Montana Release Date Announced

With the final touches and tests being made to the Montana DLC, we are excited to announce a release date for this highly anticipated addition to American Truck Simulator.

Montana is due to be released on August 4th, 2022

We know for many of you, that date cannot come soon enough! To keep the hype train rolling, we hope our official DLC trailer for Montana which features the natural beauty and prominent industries of the state, will keep you content until then. 

We can't wait for you to explore Montana for yourselves in the near future. Our teams involved in the production process have worked hard to create this DLC and are still in the final stages of ironing out any bugs and placing final additions into the map. During this critical time, it is important for us to make sure the DLC is ready for release. If we do happen to come across a major issue, it might be that we have to change the planned release date. We will be sure to keep you in the know if this does happen. 

So, are you ready to go cruising in Montana? If so, be sure to add Montana for American Truck Simulator to your Steam Wishlist! It really helps supports our work and notifies you of its release. We thank you for your support and we look forward to welcoming you across the state border very soon. 

Montana - Gameplay Video

They say that picture is worth a thousand words, but we feel putting frames together and creating a first gameplay video of an upcoming map expansion is something that is simply invaluable. Especially since, as some of you may have already noticed, we are slowly approaching the finish line with the development of this project. 

Our team is currently busy polishing and optimizing the Montana DLC and that is why today we are able to show you this short ride, just please keep in mind that everything you will see is still in a work-in-progress phase. So, sit back, relax, grab some good snacks or a drink, and enjoy the journey!

We hope you have loved this peek so much that you will now add the Montana DLC to your Steam Wishlist if you haven’t done so yet! Also, we still have some news up our sleeves, and if you want to avoid the risk of missing out on any information about the map expansion, follow our social media profiles (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok), subscribe to our newsletter, or check out our Montana microsite.

Texas - Car Factories

While trucking and exploring the vast state of Texas in the upcoming DLC for American Truck Simulator, you might end up picking up a job or two from a couple of large car manufacturing plants. Today we will take a closer look at these two car factories and their impact on the local economy and industry.

One of the car factories is located in Arlington, a part of the Dallas-Fort Worth region, and it has been producing vehicles for over 60 years. Built in 1954, the size of the facility is currently over 4 million square feet (about 371 thousand square meters) and we have done our best to transition this size as close to reality as possible in the game. It’s safe to say that an area producing over 1,300 vehicles per day certainly doesn’t deserve anything less. Especially since its production seems to have no intention of slowing down any time soon, considering over a billion dollars were invested into the plant since 2015.

The other factory can be found south of San Antonio and in real life, it belongs to one of the top car manufacturers in the world. It is said that a new vehicle rolls off the line every 60 seconds, which paints a clear picture of the high level of production. In addition to the 2.2 million square feet (about 204 thousand square meters) facility, there is also a railway in the nearby area, on which the produced vehicles are transported all over the country by trains.

As you can see, Texas DLC will feature some interesting areas with rich facts and backstories behind them. If you cannot wait to visit these famous and important factories in-game, make sure to add the expansion to your Steam Wishlist to show us how excited you truly are. Also, to never miss out on anything important, you can follow our social media profiles (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok), subscribe to our newsletter, or check out our microsite dedicated to this project.

Montana - Ports of Entry + New Cargoes to Haul

While today’s blog might seem a bit unusual, hopefully, many of you will appreciate the following amount of information. We have decided to merge a lot of topics into one article, and we hope it will satisfy both the fans of new maps and locations and also those who are always looking for new toys to play with. Let’s take a look at Points of Entry and new cargos that are coming into the game economy with Montana DLC.

Ports of Entry used to simply be places where truckers would enter the country and stop for an inspection, however, modern stations are much more than that. Just take Broadus Weigh Station, for example, which features several educational boards near its central building, or Kootenai and Lolo Rest Areas, which offer marvelous surroundings for every trucker that is passing through these locations.

And sometimes, it is their perfect and precise position that makes these areas stand out. Haugan Weigh Station is located on the border with Idaho, Frannie Port of Entry can be found on the border with Wyoming, and Weigh station NB and SB at I-15 are located on an important Interstate 15 highway, which spans 396 miles (637km) in Montana.

We hope these stations will give you the best first impression of arriving in the new map expansion from surrounding states. But the question is, what new, shiny cargoes can you look forward to hauling through all these wonderful stations? Well, let’s get to it.

Utility Poles

These are wooden poles intended for power lines and they will be added into the game with an Electrical Service depot, which is actually the most common and primary destination of delivery. Being a part of the timber economy chain, this cargo will also be exported from the sawmill, however, you might also find it on trains or in ports.

Circuit Breakers

Circuit breakers are used for power lines and they will be exported from Electrical Service depots, trains, and ports, to Electric Network service and construction sites. This particular cargo is visually very interesting and it is pretty difficult to explain the shape in words, you just have to see it, and most importantly, haul it!

Garbage Truck

A typical American truck for waste that will be added to the game as cargo with Waste Transfer Station depot as an oversized load. The journey will start (and sometimes end) at the Truck and Trailers depot, along with train areas or ports. Who wouldn’t like a bit of a truck-ception, right?

