Thursday, July 28, 2022

Euro Truck Simulator 2: 1.45 Update Release

We are happy to share with you that the 1.45 update has now been released for Euro Truck Simulator 2. This update features quite a few changes, so we recommend reading through them all!

We'd like to thank everyone who participated, provided their feedback, and made bug reports during the Open Beta of 1.45. Your valuable input helped us make tweaks, changes and smash some bugs we may have missed the first time around. We hope you can now begin to fully enjoy the various new features which are included in this update.

Hanover Rework 

The city of Hannover has been given a fresh look and has been completely reworked for 1.45! Similar to the Austria rework, we have more-or-less deleted the entire city and started from scratch. The city circle has been moved, although we have also done our best to keep as much from it as possible. 

That’s not the case with the city center and southern part, however, as these areas now feature a completely different layout with a new economy, which actually consists of some unique depots in the world of ETS2.

One of the most unique areas arriving in this rework will be the very famous Hannover Messe - one of the world’s largest trade halls and also one of our biggest challenges due to the fact that the part that we are adding is almost in 1:1 scale. Dedicated to the topic of industry development, trucks and trailers always take the spotlight during the IAA event, which is an exhibition for commercial vehicles and a chance for brands to showcase their constant technological advancements and evolution. 

Perhaps this area might come in handy later this year, who knows? We look forward to you exploring this reworked area in this update. Read more about it in one of our previous dedicated blogposts.

Ownable Tank Trailers

We are also happy to share with you another long-awaited addition coming to the selection of purchasable trailers - ownable tank trailers!

For now, we will be adding two different types of tank trailers to our games - Fuel Tanks and Silos (Dry Bulk trailers). Both types will have different customization options and uses. And don’t worry, we plan on bringing more versions of this trailer to you in the future!

The fuel tanks in Euro Truck Simulator 2 will be used for the transportation of combustible liquids. For silos, you will be able to deliver a number of bulk materials with them, for example, sand, concrete, or grain. Silo trailers will feature a selection of 4 connection types (Single, Double, B-double, HCT).

We are incredibly excited to see you hauling these new cistern trailers in your company and how you will customize them! You can read more about ownable Tank Trailers and what you will be able to customize over in our previous dedicated blogpost. 

Krone Trailers Pack DLC Update

Owners of the Krone Trailer Pack DLC will receive two new trailers as part of a free update, the new Profi Liner Building trailer, and the Paper Liner trailer. These new three-axle trailers will both come with lift axles. So what can be hauled with these new trailers? 

The Krone Paper Liner curtainsider trailer is used to haul standard cargo and Krone's updated Profi Liner Building Material drop side trailer allows drivers to transport goods such as seed bags, fertilizer, plant substrate, outdoor floor tiles, roof tiles, and bricks. You will also find a new freight market cargo for the Boxliner, which consists of two stacked Box Liner chassis for hauling! 


Both trailers also come with optional accessories including original Krone paint jobs, side skirts, pallet boxes, tire stores, and bumpers. This update also includes five new Krone accessories for your cabin including cute bear and truck toys. but that's not all!

We have also worked closely with the fantastic team at Krone to bring you a detailed representation of the Krone production plant virtually in Euro Truck Simulator 2.  Drivers who own the Krone Trailers Pack DLC will have the opportunity to deliver parts to and from the factory as well as deliver brand new trailers from the Krone Trailer Point within the production plant where they are rolled off the line!

You can read more details about this update at our previously dedicated blogposts on the subject.

Custom City Intros for Austria & Hanover 

A new experimental feature that we have introduced for players is custom city introductions. These special cutscenes will appear when a player selects a starting city when creating a new profile. 

For now, these custom city introductions will only be shown for cities in Austria and the city of Hanover in Germany. We would love to hear your feedback on this new feature and gauge your opinions if you believe this would be an interesting new addition for new players to see; be sure to let us know on our official forums, we would appreciate your comments!

JOST Fifth Wheels

JOST has been manufacturing fifth wheel coupling devices globally since 1956. They submitted the patent for the very first steel cast fifth wheel coupling, and have continued their dedication to innovation ever since. 

We are excited to bring this leader in the truck industry to our simulation titles as we plan to replace all non-branded fifth wheels in Euro Truck Simulator 2 with JOST branded 5th wheels. Each truck brand will receive several different 5th wheel models (one for each chassis type). 

This will be done in two phases, the first of which is now available. 1.45 includes JOST fifth wheels on the MAN TGX Euro 6, Mercedes-Benz New Actros, Renault T, Scania Next-Gen S, Scania Next-Gen R, and Volvo FH 2012. 

