Thursday, December 31, 2020

Happy New Year 2021

The year 2020 is coming to an end in a few hours. It's been a very hard year for most of the world, but we want to focus on something positive here. Despite some setbacks and hard decisions to make, the work on new map expansions, new vehicles and parts, new game features, and our 3D engine improvements continued at a solid pace. We have managed to keep our chins up and remain productive, and both American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2 keep getting better.

Allow us to reminiscence and review the content and features we have released throughout 2020!

Let's all hope that the new year will be way better than the one we are leaving behind. As teased and hinted in our Christmas Special stream (recording here), our teams are already working on a big pile of very exciting projects and updates, including quite some game-changers. We're looking forward to bringing you more specific news as we develop and release the new features.

Happy New Year 2021, our dear #BestCommunityEver!

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Happy Holidays!

Our dearest #BestCommunityEver,

The festive end of the year is fast approaching, and the team at SCS Software is taking a bit of time off to enjoy the holidays and to recharge our batteries. We will slow down the pace of news updates and social media posts over the next couple of weeks, but we'll be back in January with new energy and lots of new topics to cover.

Meanwhile, we trust that all the automated systems we have put in place will keep on working only with a bit of monitoring needed. So you should be able to enjoy our new Christmas Wise Giving event on World of Trucks, as well as still being able to catch up on the Cruising Colorado event if you are thinking of getting the new map expansion.


To say that this year has been difficult is an understatement. A lot of us have been through really rough times. There is a glimpse of hope on the horizon now with news that the world may have a cure next year, but we need to be patient and keep ourselves and the ones dear to us as safe as possible now. We are proud that our games are a part of life for so many of our fans, and we will be happy to provide you with company again if need be in the coming weeks. Ours is a hobby that fits the limitations of Stay at Home very well - or rather Truck at Home in our case!

So, make yourself a cup of hot chocolate, coffee or tea put on some warm and cozy clothes, get yourself some good and tasty food, watch some classic movies, and let these stories pull you into fantasy worlds where everything is possible. Or grab a steering wheel, a game controller, or just your trusty keyboard and mouse, and play the games you love, including American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2.

Additionally, if you have missed our Christmas Special live-stream on Monday, you can watch the recording now, too. Maybe it can put a smile on your face as we reflect on the good stuff we managed to pull off in 2020, while also teasing and hinting at the future of our games in the years to come.


No matter how you are going to spend the holidays, have a wonderful time, and please stay safe.

Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 17, 2020

Christmas Wise Giving Event 2020

Last year we asked the community to spread the spirit of Christmas giving across all trucking territories in the Christmas Grand Giving event of 2019. The response was outstanding and we all did ourselves proud.

So, you may ask, what could top such a momentous effort? What is better than giving during Christmas time? The answer, this year, is not just giving, but giving wisely! In this way, we bring you the Christmas Wise Giving event of 2020 for Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator!

We are not only asking you, our #BestCommunityEver, to match the Grand Giving reputation that you earned last year, but we are further challenging everyone to beat it by giving wisely, and we are going to help you do this!

We have fresh trailer loads of much-needed gifts to deliver. It is going to be your kind heart and wise decisions that deliver them to who needs them most. For carrying out this noble deed your actions will be noted twofold, in that we will award Hearts to each city, based on the number of deliveries it gives, and Gifts to each city based on the number of deliveries it receives. It will be the sum total of Hearts and Gifts that will be counted towards the community goal.

The more a city gives or receives, the more Hearts or Gifts that city gets, with a maximum of 5 Heart icons and 5 Gift icons per city.

You’ll be able to track the community progress on World of Trucks or directly in the game using the updated External Contracts interface:

We'll be jump-starting this great event with a special Christmas Wise Giving developer stream on the 17th of December, starting at 18:00 CET. It will be loads of fun, delivering jobs during the event, giving away steam keys, and we'll provide more information on our social media sharing campaign, in which those who'll share an image or video from their participation in the event, under the #XmasWiseGiving hashtag, will have a chance to win some cool gifts.

Wise Giving Event Rules:

Using External Contracts with a World of Trucks-connected profile in Euro Truck Simulator 2, American Truck Simulator, or both, the community goal is to get as many Hearts and Gifts as possible awarded to as many cities as possible across all trucking territories. Every city can achieve up to 5 Hearts and 5 Gifts!

For a city to gain 1 Heart the community must make 1000 deliveries from it, using the provided Gifts cargo.

For a city to gain 1 Gift the community must make 1000 deliveries to it, using the provided Gifts cargo.

Each tier of 350 Hearts/Gifts combined, will unlock a unique community reward.

For a Personal goal, complete at least 15 deliveries of Gifts cargo in either Euro Truck Simulator 2 or American Truck Simulator.

