Convoy - Community Spotlight

With the recent release of the Convoy feature for ATS and ETS2, our social media channels have witnessed an avalanche of absolutely incredible photos and videos from your first multiplayer journeys, in which you and your friends were taking on the same jobs and delivering cargo together. It’s difficult to simply express with words how much we appreciate this kind of feedback, since in the end, whatever we do we are doing for the happiness of our #BestCommunityEver. 

What you will see here is just a small selection of videos we have laid our eyes on and there is much more here and here. Feel free to keep sending us pictures and videos on our social media - Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and we’ll make sure to check them out as well!

In addition to screenshots and videos, quite often there are developers who are watching the ETS2 and ATS categories on Twitch, so the streamers certainly do not have to feel left out.

We also immensely value the amount of positive feedback we have received for the update in comment sections and on our forums. We know you have been waiting to drive together with your friends for a long time, so do not be afraid and start a Convoy session yourself or jump into an already created one and work together with your fellow truckers in this awesome new multiplayer experience!

Wyoming - Farms & Agriculture

Agriculture has been an integral part of every human society for thousands of years and it is truly exceptional how this practice of cultivating plants and livestock remains just as important to this very day. For Wyoming, modern farming is a key component in the overall economy of the state. Let’s take a closer look at the Cowboy State and examine why the previous statement is true and along the way show you multiple new screenshots from the upcoming map expansion as well!

In Wyoming, agriculture is one of the top three industries (along with minerals and tourism) and it contributes approximately $2 billion per year to the state’s economy. The local cattle industry dates back to the middle 1800­'s and in the following hundred years, cattle ranching became one of the most noteworthy businesses with Cheyenne becoming a world trade center for cattle. It is due to the state’s vegetation in the grasslands and mountains that livestock cultivation is able to thrive.

With more than eleven thousand farms producing commodities across the state and over thirty million acres of farmland, the importance of the industry is truly difficult to miss. Interestingly enough, land-related to agriculture takes up about fifty-five percent of the total land in Wyoming, with wheat contributing the highest production value out of all other crops.

As always, don’t forget to add the map expansion to your Steam Wishlist and you’ll be able to stay in touch with all the latest news regarding the upcoming Wyoming DLC.

Wyoming - Weigh Stations

There are so many pieces in a trucker’s life that all fit together like a perfectly-built puzzle. From driving on the road to passing by various landmarks, there are certain aspects you simply cannot leave out. One of those elements are undoubtedly the weigh stations. Today we will take a look at some of these locations that will be featured in the upcoming Wyoming DLC.

While the function of weigh stations remains unchanged and they may even seem trivial to some, to others they have become well known and unique places. Echo Point of Entry may certainly be remembered for its rich history and unique design. Not only was this particular station constructed before the famous Interstate 80 was built, the support of commercial vehicles in this area dates back all the way to 1952. But the story with I-80 doesn’t end here, as you will also have a chance to stop by for an inspection at the Evanston I-80 Point of Entry!

There will be several more weigh stations situated throughout Wyoming, and while some of them may not draw their power from history or their architectural value, stopping at Alpine Point of Entry, for example, will leave you in awe purely due to the marvelous mountains nearby. On the contrary, Cheyenne I-25 Point of Entry will give you the opportunity to see far into the distance thanks to its surrounding prairies. 

We hope you have enjoyed this peek at some of the weigh stations that will be arriving in Wyoming DLC. If you did, make sure to put some "weight" on the Steam Wishlist button and you’ll always be in touch with any news regarding the new map expansion.

We're Back to the (New) Office Space!

It feels like it has been forever since we last had our teams working in our offices located in Prague. However, last week we were happy to welcome back a large portion of our teams back with the exciting addition of a new office space for our Vehicle and QA teams! 

While we are still keeping safety in mind with the necessary restrictions and rules in place to protect each other, we are all so happy to see each other in-person again; rather than over an online video call. 

During our time working from home, we continued to hire new talent into our teams as we further speed up and expand the development process of both Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator. 

