Road Trip: Meet the Team

Today, we'd like to introduce you to some of our colleagues who are working on the Road Trip expansion for American Truck Simulator, which will bring some legendary passenger cars to the game. If you're looking forward to cruising the roads of ATS in a car, make sure to add the Ford Car Pack and the RAM & Dodge Car Pack to your Steam wishlist! And now, let's meet the team, see what they are working on, and what you can look forward to in this project.

In this blog, we'll introduce you to the core Road Trip team, the people bringing together work from multiple departments, as well as members of our Vehicle team who are responsible for creating the car models. Road Trip is a large project involving far more than just vehicle modeling. Our game design team, programmers working on physics, and many other departments are all playing a crucial role in bringing it to life.

So be sure to keep an eye on our blog, as we plan to take you behind the scenes of these other teams' work in a future Under the Hood blog, where we'll explore the work that goes into Road Trip beyond the cars themselves.

Miňo - Producer

"I joined SCS three years ago as an asset producer primarily on the California Rework. After a year and a half, I moved to the general producers department, and Road Trip was assigned to me shortly after. Thanks to Road Trip, I have the opportunity to collaborate with the most experienced developers across SCS and push things forward. Project Road Trip is a big challenge; practically the entire company is involved in it, and it is not always easy to agree on all the features. However, I am part of a great team that can deal with everything that comes our way. I really like this. I'm looking forward not only to the release but also to the possibilities it will bring to the entire SCS in the future."

Nicole - Assistant Producer

"I'm still quite new to the SCS family, having joined exactly half a year ago. My role is to support Miňo and the team with everything that needs to be taken care of, alongside the many other responsibilities that come with the role. Thanks to my background in Game Design, I'm also involved in working on the new Exploration feature, which I'm incredibly excited about. What excites me most about Road Trip is the sense of discovery and freedom it brings, and I believe players will truly enjoy exploring the significance of the places represented on the map. I'm very grateful to be working with such talented and supportive people, and I'm looking forward to learning, growing, and gaining new experiences."

Dubak - Project Map Lead

"I have been working at SCS Software for over 8 years and currently hold the position of Map DLC Lead for American Truck Simulator. As Map DLC Lead, I am responsible for the Special Transport project for ATS, the development of the Illinois DLC, and the map part of the Road Trip project. As part of the Road Trip project, I am involved in consultations, preparation, and the actual creation of map content - from design to implementation of everything needed for this project. Players can look forward not only to new vehicles but also to a completely new type of gaming experience. It will offer the opportunity to discover not only the natural beauty of America, but also the grandeur of its cities from the perspective of a passenger car."

Patrik - ATS Map Technical Lead

"My role on Road Trip was to put new triggers and Road Trip-specific gas stations into the map. Mainly at the beginning, when we were not 100% sure whether we were going to keep any of that, as it was early in development, and we were searching for the best practices that would be ideally sustainable in the map for the future. My sandbox was Oregon and Washington, where we tested various approaches to gas station density and discovery trigger density. When we found the right compromise, I wrote a manual for map designers (Dubak and Pavel) who would join later on to follow an already-tuned pipeline. They also tuned a few things in the pipeline as well, that's development."

Pavel - Project Map Designer

"I have been with SCS for over five years and started as a map designer, which is still my current position. What I enjoy most about being a map designer is that I can create places for players to drive their trucks through - places they often wouldn't be able to experience in real life. Later, I helped out with the Road Trip project, where I worked on new gas stations and various rest stops where players can take a break. I think Road Trip will give players a unique experience driving across the US, if only because they get to go and enjoy places they wouldn't normally visit while hauling cargo. With a different perspective from a car, players really have something to look forward to."

Michal - Senior Programmer

"I have been with the company for six years. From the very beginning, I have been working on game features and closely collaborating with designers, which is the part of my job I enjoy the most. I like discussing game design, exploring possible solutions, and developing new ideas that help push the gameplay forward. I previously worked on Driving Academy and currently work on the Road Trip project, which is larger and more demanding, making it an even bigger and more enjoyable challenge."

