American Truck Simulator news 57

About two years have passed since the release of American Truck Simulator. These have been very intense and demanding times for the SCS Software development team, who have experienced a lot, including joyful moments. During this time, the original development team grew from 4 people to nearly forty currently. And the team continues to expand, as the developers understand that fans expect more new content and features and strive to accelerate their release.

The release of the latest New Mexico expansion was warmly received by both players and various critics and media outlets. The developers are grateful to everyone who left feedback about this expansion and shared their thoughts, as this is what gives the developers strength and energy to create new updates and the desire to make them even better than the previous ones.

The developers have already posted several photo hints about where the American map will develop next. It’s time to lift the veil and show the next step in the evolution of the ATS game world. There are several possible and logical directions... East? Or North? Or maybe Northeast? The development team assures that they are working in all these directions, but the northern direction will be released first. Ladies and gentlemen, meet... Oregon!

Oregon, also known as the "Beaver State," will be the new expansion. The developers always start working on a new region with great interest, and here it’s not just a new territory, but almost entirely new landscapes and nature. There are dense forests, a huge amount of low shrubs, quiet lakes, wide rivers, high mountains, and volcanoes, as well as the Pacific Ocean coastline — all within an area slightly larger than the entire United Kingdom!

The natural diversity is, of course, reflected in demographic and industrial scales. We can expect the local economy to expand with industries corresponding to Oregon’s reality, such as traditional logging and wood processing at sawmills, paper mills, and furniture manufacturing. The developers have not forgotten other industries, such as the technologically advanced Silicon Forest and other manufacturing centers.

Stay tuned for news so you don’t miss new details about the upcoming expansion of the American Truck Simulator map – Oregon.

Source

#OregonDLC

Update 1.31 will add quite a lot of new functionality to the games, including: the addition of connecting cables between the trailer and the tractor (with various visibility settings), as well as improved mirror functionality. For fans of exploring the game map, a new route CA120 will become available, which will pass through Yosemite National Park. Just remember that when driving commercial vehicles on such roads, you must comply with additional rules and restrictions. Also, three types of dump trailers with bottom unloading will be added to the game.

Players often ask developers to add some interesting features, and update 1.31 will fulfill several such wishes. Now, when searching for jobs, players will have new filters that will help find the necessary cargo faster, and the information panel with order details will be supplemented with new data. Also, do not forget about the many tweaks and fixes that update 1.31 brings to the game, the most noticeable being the automatic application of the parking brake on the tractor when entering the game after an unexpected crash or computer restart.

Developers continue to improve tools for creating mods and addons. Currently, they have only halfway completed the transition to a new technological process for working on textures, materials, and vegetation of road segments, which is used not only by the developers themselves but also by mod creators. Previously, developers used a kind of “stamps” with pre-made templates to save memory and disk space, but now they consider this approach outdated and suggest using the “brush” tool to simply “paint” what the designer intended when creating the environment. This approach is more flexible and allows conveying all the landscape features in the game. In turn, introducing this functionality requires all modders to resave all their previously released works using the updated editor. Developers hope that authors of popular community maps will update their works as soon as possible. Also, with the release of update 1.31, developers will drop support for outdated maps (released before the arrival of format 4.38). In other words, if a map was last updated before February 2017, it will no longer be supported by the game. Developers hope this change will not affect most popular mods.

Main changes:
- Added connecting cable system between tractor and trailer;
- Improved mirror visualization (correct field of view (FOV) relative to the driver’s head position, as well as correct reflection and curved mirror view visualization);
- Added new road CA120, which will pass through Yosemite National Park;
- Added new dump trailers with bottom unloading.

Minor changes:
- New filters added on the job search screen;
- Parking brake automatically engages after tractor loads (g_park_brake_init);
- Screenshot filenames will now be based on date and time;
- Increased accuracy of displayed order and trip data on the information panel;
- Fixed torque lock issue;
- Fixed tractor damage in dealer centers and when selecting jobs through agencies;
- Fixed warning messages about trailer damage;
- Fixed HDR interpolation.

Tools and mods:
- New brushes added to the map editor for creating and editing landscapes;
- Old maps are no longer supported by the game (before 4.38 format, due to brush functionality introduction);
- Mirror_data;
- Trailer parameters can specify whether it is autonomous or not;
- Variable shift length;
- Tractors in dealer centers no longer appear in the general list; the game reads all data and catalog entries;
- Steering wheel is no longer linked to the wheel model and is an independent object;
- Removed support for outdated attributes.
On April 14, the open beta test of American Truck Simulator update 1.31 was launched – developers warned that the build contains two known issues they plan to fix soon along with other bugs that testers may find. The open testing phase of update 1.31 for Euro Truck Simulator 2 will start a little later.

