American Truck Simulator News

It's been a while since we last spoke about the California Rework project; in which 2 phases were already completed and released as free update in American Truck Simulator. Today, we are excited to share with you some information on Phase 3, the team working on it and some teasers on what will be included this free update.



Phase 3 of the California Rework

Speaking with the map lead of this project, he was quite excited to tell us how much the project has progressed, and how the community has played a big deciding factor in shaping Phase 3. From our official forums to our social media channels, we've been listening to your comments in regard to adjusting layouts and sizes of cities and the balance between highways and smaller roads. In a few cases, the community influenced the shape of our Phase 3 content, even some time into development, adding or adjusting content on the go.



So what is in store for Phase 3 of this project? We have quite a bit up our sleeves, which we won't share all in one go. Without going into too much detail, you can expect the rework of several cities, towns, industries and road networks and so much more; Which includes the introduction of the highly requested city of Modesto, which will replace the currently existing city of Oakdale. This addition was heavily influenced by the community, which we look forward to sharing more about in a future blog post along with another unannounced new city addition.

We are also excited to share that the US-50 between Sacramento and Carson City will be included as a new addition in this rework phase. Featuring mountain passes and ski resorts, this route is incredibly scenic and feels like a completely different region when compared to the rest of California. If you enjoyed Truckee and its surroundings, you know what to expect.



Our team has focused a lot on reworking the layout of existing cities by taking advantage of the space created by the rescale after the release of American Truck Simulator. This means we've been able to utilize more of the map to create more road networks, expand city sizes, introduce new industries in the area, and ultimately, bring the quality of the state up to par with our current DLC quality standards.

We have also invested a lot of time and work into smaller secondary roads, especially around central California where a large part of the Agriculture industry exists. Finding the balance between highway and smaller road networks is always a challenge, but we believe that creating more secondary roads is a good investment of time and provides more options for players to choose a route that escapes the fast-paced highway life and experience a different driving style.



As you can imagine, a rework of this size has required a lot of work, with new assets, updated industries, roads, cities and so much more. The content density of this project is very high, and our aim is to make sure that this rework will stand the test of time; Trust us, it will be worth the wait!

All of this exciting content wouldn't be possible without the team behind the scenes working hard on this project, which brings us to our next topic...

Update on the Team

During the development of Montana and Texas, the number of dedicated members of the California Rework team was only around 1-2 people. This was because of the demand and focus needed on these DLCs at the time. However, thanks to the recent influx of new map designers, we have been able to return to normal stable numbers within all our teams. After Texas was released, we were able to return to 5 stable members of the rework team, which has been boosted by another 5 new map designers from January, so we now have 10 people dedicated to improving California.

With this, we are excited about the future and how the team will be able to progress with the current project at hand, as well as with other tasks in the future! For now, our focus is on Phase 3.



As we mentioned earlier, we still have so much more to share, and as development progresses, we will post our progress and work in future blog posts. We can't wait to showcase them all and ultimately, bring Phase 3 of the California Rework to American Truck Simulator. Until then, keep on truckin'!

Today, we are happy to share with you that the 1.47 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 1.47 Open Beta has in store.

[h3]Ownable Gas Cisterns[/h3]

Are you ready to haul your very own Gas Cisterns in American Truck Simulator? As we covered in a previous blog post, Ownable Gas Cisterns are available in this update! These trailers will come in a variety of lengths, chassis and customisation options. These cisterns are designed to transport dangerous and highly flammable gases such as Ethane, Propane and LPG (Liquefied petroleum gas).



However, please keep in mind, that as of now the in-game economy for these trailers and also the list of available cargoes for them are still in a work in progress state and are subject to change.

The Ownable Gas Cistern for American Truck Simulator will be available as a single or B-Double trailer. It will also include 5 chassis types; 32ft, 43ft & 48ft 2-axle, 53ft 3-axle and 4-axle 53ft with a steerable rear axle. Each gas cistern comes with over 50 accessories which include (but are not limited to):

• Paintable/Chrome Boxes
  
• Paintable/Chrome Valve Covers
  
• Customisable Side Lamps
  
• Paintable Wing
  
• A wide variety of hoses
  
• A variety of rear fenders and rear bumper lights
  
• A variety of trailer paintjobs
  
• and so much more!
  

