Euro Truck Simulator 2 News

Looking forward to trucking in the reworked Benelux in ETS2? Although it is a little early for that, as this project is still a work in progress, we are happy to show you a glimpse of the work our map designers have done so far. Today, we would like to share our work on the Port of Rotterdam!


The port is located in the second-largest city of the Netherlands, and from its beginnings as a fishing port in the 15th century, it turned into the biggest seaport in Europe! The area it covers is impressive in itself - over 40 kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide. The port accommodates around 130,000 river ships and approximately 30,000 oceangoing ships every year.


In 2022, the port handled 467 million tons of freight. And this is where you come in, because you will be tasked with transporting it from there to all over Europe! Truckers will be able to drive to the container port, the refinery, and the general logistics area. And if you're transporting a load from Rotterdam to the UK or vice versa, you'll also find ferry services conveniently available right at the port.


The whole area will captivate you because of its unique infrastructure filled with lifting bridges, tunnels under canals, and a complex road network. Our map designers recreated some of its landmarks such as the Thomassentunnel, Calandbrug bridge, Harmsenbrug bridge, and the ferry terminal at Europort.


"It's a really gigantic area, over 40 kilometres long. So we are hoping that we have managed to capture it sufficiently in our scale," says the lead of the Benelux Rework Project, Honza.

We look forward to sharing more news about this project in the future, but please keep in mind it is still a work in progress, so we dare not give you even an estimate of when it may be released. Until then, be sure to keep up to date with the latest updates by following us on Twitter, Facebook, BlueSky, YouTube, and Instagram, and by subscribing to our newsletter! Until next time, we wish you safe travels.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/227300/Euro_Truck_Simulator_2/

Earlier this year, we announced our Scandinavia Refresh project for Euro Truck Simulator 2, aiming to bring major improvements to one of our earliest DLCs. Since then, we’ve shared a Meet the Team blog to introduce the workforce behind the project, but today, we’re excited to share with you a look at some of the road networks we’ve been working on!


Before we get into the details, please keep in mind that everything you see here is still very much a work in progress and are subject to change. That said, let’s have a closer look at some of the refreshed road networks, shall we?

When the original Scandinavia DLC was first created, most of its junctions were built using the same prefabs, meaning that many of the intersections players drove through felt very similar. For the Refresh, we decided to take a much more detailed approach; all the old prefabs have been removed, and in their place, we’ve built custom-made junctions based on real-life layouts.


A lot of this incredible work was led by our externist Maarten (known in the community as Mandelsoft), whose expertise and passion for road design made a big difference across the refreshed areas.

First stop: Denmark! Our team has been hard at work refreshing the road network here. One major area of change is the E20 and E45 junction, which has been completely rebuilt. In reality, this junction, located near the city of Kolding, consists of three different junctions spread about 8 km apart. However, to better fit the scale of our map, our team has reimagined it as one large, triangular interchange.


Moving north, drivers can travel on the impressive Nørresund junction near Aalborg, which has been recreated on an almost 1:1 scale! We’ve also included the gas station and truck stop, which is located along the E45 between Aalborg and Aarhus. Whilst we’re still working on in-game branding, we are sure this will become a popular stop for truckers.

Over at the Germany-Denmark border, drivers will find a reworked border crossing that now includes proper border control setups, matching the details of their real life counterparts. We have also created two new inland routes, Road 16 and 26, which connect through the town of Viborg where you can find a new gas station too! Finally, the iconic Oddesund drawbridge has also been fully reworked, including a working bridge lift and detailed surrounding landscape.


Next stop, Sweden! This region has also seen significant improvements, particularly around the city of Gothenburg. This busy hub has undergone a partial rework, with special attention given to the dense network of highways around the E6/E20 corridor. As a result, the connections between the E20 and Road 40 have also been updated to reflect their real-world layout.


Along the E4, one of Sweden’s main arterial routes, four of our already existing truck stops have been reworked. One notable example is a famous truck stop featuring a candy shop shaped like an aircraft. Previously, this landmark could only be seen from the highway in Euro Truck Simulator 2. However, we are now pleased to share that we have reworked it into a fully functioning truck stop with a gas station, much like its real-life counterpart.

In the area of Brahehus, not only has the gas station been improved, but also the nearby castle ruins. This area will not only serve as a landmark and rest point, but also a depot! The truck stop located nearby Nyköping has also received a similar treatment.


And this is just the beginning! There are still lots more we’d love to share with you in the future as development continues, so stay tuned! Be sure to keep upto date with the latest news by subscribing to our newsletter, or by following us on our socials on X/Twitter, BlueSky, Facebook and Instagram. Until next time, keep on truckin’!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/304212/Euro_Truck_Simulator_2__Scandinavia/

Ready for a trip up north? Today, we take you to Norway for a brief visit to the picturesque town of Andenes, which will be included in our upcoming Nordic Horizons map expansion for Euro Truck Simulator 2. Let's see what's in store!


This beautiful town is located on the northernmost part of the Andøya island and boasts a population of around 2,500 people. Once an important fishing hub, Andenes has also become a popular tourist destination in recent years, thanks to its breathtaking landscape - green mountains and rolling hills on one side, and the vast, beautiful sea dotted with dozens of small islands on the other.


Andenes is also home to the large Andøya Air Station, which first opened in the 1950s and is still operational today. When you arrive in this town, make sure to keep an eye out for its huge port and charming coastline with the iconic lighthouse built in 1859, which is Norway's fourth-tallest lighthouse. There will also be some notable landmarks to see, such as the local church constructed in typical Nordic style.


