Alaskan Road Truckers News

Hi, Truckers!


We thought it’s time to let you know what’s been going on in our studio. At this point of development, we’re adding to the well-established foundation of the game and we’re polishing it.

Let’s take a look behind the shoulders of one of our developers, Greg!



He’s now working on optimising the graphics, so our sim runs good on different hardware configurations. In the case of this particular photo, Greg is setting the cull distance for the trees. It’s Alaska, so you have to see quite a number of them. But which, how many and where? It’s a matter of balancing that’s light on the GPU but maintains the illusion of being in a densely forested area.

It can be tricky, and it takes time, but we have our best people on the case. :)

Hi folks!

We have great news: our friends at DRAGO entertainment, the team behind the hit Gas Station Simulator, have organised a contest where you can win the game for free! All it takes is joining their Discord.



Gas Station Simulator recently topped Steam charts, and for a good reason. It’s a unique and fun game loved by gamers and streamers alike.

If you haven’t played it, take this chance for a shot at a free copy. It’s also a great opportunity to discover other titles from DRAGO entertainment.

Good luck, and have fun!

Hello, Truckers!

Today we want to show you one more magical Alaskan landmark which you can find in our game – the so-called “Into the Wild” Bus or the Magic Bus.

Here it is in a screenshot from Google Maps:



And here is how it looks in the game:



The bus has a fascinating history. It is probably best known from “Into the Wild”, a book and film adaptation about Christopher McCandless, a hitchhiker for whom the bus served as a home for three and a half months before he succumbed to starvation. He was the one to call it the Magic Bus. After the book was released in 1996 and the film in 2007, the bus has become a peculiar pilgrimage destination for those who wanted to retrace McCandless’s steps.

Originally, however, the bus was just Bus 142, a part of the Fairbanks municipal transit system. In 1961, Yutan Construction Company purchased three busses, removed their engines, and towed them with a bulldozer along the Stampede Trail. They served as temporary site accommodation for the company’s workers who were building an access road between the Alaska Railroad and a nearby mine.

When the construction was finished, the other two busses were towed away, however, Bus 142 was abandoned due to its broken axle. As the years passed, the bus has become a shelter for moose hunters and hitchhikers.

In 2020, the Magic Bus has been airlifted and removed from the Alaskan wilderness. It is now being renovated at the Museum of the North in Fairbanks, where it will become an exhibition.

Here comes the great part – in Alaskan Truck Simulator players can still visit the bus in the wild! Will you look for it?

If you’d like to support us, add our game to your Wishlist and tell your friends about it, it will greatly help us out. Thanks for sticking around, and see you next time!

Hi, Truckers!

Today we want to tell you a bit about how we translated the Alaskan landscape into the game.

For one, we’ve made sure that everything you see in the game actually comes from Alaska, meaning the Alaskan flora, architecture etc. But we’ve also created many landmarks inspired by their real counterparts. When playing, you’ll be able to discover many fun facts about these places.

One of such locations is the Igloo Hotel, based on Igloo City, an abandoned hotel from Cantwell that was never opened to customers. Here it is in our game...



And here’s how it looks on Google Maps:



Why the differences? Why not make a 1:1 copy? Actually it’s the same reason why you won’t find the exact same buildings in any games set in the real world. Building designs are copyrighted and it costs a lot of money and effort to get a license to use them. So the best that game designers can do is create something that channels their spirit.

And that’s exactly what we’re doing: we’re trying our best to imbue ATS with the spirit of Alaska.

If you like this post, we can turn it into a series where we’ll show you more examples of the places you can visit in the game. Let us know what you think about this idea!

If you’d like to support us, add our game to your Wishlist. This way you’ll give us an extra boost in visibility on Steam. Thanks for being with us, and until next time!

Greetings, Truckers!

One of the topics you raised recently was the uniqueness of our game. What is it that makes Alaskan Truck Simulator different and worth playing? We’re happy to tell you!

Long story short, it’s what we told you last week: you play as a trucker, not as a truck. But allow us to expound.

Creating a compelling simulation of the trucker’s profession (not just limited to driving!) was the main focus from the start. We wanted to make you feel like you’re an organic part of the world. Thus, you can exit the vehicle, you need to go and get groceries, cook food, eat, sleep, fix the engine, etc., etc. You even have your own headquarters that feels like home when you reach it after an arduous journey, and that serves as your base of operations.

Many of these ideas were implemented after we got your feedback, on Discord or here, on Steam, after our initial showing. The game has changed since then, and you’ve had a strong impact on its evolution. We’ve implemented many ideas from you, and we hope to talk about one of them in our next weekly post.

Also, we’ve put a lot of effort into the weather system. You could already see in our trailer that we have a simulation of the entire yearly seasonal cycle. But this goes deeper, with different intensity of rain or snow--which isn’t just for decoration.



The weather affects the way you play, not only by changing how your truck drives, but also because if you drive more carefully in winter, you’ll need to prepare more thoroughly for the ride. Tire chains will cost you so you’ll need to plan ahead and spend money. Your fuel usage will change, so you have to account for that. It’s like a system of interconnected vessels which we created to add depth.

So, if you were wondering what makes our game stand out, we hope you got your answer! We’re putting a lot of effort into making your digital trucker’s life feel like… life.

See you next week! We’ll make sure to answer your comments to the best of our ability.

If you’d like to support us, add our game to your Steam wishlist, and share the page among your friends.

Also, join our Discord to find more people with similar passions.