Coaches: New Vehicle Features

As the development of the upcoming Coaches DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2 advances, today, we'd like to show you some of the new vehicle features we have developed for this expansion. Let's take a look!

Coaches feature a variety of systems and functions that trucks don't. So we needed to dive deeper and faithfully recreate new vehicle systems for the Coaches DLC, which we believe will enhance the driving experience and make every journey feel even more immersive when this expansion releases.

The first thing we have decided to implement is the destination display panel visible at the top of the windshield, showing the coach's final stop. It is a removable accessory, giving players the option to decide whether they want to use it or not, and is also visible from the interior. We've fine-tuned its appearance, including text length, colour, and other visual details to ensure it fits well across different destinations.

Another difference between coaches and trucks is that coaches have larger windshields, which means sunlight can be a greater challenge while driving. That is why we have developed adjustable sun visors. On coaches that support this feature, the visors are split into left and right sections, allowing each side to be controlled independently and positioned as needed. They are also visible from the exterior and include animated controls, as well as sound effects.

Since coaches are long vehicles, judging what's behind you can be quite a challenge. That's why modern coaches are typically equipped with rear-view cameras, which we've also included in this DLC. The camera feed is integrated directly into the dashboard, automatically switching from the navigation display when a reverse gear is engaged. Since we've aimed to recreate bus stations and stops as faithfully as possible, including real-life situations a coach driver might encounter, we believe the camera will prove especially useful in many situations.

We've also added interior lighting options to brighten up the journey for you and your passengers. The first is ambient lighting, which allows you to choose the color to suit your preference. The second is the main ceiling light, which can be switched on and off with a button, particularly useful at night when stopping to pick up or drop off passengers.

We hope you are looking forward to taking advantage of the new vehicle features we developed for Coaches. If so, then don't forget to add the Coaches DLC to your Steam wishlist! Also, make sure to keep track of future updates by following us on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and YouTube, or sign up for our newsletter. Until next time, safe travels!

Coaches: MAN Lion's Coach Gameplay Preview

Today, we’re excited to share your very first look at gameplay from our upcoming Coaches DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2, a highly anticipated expansion that many of you in our community have been eager to see more of. Let's hit the road!

In this first showcase, we go behind the wheel of the MAN Lion's Coach. Join us as we take on a bus route between Duisburg and Rotterdam. Along the way, you’ll get a glimpse at the passenger satisfaction mechanics in its current iteration, and how it will play a role in your journey on the road ahead.

You’ll also get a great look at the MAN Lion’s Coach itself, a vehicle well regarded in the industry for its blend of efficiency, practicality, and passenger comfort. Powered by MAN’s reliable D26 engine, it delivers strong performance for long-distance travel. Inside, the coach is designed with comfort in mind for both driver and passengers alike, featuring large windows, well-arranged seating, and a clean, spacious interior. We think it makes the perfect choice for our first gameplay preview!



Please keep in mind that this gameplay footage is still a work in progress and does not represent the final version of the Coaches DLC. Some features, visuals, and mechanics may change or be further refined as development continues.

We hope you are as excited as we are for the upcoming Coaches DLC as the development continues! For the latest updates, be sure to follow us on our social media channels on X, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and TikTok, or sign up for our newsletter. If you're looking forward to hitting the road in style, don’t forget to add the Coaches DLC to your Steam Wishlist!

Coaches in Map Expansions

Today, we’re excited to share a closer look at another key part of our upcoming Coaches DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2. While stepping behind the wheel of a coach introduces a brand-new way to experience the road, an equally important part of this new gameplay lies in where your journey begins and ends; the coach stations and stops themselves.

When development on Project Coaches began, there were already quite a few bus station prefabs placed across the ETS2 map. Many of you may have already spotted these throughout the map long before our official announcement of Coaches. While they served well as scenic placeholders, they were not really designed with our Coaches DLC in mind. As a result, a significant part of the Coaches development has focused on reworking these older assets, refreshing their layouts, and in many cases rebuilding them from the ground up so they better reflect real-world locations and integrate more naturally into their surroundings.

At the same time, expanding coverage across the map became a key priority. We spoke with Dominik, Producer of Project Coaches, to learn more. "From the very beginning, we faced a significant challenge, expanding the network of bus stations and stops across all of Europe. In some existing DLCs, these locations were scarce or missing entirely. Our primary goal was to cover key cities to ensure players can take on bus jobs even if they own a DLC that is currently disconnected from the rest of the road network. Following that, we focused on covering as many capital cities as possible while identifying new spots where we could realistically fit bus infrastructure into the map."

Of course, integrating these new locations into an already established world is far from straightforward. Many of our map expansions, such as Italia, Road to the Black Sea and Beyond the Baltic Sea were originally built without the Coaches' gameplay in mind. This means that adding new stations required revisiting existing cities and carefully adapting them to fit new infrastructure.

One of our map designers shares, "Most bus terminals require varying degrees of intervention into the existing map. Creating a brand-new station from scratch is a relatively straightforward process, essentially standard map development. However, adding new areas to locations where they weren't originally planned presents a unique set of challenges, especially in parts of the map that are nearly a decade old. In those cases, we must carefully use older assets and techniques to ensure the new additions don't feel out of place."

