Finally, after a long time and hard work, a major update 1.41 has been released for American Truck Simulator. The developers specially thanked those who participated in the beta test. Thanks to such players, many bugs and issues were discovered and fixed. Many were waiting for this update because of multiplayer. Let’s look at all the changes and new features.
“Convoy” Mode - Multiplayer
A new mode called “Convoy” has been added to the game, where players can play multiplayer. You can create your own sessions (open and closed), invite players, and play together. Naturally, you won’t achieve incredible results immediately, and updates specifically for this mode will be released, but you can already play Convoy now.
There is a synchronized stream of vehicles, as well as weather and time. And, of course, multiple drivers can perform the same job simultaneously. The maximum number of players in one session is 8. The developers promise to increase this limit in the future, but for now, this restriction is in place to avoid breaking the game.
The one who creates the session becomes the administrator and gains access to a number of tools, including the ability to kick unwanted players, and so on. If you don’t have friends playing ATS, you can find open sessions from strangers and play with them. All the features of the mode:
You can create open and closed sessions for up to eight people;The ability to perform the same contracts with other players;Text chat, voice chat via radio, quick response chat;Synchronization: traffic flow, vehicle appearance, time, and weather.
However, there are certain bugs and drawbacks you should be aware of:
Currently, Convoy does not support mods. However, this feature will very likely be added.When one of the players disconnects, there may be a bug causing AI vehicles to disappear;Drawbridges are not synchronized;Invitations to the Steam version are only possible through the program overlay;Other minor bugs that will be fixed.
If you’re worried about your progress – don’t be. If something goes wrong, you will be able to restore your progress to the moment you joined the session.
California Overhaul
The developers announced the overhaul and improvement of California a long time ago. In this update, you can see the first steps, as many things have been reworked in this area: road markings, agricultural stations, and more.
The most important part of the California update is the new border control points in agriculture. If you are transporting goods, you will have to undergo inspection, and only after the inspection will you be allowed to proceed. The purpose of this inspection is to find invasive infestations and verify the correctness of documents. If you need to stop, you will be notified. You will stop, then the inspection will begin, and if everything is fine, you will be allowed to continue.
Equally important – the map-making tools have been significantly improved, so the developers now have more opportunities to enhance their maps. All these tools will be used in upcoming city and state updates.
Photo Mode
Many ATS players love taking high-quality photos in the game, so the photo mode has been improved. Two very important features have been added: time and weather. As you can guess, you can now change the time and lighting yourself, as well as the weather. Naturally, this is only in photo mode, not in the main game.
Other Changes
Added a fast travel feature;New icons.