Anyone can participate in the open testing (no password required). To do this, select the test build of the game (public_beta – 1.31 public beta) in the game properties on Steam, under the “BETAS” tab. You can report found bugs and issues on the developers’ forum.

As soon as the developers at SCS Software complete work on the Oregon expansion and release it, all players will have the opportunity to drive almost the entire length of Route 101 (U.S. Route 101), which starts in Los Angeles and runs north through California and Oregon, ending in the state of Washington. Therefore, the entire route will only become available after the release of the map expansion including the state of Washington (when exactly is still unknown, but it will happen eventually). Below you can see screenshots from the new area around Route 101 between the cities of Eureka and Crescent City.

This scenic coastal highway is known for many landmarks, views, beaches, and popular rest stops. Many of these landmarks and beautiful spots have been brought into the game by the developers, who are still working on the new state, but what they have achieved so far is definitely worth the time spent on it.

Source

#OregonDLC

Recently, the developers showed us locations on the highway that we will see while traveling through the state of Oregon in the ATS Oregon DLC. This time, they showed us places where you can stop, refuel your truck, relax for a while, or stay overnight before continuing your long journey. There are some quite well-known truck stops in development...
... easily recognizable as unique landmarks. Some others are more generic, in the style of typical Oregon architecture. In the first four screenshots, you can see our concept of the famous Biggs Junction – one of the popular hotel network stops for tourists.

Source

#OregonDLC

As American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2 continue to evolve, and as the development team grows, the developers are paying increasing attention to production chains and local industries within the game world. In fact, this is no small task – introducing enough new types of cargo and equipment to fill the economy, achieve variety, and maintain a proper balance of supply and demand. The developers see this as a long-term goal, but the objective is certainly to make freight transport more meaningful in the eyes of players – gradually moving away from the concept of random cargoes going from point A to point B.

In the state of Oregon, the developers plan to focus particularly on the woodworking industry, which is very well developed in this state in reality. Here, the main cargoes for players will be logs, wood, lumber, various wood products, and so on—in general, everything somehow related to wood. A wide range of diverse cargoes will make players visit not only urban or suburban loading zones but also their rural counterparts.

Previously, the developers had already shown some screenshots and video materials dedicated to the woodworking industry; today, they have prepared another small batch of screenshots showing new loading/unloading zones that will appear in the game along with the Oregon DLC expansion.

Source

#OregonDLC

While working on the state of Oregon for American Truck Simulator, the SCS Software team could not overlook the city of Portland, which is the largest in the state both in terms of population and transportation infrastructure. Here, there is not only a large industrial zone but also a port. All of this had to be reflected in the American truck simulator, not only in the appearance but also in the game’s economy.

From the early stage of terrain research, the developers realized that creating this city in the game would not be an easy task, as it lies right on the Willamette River. Ordinary locals often call Portland the city of bridges, which, as is clear, is due to the quite abundant number of bridges across the river. The transportation infrastructure is heavily reliant on bridges, and the water, which acts like a mirror reflecting the surrounding world, together with the bridges, is one of those objects in games that are difficult to optimize. Despite the large number of bridges, the main freight routes pass through only two bridges, which are the most important infrastructure objects in the city.

The development team spent a lot of effort and time creating the city of Portland. Indeed, it was quite challenging to optimize the layout and design to achieve an acceptable frame rate. They are quite satisfied with the result and believe it is very representative of the city as seen by a truck driver passing through, creating the right impression that everyone aimed for.

The DLC page is now available on Steam: American Truck Simulator - Oregon

Source

#OregonDLC

The open beta testing phase of update 1.32 has ended, and the developers thank everyone who participated and helped find many different issues, bugs, and errors that were missed in the early testing stages. The ATS 1.32 update (including ETS 2 1.32) is one of the largest ever released, and the number of participants in the testing also pleasantly surprised the developers.

The ATS 1.32 (and ETS 2 1.32) updates are now available for download on Steam. For those using non-Steam versions of the game, the update will become available within the next few days.

Changelog:
- Added functionality to purchase semi-trailers as property;
- Updated the game’s user interface;
- Redesigned cargo filters;
- Reworked many old semi-trailers;
- Added the option to enable display of connector cables on traffic vehicles (activated in game settings);
- Accelerated rendering;
- Automatic parking brake activation is disabled by default;
- Added new roads: US-550 (New Mexico), US-95 (Arizona), US-191 (Arizona), the city of Clifton (Arizona);
- Redesigned the map area around the intersection of I-5 and I-80 highways;
- In California, driving with 53-foot semi-trailers is prohibited (40 feet measured from the kingpin to the rear axle);

For mod creators:
- The logistics system linking semi-trailers and cargo (cargo parameters, semi-trailer parameters, economy, etc.) has been completely redesigned. Many mods will require adaptation to work with update 1.32.

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/app/270880/allnews/