We hope you will enjoy this new addition to our upcoming 1.45 update, we can't wait to see you hooking up your trailers and trucking safely with JOST behind you.

Optional Mods Support for Convoy

One feature our teams have been working on for Convoy, our in-game multiplayer, is support for missing modifications. We recognize that many players do play with third-party modifications created by our talented community, but we also understand that not everyone would like to download all the required modifications to join a friend's convoy session.

Thus, our team have come up with a solution to allow you to join Convoy sessions without the need to have all of the required modifications of the host's session. There will be options to opt-in, both on the server's and client's side to enable this if you choose to use this. In most cases, the session will not display the modification that is missing, however in some cases, such as if a player is using a vehicle that you do not have, it will show as a coloured placeholder box instead that replicates its size. 

If you are a modder in our community, please note that your modification must be tagged as "mp_mod_optional" to be recognised as a MOD that can be ignored by a convoy server that allow for missing optional MODs.

Rain Sensor

When you are out travelling on the road for a while, you are bound to come across a bit of rain at times. Whether it's just a short passing rain shower or a full on storm, it's important for drivers to stay safe while driving on the road during variable weather conditions. 

One of the more common safety features found on vehicles today is Rain Sensors! This nifty piece of technology does exactly what it says on the box, it detects the density of the rain and in turn, adjusts the speed of the wipers for you. This feature is active when you set the wipers of your vehicle to the first position. 

This new feature will be available as an option that you can choose to enable on the settings page. So next time you are driving towards some liquid sunshine, you won't have to worry about adjusting your wipers. 

Option to hide inaccessible road markers

Another new UI option that we are introducing in this update is the ability to show or hide the X markers which mark inaccessible/undriveable roads for the player. This new option may make the game feel more immersive for some drivers, however we do urge players to take care and follow the correct route, as the invisible barriers which stop you from driving down these areas will still exist and appear for a short time if you hit them!


We hope that you will enjoy this small addition which we know many of you from our community have been requesting for a long time!

Changelog

Map

Gameplay

  • Optional MOD Support for Convoys
  • Custom City Intros for Austria and Hanover
  • Rain Sensor Option
  • Option to hide inaccessible road markers


Vehicles

  • Ownable Cistern Trailers (Silo and Fuel Tank)
  • Krone Paper Liner, Krone Profi Liner Building, more Krone toys (requires Krone Trailer Pack DLC)
  • JOST Fifth Wheel Phase 1 implementation 

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Big In Montana + Yellowstone National Park

Did you know that one of the nicknames for Montana is "Big Sky Country"? While the state has earned this name for the seemingly infinite and unobstructed local skyline, we also have some BIG news for you today, which might just turn things upside down for a moment while driving through the roads of this upcoming DLC.

As is often the case with the release of the new expansions, we will be introducing brand new Special Transport missions with the Montana DLC. These jobs were designed with the intention of providing you with an additional challenge and enhancing your trucking experience. Our team has managed to create these four routes that you can look forward to taking head-on:

Havre to Lewiston
Thompson Falls to Kalispell
Laurel to Glendive
Butte to Bozeman

Also, we know that since the release of Wyoming DLC you’ve probably been wondering if we’re eventually going to further extend any road leading through this amazing national park. We are glad to inform you that after the addition of US-14 in the 1.45 game update, in Montana DLC we are extending the US-191 road which will lead from Wyoming through West Yellowstone village to Bozeman, and it will further open up the possibility of one day having the entire Yellowstone area fully represented within our game.

And even though the Glacier National Park is still most likely the main local natural attraction, we hope our representation of this part of the Yellowstone National Park will still give you plenty of opportunities to look around and enjoy the wonderful nature.

What do you think? Will you set out on a journey from Wyoming to Montana, or vice versa, through this lovely park? We sure hope so! And if you haven’t done so yet, make sure to add the Montana DLC to your Steam Wishlist, and if you don’t want to risk missing out on any new information about the map expansion, follow our social media profiles (TwitterInstagramFacebookTikTok), subscribe to our newsletter, or check out our Montana microsite.

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

American Truck Simulator: 1.45 Update Release

We are happy to share with you that the 1.45 update has now been released for American Truck Simulator. This update features quite a few changes, so we recommend reading through them all!

We'd like to thank everyone who participated, provided their feedback, and made bug reports during the Open Beta of 1.45. Your valuable input helped us make tweaks, and changes and smash some bugs we may have missed the first time around. We hope you can now begin to fully enjoy the various new features which are included in this update.

Cody + US-14 Wyoming DLC Addition

A much-requested update to the Wyoming DLC from our community has arrived with 1.45, which includes the additions of the city of Cody and the US-14! 