Hynek - Programmer

"When I went to study mathematics, I didn't expect I could become a game programmer. I am very glad I did, since it is a place where you can solve difficult problems, but at the same time collaborate on something fun and creative. At SCS, I'm responsible mainly for gameplay features and making diverse interactive parts of the game world move, including AI vehicles, gates, and dynamic cargo loading. Working on Road Trip is very exciting, since we are creating something of a whole new game inside ATS. I hope that you will enjoy it."

Mjack - Senior Programmer

"I have been working at SCS Software for more than 15 years, during which time I’ve taken part in solving a wide range of technical challenges across our games. I focus mainly on the traffic system and various gameplay features, helping to shape a smooth and immersive experience for our players. On the Road Trip project, I'm involved in integrating and supporting features specific to this project, contributing my experience from design to implementation. It's rewarding to see these ideas come together and become part of the gameplay that players can enjoy on the road."

Jiří - Project Tester

"My journey at SCS started just two years ago, but my experience with how the world of video games works goes much further back. I'm the classic example of a gamer who spends a lot of his free time playing different games and expanding his knowledge of what developers are currently bringing into the gaming industry. In Road Trip, my role is to help deliver the best and most authentic experience possible for our players through testing, providing feedback, opening discussions, and sometimes even questioning things that may be missing or not working as intended. The addition of passenger vehicles also interests me as a player, so I'm really looking forward to the final result, which I'll happily launch at home on my own PC, and hopefully, together we'll be able to say: GG & WP, SCS!"

Anton - Junior Game Designer

"I initially joined the Road Trip project as a senior researcher and later took on the role of game designer. My main task was to create a new gameplay loop focused on exploration, which is an exciting but challenging goal. How do you make exploration engaging rather than tedious, especially in an open world with years of map development behind it? Drawing on my background in English and American literature, I wanted to design a gameplay system that offers players a new way of experiencing the landscapes of American Truck Simulator and evokes something of the spirit found in the writing of Walt Whitman or Henry David Thoreau. I hope the result captures this sense of freedom and fascination with the world, and perhaps something more as well. I would like to thank the Road Trip team for their collaboration and for the opportunity to work together on exploring new directions for the game."

Martin - Senior 3D Graphic Designer - Vehicle

"I have been working on the project since the very beginning. My role on Road Trip consisted of several things, from the initial vision on vehicle selection and cooperation with Oscar, our Chief Partnership Officer, to the selection of vehicles to fit the idea and needs for the project. What I personally enjoyed the most was the phase in which we searched for vehicles that were original and correct for data collection, being in cooperation with the production team, providing my automotive know-how, seeing the vehicles in real-life during data gathering sessions, communicating with the owners, doing research, and especially reading historic materials about the older vehicles."

"I have been around cars all my life, so I have perhaps brought some of my own impression of what I imagine under the term Road Trip, and American automotive culture in general, to the project. I hope that players will enjoy driving in Road Trip and also in the 1967 Ford Mustang, on which I spent a lot of time studying and on its creation. It's as if SCS created this project for me as a reward. Cars are my passion, especially sports cars and historic ones, mostly the American ones! I love this culture and the historical and technological aspects of it, plus the development."

Daniel - Vehicle Technical Leader

"I have been working at SCS for almost 13 years, during which I have held several roles, ranging from 3D Generalist and 3D Vehicle Artist to Vehicle Team Lead. I eventually found my place in the role of Vehicle Technical Leader, where I can best combine my experience with internal workflows, artistic skills, technical insight, and a pragmatic approach to problem-solving. On the Road Trip project, I am responsible for cooperating with programmers on designing how car models are integrated into the engine, as well as implementing new features and improvements that are appearing in our games for the first time. I particularly enjoyed working on the design and implementation of improved vehicle interior materials to better reflect real-world materials, which I initiated as part of this project. I greatly appreciate the positive approach of SCS' management when I proposed these visual improvements. I believe we achieved strong results with minimal impact on the game's hardware requirements, and I hope that our players will appreciate that all the improvements and new features developed during Road Trip will be carried over into our main games."