Even in our newer map expansions, space is often limited, especially in dense urban environments. "It is quite a puzzle to integrate two hundred meters of road and a large bus terminal into a space where, originally, there was only room for half of that. It’s a constant balancing act between our vision and the technical reality of the existing map."

In some cases, this has even led to cities being expanded to include parts of their town centres, allowing for more authentic placement of coach stations. Additionally, map designers who have been working on specific DLCs have been implementing their own stations, with the Coach Team stepping in to provide technical support and ensure that all necessary gameplay functionality is properly implemented.

"It’s been great to be part of the Coaches development team as a tester and to have the opportunity to see all of these newly created locations come to life." Simon B from our QA team adds "The asset and map designers have really outdone themselves on this project, creating vibrant bus stations and once again bringing a large portion of the real world closer through stunning landmarks and scenery.

That said, with so much work to do, there are always some remaining issues or imperfections that can go unnoticed with each new bus station, which is where I come in. Whether it’s a smaller detail or a larger issue, and whether the fix is quick or more involved, everything is resolved smoothly and efficiently thanks to the proactivity of the wider team. I’m excited to continue helping ensure these bus stations are in top condition, and I can’t wait to see the final result of all our work."

With the Coaches DLC, we’re not just introducing a new vehicle type, but so much more! From reworked legacy prefabs to newly built landmark stations and expanded city areas, we want to ensure that players can enjoy this upcoming addition across our already established Euro Truck Simulator 2 map. 

Excited for the Coaches DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2? Be sure to add it to your Steam Wishlist! It really helps support our future releases and ensures you’ll be notified when it launches. In the meantime, follow us on our official social media channels to stay up to date with the latest development news. Until next time, see you on the road!

Coaches: Volvo 9700 Double Decker

Today, we’re excited to share a little more about a true long-distance legend, coming to our upcoming Coaches DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2. Say hello to the Volvo 9700 Double Decker, a modern touring coach built around passenger comfort, smart flexibility, and effortless highway cruising. With its bold double deck design, it’s guaranteed to catch your eye wherever it goes. Ready to take a closer look?

Built to meet the demands of modern coach operations, the Volvo 9700 DD is a familiar sight especially across Northern Europe. Designed for comfort, efficiency, and high-capacity intercity travel, this iconic Volvo coach brings a premium long-haul experience to the road, combining Scandinavian design with a strong focus on refinement and safety. 

Comfort is also a key part of the Volvo 9700 Double Decker, with the ability to change layouts and equipment depending on the operator's needs. Inside, a low interior noise level, ergonomically designed seating layout for up to 96 passengers helps make every trip feel relaxed and comfortable, even on longer journeys. 

Up front, the elevated and spacious driver’s compartment offers excellent visibility on the road, supported by advanced driver assistance systems such as the collision warning with emergency braking, alongside electronic stability controls for confident handling on the road. 

Our vehicle team has been working hard to faithfully recreate the defining characteristics of the Volvo 9700 Double Decker with as much accuracy as possible. In-game, it will be available in a 6×2 configuration, standing 4 metres tall and measuring 14.3 metres in length, capturing the coach’s impressive road presence.

The Volvo 9700 DD will also come with a variety of customisation options, including a selection of official Volvo colours, as well as interior options for curtains and passenger seat variations. Whether you prefer something clean and classic or a finish that stands out on the road, you’ll have multiple choices to help make this coach feel uniquely yours.

Whilst what you see here today is still a work in progress, we’re excited to be able to share these previews with you, and give you a taste of what lies on the road ahead! 

We hope you are as excited as we are for the upcoming Coaches DLC as the development continues! For the latest updates, be sure to follow us on our social media channels on X, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and TikTok, or sign up for our newsletter. If you're looking forward to hitting the road in style, don’t forget to add the Coaches DLC to your Steam Wishlist!

Under the Hood: Producer for the Coaches project with Dominik

Are you curious about how our Coaches DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2 is being created? You're in luck! Today, we're giving you a behind-the-scenes look at this upcoming expansion. We interviewed Dominik, the producer of Project Coaches, who will share a few insights.

"Hi, I'm Dominik, and I'm the producer of the Coaches DLC. Even before I joined SCS, I was very interested in coaches, waiting for news, and looking forward to what SCS would come up with. When I moved into the role of a producer, and we were discussing what project I could take on, coaches were the obvious choice. It's a very interesting project with a long history, but one that has been stagnating for many years. Taking it on and seeing it through to completion is a challenge. I'm very happy to have been given this opportunity and to be able to work with the team on this great project," he shares with us.

Dominik has been with our team for several years, and his path to becoming a producer for the Coaches project has provided him with strong, relevant experience.

"I joined SCS as a map designer for the Italia DLC. I gradually worked my way up to map lead, and after a few years, I moved to the position of a producer. This prepared me quite well for Coaches' development. I had extensive knowledge of the map and coach station coverage, I was familiar with the map development process, asset submission, and managing large numbers of people and tasks. Of course, there were many other challenges ahead of me. Working with the game design and programming teams was new to me, and overall, it was a more agile project with more unknowns than in map development," Dominik told us.

