Euro Truck Simulator 2 news 86

Recently, the developers of Euro Truck Simulator 2 have often hinted at a new DLC, which is expected to be released after the long-awaited Iberia DLC. Many have shared their guesses. Some believed that the update would be related to Russia, and they were right. The new major expansion is called Heart Of Russia.
According to the developers, they have long wanted to reach Russia and give players the opportunity to visit the largest country by area. In the new expansion, players will be able to visit the capital of Russia – Moscow. Moreover, it will be possible to go beyond Moscow.
Russia is an incredibly vast country, so don’t expect to be able to travel across the entire nation. Creating a project of such scale would take years. However, the DLC is still very large, and the developers plan to add territories up to the upper reaches of the Volga.
Previously, the developers released expansions at the end of the year. Many players were used to this. However, it should be understood that following this cycle is no longer possible, as the expansions have become truly large. The Iberia DLC is already in the final stages of development, which is why the decision was made to share information about the new, larger DLC – Heart Of Russia.
It is difficult to predict when the expansion will be released, but development has already begun. The fact is that even the developers themselves do not roughly know when the DLC can be launched. The scale of the project is breathtaking. The development team for this expansion was created back in 2020. However, the team is still not fully formed. After completing work on the Iberia DLC, many developers will start working on the new Heart Of Russia expansion, and only then will maximum productivity and efficiency be achieved.
The developers want to release a finished product with a minimal number of bugs and maximum quality for their players. The major update will be available for purchase only when the developers are confident that everything is ready and the expansion is in a good and playable state, so all that remains is to wait for news – there will be more soon.

The developers are providing more and more information about the upcoming and very large Iberia expansion. This time they have published screenshots of the city of Porto. This city is one of the largest cities in Portugal, ranking second in size. It is located along the Golden River. It has incredible historical value, with very old buildings, churches, and more. 
Since the city is situated along the river, it can be assumed that the fishing industry here is highly developed and plays an important role in the local economy. Sardines and hake are most commonly found here. These fish are caught and distributed to shops throughout the city. However, there is more than just the fishing industry. Porto also cultivates beans, olives (and therefore has a large olive oil production), oranges, and more. 
The developers constantly share new information. There have already been reviews of various cities from the large DLC, and the review of Porto is far from the end. Additionally, the developers maintain constant contact with their players. During one of the live streams, viewers kept typing M (the map key) in the chat, hinting to the developers to show the entire Iberia DLC map. The players’ requests were heard, and they finally published the full map. 

According to the developers, with the release of the new DLC, players will definitely want to paint their trucks in something new and beautiful. That is why this is the perfect moment to add new paint jobs. They will be added to the Spanish and Portuguese packs. The new paint jobs will be available after the release of the major expansion. Equally important, they will be free, so all players will be able to paint their trucks in honor of the DLC launch.
Both paint packs will receive new skins for trucks, but that’s far from all. You will have the opportunity to decorate the interiors of your vehicles with new accessories. In the case of the Portuguese pack, the accessory will be the Barcelos rooster, which is a symbol of love for life. The rooster is very commonly used in various parts of Portugal. Having visited this country, you will see the rooster symbol almost everywhere, in all kinds of decorations.
For the Spanish paint pack, the paint jobs will feature symbols of the region: the bison and hands. You will be able to paint your trucks with their images, but accessories are included as well. Tourists often buy an accessory in the form of the Consuegra windmills. Essentially, this is a distinctive symbol of the area. Small versions of the 16th-century windmills will decorate your vehicles with the update release. 

