Goodies from Logitech, still working on ETS2 patch

We have received a very cool offer from Logitech for closer cooperation. We are getting access to developer SDKs, allowing us to take better advantage of the capabilities of their input devices. We were also kindly provided with a heap of hardware to try out and develop on.

Here is another picture from the hardware test lab as we are putting the steering wheels, gamepads, gaming keyboards and mice to good use:

Having so much cool hardware around gave us an idea - we can do some sort of a competition related to Euro Truck Simulator 2 with really great prizes! Good quality steering wheel with pedals and gear stick makes a huge difference when playing our simulators, so hopefully we will make a few of you really happy.

We will need to wait a bit more though until the next ETS2 update is finally available. No doubt we are testing the limits of patience of many of you; taking so long with the patch. Big things are brewing, both for the next update and for the overall vision of future evolution of ETS2 and our truck sims in general. Unfortunately big changes in technology take time to develop and test properly, we cannot release them half-done. We are now mostly done with the changes planned for the game update, so please bear with us, the wait is almost over (though not quite, we are talking probably weeks, not days, before it's all fine-tuned for release).

You may be curios what it is that we are cooking it for so long. To satisfy this curiousity, for once let us open up the kimono and show you unedited release notes which were sent to our beta testing group yesterday along with a new game update 1.3.51. As you can tell just from the version number, we have been though a ton of internal builds with incremental changes and improvements over the past months, the release notes only cover changes from previous  1.3.38 internal build.

Hi

Finally, after long time, we have a new testable build.

Patch from 1.3.38
http://_censored_

Full install
http://_censored_

We did several significant changes so unfortunately it did take long
time to get things back to a usable state. It is possible that there are
still some bugs related to them. Note that profiles and saves written
by this build can not be loaded by older version so you should keep a
backup copy of them in case there is some problem or if you want to
switch to the previous version.

The first major change is change of the map format from single file to
set of sectors. This change allows several people to simultaneously work
in distinct parts of the map and might allow coexistence of mods which
independently extend various distinct parts of the map. We also changed
format of several definition files to improve coexistence of some types
of mods. Existing maps in older formats need to be loaded in the editor
and re-saved before they can be used.

The second major change is addition of asynchronous loading.
Significant portion of the data is now loaded asynchronously to avoid
temporary pauses during the game. Note that currently there are still
things, mostly related to AI traffic, which do not support the
asynchronous loading so the pauses might still happen.

As side effect of work on multi-monitor support (still experimental),
the non-ui portions of the game now do not use letterboxing for
non-widescreen resolutions and instead they expand the vertical FOV.
Note that the advisor/on-hud mirrors are currently still positioned on
theirs letterboxed positions.

Known issues:
*) Some new texts are still in english and the build was currently not
updated from GetLoc.
*) The map contains parts which will connect to DLC. They are currently
not marked as unreachable so they are visible in the map and it is not
possible to get 100% exploration of the map.
*) Signs in new parts of the map are not finished yet.
*) When loading older save, the console will contain error messages
about various quarry objects. This is expected.

Additional changes
*) Improved resistance to missing data to some degree
*) It is possible to change length of transition area for clutch pedal
using g_pedal_clutch_range cvar
*) The engine now consumes fuel when left idle.
*) Various fixes and improvements of truck dashboard indicators and
backlight intensity
*) Various physics tweaks + even stronger clutch
*) Support for output of truck telemetry information for use by
third-parties (still work in progress)
*) Force feedback parameters were extracted to definition file so they
can be tweaked by mods
*) Fixed AI curves on UK bus stops
*) Added rumble-stripes to some prefabs
*) Fixed electro poll in the Sawmill
*) Fixed floating lines in recruitment agency
*) Tweaked "give road" sign
*) Fixed hole in forest mountain
*) Fixed missing light above 3rd door in garage
*) Magnum: Adjusted paintjobs, narrowed fenders
*) Fixed various bus stations
*) Fixed pavement in Bremen
*) Fixed alpha sorting for tunnel signs
*) Added stop lines to various prefabs
*) Fixed direction of arrows on roundabout signs
*) Adjusted curves on some crossroads to prevent AI crashes
*) Fixed shadows of some accessories
*) Fixed intensity of small light accessory
*) Fixed positions of accessories on frontgrills
*) Volvo: Fixed interior animations
*) Scania: Paintjob fixes
*) Various other map fixes

ETS 2 & Oculus Rift

We have been experimenting with Oculus Rift for a few days, and Euro Truck Simulator 2 is now mostly working correctly with it.

Looking around the cabin freely is incredible, it almost feels like being in there!

The experience cannot be really presented with a screenshot, you have to wear the device to actually appreciate how revolutionary it is. It's not perfect, but it's a promise of great things to come for sure.

Want to Drive a Truck for Real?

