newbie player can choose them right after they obtain their first truck in the game. You may notice that we have decided to redo one of the company logos in the process.

We hope to be ready to send Euro Truck Simulator 2's 1.25 Open Beta into the wild this week.

 

 

 
 

ATS 1.4 open beta

We're happy to announce that the open beta of update 1.4 for American Truck Simulator is now available on Steam!

With 1.4 we're introducing a lot of changes to the core game. You'll find a condensed changelog at the bottom of this blog post, but first let's recap the major features that we'd like to bring to your attention (including a surprise feature - trailer selection).

MAIN FEATURES

• Custom steering wheel position - You'll be allowed to modify both the height and the angle of the steering wheel so you can create your perfect driving position.

• Trailer selection - We have recently changed how trailer data are organized under the hood in the game engine. More flexibility will come handy; one trailer 3D model can have multiple looks - different "paints" - textures - for example to represent different companies), and there may actually be multiple trailers compatible with the same cargo type. As we are adding new companies, trailers, and cargoes to the game (and so are modders), the old system was no longer sufficient.
  
  When you pick a job to transport, the game will now give you a chance to change the trailer look (or the trailer itself) if it finds that there are alternate possibilities available for transporting given cargo.

  

Other Features and Improvements

Here's a log of the additional fixes and improvements that went into this update:

CODE

• Cruise control is not disabled by the throttle anymore.
• Interior camera zoom - please set the key/button for zoom in Options → Key and buttons → Camera controls → Zoom interior camera.
• Option to set preferred job length generation in options.
• Option to set split shifting input.
• More unit display options (volume, consumption).

DATA

• Steering wheels are now a separate model with default and exclusive version for each truck
• Low air warning sound added.
• Customizable cabin lights and horns on all trucks.

MODDING

• Separated map_data.sii from game_data.sii
• Look_presets_defaults[] in interior camera
• Change trailer looks to paint jobs.

Please also check our modding wiki, to get the best advice for modding of both games.

You can find the beta in the public_beta branch on Steam. (Steam client → LIBRARY → right click on American Truck Simulator → Properties → Betas tab → public_beta - 1.4 public beta).  No password is required.

Please keep in mind that this is still only a test version of the update: it's perfectly okay if you want to hold off until the final release.  But if you are curious, don't mind a little instability, and want to assist us in the polishing process, we greatly appreciate your help.  Please report any bugs on our forum.

Cab Improvements

Adjustable steering wheels are not the only in-cabin feature we are going to include in the upcoming update coming for ETS2 and ATS. We are also going to deliver two new features:

1) Interior camera zoom:

When inside the cabin, you will be able to do a quick zoom-in just by clinking the button. It may be useful while maneuvering, reading far off road signs, or when you would like to see all the info on the dashboard in more detail. Of course you can bind this functionality to any other key or button in the game's options.

2) Changing the steering wheel:

 

Decoupling the steering wheel geometry from the rest of the cabin, which was needed for adjustable steering wheels, opened up the possibility to offer changeable steering wheels. Until now, steering wheels were a native part of interior model; the unfortunate consequence of this being that players could not replace a truck's standard wheel with alternate models. With the release of our upcoming update however, trucks which have more than one type of interior will also sport the option of choosing from two different steering wheels. Finally, some people using an external steering wheel feel that having two wheels in sight is a bit disingenuous: so we are going to add a new experimental console command that will allow you to hide the virtual steering wheel.

American Truck Simulator Rescale Screenshots

Since announcing the ATS map rescale project, we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback. It was a confirmation that rescaling the map was the right decision - thank you for your encouragement!

We would like to share a couple of screenshots showcasing some locations in the game world that we are improving.  Enjoy!

A unique truck stop on a new road segment on I-10 in Arizona

Donner Pass - a road which winds through steep mountains.  We're trying to represent correct height profiles wherever possible. 

A big part of I-80 between Sacramento and Oakland was missing. We added it along with its unique junctions including the overpass that crosses I-580.

US-60 near Show Low - displaying a new type of landscape and environment profile.

Updated DAF XF 105 is coming

We are working hard to secure more truck licenses for our games, and we hope to be able to confirm some good news on this topic soon. Our fan community is fantastic - we are receiving great leads and active help in this area quite often, and your voice as heard on social media channels also means a lot. But the legal part of the licensing process can sometimes be very lengthy as you must have noticed by now, and we appreciate your patience.

Meanwhile though, we have revisited an existing truck model in ETS2 - the DAF XF 105. You may notice the similarity of this 3D model to the DAF XF mod by 50keda. That's no coincidence - 50keda is one of our great picks from the modding community to enter the professional game dev world as an SCS Software employee. The revision of the DAF XF 105, available soon in ETS2 update 1.25, is not just a simple merging of the mod that's already available to you, but is even further improvement with additional textures rework and remodeling of quite some parts - which we believe will be really appreciated by all DAF fans. Here is what you can look forward to...