Exciting news! The 1.50 update for American Truck Simulator has officially rolled out and is ready for download on Steam. Packed with bug fixes, adjustments, and fresh content, this update promises an enhanced experience for all players. Check out the detailed features below and dive right in!
A huge shoutout to all who contributed, shared feedback, and reported bugs during the Experimental Beta phase. Your invaluable contributions have enabled us to fine-tune, refine, and eliminate bugs that slipped through the cracks initially. Now, it's time to reap the rewards of your collective efforts and release the 1.50 update as we have other projects (like the Nebraska DLC) coming that will be based on this version of the game. Happy trucking!
Renderer Changes - (still based on DirectX 11 API for now)
We're consistently working on improving our rendering system. It's been a key focus for us lately, and although it's a project for the long run, we already have some new content available for you. So in version 1.50, we are introducing these highly requested improvements to the graphics of our games:
- TAA, or Temporal Anti-Aliasing, sets itself apart from other anti-aliasing techniques that aim to smooth images to reduce jagged edges or flickering through higher-resolution rendering. Instead, TAA harnesses the timeline, particularly previous frames, to calculate color values as if from a higher resolution, providing a smoother result.
- Cascaded shadow changes: Smooth transition when blending between cascades, smoother and better-stabilized shadow edges.
- Soft particles: Particles and light flares smoothly fade out when near geometry, eliminating harsh intersections for a more seamless visual experience.
- Lit/shadowed smoke: Smoke particles with enhanced volume perception and shading from sunlight, providing a more realistic and immersive atmosphere.
- Far shadows: Ever-present shadows from distant large objects like factory halls, skyscrapers, and road overpasses, with the option to toggle them off in the Options menu.
- Optimized light computation: Dynamic lights are evaluated in a single pass, known as clustered lighting, improving performance in night scenes.
User Interface Rework
We are introducing substantial UI updates to enhance player interaction and accommodate more features. The redesign adopts a flatter, minimalistic design with tooltips and layered navigation, ensuring easier accessibility. For most UI screens, the visible changes are just an evolution of the previous look, though functionally, a lot of work was invested into making them work more comfortably with a gamepad or a steering wheel, requiring less time reaching for a keyboard.
The biggest change is the Home screen redesign, a new Status Bar sitting atop many various UI screens, the Quick Menu shortcuts, new fonts, icons, and much more. This results in a clearer look on 2K and 4K resolutions, with all the changes contributing to a more streamlined gaming experience.
California Rework - Phase 3
The third phase of the California rework makes its debut in the 1.50 update for American Truck Simulator, with a primary focus on central California. This region encompasses key cities starting from the north, such as San Francisco, Oakland, and Stockton, and extends southward to Santa Maria and Bakersfield, although the latter two are not included in this rework phase.
Six cities have undergone a complete rework: San Francisco, Oakland, Stockton, Santa Cruz, Huron, and Fresno. We have also added two brand-new cities, San Jose and Modesto, which will replace Oakdale in our game.
All roads in the area have received a complete overhaul, including major routes such as CA-1, US-101, I-5, CA-99, US-395, and more. The beautiful Yosemite National Park also underwent significant enhancements as part of this update! You can watch our trailer for this phase of California rework below.
International LT S13 & International LoneStar
With the 1.50 version, the International LT receives revamped interior and exterior options, and the LoneStar gets a refreshed interior. The International LT's exterior sees significant enhancements with new features, customizable options, and adjustments to existing parts, including the addition of the S13 model with its Integrated Powertrain. Additional accessories such as new chassis fairing extenders, bumper and grille options, FlowBelow fairings, blindspot detectors, and a shorter day cab chassis have been introduced.
The interiors of both trucks have also undergone a complete overhaul with new models, updated textures, customizable interior cabinets, and functioning cabin physics, fulfilling a highly requested feature. We already released a separate blog dedicated to this topic which you can read here.
Options Tooltips
Placing your mouse over each setting option will display helpful information, including explanations of what the options do. You will now effortlessly grasp the purpose of every adjustable option in the settings, enabling you to easily fine-tune your experience.
Lane Assistant
After implementing various driver assistance features, developing a lane assistant was the next step for us. This system features different modes that make it work well with various ways people control their vehicles, including steering wheels with force feedback. Now, truck drivers can enjoy simply turning it on along with adaptive cruise control, and letting the truck do more of the driving.
Western Star 49X - New Exhausts
The Western Star 49X now boasts an exclusive edition featuring specially crafted official exhaust systems for both the daycab and sleeper variants. Elevating its premium status, these exhaust shields are engraved with striking Western Star lettering, ensuring your truck makes a bold statement on the road.
Changelog
Map
- California Rework – Phase 3
Vehicles
- International LT S13
- International LoneStar (interior) and LT (exterior & interior) rework
- Lane assistant feature added
- New exhausts added for Western Star 49X
UI
- Substantial UI design update (Home screen redesign, persistent Status Bar, Quick Menu, new fonts, icons and more)
- Settings options show information about what they do
Visual
- Improvements in the rendering system
- Temporal Anti-Aliasing feature added
- Cascaded shadow updates
- Soft particles
- Lit/shadowed smoke
- Far shadows
- Optimized light computation
- Frame rate limiter added
Sound
- Brake squeaking sounds added
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