SCS Blog: California Reconstruction

The developers of American Truck Simulator are actively working on a project for a complete overhaul of California. The first steps toward rebuilding California were already taken in update 1.41, but that was only the initial phase, and work on this captivating project is still ongoing. A dedicated team called California Revamp is responsible for the overhaul. In the first phase, they revamped many roads, added agricultural stations, and more. But what are they working on now?

For the most part, California Revamp is a team of junior map designers. However, they did a great job in the first phase, so it was decided to let them work on the second phase as well. The problem is that many members of the California Revamp team were reassigned to work on other, larger and more interesting expansions. That’s why the development of the California overhaul project has slowed down.

Phase 2

Now let’s take a closer look at the changes planned for the second phase of the state’s overhaul. It will affect the following cities: Eureka, Ukiah, Sacramento, Redding, and Truckee. The developers want to almost completely redesign and rebuild these cities. In the second phase, not only the cities themselves will be rebuilt, but also the road networks leading to them, various landmarks, architecture, and much more.

Of course, there will be new roads—routes you couldn’t previously drive on. The industries deserve special attention. For example, this area includes the Napa Valley with its vineyards. Visually, there will be many changes: some textures will be significantly improved, new plants will appear, and much more. The project is very promising. 

But there is also some bad news. The developers made a rather controversial decision—to remove the city of San Rafael. However, don’t be upset. In the third phase of this project, a completely new city will be added. It’s not yet known which city this will be, but information about it will be released soon. 

The changes are quite extensive. Initially, the developers only wanted to slightly update the appearance of the state’s cities, but then they decided to completely overhaul everything, as they now have much more experience in urban planning and want to fix the mistakes they made when creating California in ATS. 

California will be brought up to a proper standard, matching the quality of current expansions, since it is an extremely important state visited by every player in ATS. 

Plans for the future

We’ve covered the second phase, but what will happen to California after phase 2 is completed? What changes will be made going forward? Keep in mind that these plans may change, and this is not a promise—developers are merely sharing their thoughts.

Most likely, after completing the second phase, the California Revamp team will focus on the San Francisco Bay area, where a huge amount of work awaits them. However, it’s quite possible that various cities will also be touched upon in phase 3—this all depends on the size of the team at the time of phase 3 development, as new developers are planned to be recruited soon. Work on California will continue regardless.