So, what exactly does a producer do on a project like this? Dominik gave us a clear overview of his responsibilities and how they all come together to ensure the project's success.

"The main focus of this position is coordination. My job is to ensure that the whole team pulls together, that everyone knows what they are supposed to do, and that they have all the necessary resources and information to reach our common goal as quickly as possible. Sometimes it is necessary to secure additional capacity and work outside the team; for example, when we discovered that we couldn't render such a large number of raindrops due to the large windows on coaches. This problem concerned the rendering team, as no one within our team could solve it. I try to keep track of the direction of development so that I can quickly respond to any changes that may arise," he explains.

Of course, a project like this doesn't come without its challenges. Dominik talked about some of the hurdles involved and how he works through them.

"The difficult thing is to keep the scope of the project under control. We and the community have lots of ideas and expectations about what could be incorporated, but we need to remember that our team is relatively small and we don't want this project to drag on for another 5 years; we want to get it to our players as soon as possible. So we need to carefully choose what we focus on now and what we will develop in future updates."

Dominik also explains the core design thinking behind making this game mode feel distinct from trucks while still fitting naturally into the existing game.

"The basic question we asked ourselves was what makes coaches different and how to make them unique. The answer, of course, was the passengers. Not only can they be seen inside the vehicle, but the player must also drive more carefully; they should not slam on the brakes or make sharp turns if they want to avoid a penalty. Last but not least, we are also working on sounds so that the player is aware of the passengers thanks to the sounds. At the same time, we are mindful that the primary focus of the game is still trucks, and coaches are an addition, so we don't want to get bogged down in simulating the management of a coach company or hiring drivers," Dominik shares with us.

The team working on Coaches is still relatively small, but there are a lot of people joining the project in consulting roles, for example, but don't work on it directly. 

"We have put together the core gameplay with a team of four: a producer, a game designer, a programmer, and a tester. Then there is a branch of the team that takes care of the map, where we have a researcher and currently two map designers – one deals with coach stops, the other with map modifications necessary for the proper functioning of coaches, such as border crossings. And of course, the QA at the end. Finally, we have the vehicle part, consisting primarily of two vehicle designers and also QA. If I were to add up all the various additional consultants, asset designers, physics programmers, marketing, etc., I would say that a total of about 20 people are working on the coaches," he says.

For Dominik, this project has been something of a dream come true. Having wanted to work in this area since childhood, he is a natural fit for the producer role.

"Ever since I was little, I've been a fan of anything with wheels, and I couldn't wait to get my driver's license so I could drive myself. I liked to sit at the front of the bus and watch everything the driver had to do, how he had to take corners, check his mirrors, make sure he had the engine brake on, and so forth. When I couldn't drive myself, I at least explored what the gaming world had to offer. I played games from SCS, at that time the 18 Wheels of Steel series, almost every day, and Bus Driver was a must. I didn't become a bus driver, but I still play simulators, not only those from SCS but other titles as well," he explains.

What Dominik enjoys most about his work is being both a fan of simulators and being closely involved in the development process.

"I can try out internal builds as features are gradually added and the project comes together. I can see the progress. I can go through it and see how we are moving forward, and everything that was once just ideas on paper is now really working in the game. It was great to organize an internal playtest where we watched various colleagues who haven't had much contact with the project drive the coaches. It was great to see their reactions and suggestions," he says.

Apart from the fact that players will be able to try out different vehicles in the game, Dominik believes it will be the passenger satisfaction system that they will enjoy the most. "Players have to balance arriving at the stop on time with not driving too fast and upsetting the passengers. This adds a whole new dimension to the gameplay that players haven't experienced in our games before," he shares with us.

For the Coaches DLC, the team looked for inspiration everywhere possible, as Dominik says: "We looked at our older game, Bus Driver. Of course, we browse forums and other sources for ideas from the community, we have a person on our team as a consultant, who worked as a bus driver for many years, and last but not least, we also looked at other games in a similar genre."

He also believes that this project won't end with the release, as they already have some future plans. "Of course, I don't want to make any empty promises about what we might deliver a year after release, but we want to continue working on the project, and we have further plans and updates for it. For example, we are currently exploring cooperation with other long-distance coach manufacturers. We would also like to further support the tourist aspect of the game and take players to places that are attractive to tourists, thereby guiding them through the scenic locations we are building in the game," Dominik hints.

And at the end of the blog, he has a short message for our #BestCommunityEver. "In conclusion, I would like to say that I am really looking forward to the release. I hope that the coaches will entertain the community. I look forward to reviews and reaction videos, and I believe that this will encourage SCS in a similar way as do the positive reactions to Nordic Horizons and Louisiana," Dominik says.

We hope you liked this peek behind the curtains of this upcoming expansion. Don't forget to add the Coaches DLC to your Steam wishlist! If you want to keep track of future updates, make sure to follow us on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and YouTube, or sign up for our newsletter. Until next time, happy travels!