SCS Software's blog: ETS2/ATS 1.42 Release

Thursday, October 21, 2021

ETS2/ATS 1.42 Release

We are excited to announce the arrival of update 1.42 for both Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator!

We'd like to thank all those who took part in the 1.42 Open Beta, made bug reports, and provided general feedback on this new version. Whilst our updates usually feature many new changes, this update is focused more on introducing a new and substantial feature to our Convoy online multiplayer mode alongside some smaller updates and general fixes.

So without further ado, let's take a look at what the 1.42 update has in store!

Convoy MOD Support

Support for third-party modifications in Convoy was a very frequent request from our community when we first released our multiplayer mode. Since then, our teams have made it a high priority on their list to support the use of MODs.

However, this was not an easy task for our team, especially when it came to the challenge of profile recovery when a crucial MOD is removed or changed, and visualizing what MODs are missing from the Steam Workshop when players join a server that contains modifications. We have done our best to overcome these hurdles; however, there may be a few things that might need tweaking and changing before we are fully satisfied with the results.

We have also created a completely new UI to accommodate MOD support. When you enter the session browser, you will see a new section on the right side listing the MOD compatibility requirements for the server. We have also included new icons for servers to let you know which servers have MODs enabled and which do not.

Session names in screenshots are blurred for privacy reasons.

Previously, next to the server session, we indicated if you could or could not join the server using a red or green icon depending on if the session was full or due to problems with map compatibility or even with different game version numbers. We have now introduced an orange icon, which indicates you cannot join the server now, but via the new MOD synchronization UI, you can download the missing modifications and join then!

If a modification is missing and it is available via the Steam Workshop, you will be able to download it via the Steam browser which will be overlaid in-game, so you do not need to exit the game to subscribe to it. This will be accessible via a new window that opens when you try to join a session where you have some missing MODs. This window will show you all your currently active modifications on the left side and all the modifications the server is using on the right side.

Session names in screenshots are blurred for privacy reasons.

If the server is using a modification that is NOT available on the Steam Workshop and downloaded via a third-party site, then you will need to source the modification yourself. Unfortunately, our system will not be able to check what version of the modification the server has or where it is sourced. Once you have everything required by the server, the confirm button will become available and you will be able to join the session.

We expect a majority of popular modifications to work from the get-go with this update, however, there may be some compatibility issues with others.

At this time, a convoy session will only allow for a maximum of 70 modifications during a session. We understand that a smaller percentage of our community may use more than this number and we will continue to monitor feedback made across our social media channels to tweak and make adjustments in the future if we see it necessary.

MOD authors please be aware that some modifications will require some adjustments to work properly in Convoy. Sound modifications will be heard locally by the user, but other players will not hear them as remote trucks use a simpler soundbank (or they may just hear default truck sounds) if the modification is not configured to do so. Vehicles, Trailers, and Cargo modifications must also include proper traffic models for other players to see and interact with.

Our teams will continue working hard to overcome the difficulties that may come with using third-party modifications in the convoy mode. Your help and contributions during the Open Beta have been extremely valuable to our teams, so please continue to submit your bug reports and feedback onto the appropriate sections of our forums (ETS2/ATS).

We look forward to seeing the many wonderful and creative MODs that will be used whilst convoying together with friends! We also plan to release a new FAQ in the future with more up-to-date information as we continue to work on the Convoy feature. You can find our first Convoy FAQ blog here, which answers the community's most popular questions!

Third-party modifications were used to create illustrative screenshots for this blog article. By choosing these publicly available MODs to make such screenshots we make no claim or endorsement of any kind that these MODs or their authors are officially supported, recognized, preferred, or recommended by SCS Software.

Force Feedback Update

1.42 also brings an update to our Force Feedback profiles for steering wheels and controllers which are compatible with Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator.

The new FFB has been written from scratch and utilizes a 120 Hz refresh rate, independent from the main game loop. It combines some of the old artificial effects with the new centering and tire friction force feedback, which is based on real calculations from forces on the first steering axle and simulates the behavior of a hydraulic steering gear system used in most of today's trucks. This brings a more realistic and immersive feedback experience for our players!

We highly recommended resetting your Force Feedback settings to their new defaults.

We recently released a detailed FAQ blog about this update which answers some of your most asked questions about this update and goes more into depth about the topic of this update. If you missed that, you can take a read of that here!