Mar 7

Driving Academy - Truck Driving Proficiency

American Truck Simulator - Tiktak

Today, we have an update regarding Driving Academy. Our teams are currently working on a new set of scenarios for Driving Academy for both Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator which are really going to test your trucker skills when it arrives in the future!

We released Driving Academy as a free update in October last year where we introduced sets of scenarios in 5 chapters from truck driving basics to more advanced challenges. We were inspired by many of our players who have used our games to get a sense of handling a truck and trailer, and learning how to maneuver and reverse. Now, after a few months, we wanted to take it a step further with a set of much more challenging scenarios which will be a part of the upcoming module called Truck Driving Proficiency and will test even the most skilled drivers to the limit. Please keep in mind that everything you see in this blog can change as the Truck Driving Proficiency for Driving Academy is still a work in progress.

For this new module and set of scenarios, we will also introduce a new reward system. The most important thing is still to precisely complete a scenario by driving along the designated path and avoiding any collision. For proficiency level, there may be additional conditions you will have to meet to successfully pass the scenario.

New in this upcoming module, players will be able to achieve up to 3 collectable stars, which can be earned by meeting additional conditions such as only using the interior camera, limiting gear shifts between drive and reverse, or completing the scenario in the set time.

Our goal is to test the players' skills and let them prove themselves as top-tier drivers, solving each scenario on their own without step-by-step guidance. That's why in this module you won't find any pre-recorded video tutorials, and you will have to use all the knowledge we taught you in our first module of Driving Academy.

But there is more. As we already mentioned in the 1.54 Open Beta blog, Driving Academy will also get new content in the upcoming 1.54 update. Everyone who has completed or will complete the entire first module of Driving Academy will receive special rewards to use in the base game - a hanging blue traffic cone cabin accessory and a customizable Driving Academy paint job for your truck. And that's not all - more rewards will be available for completing the upcoming Truck Driving Proficiency!

Make sure to follow us on social media (X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube). We'd also really appreciate it if you could sign up for our newsletter to stay informed, even when you're not able to check out the blog or our socials. Until next time, drive safe!

Mar 1

Cupid's Express Conclusion

American Truck Simulator - Tiktak

On the 26th of February, this year's Valentine's Event "Cupid's Express" came to a close. So let's officially wrap it up together, look back at what it was about and what rewards our truckers earned!

First, a huge thank you to everyone who took part! We are so happy seeing you on the road hauling, especially when you share those moments with us on social media through photos, videos and other content. A special thanks also goes to the team behind it all!

As always, we set two challenges - one for individual players and one for the entire trucking community. The personal goal that every player had to accomplish to get the rewards was to complete 14 deliveries of Valentine's Presents. Our whole #BestCommunityEver then had to collectively finish 600,000 deliveries to accomplish the community goal.

So how did you do? Over 62,000 truckers completed all 14 deliveries for this event. Congratulations! And you have crushed the community milestone in just one week, that is incredible! In total, players completed 1,234,037 deliveries, double of what was the set goal. While hauling Valentine's Presents, you have travelled a distance of over 496,000,000 kilometres in both games!

And now let's take a look at the rewards. Those who completed their deliveries were awarded a unique World of Trucks Achievement as well as a Neon Heart dashboard item for both ETS2 and ATS. Because the collective target was reached as well, they will also get the Cupid's Dice hanging item!

We hope you are as excited as we are for the next event to come, but we won't tell you now what it is! Make sure to stay connected with us for all the updates by following our Twitter, Facebook. Instagram, Bluesky, and YouTube. We'd also really appreciate it if you could sign up for our newsletter to stay informed, even when you're not able to check out the blog or our socials. Until next time, we will see you on the road.

Feb 28

Iowa: Truck Stops

American Truck Simulator - London

Pull on in and take a rest stop with us as we share more about some of the truck stops you'll encounter on your journeys through the upcoming Iowa DLC for American Truck Simulator!

We're happy to share that the Iowa DLC will feature over 20 truck stops! Ranging from smaller roadside stations to huge gas stops that are the size of a small town, our team has taken great care in recreating the atmosphere and layout of these truck stops.

Drivers will also have the opportunity to visit the largest truck stop we've ever built in American Truck Simulator. Boasting a large number of parking spots and gas pumps for trucks, this location is huge and features a variety of amenities for visitors. We highly recommend you make the time to check out this epic stop whilst travelling through Iowa.

As with previous DLC releases, many of the truck stops are inspired by real-world counterparts, featuring recognizable landmarks and layouts. We are sure some of you who are familiar with the roads of Iowa will be able to point out some of these locations.