George - Vehicle Art Leader

"I have been working at SCS since 2013. At that time, I switched from the film industry, where I learned to perceive reality visually and transfer it into the virtual world. Since then, I've had the opportunity to try out roles ranging from Paint Job Artist and 3D Senior Artist to Project Manager, Art Lead, and Lead of the Vehicle Department. As for the Road Trip project, as a 3D Senior Artist, I currently have the privilege of creating my dream car, a car that every boy dreamed of in his youth, at least those who are around my age, the Dodge Viper GTS. I believe that Road Trip will be a successful add-on for both of our games, where everyone can choose their dream car and enjoy our beautiful landscapes."

Marula - Senior 3D Graphic Designer - Vehicle

"I am working on a project specifically for the Ford Car Pack DLC. It is currently a basic model of the 2006 Crown Victoria, with a complete exterior and interior, including animations. The car is well-known from movies as a police and government vehicle, and it was also widely used as a taxi, especially in the civilian LX trim. Since I have worked exclusively on truck models so far, modeling cars is a pleasant change, and as a graphic designer, I am gaining new experience. What is interesting about the project is that players will have the opportunity to drive passenger cars from well-known brands and types, some of which are legendary and very popular. These are not only classic passenger cars, but also pickups and larger SUVs, which are very popular in the US."

Lukáš - Senior 3D Graphic Designer - Vehicle

"I focus on the creation of detailed vehicles for the game and the improvement of reference data acquisition workflows using photogrammetry and 3D scanning. On this project, I was responsible for creating the complete 3D model of the Ford F-150, including both the interior and exterior, and reference data acquisition using a 3D scanner. What I enjoy most about the project is the opportunity to model an entire vehicle from the ground up. Thanks to well-established partnerships and strong teamwork, we had access to high-quality reference materials for my model. 3D scanning other vehicles, whenever detailed technical documentation from manufacturers was not available, allowed me to personally meet their owners and gain many interesting insights. Looking ahead, I am most excited about offering players the opportunity to experience something completely different from what they are used to, presented with a high level of detail and realism."

Andi - Senior 3D Graphic Designer - Vehicle

"I was responsible for modeling the 1970 Dodge Charger and 2023 Dodge Challenger - both exteriors and interiors. Each car had its own unique challenges and problems that I had to overcome, so both projects were quite different from each other. My favorite part of the process was creating textures and materials for the interiors of the cars; it's always a technical and creative challenge to make the interiors look detailed and still be very optimized. I hope players enjoy exploring the States in these cars as much as I enjoyed making them." 

Renju - Senior 3D Graphic Designer - Vehicle

"I have been working with SCS for almost four years now, and I am part of the Vehicle team, mainly focusing on trucks. Currently, I am involved in the Road Trip project. My task is to create both exterior and interior models and their textures for cars. I have worked on the RAM 1500 and the Ford Bronco. I'm eager to see how players will react to the incredible details the team has integrated into the models. I hope they enjoy driving the cars with the same enthusiasm as they do for trucks. What I enjoy the most is that we are able to work on both the most modern cars and some classic cars as well. I believe players will enjoy the highly-detailed cars while driving on the roads, on which they previously drove only in a truck."

If you are excited to experience the team's work in our game, don't forget to add the Ford Car Pack and RAM & Dodge Car Pack for American Truck Simulator to your Steam Wishlist! Also, remember to stay up to date with the latest Road Trip developments by subscribing to our newsletter or following us on X/Twitter, Facebook, BlueSky, and Instagram. Stay safe on the road!