In quick summary, using Euro Truck Simulator and/or American Truck Simulator:

  • To get a Personal goal: 15 deliveries from any cities in either game.
  • To get a Heart for a city: 1000 deliveries from that particular city.
  • To get a Gift for a city: 1000 deliveries to that particular city.
  • Unlock a unique community reward: Every tier of 350 Hearts/Gifts combined, collected from both games.

Rewards:

Personal goal: Your contribution of 15 or more deliveries of Gifts cargo will gain you:

  • A World of Trucks Achievement
  • A Christmas-themed, Winter Blast, paint job to help you carry out more Gifts deliveries during the event.

Community goals: Each tier of 350 Hearts/Gifts combined, will unlock unique community rewards. There will be 6 tiers in total, so after 2100 Hearts/Gifts are achieved all community goals will be completed, so let's do this!


Note: In order to qualify for any community reward, you must complete at least your personal goal in Euro Truck Simulator 2, American Truck Simulator or both. Each reward will be a Steam inventory item for both Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator. Once completed, claim your reward on the Events page on your World of Trucks profile.

The event will be concluded on Sunday the 17th of January at 23:59 UTC.

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

ETS2: Cabin Accessories DLC Update Coming Tomorrow

We don't want to leave drivers of Euro Truck Simulator 2 without some of the cool items and designs that U.S drivers can now have in their truck cabs with the recent release of Cabin Accessories for American Truck Simulator.

We are happy to share with you that if all goes as planned, we intend to release an update tomorrow for the Cabin Accessories DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2. It should become available just as we update both games to give the community access to a new seasonal event (hint hint!). All the new content for Cabin Accessories DLC will of course be free for its current owners. The update will contain equivalents of several practical and decorative items introduced to ATS, with a few designs exclusive to ETS2.


From coffee cups to air fresheners and laptops, the possibilities for cab customizations are (almost) endless! For owners of the Goodyear Tyres Pack, you will also find a bonus Goodyear-branded pillow for your truck's interior.

We are excited to see what items you'll choose to bring into your cab. Be sure to share with us your newly decorated cabs with us on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Germany Reskin Update

Today, we'd like to share with you more news about the Germany reskin project. As mentioned in our recent 'Good News & the Mixed News' blog post, the team behind the reworking of Germany in Euro Truck Simulator 2 has made good progress and today, we'd like to share with you some screenshots from their work, which is planned to be released with the next 1.40 update. 

For those who are new to our game, the revisiting Germany project consists of a small dedicated map team, who has been working hard to update one of the oldest map sections of the base game with a more realistic and up-to-date look.

We are also happy to share that these screenshots were taken with the new light system that is being implemented into our game engine. However, bringing new and updated lighting into the virtual world isn't an easy task. A majority of our in-game assets and objects have had to be optimized and updated to work with the new visual style that is being actively developed. The hard work and effort our teams are putting into this update are really beginning to shine and we can't wait to share more with you about it in the future. 

So what changes can you expect from this update? We won't share all the nitty-gritty details in this blog post, however, we can share that the city of Stuttgart will include a new area for the airport (which you may have spotted in the previous blog post image) and the city of Dortmund has been relocated to the correct side of the Autobahn; but that isn't all!


The biggest change that will come with this update is a complete reskin and rework of all the highways and roads in this part of our in-game world, which haven't been reskinned in previous updates. Additionally, the area around the cities of Dortmund, Köln, Dusseldorf, and Duisburg has not only benefitted from a complete road network redesign but a few new intersections and roads as well! The southern part of the Bundesautobahn 7 will also be available in this update.

We hope this upcoming Germany update will keep you content until our next big release. Please keep in mind that these screenshots were taken in the new visual light implantation which is still under heavy development and is subject to change. We look forward to sharing with you more development news in the future!

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Introducing Wyoming

After much guessing and debate, many of you came to the conclusion of which state we showcased in our recent teaser trailer. Today we are excited to share with you the U.S State which will be arriving next... 

Introducing Wyoming for American Truck Simulator



Wyoming may be one of the least populated states in the U.S, but that doesn't mean that it lacks spectacular places to visit and see. Home to some of the country's most breathtaking national parks, Wyoming is best known for its red-walled gorges, hot springs, historic prairie towns, pioneer history, and historical attractions.


So why the Bison? Wyoming designated the American bison as the official state mammal in 1985, and to this day you can still find large herds of them grazing across the prairies and protected land which is designated for the conservation of wild bison since their decline across the U.S. 


We are happy to share with you these very early development screenshots from Wyoming! Plus as you can see, all of them taken in the new light system. Please be double sure to keep in mind that everything shown is under heavy development and might not represent the final product.


We look forward to sharing more development news about Wyoming in the future; and the beautiful landscapes and new road networks that will arrive with it. Please keep in mind, that this DLC has only just begun to take shape. 


Until then, however, be sure to check out the official Wyoming Steam store page with early-development screenshots, and if you wish to support us, be sure to add Wyoming to your Steam Wishlist!