We look forward to seeing you deliver with these new Ownable Gas Cisterns and how you will customize them. Be sure to share your first ride with them on our social media channels.

[h3]World Ambient Sounds[/h3]

As we continue to make sounds more immersive across our truck sim world, one big change we have made for this update is introducing sound scatter technology through FMOD for our virtual environment. So what does this mean for players?

It means you'll now notice a variety of SFX coming from different directions and distances, on top of our base 5.1 sound layer, which has an existing basic environmental loop for a specific place. For example, you may be sitting at a rest area in the quiet Texas plains, hearing the chirping of crickets, but you'll hear them at various distances, some further away, some closer!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Another change we are introducing is a direction filter for trucks. Where applicable, we have included sound engine equalization in the sound system, which works according to your current camera view. For example, if you are using a camera behind the truck, you will hear a change in sound according to that view. The effect is most audible when you are able to watch your truck drive past while the camera remains stationary.

You can read more in detail about this change to our world ambient sounds and more at our previous blogpost on the subject.

[h3]Adaptive Cruise Control & Emergency Braking System [/h3]

Released originally as a hidden experimental feature back in 1.44, we are glad to be able to bring this highly requested addition to the 1.47 update. Adaptive Cruise Control automatically adjusts the distance and speed from the vehicle in front when in cruise control mode. This is especially handy when encountering a busy highway, where you may find traffic often merging into a gap in front of you, or in situations where traffic speed is constantly changing.



Coupled with ACC is the Emergency Braking System, which activates your brakes whenever a collision is imminent with the vehicle in front, to avoid or minimize damage. This technology in the real world has saved countless lives and is found in most modern trucks.

These features have been in the works for a while, but it is still work in progress and we look forward to seeing how they perform during 1.47 Open Beta. Please share with us your feedback and comments on our official forums.

[h3]Custom City Intros (Utah & Idaho)[/h3]

Carrying on from our previous update which introduced custom city intros for Colorado & Wyoming, we have now expanded these cutscenes to the Utah and Idaho DLC's for American Truck Simulator!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

These special cutscenes appear when a player selects a starting city when creating a new profile. We hope that new players (or those restarting a new profile) will enjoy these new additions, showcasing the area where you have chosen to begin!

Let us know your thoughts and any feedback you may have at our official forums.

[h3]Random Road Bumps[/h3]

We're excited to introduce Random Road Bumps into 1.47! These small bumps are procedurally generated to give the roads an imperfect feel to them. While they may not be visible to the driver, you will be able to feel these subtle bumps and in some cases hear them affect your vehicle whilst driving.

We look forward to working on expanding this feature in the future, but for the time being, let us know your thoughts about it! Any comments or feedback can be made over on our official forums.

[h3]Career History UI Redesign[/h3]

This update also includes a refresh for the Career History UI! For those who are unfamiliar with this feature, you can access it via the main menu of American Truck Simulator or Euro Truck Simulator 2. It displays a graph of your experience progress and some statistics.



This new redesign will now feature a much more detailed look into your statistics and previous deliveries. The UI now shows 4 sections which are: Deliveries, Exploration, Driver experiences and Penalties. Each of these sections displays different statistics that give you a more in-depth review of your journey as a truck driver so far including total deliveries, your past delivery ratings, how many of your deliveries were on time, map exploration, companies visited, truck data and discoveries.

We've also included a section that'll show what penalties you have received over the last 2 weeks of your career. We felt that little things such as hitting traffic signs or falling asleep at the wheel don't need to be on your permanent record.



We've also redesigned your delivery log which shows clearly your previous jobs, your cargo, what day you made the delivery on, income, XP, time spent etc. We understand that these statistics are important for drivers to look back on, especially if you are part of a VTC where you may need to log your previous jobs for driver activity.

We really hope you like this redesign, and we hope we can expand on it in the future. Let us know your feedback and comments by heading to our official forums.

[h3]In-Game Update Log[/h3]

We've now added a new UI feature to both American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2 which will show users the changelog of a major update or showcase the featured of a DLC release.

