American Truck Sim | More Idaho Previews - Logging

[Paul Jeffrey]

SCS Software remain hard at work bringing their latest ATS map expansion(s) to life, and recently the incredibly productive studio dropped some new previews of the new logging industry within their upcoming Idaho DLC.

As I'm sure many of you will be well aware, American Truck Sim isn't a racing simulation - far from it in fat, but we RaceDepartment folk remain firm fans of the work produced by SCS Software, and it seems like our sim racing community are also rather fond of the more relaxed side to driving on your home rigs.

Since American Truck Sim released back in 2015, the team over at SCS have worked tirelessly to improve and expand what is already a very large scale and detailed American landscape. Having released various vehicle, accessory and map expansion DLC's since the simulation first hit public release, the studios appetite to continue growing the trucking world seems pretty much insatiable - as these previews from the next release on the horizon so clearly show.

The Idaho map expansion is expected to drop for the game during the summer of 2020, and as usual, these latest piece of content looks set to contain an impressive attention to detail that has become the expectation from SCS Software in recent years.

From the blog post:

In the North of Idaho (also known as the panhandle), the forest and timber industry is one of its leading economy contributors thanks to the region's rich and thick forests. For many players of American Truck Simulator, logging industries have become a favorite destination as many of them are located off-road and present a unique challenge for drivers.

Drivers can look forward to more challenging climbs between rocks as well as some tight turns which may prove difficult for longer or heavier trailers.

We will also be revisiting your favorite timber harvest sites, introducing a few new assets and 3 new timber harvesting locations as part of our newest Idaho DLC! These industries have been given a lot of love by our ATS community, and in turn we hope this will bring a fresh look to these popular industries.

Idaho will also see the introduction of a new prefab that will bring a new overall feel to the timber harvesting industry.



Original Source: SCS Software

American Truck Simulator is available from Steam exclusively for PC.

Having issues with the simulation? Post a thread in the American Truck Sim sub forum here at RaceDepartment and let our awesome community help you out!

 

[MarcG]

ATS2; Barely driven it much, probably should take a closer look at this one but I've been so set with ETS2 & Promods recently, these screens do look good though.

ETS2;
As much as I'm enjoying a recent return to this (it's amazing in VR!) it's showing its age somewhat, I'm not so much talking about having to rely on Mods to make it graphically better but just the whole Gameplay aspect is severely lacking in Single Player. It's as though I feel they need to hire a Game Designer, ya know someone who knows what elements to add or improve upon.
Take the the Employee part, it's extremely bare bones - you buy a truck, hire a driver and....that's it, nothing more. What I'd like to see is the ability to give them Routes, set them to Pick up and deliver specific items. Improve the owning a Garage Aspect and form Relationships with Companies for your Business so that equals better rewards further down the line, improve the rather poor Level Progression, have a fully fluctuating Live Market (like Elite Dangerous) so you can focus on a certaiun Product to Ship to earn more one week then it changes with time to another, just make it more of a meaningful game with "targets" to set out for, something to actually drive for.
Improve the hideously poor AI (MERGE WITH TRAFFIC DAMN YOU!), stop the random vehicle pop ups when you quit a game and come back later to see the truck you were following has magically disappeared!

Going back to the graphics the basic engine is severely lacking as well, Lighting bogs the performance down quite heavily at times, the draw distance is poor, the vegetation & grass (unlike Racing Sims I have time to notice it here!) is weak - I've said it jokingly elsewhere but the more I think about it this game in UE5 (with the correct Renderer for VR <cough> Kunos </cough>) would be absolutely immense!

As nice as it is to mosey on down the roads listening to AC/DC or some random German Metal Radio Station, I'm always left with a sense of "I just played 2hours and have nothing to show for it!", this game...it just needs more substance - and it could be absolutely amazing.

 

[Trebor901]

ATS2; Barely driven it much, probably should take a closer look at this one but I've been so set with ETS2 & Promods recently, these screens do look good though.

ETS2;
As much as I'm enjoying a recent return to this (it's amazing in VR!) it's showing its age somewhat, I'm not so much talking about having to rely on Mods to make it graphically better but just the whole Gameplay aspect is severely lacking in Single Player. It's as though I feel they need to hire a Game Designer, ya know someone who knows what elements to add or improve upon.
Take the the Employee part, it's extremely bare bones - you buy a truck, hire a driver and....that's it, nothing more. What I'd like to see is the ability to give them Routes, set them to Pick up and deliver specific items. Improve the owning a Garage Aspect and form Relationships with Companies for your Business so that equals better rewards further down the line, improve the rather poor Level Progression, have a fully fluctuating Live Market (like Elite Dangerous) so you can focus on a certaiun Product to Ship to earn more one week then it changes with time to another, just make it more of a meaningful game with "targets" to set out for, something to actually drive for.
Improve the hideously poor AI (MERGE WITH TRAFFIC DAMN YOU!), stop the random vehicle pop ups when you quit a game and come back later to see the truck you were following has magically disappeared!

Going back to the graphics the basic engine is severely lacking as well, Lighting bogs the performance down quite heavily at times, the draw distance is poor, the vegetation & grass (unlike Racing Sims I have time to notice it here!) is weak - I've said it jokingly elsewhere but the more I think about it this game in UE5 (with the correct Renderer for VR <cough> Kunos </cough>) would be absolutely immense!

