Iberian Special Transport + Gameplay Video #2

While our teams dedicated to the Iberia DLC project are still tirelessly working, polishing, and putting some final touches in, we also wanted to inform you that something special is getting ready to be released with this map expansion as well. And by "special", we really mean special.

Hints and jokes aside, we are talking about content for the Special Transport DLC here. With each new map DLC, we always work hard to bring new routes and missions for the new map as part of a free update to the Special Transport expansion. Today we are happy to announce that Iberia's release will be no different!

Coming with the long-anticipated and largest map expansion we've ever created so far, there will also be some additional content for those who like to haul huge and oversized cargoes. Five new routes for Special Transport missions will be available on the Iberian peninsula, featuring:

Lisbon to Ponte de Sor

Gijón to Navia

Olhão to Setúbal

Madrid to Puertollano

Huelva to Seville

Do not panic, but be ready as each of these new routes & missions will bring new challenges that will put your driving skills to the test. We suggest getting some practice, setting your seat position, mirrors, and choosing the right drivetrain before departing with any of these massive cargoes attached to your mighty truck. You should also follow the escort vehicles and their instructions, as they will be there to make sure the job goes smoothly.

Can you tell that the Iberia hype is becoming OVERSIZED? Better buckle up because we plan to bring more news about this upcoming map DLC soon! Meanwhile, please consider supporting its release by adding it to your Steam Wishlist, if you haven't done that already.

Want to see more from Iberia? Then check out this short gameplay video below, too. It was recorded by Michal, also known as MTCougar, our QA Department Lead, as a fun experiment intended for internal use. Using TrackIR, it realistically emulates a driver's perspective. We found the video so cool that we thought it is worth sharing it with you. Please keep in mind that everything shown here is still in a 'work in progress' stage and as we are still tweaking the lighting and fixing map bugs, the final look may be slightly different.

Wyoming: Industries

From towering, snow-capped mountain ranges to world-famous national parks, Wyoming is a state of rugged natural beauty. Whilst admiring the scenery on your delivery, it's important to remember the reason for your journey! Let's take a closer look at some of the key industries that will be featured in our upcoming Wyoming DLC for American Truck Simulator.

Before we dive deep into this topic, we'd love to remind here that the Wyoming DLC is still in a very early phase and that everything shown here is still very much in a 'Work in Progress' stage, as you can probably tell from the screenshots below. But we thought it might be good to let you know how some of the prefabs look like when they are being created. As you will see on some of the shots here, our teams use special markers placed on them to decide where future job trailers will be spawned (green), and where the parking options are, with red for the most difficult one, yellow for medium difficulty, and blue for the easy parking option.

As one of the least populous and least densely populated states in the United States, Wyoming has a lot of open lands. This makes it a perfect location for the agriculture industry, which is of the state's largest contributors to the local economy. 

While crops, fruits, and vegetables make up a large percentage of this industry, the production of beef is the largest part of Wyoming's agriculture sector. Many of the cattle are usually sold and exported around the world from Livestock auction houses, which will be one of the new industries arriving to Wyoming for American Truck Simulator. 

Another form of logistics that is prominent across the state is the railroad. Wyoming railroads date back to the Union Pacific when the railroad reached the state’s eastern fringes in 1862; today, these serve as an important connection within the United States. Drivers will be able to contribute to the maintenance of the locomotives that serve the railways as you deliver important rail parts to and from the Rail Supply Depot, as-well delivering and picking up cargo from the freight trains that arrive daily. 

The mineral extraction industry is Wyoming’s most important industry. The industry remains a major economic driver of the state and is one of the top contributors to the local economy. One such example that will be included in our Wyoming DLC will be the Soda Ash Mine located near Rock Springs. This has been created as a replica of our reference. 

Chemical plants and quarries will also be other locations where drivers can pick up and deliver various parts and materials from. These loading points are always located on the edge of the refinery or quarry to keep drivers safely away from the active mining areas. 

Another type of vehicle you'll find working around the quarries are dump trucks. Drivers will have the opportunity to haul dump truck parts and bodies to and from a manufacturer to industries that require their use! 

These are just a handful of the many industries you'll be able to discover and deliver to and from in our upcoming Wyoming DLC for American Truck Simulator! We look forward to sharing more development updates with you in the near future, but until then, make sure to add Wyoming to your Steam Wishlist! It really helps support the development and release of our expansions, thank you. 

Iberia: Do you hear that?

Back in September of last year, two members of our team, Matej & Irenej, travelled to Spain & Portugal to record new sounds for the upcoming Iberia DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2. Today, we are excited to showcase how these new sounds have been implemented into our sim by them and Filipkooo, who is another one of our colleagues.

Our sound experts travelled across the Iberian Peninsula to capture realistic sounds from industrial and scenic environments alike. Some of the stops along their journey included capturing sounds from ports, industrial zones, truck stops, and a variety of different environments such as coastlines and city streets. We hope you like what you hear!