This will appear in the form of a pop-up either when you launch the game after an update or whilst in-game in the main menu if an update was made during your time on the road. Not only that, but you can also access a history of previous changelogs, in-case you missed out on several, and find all our official social media links.

We hope this helps you stays informed no matter where you are on the latest changes and updates made to our titles.

[h3]Economy Reset Teleport[/h3]

Whenever the player's economy is reset during a game load, it was the norm for you to be teleported to your HQ garage. Today we are happy to make a small change that will allow you to make the decision whether you want to teleported to your chosen HQ or a free quick travel to any service station of your choice.



[h3]Changelog[/h3]

[h3]Map[/h3]

• Addition of World Ambient Sounds
  
• Random Road Bumps
  

[h3]Vehicles[/h3]

• Ownable Gas Cisterns
  
• Adaptive Cruise Control & Emergency Braking System
  

Kenworth W900

• DEF-Less fuel tank options returned for certain engine types (150, 220 & 300 gal)
  
• Reinstated Cruise Control speed display on dashboard
  

[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• Custom City Intros for Utah and Idaho
  
• Addition of Sound Direction Filter
  
• Performance Improvements (night, bad weather, dense traffic)
  

[h3]UI[/h3]

• Career History UI Redesign
  
• In-Game Update Log
  
• Economy Reset Teleport
  

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 → 1.47. No password required. Sometimes you have to restart your Steam client to see the correct branch name there.

As you already may have guessed from our previous blog articles, Oklahoma is a major agricultural state in the United States. Known as the "breadbasket of America," the Sooner State is a top producer of a variety of crops and livestock, contributing significantly to the state's economy and the nation's food supply.



Wheat is a truly significant crop in Oklahoma. In fact, the state is the sixth-largest producer of wheat in the country, and it produces enough wheat each year to make over 13 billion loaves of bread! However, cotton production definitely shouldn’t be overlooked. Transporting these crops to Crops Farms, Grain Elevators, and Cotton Gins across the state and beyond is a critical role for truckers and the thriving industry will keep all of you busy and entertained for hours and hours.



Oklahoma is also a major producer of livestock. The state is home to over 4 million head of cattle, making it the fifth-largest cattle-producing state in the country. There will be an opportunity to check out a number of related prefabs such as Dairy Farm, Livestock Auction, or Feed Mill. When put together, these places represent the chain of production quite nicely, as you need the feed to take care of the cattle and then trade it at the auction afterward.



Judging by the numbers shown in the text above, it is safe to say that local agriculture will have a strong presence in the upcoming Oklahoma DLC. If you are looking forward to exploring new industries and experiences, make sure to add the map expansion to your Steam Wishlist or follow our social media profiles (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok) to never miss out on any important updates.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2209650/American_Truck_Simulator__Oklahoma/

Since 1923, The Kenworth Truck Company has been manufacturing trucks, the first of which was built in Renton, Seattle. Today, Kenworth has become one of the leading manufacturers of heavy-duty trucks in North America, and this year, they are celebrating their 100-year anniversary!



With an excellent heritage in quality, innovation and technology, Kenworth has manufactured more than half a million trucks over the decades. To celebrate this amazing milestone, Kenworth Trucks has revealed a special anniversary edition of their legendary W900, which we are also proud to be able to bring to you in American Truck Simulator!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The new special Anniversary Edition of the Kenworth W900 includes:

• New long 6x4 chassis painted in red with side markers
  
• New exhaust pipes engraved with the number '100'
  
• New side hood badge logo
  
• New sleeper side badge with Kenworth 100 lettering
  
• New fully painted plate below doors
  
• New paintjob for 86 inch sleeper
  
• New interior version with black dashboard & with red 'Kenworth 100' logo
  
• New interior dashboard trim option with metallic look
  
• New leather seats and bench
  

But that isn't all. Whilst working on this upcoming addition, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to give one of our first licensed vehicles in American Truck Simulator a little bit of love in the form of a remodel. We'd like to express our gratitude to PACCAR and Kenworth for their continuous support and partnership since the launch of ATS back in 2016. We look forward to what the road brings for both of us ahead!

So what does this remodel include? As we teased during our Christmas live stream, a special project has been in the works for the Kenworth W900; Which includes new options, parts and accessories and more! We really wanted to bring this vehicle up to our current quality standards with this project.



