American Truck Simulator: 1.47 - World Ambient Sounds

As you might remember, last year, a small team from SCS Software traveled to the USA. However, visiting expos and researching areas were not the only tasks on our agenda. Members from our sound team also traveled along to record a number of new environmental and ambient sounds for the world of American Truck Simulator. Today we wanted to share with you a glimpse into the development of some of those sounds that will be coming in the next 1.47 update! 

As we continue to make sounds more immersive across our truck sim world, one big change we have made for this update is introducing sound scatter technology through FMOD for our virtual environment. So what does this mean for players? It means you'll now notice a variety of SFX coming from different directions and distances, on top of our base 5.1 sound layer, which has an existing basic environmental loop from a specific place. For example, you may be sitting at a rest area in the quiet Texas plains, hearing the chirping of crickets, but you'll hear them at various distances, some further away, some closer! 

This change not only applies to nature but also in the city too. From the sound of distant highway traffic to a nearby police siren, these sounds will not only vary in intensity and location, but also change depending if you are parked or traveling at low or high speed; where you'll experience the doppler effect. Sounds will also vary depending on the day and night cycle. 

This new sound system allows players to always hear different sounds as they travel through the environment. Hundreds of these sound spots will be included in this first update, so the variety of sounds will be quite noticeable.

Another change we are introducing is a direction filter for trucks. Where applicable, we have included sound engine equalization in the sound system, which works according to your current camera view. For example, if you are using a camera behind the truck, you will hear a change in sound according to that view. The effect is most audible when you are able to watch your truck drive past but the camera remains stationary. 

We are excited to bring these changes in the future. Keep in mind, this is just the first implementation when it comes to sounds. This year will be another busy schedule of recording for our team, and we look forward to bringing more updates in due time. 

Until then, keep an ear out for more news in the future about sounds, we love to hear your thoughts on this topic.