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American Truck Simulator News

American Truck Simulator: 1.46 Open Beta

Today, we are happy to share with you that the 1.46 Open Beta branch for American Truck Simulator is now available to try and test out. If you plan on participating in this Open Beta, we ask that you please help us by reporting any bugs you may encounter in the appropriate section(s) of our official forums.



Your feedback and reports are extremely valuable to our team and we thank you in advance for taking the time to help us out. So, without further ado, let's take a look at what the 1.46 Open Beta has in store.

Company Browser
An exciting new feature coming to both American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2 in the 1.46 update is the Company Browser. This new in-game browser allows players to search for specific types of companies, cargoes and/or trailer types. This means that if you are waiting for any of the examples mentioned in the previous sentence, you can easily check if such a thing even exists within the game!



So, if you are curious about which cargo you can theoretically haul for example between Calais and Duisburg or even Edinburgh to Istanbul, the company browser will achieve just that!



We are eager for you to take this new feature for a test drive during the Open Beta and to receive your feedback on the Company Browser. Any feedback or comments are welcome about this feature (or any others you are trying during the beta) at our forums. Happy trucking!

Ownable Cisterns - Chemical Trailers
Today we are happy to share with you the next addition to our ownable cistern collection which will be available in 1.46, Chemical Trailers!



These tankers are designed to transport a variety of chemicals including acidic, toxic, or corrosive liquid products. These cargo types include Hydrochloric Acid, Sulfuric Acid, Pesticides, Mercuric Chloride and more, so careful driving is highly recommended.



The ATS Cistern will include 3 chassis types (43ft 2 axle, 48ft 3 axle and 53ft, 4 axle) which are single chain. It will also come 2 body types (chrome or paintable) and with a variety of accessories and customizations which include:

  • Chassis type
  • Paintjobs (base and DLC)
  • Markers
  • Rear bumpers
  • Mudflaps
  • and other accessories such as (hoses, tool boxes, extinguishers etc


We are excited to see you hauling these new chemical trailers in your company and how you will customize them!

US-20
We are happy to share that the US-20, located between Idaho and Montana will be arriving as a free update for owners of the DLCs. This highway has been highly requested by you, our #BestCommunityEver, since Montana's release.



This important connection allows drivers to drive between Idaho Falls, ID, and the settlement of West Yellowstone in Montana. West Yellowstone is also home to a tourist center, located just outside the west gate to the Yellowstone Natl. Park. This also gives players traveling from Idaho state an option to travel to the Yellowstone National Park as well as connect with US-191 which is a popular trucking route in the area.



We hope you enjoy exploring this new road along with the beautiful views that come along with it. And who knows, maybe you will find a new achievement over there as well.

Custom City Intros
Recently, we introduced a new experimental feature in ETS2 and ATS - the custom city introductions. Thanks to the positive feedback that we have seen from the community, we are glad to let you know that we will further expand this feature in the upcoming 1.46 update!



These special cutscenes appear when a player selects a starting city when creating a new profile and, as you may know, they are currently available only for the cities of Austria and the city of Hanover in Euro Truck Simulator 2. In the 1.46 update, however, this feature can now be found in the world of American Truck Simulator also!

New players will have the opportunity to watch one of these awesome cutscenes when selecting their first city that has a garage in Colorado and Wyoming map expansions.



So, what do you think? Should we keep working on the custom city introductions? If so, let us know!

Idaho Viewpoints Redesign
We went back and updated the viewpoints of Idaho DLC to better reflect our current standard of their length, pace and camera movement. They are now generally more polished and on par in terms of quality with their more modern siblings from newer map expansions.



Driveshaft Torque

We are always doing our best to make the trucking experience within our games as realistic as possible, and that is exactly the reason why this new addition, which can be turned on in the settings, is arriving into the world of ATS. This feature simulates the spinning of the chassis during acceleration, which results in a slight lift of the front left wheel. This effect is more visible on American trucks due to them being longer.



Changelog

Map
  • US-20 road between Idaho and Montana
  • Idaho Viewpoints Redesign


Vehicles
  • Ownable Cisterns - Chemical Trailers
  • Cascadia and Western Star 57X got custom infotainment implementation
  • Infotainment/GPS screens on all trucks have switched off state separated from map zoom
  • Cellphones and navigational devices got a custom implementation


Gameplay
  • Company Browser
  • Custom City Intros
  • Driveshaft Torque
  • New Parking Achievement


So enjoy all the new additions, but please remember: It's only an open beta, not a stable public version - so you may encounter bugs, instability, or crashes. It's completely okay if you want to wait for the final release. But if you're interested in helping us to get there faster, we'll appreciate all of your feedback on our forum and your bug reports in this section.

Please check our modding wiki to get details pertaining to mods for the game.