Overall, Iowa truck stops offer drivers and passengers excellent service and amenities, and we look forward to having you relax, refuel, and rest at them. We hope you enjoyed this preview of Iowa's truck stops. If you're excited to hit the road, be sure to add the Iowa DLC to your Steam Wishlist! Until next time, keep on truckin'.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3025440/American_Truck_Simulator__Iowa/

Feb 26

American Truck Simulator - 1.54 Open Beta

American Truck Simulator - London

Today, we are excited to reveal that the 1.54 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 truly valuable to our team and we thank you in advance for taking the time to help us out. Now, without further ado, let's take a look at what the 1.54 Open Beta has in store.

Cargo System Redefined

Until now, what seemed like the game combining a trailer with cargo, such as a piece of machinery, was actually a manually created model, with each trailer-cargo pair stored separately on disk. This approach required an enormous number of unique models, making it harder to add new content efficiently and taking up disk space.

In the redefined cargo system, the code automatically merges cargo and trailers based on simplified rules. This means that each cargo will define its own model, loading methodology, and lashing method. This will make the work of our vehicle team much easier as it no longer requires our 3D artists to manually create pre-baked trailer-cargo pairs.

While there may be issues in the first iteration, it's a worthwhile goal to refine the system, as it not only improves efficiency but also saves disk space and memory by eliminating the need to store countless pre-made combinations. This project may also lead to other possibilities for both of our games, especially with dynamic cargo (un)loading and more. You can read about how this project was executed in our recent Under the Hood blog.

Truck Adjustment Menu Redesign

The Truck Adjustment Menu has been completely redesigned to provide a more user-friendly experience. Previously, each option for adjusting your driver's FOV, seat, mirrors etc had separate menus with different layouts. Now, they share a cohesive interface, making adjustments much more intuitive and easier. The new design also takes on a similar design from our previous UI overhaul and is optimized for both mouse and controller, ensuring accessibility for all users.

For keyboard and mouse users, adjustments are now more streamlined with the use of the WASD keys for navigation, along with sliders and buttons for finer tuning. Meanwhile, controller users will find the new system much smoother, with the left stick controlling adjustments, the right stick handling camera movement for mirror positioning, and the D-pad or shoulder buttons navigating the menu.

The addition of shoulder button support makes menu navigation more fluid for controller players. This update makes adjusting mirrors and seats much easier, particularly for those using controllers, ensuring a more seamless and enjoyable driving experience. Accessing the Truck Adjustment Menu remains the same. You can use the F4 by default, a custom assigned key of your choice, or through the adviser services menu.

We hope you enjoy this redesign, and that you find it easy to use and navigate through. If you have any feedback, we'd love to hear from you. You can share your comments and ideas through our official forum.

PhysX System Implementation

As part of the 1.54 Open Beta, we are adopting the NVIDIA PhysX physics engine as an alternative to our current Bullet physics engine for low-level simulation of physics in the game world that players interact with. This shift allows players to experience more precise collision detection results and more robust behaviour during scenarios involving collisions between vehicles and obstacles or other vehicles. PhysX also offers our teams better debugging tools, which indirectly benefits players by helping resolve bugs more efficiently.

One of the most noticeable improvements brought by PhysX can already be experienced in our recently introduced Driving Academy game mode. For example, collisions with cones and obstacles are now more accurate and objects no longer appear to "levitate" slightly above the ground after interaction, a flaw that occurred with Bullet. While players may not see drastic changes, certain interactions should exhibit slightly improved behaviour.

With the release of version 1.54, PhysX is now the default physics engine for all gameplay. Players who prefer the previous Bullet physics engine can switch back by using the "-bullet" command line argument in their Steam launch options.

Driving Academy Rewards

Everyone who has already completed or will complete the entire first module of Driving Academy will receive special rewards to use in the base game - a hanging blue traffic cone cabin accessory and a customizable Driving Academy paint job for your truck. So make sure to complete your scenarios and grab your rewards, there will be more to come!

Changelog

Gameplay

Cargo System Redefined
Driving Academy Rewards

Visual

Truck Adjustment Menu Redesign
First Launch Screen Flow Refresh

Vehicles

Lode King & Prestige Trailers Pack bug fixes

Other

PhysX Implementation

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 the dedicated 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 → 1.54. No password is required. Sometimes you have to restart your Steam client to see the correct branch name there.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/270880/American_Truck_Simulator/

Feb 24

Missouri - St. Louis

American Truck Simulator - Tiktak

Welcome to St. Louis! When you are cruising through Missouri, make sure to stop by its second-largest city with plenty of beautiful landmarks, industries and more. Let's take a closer look.

