Euro truck simulator 2

There's always something to improve...

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

Today's post digest: state of the upcoming ETS2 1.9 patch, sneak peek at graphics team work in the area of vegetation.

Scs software wrote:

We know that you are eagerly anticipating the release of Euro Truck simulator 2 update 1.9; we hear your complaints that already quite some time ago we hinted that it would be out "soon." We definitely do not want to delay the release, but thorough testing in closed beta keeps revealing more and more little yet annoying problems and bugs. We'd like to make a good impression right out of the bat, even in the planned open beta pre-release, so we would like to ask you for a bit more patience. It's not just tuning and bug fixing, now that we are close to release, there is also significant effort under way so that we don't ruin the work of mod makers with the new update. Existing mods out there unfortunately too often contain semi-broken assets and data, and we need to add backwards-compatibility layer into our data loading code to workaround the problems. Hopefully important existing mods won't break too badly and can be fixed where necessary and made compatible with the updated game.

Shifting gears a little.

Our graphics teams are always thinking about how we could improve the visual perception of the game world. We though you might like a sneak peak into raw graphics development, sort of a glance under the hood of what's coming...

One such area of graphics improvements is vegetation. Perhaps our current vegetation is 'good enough' for some, but we see that there is still plenty of work ahead of us on improving it. We always felt we could push for more variety to further distinguish the feeling of driving in various countries; also mix up some bushes between trees, add different tree types, and even improve the look and feel for the grass... Overall going for little more realistic feel.

Here are some work in progress screenshots, and the references that the graphics team is using during their discussions:

Sound Recording Session - Scania Recovery Truck

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

We hear you loud and clear - yes indeed, we are taking longer with the 1.9 ETS2 update than we anticipated. Sorry about that. Things have been looking very good for some time already, we are almost there, but we always find out from the beta testing feedback that a tweak is needed here or there. Rather than rushing the patch out, we prefer to tune it until we are happy, you know that this is the way we prefer to work. This upcoming update is of course not the end of the road - we have quite a roadmap of improvements for the game still planned for 2014 and beyond!

To prove that we are still around, here is a little video from a sound recording event we performed over a week ago already, finally we managed to cut it into a cool YouTube movie...

Euro Truck Simulator 1.9 Open Beta

Scs software wrote:

It has taken us a lot of fine-tuning, but finally we are very close to releasing the 1.9 update for Euro Truck Simulator 2.

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

We have spent considerable time in closed beta testing, and we feel the stability of the build is now very solid. That's why we would like to invite everybody in our fanbase for the final check. Hopefully, if things prove solid under such a scrutiny, the final official retail/Steam update may only be hours or at worst days away from us.

We are making the open beta only available on Steam. We know that there might be grumbling about it, but as each additional publicly available patch causes future patches to get bigger and take longer to apply, we try hard to avoid having to release hot-fixes to major game updates.

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The 1.9 update is one of the largest patches we have ever worked on, hence the long time to wrap it up. Work on the new vehicle AI code has actually started even before ETS2 was released, some year and a half ago, but we gave it all the time it needed to mature. It replaces the entire traffic AI code with a new system. Its far more flexible, and it is paving the way for yet more improvements in the future (country-specific behavior of traffic lights is a much needed planned feature for the future for example).

We would like to thank everybody actively participating in our closed beta group for help and feedback. We were also fortunate to have one of the beta testers already prepare a little comparison clip showing the changes in the AI, thanks Tomáš!

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You will find the 1.9 update in the branch "public_beta" on Steam. Make sure to back up your player profile so that you have a way to revert back to older version of the game if needed. Please use our Message Board to provide technical issues feedback, it allows for better parsing of the info for everybody rather than just blog comments: http://forum.scssoft.com/viewforum.php?f=143. Thanks!

To recap the highlights of the 1.9 patch:

Code:

   Brand new traffic car AI system;
   Improved maneuverability, touches to suspension and collision physics (more work planned still);
   Early support for Oculus Rift and gamepad-controlled mouse cursor;
   Improved handling of automatic gearbox (more gears, interaction with cruise control);
   Improved compatibility with semi-broken prefabs used in mods;
   Improved error handling in radio playback.

Models:

   Scania Streamline improvements (model, textures, paint jobs, new parts and accessories) - you may need visit truck dealer and re-purchase some parts;
   Volvo FH16 improvements (interior, wipers, shadows);
   Iveco Hi-way improvements (dashboard computer, shadows);
   Paintjobs are properly applied on add-ons in interior views;
   Map improvements.

Sound:

   V8 engine sounds for Scania R and Scania Streamline.

ETS2 update 1.9 is live

Original post @: Blog scs software

Blog scs software wrote:

The highly anticipated AI update (and also the largest update so far) for Euro Truck Simulator 2 has just been released for everyone.

It took us a while, but it's finally here! We want to say thanks for amazing support of everyone who has helped us with beta testing and reporting remaining problems with this patch. We have been through a very rigorous public feedback loop - and over 20 intermittent beta builds! It has taken us longer than we anticipated to finalize the game update, but as a bonus we have managed to work around critical compatibility problems with several popular mod packages.