Self-proclaimed as the “Rodeo Capital of the World”, Cody offers drivers the chance to see famous landmarks and attractions such as the Buffalo Bills visitor center and the Rodeo Stadium; and that's not all! Drivers will also be able to discover and deliver to new industries in Cody, a Truck Trailer service, and a Waste Transfer Station too, which are a small taste of what you can expect to find in the upcoming Montana DLC

Cody is also known for being the gateway to the Yellowstone National Park, located 52 miles from the east entrance to the country's first national park, which also brings us onto the US-14. Beginning at the east entrance to the Yellowstone National Park is U.S Route 14, one of the original United States highways of 1926.


Drivers will have plenty to see on their drive on US-14, including the Buffalo Bill Reservoir and Dam, Pahashka Teepee, and of course, the stunning scenery and natural beauty that Yellowstone offers its millions of visitors every year. 


We can't wait for you to explore it for yourselves. The Cody + US 14 update comes free for current and future owners of the Wyoming DLC for American Truck Simulator as part of the 1.45 update.

Ownable Tank Trailers

We are also happy to share with you another long-awaited addition coming to the selection of purchasable trailers - ownable trailers!

For now, we will be adding two different types of tank trailers into our games - Fuel Tanks and Silos (Dry Bulk trailer). Both types will have different customization options and uses. And don’t worry, we plan on bringing more versions of this trailer to you in the future!

The fuel tanks in American Truck Simulator will be used for the transportation of combustible liquids. They will feature 6 connection types (Single, Double, B-double, Rocky Mountain Double, Turnpike Double, Triple) and 2 different customizable body types (Single drain pipe, 4-way drain pipes)

Silos will also be an addition to ATS and you will be able to deliver a number of bulk materials with them, for example, sand, concrete, or grain. Apart from having 5 connection types (Single, Double, B-double, Rocky mountain double, turnpike double) and a single body type (Classic), it will have plenty of customization options as well.

Gas & Truck Stops Rebranding

We've revisited 6 of the brands which we've used for in-game truck stops and gas stations which have been present since the game's release in 2016. Originally our resources for the environment and brand creation were much more limited compared to our current amazing team of dedicated 2D artists and talent at our disposal, which now allows us to add so much more detail to the game world.

As many of you might have seen originally from our concept art from the Texas and Montana DLC microsites, these new designs bring a fresh, modern, and more realistic look to gas stations and truck stops, wouldn't you agree? 

We hope you enjoy seeing these newly rebranded areas on your travels throughout American Truck Simulator. Let us know which one is your favourite via our Social Media Channels! 

Optional Mods Support for Convoy

One feature our teams have been working on for Convoy, our in-game multiplayer, is support for missing modifications. We recognise that many players do play with third party modifications created by our talented community, but we also understand that not everyone would like to download all the required modifications to join a friend's convoy session.

Thus, our team have come up with a solution to allow you to join Convoy sessions without the need to have all of the required modifications of the host's session. There will be options to opt-in, both on the server's and client's side to enable this if you choose to use this. In most cases, the session will not display the modification that is missing, however in some cases, such as if a player is using a vehicle that you do not have, it will show as a coloured placeholder box instead that replicates its size. 

If you are a modder in our community, please note that your modification must be tagged as "mp_mod_optional" to be recognised as a MOD that can be ignored by a convoy server that allow for missing optional MODs.


Rain Sensor

When you are out travelling on the road for a while, you are bound to come across a bit of rain at times. Whether it's just a short passing rain shower or a full-on storm, it's important for drivers to stay safe while driving on the road during variable weather conditions. 

One of the more common safety features found on vehicles today are Rain Sensors! This nifty piece of technology does exactly what it says on the box, it detects the density of the rain and in turn, adjusts the speed of the wipers for you. This feature is active when you set the wipers of your vehicle to the first position. 

This new feature will be available as an option that you can choose to enable on the settings page. So next time you are driving towards some liquid sunshine, you won't have to worry about adjusting your wipers.

Option to hide inaccessible road markers 

Another new UI option that we are introducing in this update is the ability to show or hide the X markers which mark inaccessible/undriveable roads for the player. This new option may make the game feel more immersive for some drivers, however, we do urge players to take care and follow the correct route, as the invisible barriers which stop you from driving down these areas will still exist and appear for a short time if you hit them!


We hope that you will enjoy this small addition which we know many of you from our community have been requesting for a long time!

Changelog

Map

  • Cody + US-14 Addition to Wyoming DLC 
  • Gas & Truck Stops Rebranding

Gameplay

  • Optional MOD Support for Convoys
  • Rain Sensor Option
  • Option to hide inaccessible road markers

Vehicles 
  • Ownable Cistern Trailers (Dry Bulk and Fuel Tank)