St. Louis, also known as the Mound City, is nestled on the west bank of the Mississippi River which marks the state's border with Illinois. It is a major transportation and distribution centre, and the Mississippi River plays a big part in that as the city is the country's second-largest inland port. St. Louis is also one of the largest rail hubs in the US, with an international airport and a broad network of interstate highways.

Truckers passing through are in for a treat as Mound City is full of amazing historic buildings and other landmarks that our map teams meticulously recreated for this upcoming map expansion. The most famous and recognizable of them all is probably the iconic Gateway Arch which commemorates the city's role in the westward expansion of the USA.

But there are more landmarks inspired by their real-world counterparts such as the Old Courthouse or the St. Louis Hotel, the Basilica of Saint Louis, multiple lawyer centres and a luxury apartment building. Can you recognise these locations?

There are also some beautiful bridges in the city like the Jefferson Barracks Bridge, Blanchette Bridge, and the St. Louis Memorial Bridge. More iconic buildings can be seen in the distance as part of the city's skyline, among them are a stadium, courthouse, and many others.

Truckers can look forward to a wide range of various depots waiting for cargo in the city, two of which are really unique. If you head south of St. Louis, you will come across an underground warehouse located in an old limestone mine where you will be able to deliver plenty of different types of cargo.

Our map designers have also recreated a local well-known beer brewery with great attention to detail along with its 1:1 landmarks which are the gem of the whole area. Apart from that, you will find other industries such as the rail supply depot, a chemical plant, a big car factory, and others.

Can't wait to explore St. Louis in ATS? Then add the Missouri DLC to your Steam Wishlist! Remember to follow us on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and YouTube, so you won't miss out on any American Truck Simulator news. We'd also really appreciate it if you could sign up for our newsletter to stay informed, even when you're not able to check out the blog or our socials. Drive safe!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2730870/American_Truck_Simulator__Missouri/

Feb 23

SCS On The Road - Our trip to Hammett Excavation

American Truck Simulator - Tiktak

Another SCS On The Road episode is here! Today, Nemiro, Mark, and Oscar are taking you along on their visit to Hammett Excavation in Dodd City, Texas, where they got an exclusive look at some incredible trucks from their collection.

Our visit to Hammett Excavation - an amazing company specializing in excavation machinery and transportation in Texas - was primarily to gather reference materials from their extensive truck collection as they generously helped us get some of the missing references needed for our vehicle department projects, mostly on the Peterbilt 389.

While we were there, we got so captivated by their stories that we decided to record a short SCS On The Road episode showcasing their work. Their passion for trucks has led them to design and build some truly unique, custom-made, and legendary vehicles, many of which have earned them top awards at some of the most prestigious truck shows. We would like to give a huge thanks to Kaleb Hammett and Brandon Mendenhall from Hammett Excavation who both helped us greatly in creating this episode. Now, without further ado, let's watch it!

We hope you have enjoyed this episode! Stay tuned for more updates by following us on our X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and YouTube. We'd also really appreciate it if you could sign up for our newsletter to stay informed, even when you're not able to check out the blog or our socials. Keep on truckin'!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/270880/American_Truck_Simulator/

Feb 21

Community Stories: Armstrong_Gaming

American Truck Simulator - London

At SCS Software, we love celebrating the passionate individuals who bring our trucking simulators to life. Today, we’re excited to feature a dedicated content creator and truck-sim enthusiast, Mark Armstrong. Mark has built an impressive setup and a thriving community (Armstrong Gaming) around his love for virtual trucking, making him a well-known figure in the simulation world. Let’s dive into his journey!

“I am Mark Armstrong, I am from the northeast of England, born and raised. I currently am 34 and I'm a huge driving simulator enthusiast!”

Before discovering his love for trucking and simulation gaming, Mark was an avid cyclist, riding competitively with his father. His dad wasn’t just a parent, he was a best friend and mentor. They shared a passion for road biking, mountain biking, and trials-riding, always pushing each other to be better. “My dad was more of a friend than a dad, really. He was my riding partner, my motivator. We did everything together, whether it was fixing bikes in the garage or hitting the roads. He was always there.”

However, a severe accident at 20 years old changed Mark’s path, leaving him unable to continue cycling. Looking for a new passion, he turned to gaming, a decision that would shape his future. “I had a severe accident, which caused me to be unable to ride... I was housebound and I actually sat one day on the sofa and made a joke about 'Farming Simulator' and then for Christmas, my wife at the time and my dad actually got me the game, and that's where it all started.”