As mentioned in the previous blog post, this update doesn't include only AI changes, but also other improvements.

Code:

   Brand new traffic AI system;
   Oculus Rift support (with the -oculus launch option - this will be improved in the future), now also in the retail version;
   Early support for gamepad-controlled mouse cursor;
   Improved handling of automatic gearbox (more gears, interaction with cruise control);
   Improved compatibility with semi-broken prefabs used in mods;
   Improved error handling in radio playback;
   Updated defaults for the Xbox 360 controller in the input wizard to provide a better initial experience.


Models:

   Scania Streamline improvements (model, textures, paint jobs, new parts and accessories) - you may need visit truck dealer and re-purchase some parts;
   Volvo FH16 improvements (interior, wipers, shadows);
   Iveco Hi-way improvements (dashboard computer, shadows);
   Paintjobs are properly applied on add-ons in interior views;
   Map improvements.


Sound:

   V8 engine sounds for Scania R and Scania Streamline.

The full list of changes through public betas is listed in this Steam discussion thread.

Steam version will be updated automatically, retail patch can be found on the steam update page. We expect high amount of people trying to download this update and we are fairly sure our server won't handle it, so consider activating your key on Steam and downloading it much faster from Steam servers.

Modding info
If you want to make a mod for ETS2 or if your existing mod doesn't work in 1.9, please read 1.9 modding changes.

If you are using mods and some of them don't work, please be patient. ProMods with support for 1.9 will be released today (thanks guys for your bug reports for 1.9!), other map and physics mods (this includes weather mods etc. which can change physics values) may not work correctly.

Rounding up the set!

Original post @: Blog scs software

Blog scs software wrote:

We are happy to confirm that we now have the official approval to start building a new truck - Mercedes-Benz New Actros will be coming to Euro Truck Simulator 2!

Implementing a new truck model into the game is a time consuming adventure on the order of several months, so please be patient with us.

Once the New Actros is completed, we will have reached the dream scenario of having fully branded trucks from all seven major European truck manufacturers in our game. Frankly, four years ago when we started the first round of approaching truck companies, we were far from sure if we can ever reach this stage. From that point onwards, we would love to be able to keep up with model refreshes as well as take a look at alternate vehicle configurations, product lines, or specialized rigs.

There are now 3 trucks in various stages of completion under development for ETS2, but also 3 more truck models are under development at the same time for American Truck Simulator! (Well and then some coach buses too for yet another project). The vehicle team at SCS has grown to 4x the size it was two years ago, all thanks to never-ceasing support from our fans and customers. Some of you might dislike us spending time working on paint job packs for Steam, but in reality such work is not a distraction, it is buying us time to improve the game that was released on the market a year and a half ago, while also developing new projects in parallel.

As with most new truck models we are going to build, first we took a detailed look at the actual vehicle, kindly provided to us by Mercedes-Benz Czech Republic.

Scs software wrote:

This is a short mini-documentary from the day when we recorded the engine sounds, took lots of detailed reference photos and measurments, and recorded hours of driving footage. You can see that Spring is here early this year including quick April weather swings from sun to rain and back. We were also troubled by crazy birds chirping all over the place and interfering with our attempts to record clean sounds. But we were all too excited to complain!

Interior seat position adjustments

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

OK, we expected interior camera to win, but definitely not by such a large margin. After making truck sim games for over a decade, we still have a lot to learn about our players! Your overwhelming majority vote concerning preferred use of interior camera when driving suggests that the attention we are currently putting into further enhancing your in-cabin driving experience is aimed the right direction.

So if you ever had a wish adjust your seat position behind the steering wheel, this upcoming feature will make you happy - it will allow you to do just that.

Here is a screenshot of how it is looking right now:

Metallic Paints - Free DLC coming soon!

Original post @: Blog scs software

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For a while we have been working on enhanced system of truck paint shaders allowing for flip paint with metallic layer.

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The new effect will be available alongside the standard truck paints in paint shop color selection options. It is quite a bit more sophisticated paint shader with wider setup options.

The color supports flip paint effect with metallic layer.





With this effect, the paint can combine up to 3 customizable colors which are shifting into prominence based on viewing angle.



Custom metallic paints support will be available in the next patch. It will be accompanied by a free DLC containing several ready-made paint jobs which use new effect and some additional tricks for maximum effect.



This is our way of saying thanks to all of you for your ongoing support. Once the DLC is released, you'll receive a message via upcoming World of Trucks Event system with your Steam activation code.



We hope to wrap up the tweaking and testing of all trucks within the next couple of weeks, so you could enjoy this 1.10 feature soon as well.

ETS 2 update 1.10
Get your free copy of Metallic Paintjobs DLC!

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

Update 1.10 for Euro Truck Simulator 2 is focused on improving the range of truck paint effects. The game is getting new custom paint options now that allow you to tune the trucks to take on very cool metallic paint look.

The standard game interface allows to mix the color components of the metallic paint, but in fact the technology allows for quite a bit more tricks.

Scs software wrote:

We have bundled a sampling of such tricks into a new Steam mini-DLC for the game. The Metallic Paint Jobs DLC can be yours for free, all you need to do is to (1) become a registered member of World of Trucks (worldoftrucks.com), and (2) use the code you will get there on Steam.