Starting with cabins, we've added the option to upgrade to the 86" studio sleeper, the largest option yet! All our sleeper options now also include detachable roof and side deflectors. There is also a new customisation point for the studio sleeper side badge. We have also redesigned and added several new chassis options too. There are now 3 chassis sizes, short for the daycab, midsized for the sleeper 72" and long for the studio sleeper 86". Every size comes with 5 versions (6x2, 8x4 liftable, 6x4, 8x4 liftable and 8x6). Every model now reflects if the axle is liftable or drivable & comes with lots of little details including warning stickers and cables.



On top of all that, the fuel tanks are now fully separated and updated to their newer versions which include DEF tanks. This means you will now be able to choose your tank size independently. We have also added an array of accessories including several different doorsteps and door handles, handrails and hood logos.



The cabin and interior were also completely remodelled with great attention to detail, including the colour pallete! This update will offer three cabin trim options, Splendor Slate Gray, Diamond Slate Gray and Diamond Black. There is also a new interior design with a bench for the 86" studio sleeper. Additionally, the front seats now offer the option of being trimmed in a different material from the rest of the cabin; which come in leather and cloth options. Dashboard trims are also available in wood or black plastic.

Along with all these updates, changes & more, the W900 remodel also includes:

• A new front bumper
  
• A new modern rearbumper
  
• New modern rear mudflaps
  
• New modern rear mudguards
  
• New modern front mudflaps
  
• New window rubber seals with chrome trim
  
• New LED hood blinkers
  

As you can imagine, this was quite an extensive amount of work for our team, who worked hard to complete such a big project in-time. We hope that you enjoy the vast number of updates and love that have been put into this update; which did not come without its challenges.

Once you hit the road in your Kenworth W900, we'd love to hear about it! Share your screenshots, videos and more with us and Kenworth trucks using the hashtag #Kenworth100ATS. Don't forget to tag us both as we would love to see them. Happy Truckin' and Happy 100 years Kenworth Trucks!

A trucker’s journey consists of more than complex highways or wonderful nature, which is why there’s always the need to include numerous detailed cities and settlements in every additional expansion of American Truck Simulator to perfectly capture the whole "picture" of the local land. The upcoming Oklahoma DLC will be no exception, so today we will show you four of the cities that are arriving in the game with the Sooner State.



First up is Guymon with a population of about 12,000 people, which makes it the biggest small city that is located in the panhandle of Oklahoma. While in general, the city has a rich history and a strong community spirit, most importantly for us, the city's main source of business comes from large livestock farms and meat processing factories. Even though a local food factory may not seem like too much work at first glance, the entire area will provide to be a perfect starting point for your journey across Oklahoma.



Next, we have Enid, a city with a history closely intertwined with the expansion of the railway system in America. It’s no coincidence the city was originally supposed to be called Skeleton Station, but, well, let’s just say it sounds less catchy than as we know it today.

The city is surrounded by flat land and wheat fields, which is why a silo depot will most likely be your main place of visit when you will find yourself in the area. However, the city center is rich in landmarks such as a hospital, police and fire station, local school, and more.



Lawton is primarily known for its local Tire Factory for which we have created a brand-new depot (as shown in our previous New Industries blog). The factory is a significant part of the city's economy and the investments and state support are increasing every year. Moreover, the city is also home to a large paper mill, which we've added to the game as well. It's also worthwhile taking some time to see the interesting water tanks and churches in the area.



Lastly, we have Idabel, the smallest town in Oklahoma in the upcoming DLC. It is located in the southeast corner and the main point of interest for the players will certainly be the adjacent Sawmill. Additionally, it's worth a visit to see the Museum of the Red River, which is an unusually futuristic structure considering the local area. Other landmarks in Idabel include the fire station, hospital, high school, and water tanks.



And finally, we have some screenshots for you of the local settlements you will be able to pass through while cruising through Oklahoma. Can you guess which small towns are present in the following screenshots?



In conclusion, these cities and settlements will offer diverse experiences for players to enjoy. We can’t wait for you to check out the second part of this blog topic in the future and we’d suggest following our social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok) to not miss out on any potential updates.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2209650/American_Truck_Simulator__Oklahoma/