If you wish to participate in the open beta, you can find this version in the public_beta branch on Steam. The way to access it is as follows: Steam client → LIBRARY → right-click on American Truck Simulator → Properties → Betas tab → public_beta → 1.46. No password required. Sometimes you have to restart your Steam client to see the correct branch name there.

Texas - Oil Fields and Chemical Plants

Texas has a rich history when it comes to the oil and chemical industry. From the first noted discovery of oil in 1894 to having more than one-fourth of the nation's 100 largest oil fields, Texas has become a major player in the industry. In our upcoming Texas DLC for American Truck Simulator, players can deliver to and from oil and chemical industries found across the state.



Texas is by far the largest oil-producing state in the United States, producing a total of 1.7 billion barrels in 2021. With all this production, the sector alone employs hundreds of thousands of people including truck drivers who play an important role in exporting goods and transporting equipment.

The oil industry will feature prominently in the Texas DLC, and will include several industry depots including oil services, oil wells and oil storage. Much like everything else in Texas, you can expect some of the depots to be pretty large too!



With the large abundance of oil wells, comes a similarly massive number of chemical and refinery plants. These industrial processing plants are where the oil is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, bitumen, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas, petroleum naphtha, and more!

From Corpus Christi to Longview, players will be able to find these depots located across Texas to export oil across the United States and beyond.



As we continue to develop and refine Texas, be sure to follow our social to keep up to date with the latest DLC news, updates and more. Until then, keep on truckin'!

Texas - Intersections & Bridges

When working on an upcoming DLC, we are always trying to provide the most accurate interpretation of the local road network, and as much as it would’ve been interesting to only have straight roads in the real world, the intersections and bridges are a necessity that every trucker needs to take into consideration. Let’s take a look at some of these road areas that you will be able to drive through in the Texas map expansion for ATS.



As you may have noticed, we have recently decided to hold back a bit on using the saying that Everything is bigger in Texas, but in this case, we feel like it is simply unavoidable. The thing is, the intersections in Texas are quite often so large that they are reminiscent of the layout and size of whole cities. And it’s not just quality, but the quantity that stands out as well, since there will be approximately 90 intersections for you to explore.



Most of these areas in the DLC will be very carefully designed and put together piece by piece in order to represent their real-life counterparts as best as possible. You can probably imagine the work that went into creating the intersection in Austin which has 5 levels...



In regards to the bridges, you can look forward to driving through most of the well-known ones, for example, the Margaret McDermott Bridge in Dallas or the Waco Brazos River Bridges. And even though it is still under construction, you will also be able to take a look at the new Harbor Bridge in Corpus Christi which is officially going to become the tallest bridge in Texas upon opening in a few years.



We hope the swirls and the heights featured in the screenshots did not make you dizzy. If instead, you enjoyed this peek at the upcoming new content, add the Texas DLC to your Steam Wishlist. Also, to never miss out on anything important, you can follow our social media profiles, subscribe to our newsletter, or check out our microsite dedicated to this project.

1.46 Update: Colorado & Wyoming & Iberia Custom City Intros

Recently, we introduced a new experimental feature for ETS2 and ATS - custom city introductions. Thanks to the positive feedback that we have seen from the community, we are glad to let you know that we will further expand this feature in the upcoming 1.46 update!



These special cutscenes appear when a player selects a starting city when creating a new profile and, as you may know, they are currently available only for cities in Austria and the city of Hanover in Euro Truck Simulator 2. In the 1.46 update, however, we will add this feature to the Iberia DLC as well!



And not only that, this feature is also evolving across the ocean in the ATS world. Therefore, once the update lands in the game, in addition to Montana, new players will also have the opportunity to watch one of these awesome cutscenes when selecting their first city that has a garage in the Colorado and Wyoming map expansions.



Also, just a heads up, the screenshots used in this blog serve only as illustrative examples. If you’d like to see more, check out the posts about this topic on our social media - Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. But you can always wait until the 1.46 update is released to try the new custom city intros on your own!

1.46 - Montana New Content

About two months ago, while talking about the Yellowstone National Park update in Montana DLC, we teased you with the possibility of having this entire area fully recreated within American Truck Simulator. In the 1.46 update, a small addition will achieve just that.



We are excited to let you know that we will be adding the US-20 leading to West Yellowstone! This means that everything will technically come "full circle", since you will be able to enter the area of the park from all of the surrounding states - Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.



Furthermore, to celebrate the completion of Yellowstone, we have also added a new viewpoint in Montana DLC, which will showcase a bit of the park and the West Yellowstone village itself.



As you can see, the 1.46 blog posts are now in full swing for both ATS and ETS2, so make sure to leave us a follow on our social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok) to stay in touch with all the latest news and updates!