This meant we had lots of new faces which we haven't yet had the chance to meet in person, plus, a lot of moving in to do when they arrived in the office for the first time. To celebrate this special moment we took the opportunity to open our new office space, which is located in the same building but on a different floor to our current main office space.

The new space will accommodate the Vehicle and QA teams for now, and hopefully many more in the future! And we made sure to make it feel as fresh and modern as the one upstairs! With a new small kitchen, pool table, trucking-inspired designs, and more. We believe it will make a great and comfortable place to work for all our colleagues. 

And we are not done growing! We are always looking for new members to join our team here at SCS Software. From 3D artists to Programmers and more; why not take a moment to check out our open positions? We have a wide range of job openings based here in our offices in Prague, each coming with numerous benefits including relocation if you decide to move from abroad. There has never been a better time to join our team and you can check out all the information you need to know at our SCS Software job offers page.

We look forward to bringing more exciting development updates and news from the office in the future here on our official blog and our social media channels. 

Idaho Spuds Event

We are celebrating the 1st anniversary since our Idaho DLC release, by highlighting its famous potato industry. So, we’re inviting our #BestCommunityEver to join us in hauling Idaho Spuds - our latest World of Trucks event! The community goal is to achieve 200,000 deliveries of either Potatoes or the The Big Idaho Potato; we’ve gone all out to faithfully reproduce this famous truck and trailer, used to advertise and praise Idaho potatoes throughout the United States.

The goal here is simply to have fun #HaulingSpuds and maybe grab a few rewards on the way. We’re sure you’re gonna like what you find. And yes, you can even haul Potatoes cargo using your own trailer in the external market, The Big Idaho Potato, however, is in External contracts only.

Not only do we have the trailer but we've also added the genuine Kenworth T680 paint job to accompany The Big Idaho Potato cargo, available in the game, and we can’t wait to see your pics as you make your deliveries. Don't forget to tag our and The Big Idaho Potato social media profiles (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) too to let them know how much do you like hauling their pride around!

We're also giving 2 special rewards for completing your personal goal which will require 6 deliveries of Potatoes plus 1 more delivery of The Big Idaho Potato, from any of Idaho’s cities.

This event is a chance to be part of the Potato industry which means so very much to so many people, not only in Idaho and not only in the U.S. but all over the world. I mean, who on earth doesn't enjoy a beautifully roasted spud?! So have fun, Haul them Spuds, and see you on the road!

We are aware some truckers are having some difficulty in finding their Potatoes cargo, so we have added the cities to help out. You can find jobs for these cargoes in the cities of Grangeville, Boise, Nampa, Twin Falls and Pocatello in Idaho! 

Rules:

Using External Contracts or External Market, with a World of Trucks-connected profile in American Truck Simulator, the community goal is to achieve 200,000 deliveries of either Potatoes cargo or the event-specific, The Big Idaho Potato cargo, from any city in Idaho.

When a player completes 6 deliveries of Potatoes cargo and 1 delivery of the event-specific The Big Idaho Potato cargo, from any city in Idaho, it will complete their personal goal.

Note:

• The Big Idaho Potato cargo is only available from External Contracts.
• Potatoes cargo is available from External Contracts or External Market.

All jobs for the event need to be 100 miles each (161 km) or more.

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

Rewards:

• Personal goal: Individual player contributions of 6 deliveries of Potatoes cargo and 1 delivery of The Big Idaho Potato cargo, from any Idaho city, will gain that player a personal World of Trucks Achievement, and 2 Steam inventory items for their cabin. A yummy Wooden Bowl of fresh crisp potato chips, and an attractive, Idaho unique, Giant Salamander Sticker.
  

• Community goal: When the community goal of achieving 200,000 deliveries of either Potatoes cargo or The Big Idaho Potato cargo, from any city in Idaho is met, and if the player has also achieved their personal goal then they will receive 2 Steam inventory items for their cabin. A specially designed Idaho Nights Air Freshener, and a cute Idaho Potato Sticker.