As nice as it is to mosey on down the roads listening to AC/DC or some random German Metal Radio Station, I'm always left with a sense of "I just played 2hours and have nothing to show for it!", this game...it just needs more substance - and it could be absolutely amazing.

Play ATS. I love European trucks and the customisation in ETS2 is much better but the maps are better in ATS from the outset. Much more nice scenery imo. Im guessing at some point it will get some more significant improvements but SCS can work at their own pace and not have to rush things because there is 0 competition to either of their titles. Which in some ways can be a good or a bad thing.

 

[MirNet]

The Utah expansion was a total joy, some of the scenery is stunning. I don't know what they've done as they never documented it, but performance wise in VR it seems to have taken a leap forward. I have it running and looking as good as the racers, PC2, AMS2 withstanding.

Bet your backside I shall be picking this up day one, the expansions just get better and better.

 

[AusWillis]

Love this also, turn the radio on and just start driving down through some of the best looking scenery, coming from Australia it reminds me of it in many places.

Day 1 purchase for me also just like the upcoming DLC for ETS2

 

[BazzaLB]

The Utah expansion was a total joy, some of the scenery is stunning. I don't know what they've done as they never documented it, but performance wise in VR it seems to have taken a leap forward. I have it running and looking as good as the racers, PC2, AMS2 withstanding.

Bet your backside I shall be picking this up day one, the expansions just get better and better.

Does VR just work on the release version? From memory you had to select some Beta version (oculus/vive) to get VR support. Not sure how up to date those Betas are.

 

[F_B]

The Utah expansion was a total joy, some of the scenery is stunning. I don't know what they've done as they never documented it, but performance wise in VR it seems to have taken a leap forward. I have it running and looking as good as the racers, PC2, AMS2 withstanding.

Bet your backside I shall be picking this up day one, the expansions just get better and better.

Afaik they switched to DX11 a while ago and adjusted everything accordingly that's probably why it runs much better in VR than before.

 

[MarcG]

Does VR just work on the release version? From memory you had to select some Beta version (oculus/vive) to get VR support. Not sure how up to date those Betas are.

The Betas or VR Builds are always up to date with the main game.

 

[JonnyCombat]

I've been playing quite a bit of ATS during the "Grey Death" lockdown. Very relaxing so I'll pick up any expansions they chuck our way.

Weirdly though, (being that I'm from the UK) Euro Truck 2 just doesn't click with me like ATS has. The European roads just seem off, especially the UK motorways. I think I might have a touch of OCD.

 

[Damage Inc]

ATS2; Barely driven it much, probably should take a closer look at this one but I've been so set with ETS2 & Promods recently, these screens do look good though.

ETS2;
As much as I'm enjoying a recent return to this (it's amazing in VR!) it's showing its age somewhat, I'm not so much talking about having to rely on Mods to make it graphically better but just the whole Gameplay aspect is severely lacking in Single Player. It's as though I feel they need to hire a Game Designer, ya know someone who knows what elements to add or improve upon.
Take the the Employee part, it's extremely bare bones - you buy a truck, hire a driver and....that's it, nothing more. What I'd like to see is the ability to give them Routes, set them to Pick up and deliver specific items. Improve the owning a Garage Aspect and form Relationships with Companies for your Business so that equals better rewards further down the line, improve the rather poor Level Progression, have a fully fluctuating Live Market (like Elite Dangerous) so you can focus on a certaiun Product to Ship to earn more one week then it changes with time to another, just make it more of a meaningful game with "targets" to set out for, something to actually drive for.
Improve the hideously poor AI (MERGE WITH TRAFFIC DAMN YOU!), stop the random vehicle pop ups when you quit a game and come back later to see the truck you were following has magically disappeared!

Going back to the graphics the basic engine is severely lacking as well, Lighting bogs the performance down quite heavily at times, the draw distance is poor, the vegetation & grass (unlike Racing Sims I have time to notice it here!) is weak - I've said it jokingly elsewhere but the more I think about it this game in UE5 (with the correct Renderer for VR <cough> Kunos </cough>) would be absolutely immense!

As nice as it is to mosey on down the roads listening to AC/DC or some random German Metal Radio Station, I'm always left with a sense of "I just played 2hours and have nothing to show for it!", this game...it just needs more substance - and it could be absolutely amazing.

As Trebor says, ATS overall has better graphics, way more varied scenery too....I play both a lot!

I'm kind of hoping that once they finally complete the Europe map they'll start to look at gameplay loops a bit more. I'm sat on almost 2 billion quid and nothing to spend it one now. Trucks should need servicing/replacing and garages should need monthly payments....I mean where does the fuel come from at the depots?

 

[Damage Inc]

I've been playing quite a bit of ATS during the "Grey Death" lockdown. Very relaxing so I'll pick up any expansions they chuck our way.

Weirdly though, (being that I'm from the UK) Euro Truck 2 just doesn't click with me like ATS has. The European roads just seem off, especially the UK motorways. I think I might have a touch of OCD.

UK map is from 2012 initial release (which in itself was based on the old ETS map I believe), it's really poor. As an ex pat Welshie living in England I use the m5/m4 route a lot and it's totally wrong....the M4 should go straight through to the M25 as well, but the whole M4/M5 junction is weird in ETS2. I'd like the "A" roads to go through villages/towns like in later DLC. Germany (also old map) has slowly been updated, UK is planned (hopefully next) but loads of people want Holland/Belgium done 1st.