From there, Mark quickly became engrossed in the simulation gaming world, exploring different titles until he discovered Euro Truck Simulator 2 through a friend, which he instantly loved. His passion for virtual trucking led him to build his first simulator setup, starting with a basic wooden rig and an affordable steering wheel. “I started on a wooden shoe rack that I took apart, put it back together into the shape of a simulator, and bolted a seat from a Renault Clio onto it. Then I put a 30-pound steering wheel on. You don’t start where you end up, you have to start small.”

His love for simulation extended to American Truck Simulator, where he developed a deep appreciation for American trucks, particularly the Peterbilt 389. “I like the big chrome, big shifter, laid-back seating position. That’s what I like. But as soon as I go on ETS2, I want to sit like a Scania driver, so I change everything around.”

Mark’s journey into content creation was heavily inspired by his father, who had experimented with uploading RC tank videos to YouTube. “My dad mentioned one day, 'Start a YouTube channel, record some videos, bring them to my house, and I'll upload them for you because I have internet.' Brilliant. That’s what I did.”

Over time, Mark transitioned into livestreaming and built a loyal following. His father played a huge role in this, not only as a supporter but as a gamer himself. “My dad was gaming before I even was. I remember him getting into Colin McRae Rally back in the early 2000s when we still had dial-up internet. He was always ahead of the game, even buying a new graphics card every few months since the technology moved so quickly. He swore he’d never get back into gaming, but when I started trucking, he couldn’t resist joining me again.”

Mark’s father became an integral part of his streaming journey, joining in on multiplayer convoys and even taking over the channel occasionally. “He loved it. He went full in, bought himself a full gaming rig, triple monitors, everything. He would take over my streams so I could take a break. He was just as passionate about it as I was.”

Unfortunately, in November 2023, Mark’s father passed away unexpectedly. The loss was devastating. “Losing my dad was the hardest thing I’ve ever faced. We had built so much together. He wasn’t just my dad, he was my best mate, my biggest supporter. And suddenly, he was gone.”

Mark not only lost his father but also his home, as his dad had taken over financial responsibilities after Mark’s wife left.”After he passed, I lost the house too. I was basically homeless for five months, bouncing between friends' houses and staying with my 91-year-old Nan. It was a hard time, but the community kept me going.” Despite the immense personal challenges, Mark continued to stream, leaning on his audience for support. He eventually found a new home and rebuilt his studio, determined to carry on his father’s legacy.

Mark’s current setup is a testament to years of dedication from both himself and his father. His simulator consists of a triple 65-inch 4K 120Hz TV setup, a SimMagic Alpha Mini wheelbase, and a collection of truck shifters built by a dedicated community member. For those who have had the pleasure of tuning into Marks stream, you'll know his streams almost look like the real deal! “I stream in kind of a POV style, I have my GoPro camera located behind me, like your sitting on the bunk in the cabin. It gives you that aspect that you’re driving with me.”

While Mark’s simulator setup is already impressive, he always looks for ways to improve. “The simulator side of things is limited, because I want my community to be able to enjoy the view and setup as much as I do. If I were to set it up just for me, I’d make the rig a lot more enclosed and immersive. But I choose to balance it so that everyone can enjoy it”

With over 300,000 followers across YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, and Discord, Mark has built an incredible community. He credits his audience for keeping him motivated and finds joy in interacting with fellow truck sim enthusiasts. “The community has been fantastic. People think you need emotional or financial support, but you really don’t. If you turn your stream on and there are 10 people there in a happy mood, that’s my support.

Mark also tells us of how the kindness of one of his followers led to a relationship, “One of my subscribers, Mitch, very kindly gifted a Fanatec McLaren wheel for my setup. Through my streams, he met two other community members, one who became a very close friend, and the other he recently became engaged to; our community really is special”

Streaming is more than just a hobby for Mark, it’s his full-time passion and job “I can never drive in real life, so I am literally driving for a living through my channel, which is amazing. If you’re looking for a community to join, we are very, very laid back, and we'd love to have you join us, whether you choose to just watch or drive along with us.”

For those looking to follow Mark’s adventures, you can find him streaming on YouTube and Twitch under ArmstrongGaming. “We don’t have a set schedule because of my health. But we go live when we can and as much as possible. We just keep things very calm and collective, no drama, just trucking with friends. Thank you, Mark, for sharing your incredible journey with us! Keep on trucking, and we’ll see you out on the virtual highways.

Has Euro Truck Simulator 2 or American Truck Simulator played a vital role in your life? If so, we'd love for you to share your story with our community! If you're interested, you can contact us on X/Twitter, Instagram, or BlueSky!