Want to see and hear more of our upcoming Iberia DLC? Then mark tomorrow (18th February 2021) down in your calendar and join our exclusive Iberia gameplay live stream on Twitch, Steam, or Youtube. Starting from 18:00 CET with your favourite duo Alex and Nemiro, you won't want to miss out!

Also, please do not forget to add the upcoming Iberia DLC into your Steam Wishlist, if you haven't done so already. It means a lot to us and really helps with the continued development and releases for our trucking titles. Thank you!

#HaulingHope Event Conclusion

Towards the end of January, we introduced to you #HaulingHope, a World of Trucks event focused on recognizing the selfless drivers and support crews that are working hard to deliver COVID-19 vaccines around the world. Today, after an event extension and over a month later, hundreds of thousands of truckers from our Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator community have participated in this special and memorable event.

The task was to complete 7 deliveries, undamaged, using our special #HaulingHope trailers, which many of you achieved in the first few days of the event! For us, this was an inspiration, as we always love to see how the community comes together for these special events, especially when centres around such an important subject. We thank you for joining us in paying tribute to those around the world working hard, day and night, to deliver everything from important life-saving equipment to our groceries, during this challenging time.

So, how far did our drivers travel during this unique event? Let's take a look at some of the stats!

Incredible work truckers! We cannot thank you enough for your support. It really does bring a lot of joy to our team to see how much you enjoy participating in these events. We hope you ride with pride with your newly acquired and well-deserved Hope Trucker Hanging Accessories.

Iberia: Rocks & Vegetation

From semi-arid southeastern deserts to the green coniferous forests, the Iberian Peninsula is home to rich and diverse landscapes. To best represent the climates and biomes in Spain and Portugal, our dedicated research, vegetation, and graphics teams have worked closely together to create an accurate variety of Flora in our upcoming Iberia expansion for Euro Truck Simulator 2. 

As you may have guessed, the majority of the Iberian Peninsula consists of a much drier climate than we are used to seeing across the rest of mainland Europe. To best represent the drier and warmer climates, our graphic artists have created new grass textures, dry variants of these, rock textures, and desert materials. 

New models of trees including cypresses, palms, pines, dry shrubs, (as mentioned in previous blogs) olive trees, orange trees, and cork trees were also created for the upcoming DLC, to bring a variety of vegetation that exists across Spain and Portugal.

However, Iberia isn't just all desert and flat land! It may come as a surprise to some of you to find out that the peninsula is actually very rocky, so our team has created both new rock textures and models. Map designers are taking advantage of our new tools and of the fantastic work of the art team on procedurally generated rocks. This allows them to create varying rock faces along a defined curve, which will be showcased for the first time in our upcoming DLC.

You will also find that Iberia is very colourful! Much like you would see in various U.S states, Spain and Portugal feature different coloured soil and rocks. From red, yellow, and even sometimes grey, our team has done their best to capture the unique colours of each area across this enormous peninsula. 

We also wanted to provide the community with a short update regarding Iberia for Euro Truck Simulator 2. Our map teams are still working hard on adding details and more to this enormous expansion, which will then need to go through various testing phases before its release. Once we reach this stage, we will be more confident in announcing a release date for this highly anticipated DLC. 

We know that many of you are very excited for the release of Iberia, so make sure to keep an eye on our social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram) for our live-stream announcements, as we plan to hopefully visit this region in the near future. Until that point however, we thank you for your patience and support for Iberia.

We hope you enjoyed learning more about the vegetation and rocks that will feature in Iberia and we look forward to sharing even more development updates in the near future. Are you looking forward to driving in Iberia? Help support the release of this upcoming DLC by adding it to your Steam Wishlist. We thank you for your on-going support.

    

Lunar New Year Pack DLC Release

Lunar New Year is almost here! This sees the transition from the Year of the Rat to the Year of the Ox on February 12th. Traditionally, we have always released a new paint job for our Chinese Paint Jobs Pack DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2 with the current year's zodiac animal. However, this year we decided to create a new DLC pack, as the Lunar New Year is not just celebrated in China, but also in many other countries and by people around the world.

Introducing the Lunar New Year Pack DLC!

The Lunar New Year Pack DLC includes paint jobs for all 12 zodiac animal signs in the traditional red and gold colours, so no matter the year, you can always be ready to celebrate on the road! 

With the introduction of this new DLC, we have made some changes to the existing Chinese Paint Jobs Pack for Euro Truck Simulator 2. All of the current existing Lunar New Year paint jobs have been moved from their current home in the Chinese Paint Jobs pack to the new Lunar New Year Pack DLC. 

To accommodate this change, we are happy to confirm that all current owners of the Chinese Paint Jobs Pack will receive the Lunar New Year Pack DLC absolutely free!

We hope you enjoy this new addition to Euro Truck Simulator 2, and we wish you all a very happy and prosperous Lunar New Year 2021!