Looking to stay busy? There's no shortage of jobs to take on across various industries in town. You can try the logistics depot in the port area, transporting a wide range of goods in and out. You'll also have the opportunity to make deliveries to the local supermarket, as well as a material store found in the southern part of town.


A visit to Andenes is a must for anyone cruising in Norway when the Nordic Horizons DLC releases. Until then, make sure to add this map expansion to your Steam Wishlist! Stay tuned for more updates from this map expansion by following us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and YouTube, or by signing up for our newsletter. We will see you on the road!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2780810/Euro_Truck_Simulator_2__Nordic_Horizons/

Today, we're excited to release a new episode of our SCS On The Road series! Join us in Gothenburg, Sweden, as we take a guided tour of World of Volvo, a brand-new automotive museum and experience centre that highlights the legacy of both Volvo Cars and the Volvo Group.


Join Oscar, our Director of Global Partnerships, along with Povel, a guide at World of Volvo, to explore the museum’s spaces and exhibitions. Spanning 236,000 square feet, World of Volvo embraces Scandinavian design, from its use of natural wood to expansive windows that flood the space with daylight, the experience centre is seamlessly integrated with the natural world. The exhibition features iconic vehicles, interactive art installations, and hands-on experiences, including the chance to operate a real electric excavator, test your balance on a moving bus, or dock a boat in virtual reality. There’s something for everyone to discover.

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We are incredibly grateful Povel and the team at World of Volvo for showing us around and allowing us to film and share this experience with you, and for their warm hospitality during our visit. We hope you enjoy this episode and appreciate your continued support for this series. If you liked the video, be sure to subscribe, hit the like button, and leave a comment, we’d love to hear your thoughts! We’ll see you soon for the next episode. Until then, keep on truckin'!

As we continue to evolve and expand the world of Euro Truck Simulator 2, we're constantly looking for ways to improve performance, stability, and the overall driving experience. One step we’re taking in this direction is a major change happening under the hood, something that affects how the game loads and handles data in real time. To make sure we get it right, we need your help!


Recently, we have been hard at work implementing a major overhaul in the way our game loads and processes data, a new experimental system we call Asynchronous Loading. This system is designed to improve the loading process by ensuring that the game and loading screens remain uninterrupted while assets are loaded in the background. The primary benefit here is the mitigation of stuttering, resulting in a smoother experience overall.

However, due to the complexity and wide-reaching impact of this system on many parts of the game, we need to proceed with caution and ensure everything works as expected across a broad range of setups. This may in turn cause unexpected behaviour such as frame rate drops, unusual loading sequences, or odd issues when using features like fast travel. That’s why it’s important for us to test this change under as many different conditions as possible, including various hardware configurations.

To achieve that, today, we are launching a brand-new Experimental Beta for Euro Truck Simulator 2, which features this new loading system. We would like to invite you, our #BestCommunityEver, to help us during this testing phase. The more of you that participate, the more information we’re able to gather and work with. Whether you're running on a high-end rig or a more modest configuration, your feedback is incredibly valuable to us, as it helps us ensure this major feature is stable, reliable, and ready for future updates.

As you explore the beta, we ask that you please keep an eye out for anything unusual or unexpected. We are especially looking for reports of strange behaviour that could be linked to the loading of in-game elements like terrain, models, assets, trucks, trailers, cargoes, weights, physics, and even the economy system. Any instability or glitch, however small, might help us identify where improvements are needed.

Warning! We do want to stress, however, that because of the depth of the changes in this beta, it could potentially affect your save files. That’s why we strongly recommend creating a brand-new profile specifically for the Experimental Beta. This allows you to explore and test the new content without putting your existing progress and profiles at risk.

If you wish to participate in this Experimental Beta, you can find this version in the Experimental Beta branch on Steam. The way to access it is as follows: Steam client → LIBRARY → right-click on Euro Truck Simulator 2 → Properties → Betas tab → Beta Participation drop down menu → experimental_beta. No password is required. Sometimes you will have to restart your Steam client to see the correct branch name there.

If you do experience a bug or another issue, we ask that you please submit your feedback at our official forums, along with details about your hardware setup, and ideally, attach your game.log.txt file located in your ETS2 folder. This really helps us a lot when trying to reproduce and diagnose issues.

While this Experimental Beta is primarily focused on testing Asynchronous Loading, you will notice a few other features that are also included in this build. These additions are still in development for the upcoming 1.55 update, so while they’re there, we kindly ask that you don’t focus your feedback on these features until the Open Beta, which we will announce here on our blog. With that said, we do want to share a little bit about some of the other content and changes that are included in this Experimental Beta.

[h3]Driving Academy: Truck Driving Proficiency[/h3]


Those who choose to participate in this Experimental Beta will also have exclusive access to the next chapter of our Driving Academy series: Truck Driving Proficiency. If you've been following our streams and blogs, you’ll know we’ve hinted at this for a while now. This new set of challenges will push your skills behind the wheel to the limit.

[h3]Mail Screen Redesign[/h3]


We’ve also started rolling out a redesign of the Mail Screen, with a cleaner layout and improved usability, especially for those navigating with a controller.

[h3]World Map Improvement[/h3]


Lastly, there’s a handy new shortcut on the World Map, pressing the F key will now instantly center the map on your truck’s current position.

We’ll share more about each of these features soon, along with a closer look of other changes during the full 1.55 Open Beta. For now, we’d really appreciate your focus on helping us test and refine the new loading system.

We want to thank you to everyone who chooses to participate in this Experimental Beta and help us shape the future of Euro Truck Simulator 2. Your time, feedback, and dedication mean the world to us, and it’s thanks to your continued support that we can keep pushing the boundaries of what our game can offer. Until next time, keep on truckin’!