Cab Improvements

Adjustable steering wheels are not the only in-cabin feature we are going to include in the upcoming update coming for ETS2 and ATS. We are also going to deliver two new features:

1) Interior camera zoom:

When inside the cabin, you will be able to do a quick zoom-in just by clinking the button. It may be useful while maneuvering, reading far off road signs, or when you would like to see all the info on the dashboard in more detail. Of course you can bind this functionality to any other key or button in the game's options.

2) Changing the steering wheel:

 

Decoupling the steering wheel geometry from the rest of the cabin, which was needed for adjustable steering wheels, opened up the possibility to offer changeable steering wheels. Until now, steering wheels were a native part of interior model; the unfortunate consequence of this being that players could not replace a truck's standard wheel with alternate models. With the release of our upcoming update however, trucks which have more than one type of interior will also sport the option of choosing from two different steering wheels. Finally, some people using an external steering wheel feel that having two wheels in sight is a bit disingenuous: so we are going to add a new experimental console command that will allow you to hide the virtual steering wheel.

American Truck Simulator Rescale Screenshots

Since announcing the ATS map rescale project, we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback. It was a confirmation that rescaling the map was the right decision - thank you for your encouragement!

We would like to share a couple of screenshots showcasing some locations in the game world that we are improving.  Enjoy!

A unique truck stop on a new road segment on I-10 in Arizona

Donner Pass - a road which winds through steep mountains.  We're trying to represent correct height profiles wherever possible. 

A big part of I-80 between Sacramento and Oakland was missing. We added it along with its unique junctions including the overpass that crosses I-580.

US-60 near Show Low - displaying a new type of landscape and environment profile.

Updated DAF XF 105 is coming

We are working hard to secure more truck licenses for our games, and we hope to be able to confirm some good news on this topic soon. Our fan community is fantastic - we are receiving great leads and active help in this area quite often, and your voice as heard on social media channels also means a lot. But the legal part of the licensing process can sometimes be very lengthy as you must have noticed by now, and we appreciate your patience.

Meanwhile though, we have revisited an existing truck model in ETS2 - the DAF XF 105. You may notice the similarity of this 3D model to the DAF XF mod by 50keda. That's no coincidence - 50keda is one of our great picks from the modding community to enter the professional game dev world as an SCS Software employee. The revision of the DAF XF 105, available soon in ETS2 update 1.25, is not just a simple merging of the mod that's already available to you, but is even further improvement with additional textures rework and remodeling of quite some parts - which we believe will be really appreciated by all DAF fans. Here is what you can look forward to...

    

    
    

Images from La Rochelle

With the Vive La France DLC for ETS2 we are trying to raise the bar on quality and realism once again.  As you may have noticed, with the Going East and Scandinavia DLC we were step by step increasing the quality of towns and cities. Going East gave you your first chance to drive through small towns - even though there were no delivery options there.  With the Scandinavia DLC we made an essential step forward by offering a new level of complexity and diversity in cities.  But these two DLCs are definitely not our last word in the matter!

Case in point, it is our pleasure to introduce you to La Rochelle - one of new cities which provide the chance to taste the natural beauty and variety of French cities and countryside. You will no longer be restricted to entering industrial zones via arterial roads but instead the cargo depots here are fully integrated into living city.

With the new DLC you can explore the medley of times and styles French cities have come to be revered for. Enjoy ancient architecture and narrow, winding roads back to back with fully modernized complexes and detached houses. Vive la France!

    

    

Adjustable Steering Wheels

In both American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2, players already have the option to modify their interior camera viewpoint by adjusting the seat position, changing head position and modifying the view angle. In earlier game updates, we've also made the in-cabin camera more lifelike by simulating steering and blinker camera rotation as well as physical camera movement. But we still felt the job wasn't done, so now it's time to go one step further in order to fully simulate the range of possible adjustments you could make in real life.

So without further ado: in the following game updates, we are going to add a small new feature: adjusting the steering wheel column position. With this feature you'll be allowed to modify both the height and the angle of the steering wheel in order to give you the chance to create your perfect driving position. With this we're one step closer to making the cabin in ATS and ETS2 just like the real thing. Last but not least, in the Seat Adjustment UI screen we will add the ability to modify the Seat Adjustment window values with the mouse wheel.

We hope you're as excited about these features as we are. In the mean time, here is a short GIF showing it off:

New Box on German market, New Paintjobs, New Photos

Astragon Entertainment - our publishing partner for the "GAS" market (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) - is about to release a new limited Legendary Edition of Euro Truck Simulator 2. This probably isn't that exciting for most of our readers as we're sure you already own a legal copy of the game... right?  The software itself has actually been on Steam for quite a while already as the ETS2 Deluxe Bundle: a combination of the base game and a sizable collection of DLC plus some older games of ours. But we really like the cool content in the box, so we thought it was worth mentioning as context for the second part of this blog post. If you do own ETS2 already, it's not anything amazing - but if not, or if you are looking for a gift for somebody you know that's a potential truck sim addict, the overall value isn't so bad.

As the release of the Legendary Edition box set is almost here, today we are publishing two new paintjobs that are going to be added to the Deluxe Bundle and, in turn, also become available to anybody who will purchase or has previously purchased the equivalent of the Legendary Edition on another market such as Poland or our very own Czech Republic. The choice of countries is definitely not arbitrary - the Austrian Paint Jobs Pack and Swiss Paint Jobs Pack for Euro Truck Simulator 2 have been created specifically to appeal to players from the "GAS" region.

Last but not the least, based on your feedback we are fulfilling our small promise to show you some more photos from our trip to Mid-America Trucking Show. You can find them in a dedicated gallery on our SCS Software facebook page.

Glimpses from our PACCAR Research Center visit

We have finally managed to create a short video from the second leg of our trip to the USA this spring.

A small expedition team from SCS Software received a kind invitation to spend three days at the PACCAR Technical Center in Mount Vernon, Washington, USA. It has been a great adventure for us, we have recorded a ton of truck engine sounds, photographed and scanned whatever we could get our hands on, and spent hours discussing trucking topics.

In addition to recording various engine and truck sounds, our priority was also to acquire reference photos of Peterbilt 389, as we did not have enough quality references to build the truck's interior at that time. We have been working hard on the truck ever since coming back, and we are looking forward to introducing it to American Truck Simulator once the 3D model is finished and approved.

Do you ever abandon World of Trucks contracts?

Most of SCS Software was on a vacation last week, and we have not updated our blog as frequently as we usually do because of it. We'll try to make up for that with some informative posts in the coming days.

First though, we would like to ask you about something. We have noticed that almost 1/5th of all World of Trucks jobs ends up getting aborted. We are wondering why is that? It's possible that there is something going on that we do not know about but should. This kind of feedback may help us improve the World of Trucks service for you.

Vive la (Tour de) France

We do not live only in the World of Trucks, we are fans of real life events and of course sports. The timing of National Window Flags DLC release happening right at the start of Euro 2016 was not a coincidence. International sports competitions provide many more opportunities to proudly wear national colors; the 103rd edition of Tour de France is here now! A photo from the event that we have spotted actually happens to be an inspiration for this blog post.

We can show you a comparison between a real place and an the same location in the game. Behold windmill Gué Sainte Marie near commune Les Trois-Moutiers. On the accompanying screenshots, you can see the mill and its surroundings courtesy of Google Street View, a photo from the current Tour, and finally a screenshot from our upcoming Vive la France! DLC.