The developers have been talking for a long time about a new lighting system for ETS 2 and American Truck Simulator. We have all been eagerly awaiting this praised system. We have seen many screenshots, videos, and articles about it, but recently the developers provided even more information, explaining when they came up with the idea, how everything was implemented, and other interesting details.
The new lighting system was conceived a very long time ago – over 10 years ago. However, due to the technical limitations of that time, it was very difficult to implement because the hardware was too weak. Now everything is different: 3D accelerators have more memory capacity, and programming as a whole has advanced to the point where this grand idea can be properly realized. The system will use a range of floating-point numbers. The main goal of the new system is to turn lighting into something beautiful and realistic, making the lighting of a simple lamp look distinctly different from daylight, just as it happens in real life, without using any tricks.
Developing the new system requires integrating correct values because even the smallest error in values can lead to unattractive visual consequences. The developers began actively testing all this almost 19 months ago. They were satisfied with the results, which is why they decided to see it through to the end. 
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Various methods and devices, including a light meter, were used to obtain the correct values. The developers initially hoped that simply changing the light sources would be enough. It was necessary to measure real values in lux, take into account factors such as day and night, other light sources like headlights and bulbs, weather conditions, and much more. This was an incredibly huge effort. 
After calculating the internal lighting, an equally important process must be done – integration and adjustment for the game, including camera exposure. The light must dynamically adjust depending on many factors, including those mentioned above. Another important factor is lighting both inside and outside the cabin. All of this also needs to be calculated correctly. It’s hard to even imagine how much effort went into just the mathematical calculations, measuring real values, and so on – hundreds of hours were spent on this. 
The changes are very noticeable, and the new lighting leads to incredible beautiful visual effects. For example, reflections on glossy surfaces now look stunning. Bodies of water, various glass surfaces, and more reflect so beautifully; the system changes so dynamically that you just want to travel endlessly, enjoying the game world. However, this also brought up another problem. 
The new lighting system turned out to be so amazing that it was decided to rebalance almost all existing game textures for the new system. The thing is, when sun rays hit an object, the effect can vary. The effect directly depends on the surface material. There are many objects in the ETS and ATS game worlds, and everything had to be refined and made as realistic as possible. 
Initially, the development team was quite small. Months of testing and hard work were conducted, and after refining and implementing graphical shaders, new specialists were brought into the team. It was impossible for a small team to complete the process; it would have taken too much time. Some lighting source adjustments were made automatically, but many sources had to be repositioned manually, which took a lot of time. Some add-ons were frozen or development slowed down to attract the necessary specialists to work on the new lighting. But it was worth it!
What this all means
Some people don’t understand why the developers emphasize the overhaul of the lighting system so much. In fact, this is a really big step for both current and upcoming games from these developers because this system is much better than the others and allows the engine to be fully unlocked. You will be able to appreciate this system in the major 1.40 update, but various refinements may take many hours and days of work.
Main changes
All light sources in the game have been adjusted: from the smallest to daylight and nighttime lighting. Some were redone automatically, but most were done manually.Real values were used with various mechanics, tactics, and devices. A herculean effort was made to obtain the necessary values and results.Dynamic changes of light sources, more realistic shadows, beautiful graphics.Almost all textures in the game have been reworked, and there are tens of thousands of them. Metallic objects will have different reflections, trees and other objects will have others, and so on. Everything depends on the material.A large number of various effects have been added.

Recently, update 1.40 was released for ATS. A short time later, the same update was released for ETS 2! Yes, this wonderful update is now available for the main game client. Earlier we already wrote about the beta version.
The developers thanked everyone who participated in testing this update. Naturally, the changes are quite significant, and new patches fixing various issues will be released, but the update is already in a fairly presentable form. Changes include:
A new lighting system – the main feature of this update. The developers have repeatedly talked about the overhaul of visual lighting, and now we can enjoy it all.New French cities have been added.Textures of Germany have been revamped.New types of paint jobs have been added for vehicles (more precisely, for trailers). There are 2 in total. Text search can now be fully used on the job screen.The vehicle adjustment menu has been improved. 

Great news for those eagerly awaiting the Iberia expansion for ETS 2. It has become known that this update will be released to the public very soon. According to the developers, there is very little time left before the release of the largest update for ETS 2, and they are currently working even harder than before.
But when exactly will the big expansion be released? If things continue at this pace, the developers will officially announce the release date within a week. However, the good news doesn’t end there. The developers hinted that within a week they also plan to send early access keys for the major update to trusted and influential people. Naturally, this refers to major gaming media and prominent bloggers.
When the release date is officially announced, there will be a special live stream on the day of the release featuring Pavel Sebor. He will be the one to press the release button during the live stream, after which the update will become publicly available. 
And finally – a giveaway from the developers. They thanked everyone who added the Iberia DLC to their Steam wishlist. More than 580,000 users have added this expansion to their wishlist, and in honor of this and the DLC’s release, there will be a small giveaway where the developers will select 5 random winners and give them activation keys for the new DLC completely free. To participate in the contest, you need to do the following:
Add the Iberia DLC to your Steam wishlist;Take a screenshot showing your profile and that Iberia is in your wishlist;Post this screenshot on Twitter or Instagram. Use the hashtag #ReadyForIberia (mandatory!) and tag the game developers’ page (also mandatory!);Wait for the results!
The contest results will be announced 3 hours before the official release of the major expansion, and all winners will be able to enjoy the new DLC several hours before its launch. 

The developers have announced the exact release date of the long-awaited Iberia DLC. The expansion will be available on April 8, 2021, at 7 PM Eastern Time!
They also showed us a new trailer for the DLC.
Along with the release, the developers promised to hold a stream where they will share many details about plans, updates, and more.