The great guys at our UK publishing partner Excalibur Publishing have come up with a very cool idea to help promote Euro Truck Simulator 2 - a unique competition with a chance to win a Heavy Goods Vehicle driving course. Check it out!

New trucks coming to ETS2

We have several new truck models under construction for Euro Truck Simulator 2. Today we'd like to show you a glimpse of another really cool looking model!

New trucks and lots more content will be gradually released in upcoming free patches of the game (though we also plan paid add-ons eventually). We understand that we are pushing your patience with game updates not appearing as quickly as you would like, but rest assured that we are working really hard on overhauling and improving major features of the game and the game engine to make things better. These are major changes, and they take time to implement, but they are necessary for us to be able to evolve the game features and technology properly. We need to lift internal memory constraints, improve our map construction and asset creation pipeline,we need to make the engine run smoother, and last but not least, we need to see how to make the game even more engaging. We are in this for the long run, ETS2 is still getting a lot of our love, and its continued evolution features highly in our plans for world domination ;-). Please have patience with us!

Public Linux Beta of Euro Truck Simulator 2

After a few days of limited-group closed beta testing, today we are making the Linux Beta build of ETS2 accessible to general public, exclusively through Steam. This is not a free beta, you can only access it if you have already purchased/activated the full version of the game on Steam.

To test the Linux version of ETS2 you need to do following:
1) Install the game from Steam client. This will install the non-beta version which does not have Linux executables.
2) In the Steam client open the ETS2 properties screen and navigate to the "Betas" tab.
3) Select the linux_testing beta.
4) This will install the Linux binaries.

To provide feedback, please go to http://forum.scssoft.com and participate in the Euro Truck Simulator 2 - Linux Beta Testing discussion group.

The game works reasonably well on native NVidia drivers. There are some reports of flickering artifacts on ATI drivers. Older MESA versions are a problem, freshest MESA looks promising still with some serious artifacts, though.

We'll be happy to provide access to the beta to media for a preview, though there are still some elements in the Linux version that need ironing out.

The third pillar

Today we are bringing you a few new images from the game that is definitely not losing our love - Euro Truck Simulator 2. Yeah, we have been taking our time producing a new patch, but this is mostly due to the fact that we are working on so many improvements in parallel. We have some cool things coming, and they should appear in patches through the Spring, but tuning and tweaking them all to a stable state takes time.

We are not working just on code and gameplay improvements (and the map DLC), the core game will also get very cool new content. Iveco Stralis Hi-Way is among the first major additions, but there is even more to come...

 

Stuff we are working on, too

As we have hinted before, SCS Software is branching into several directions since the release of Euro Truck Simulator 2. (Don't worry ETS2 devotees, more news about evolution of the game in upcoming blog posts)

Here is a couple of images from yet another project we have under construction in our labs:

 

 

Disclaimer - any brands appearing in the images are only illustrative and not guaranteed to find their way into any future SCS Software project. It's just an experiment. Though if you happen to be an owner of a major coach bus operator in Europe, we'd love to hear from you and discuss how to make it possible to feature your brand in our game(s) ;-).

Stuff we are working on

Our recent blog posts may have concentrated too much on non-development stuff, and you are probably quite tired of links to sales charts, press articles and app stores. Sorry, let's turn the page and start giving you glimpses of things that we are working on again.

Today we have a teaser shot of a new 3D truck model that was built from ground up in recent weeks. This truck tractor is not going to appear in Euro Truck Simulator 2 though, it is created with the plan to use it in a different game ;-).

The good thing about this 3D model is that it uses roughly half the polygon count of our highest-detail ETS2 trucks, yet due to smarter system of shading and rendering and the use of surface normal textures it looks even better, while consuming less video memory.

Scania TDS on Mac App Store

It has taken us almost half a year to port our current engine technology to Mac OS, but finally this weekend we have managed to get Scania Truck Driving Simulator released on Mac App Store. It's an important milestone for us on the way to port its bigger brother Euro Truck Simulator 2 to the platform as well. Hopefully this time we won't need half a year again, but there is still a ton of work to do on the port, so it's hard to come up with an estimate yet. And everybody knows how imprecise we can be on such estimates.

We are happy with the results so far, here is an analysis of best selling charts across various countries for the game as available on APPlyzer:

Speaking about failing with time estimates, we are tempted to claim that the Linux version of ETS2 is now less than two weeks away from being ready for release. Didn't we say it was two weeks away from release several months ago already? We are bad at estimates indeed, and we shouldn't give in to temptation yet again. But after overcoming some unexpected difficulties with input controllers code, we are feeling reasonably well about this new estimate.

Changing topic, GamaSutra published an interesting article titled Who's buying all these niche simulation games, anyway? We found out. It's a peek behind the scenes of niche simulators, not just truck sims but also farming and more. The story got picked up by Reddit, too, if you are interested in following this discussion.