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

The event will be concluded on Sunday the 15th of August at 23:59 UTC.

Euro Truck Simulator 2: 1.41 Release

With lots of testing, feedback, fixing, and fine-tuning, we are excited to announce the highly anticipated arrival of update 1.41 for Euro Truck Simulator 2.

We'd like to thank all those who took part in the 1.41 Open Beta, made bug reports, and provided general feedback on this new version. We hope you can now begin to fully enjoy the various new features which are included within this update. 

So, what can you find in the 1.41 update for ETS2?  Let's take a closer look!

Convoy Multiplayer

Convoy is a new multiplayer game mode, where players can set up and host their own private sessions (password optional) to drive with their friends or other fellow truckers. There is currently support for synchronized AI traffic, time and weather, and the ability to take the same job as other players.

Convoy allows you to create and host an online session with up to 8 players. We plan to eventually raise the player limit in the future, however, we are keeping it small at this time due to its work-in-progress nature. Session hosts will automatically be made admins of these sessions, allowing them to ultimately control what kind of environment they want to have online, as well as having the ability to kick any trouble-makers from the session. 

You can also see, filter, browse and eventually join any of the available sessions that have already been created by your friends or other truckers.

So what options and features will players be able to use and experience in Convoy? 

• Any player can host and create their own private sessions for up to 8 people
• Ability to haul the same contracts/jobs together from the same company and to the same destination
• Synchronized AI traffic (random events included)
• Synchronized time and weather
• Synchronized paint jobs, truck accessories, cabin accessories, cargoes and more
• Ability to communicate with other drivers via CB radio broadcast (X key), quick replies (Q key), or text chat (Y key)

We know how many players are eager to try out this new feature; however, there are some things you will need to know before joining your friends on the road!

Notable issues / not yet implemented:

• Mods in Convoy mode are not supported in the initial release.
• AI vehicles might disappear when a player disconnects.
• Lifting bridges are not synchronized. They will be stationary for the initial release of Convoy.
• Steam invites work only through the Steam overlay.
• CB radio broadcast (hotkey "X") interferes with the text input line.

Worried about your profile progress? In-case of trouble-makers or other circumstances out of your control, players will have the option to revert their savefile to one made previously before joining the session. From friends to VTC's, we are excited to see how you will enjoy Convoy and we look forward to hearing your constructive feedback on this new online feature.

A24 Iberia DLC Addition

Today, we are happy to bring a new piece of the road network to the latest map expansion for ETS2. This update to Iberia includes the Autoestrada A24 which runs north to south across the Douro river valley, connecting A7 and A25. It passes through a very scenic region of Portugal, famous for its many vineyards. 

Originally, this road was considered for release with Iberia DLC, but we did not manage to complete it in time. We decided to finish A24 anyway and bring it to you in an update, as we did not want to leave this beautiful part of Portugal behind!

Our teams are listening to feedback and making changes accordingly for upcoming updates and beyond. We look forward to bringing you similar development news in the near future, be sure to keep your suggestions and feedback coming as it really helps motivate us to improve our content.

Photo Mode: Time & Weather options

We know how much our players love to take photos in-game and spend a lot of time creating that perfect shot, and for many, this also includes finding the right lighting conditions and weather. So to help create that perfect trucking memory, we have implemented a new feature that may save you quite a bit of time when it comes to using console commands! 

Introducing the new Time and Weather options! Players will now be able to choose the conditions of their liking, to create the perfect trucking snap just by simply adjusting a new slider to change the time, or clicking on two buttons to control the lighting/weather, all of which will appear in the updated in-game photo studio. We can't wait to see how drivers will use this new feature in the future and we look forward to seeing your snaps! 

Changelog:

Gameplay:

• Convoy Multiplayer
• Time and weather adjustments in photo mode
• Quick Travel

Map 

• A-24 Duoro Road Addition to Iberia DLC
• Iberia map fixes 
• Various road signs reskinned across Europe
• Navigation sign reflection fix

UI

• New icons on the map legend