Silane Gas

We’ve already mentioned Silene Gas plants on our blog a couple of times before, but one thing to note is also the fact that this area will be added with a unique cargo as well. The load is a standard-sized container with silane gas, which is a colorless, flammable, and high-pressure type of gas. It will be delivered from the plant to the electric manufacturer company, ports, and chemical plants.

Dumpster

Dumpsters will be added to the game with Waste Transfer Station. It will be exported mainly from the manufacture of metal products and from the station mentioned in the previous sentence. The final destinations of this cargo will be all over the map in various depots.

Waste Paper

This Waste Transfer Station cargo is, simply put, a large amount of pressed old and used paper, that is transported mainly for recycling to paper mills. With this load, we are trying to emphasize the ecological footprint within our game and educate the player a little bit about waste recycling.

Trees

Arriving together with the Landscape Supplies depot, these trees (mainly used as decorations) will be transported to construction sites and various depots all around the map. This addition is once again enhancing our timber economy chain.

Beet Harvester

Simply put, we are talking about a big agricultural machine that will come into the game with Sugar Plant. While for now this cargo will be located in train depots, farms, and the already mentioned sugar plants, we expect more use in various other company hubs in the future.

Are you excited about these Points of Entry and new cargoes that are coming to the game with the new Montana DLC for American Truck Simulator? If you are and you’d like to show it to us, make sure to add the DLC to your Steam Wishlist, and if you cannot wait to see more information about the map expansion, follow our social media profiles (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok), subscribe to our newsletter, or check out our Montana microsite.

TwitchCon Amsterdam 2022

With the gradual return of game expos, truckfests and more, we're excited to slowly return to attending these events and meeting with you, members of our #BestCommunityEver! Coming up on the 16th and 17th of July is one of the larger expos that takes place in Europe, which we imagine quite a few of you might be attending.

We are of course talking about TwitchCon Amsterdam 2022! A place to meet up with all your favourites streamers, game developers, gaming companies and more. As we consider ourselves to be somewhat streamers ourselves (Have you seen our Twitch?),  Alex & Dareus, our community managers, will be both personally be attending the expo, backpacker style.

They will be around both days, walking around the showfloor and meeting up with members from the Trucking community. If you spot them, we encourage you to say hello and even grab a selfie or two for our social media pages! You may even receive a bit of swag or some free game/DLC codes if you are lucky. 

So, if you happen to also be heading to Twitchcon Amsterdam, we hope to see you there! Keep a eye out on our Twitter and other social media channels on the weekend for a heads up of where we will be!

Montana - Helena

You might be wondering what could possibly be so special about this person in Montana named Helena that we have decided to write a blog article about them? The thing is, we are actually going to present to you the capital of the Treasure State, which, as the main representative among other cities, has quite a rich history and strong economy that is definitely worth looking into.

The early beginnings of Helena date back to the year 1864, when four men, known as "Four Georgians" discovered gold in the area that is now the main street of the modern city. Once the news of this location spread, the population has rapidly grown, increasing the need to create a formal settlement with an official name. While the sources vary in regards to the initial options, the final decision has most likely been influenced by a city called Saint Helena in Arkansas. Although some tales claim it has been chosen because of the St. Helena island.

When it comes to the implementation of the city into our game, there will certainly be no lack of landmarks to see, as we have featured some interesting buildings in the area, such as the Capitol, banks, an airport, and a truck stop at the center of the town. And speaking of distance, you will also be able to see the Sleeping Giant mountain while driving through the city, with which we have done our best to represent the view as accurately as possible. 

Who would’ve thought that the name of this city has absolutely nothing to do with Helen of Troy? Weird! But anyway, if you are still impressed with what you’ve seen in this post, make sure to add Montana DLC to your Steam Wishlist, and if you cannot wait to see more information about the map expansion, follow our social media profiles (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok), or check out our Montana microsite.

Texas - Rest Stops

During the process of describing every detail of an upcoming map expansion for our games, at some point, we have to take a break from topics of beautiful nature and local industry and take a look at some typical trucking facilities. It is time to (masterfully) park your mighty truck, turn off the engine for a while, and explore the Rest Stops that are coming with the Texas DLC for American Truck Simulator!

There will be more than two dozen rest stops available in the DLC with many of them featuring landmark buildings and separate parking spots for trucks and cars. And with such a high amount of these areas, it’s safe to say that The Lone Star State truly goes "all in" on offering the travelers as many opportunities as possible to take the unavoidable break on their journeys.

Some of the local rest stops are quite often hailed as the best in the entire US. After all, with more than 50 million visitors stopping by every year, all of these places have to stay up to date with modern times. But even the ones that are slowly starting to show their age have managed to maintain their charm and practical use to this day!

We hope you are excited to check out every single rest stop that the Texas DLC will have to offer. If you are, you can get ready by taking a quick break on the Steam page and adding Texas DLC to your Steam Wishlist. Also, don’t forget to keep an eye out for our microsite, which contains a lot of interesting and exclusive content. And finally, check out our social media profiles (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok) and give them a follow to stay in touch with the latest news!