We are aware that this will once again be viewed by non-Steam game players as controversial, but we really have no alternate delivery and update method for mini-DLCs available.

Steam makes it so much easier for game developers to support their games long-term, and to concentrate on just on game development itself rather than on distribution and related support issues. We are seriously considering shifting all updates and expansions to Steam infrastructure over time, most likely in 6-12  months timeframe. But we are not quite so far, the 1.10 update is  hitting Steam now, but you can be sure that it will be also available for retail copy of the game in a couple of days.

We hope that the free Metallics DLC will indicate that with Steam we are striving to provide you with better service from us in the future. We do not plan to leave anybody behind; all genuine Product Keys we have ever issued for Euro Truck Simulator 2 can activate the game on Steam.

Here is the 1.10 update change-log:

Code

   Support for metallic paint jobs
   Fixed possible rare hang or crash
   Physics parameters of the fifth wheel are configurable in physics.sii

Data

   Updated accessories to support paint jobs
   Corrected speed limits in Austria, Belgium and Germany
   Tweaked prices and unlock levels of some accessories
   Fixed acceleration of traffic
   Tweaked accessories of traffic trucks (badges, mirrors and sunshields)
   Fixed various bugs in truck and trailer models

Country Flag Paint Jobs

Original post @: Blog scs software

Today we are releasing a bunch of new paint job DLCs with United Kingdom flags.

Scs software wrote:

It is partly an experiment into this type of content, to see if it catches on with players and should be pursued for more countries. Would you like to see something similar created for your country as well? It is also a result of discussions with our UK retail publishing partner; something to spice up the contents of a new boxed re-release of Euro Truck Simulator 2 coming to UK store shelves at the end of this week.

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Nurturing the retail market is still strategic for us, even in the world of digital distribution becoming more and more dominant. The irony is that this new UK box will actually contain Steam-only activation codes - this is where the industry is going, with the UK market at the forefront of the trend.

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Our release slate recently has been focused quite a lot on the cosmetics side, but don't despair! We have a ton of deeper, more interesting features and content in development for Euro Truck Simulator 2, we just need time to finish and polish it for new game updates and expansions.

Retail Patch and More

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

You have probably noticed by now that the 1.10 update for Euro Truck Simulator 2 has been made available also for the non-Steam version of the game a few days ago already. Usually we don't shout loud about it immediately when it happens to avoid an immediate bandwidth spike on download servers. If you haven't noticed yet, go grab it: http://www.eurotrucksimulator2.com/update.php.

There seems to be a heated discussion in the comments section of the blog anytime the Steam vs. non-Steam topic pops up. There are many valid arguments both ways, but the crucial element for us is not selling stuff or even distributing stuff, it's not even about preventing piracy. It's all about long-term maintenance and giving the players a good service.

Valve with all their resources took some 10 years of Steam improvements to come up with a robust system for games that operate an ecosystem of DLCs. Doing something similar on our own is of course not impossible, but it's hard. And the way we see it, it's not the smartest investment of time and money if we can just use what is a widely accepted solution.

Very often when we change some internals in the engine, data formats of our game assets change. Mod community could confirm that things tend to break for them from time to time, even though we spend considerable time trying to provide a migration strategy or fall-back. We always try to implement work-arounds so that players with a modded game are not screwed and don't lose their profile anytime they update their game to the latest version. With each change in the core of the game, the game add-ons usually need to be updated, too. Euro Truck Simulator 2 is still very much in development, and will be for years, and this evolution is an enemy of format stability. Anytime there is a major change in the core game, the DLCs need updating, too.

Coming up with a patch system that will handle all the changes for any random combination of DLCs a customer may have installed is not so simple. As complexity grows (especially from the point of view of the customer), it is highly desirable to have automated update system that will automagically update everything you have installed to keep it in sync, ideally from a fast cloud. Some big developers and publisher pulled this off on their own - Blizzard with BattleNet, World of Tanks, or League of Legends, they all do that. If you have millions of customers, there is a business case to develop and handle such things on your own to fully "own" the customer experience (and the customer). Truck sims however are still a niche genre. We have lots of customers (thank you!), but it's only a small fraction of the customer base of big games. We do not roll in massive profits to spend on non-core development. Investing into an complex automated delivery of updates and complex e-commerce would take focus, money, and programming capacity from what we prefer to do - improving our games and producing new ones from time to time. Fortunately, there is a very solid system out there handling all that and more, accepted by some 80 million PC players world wide. It's called Steam.

There is another very strong argument for us - customer support. Our support e-mails are every day flooded by people who have lost their Product Key and want us to look it up for them somehow, or try to persuade us that a key from pirate sources is really good and we should un-ban it, using social engineering skills to persuade us to give them keys. We now have two sets of non-Steam keys out in the wild for ETS2 and for Going East!, and the man-power needed to handle customer support related to Product Keys is far from negligible. Now imagine if there was a Product Key you would need to back up and type-in for each individual DLC, be it more map expansions, future cargo trailer packs, more paint job packs, specialized vehicles, whatever we come up with. We simply could not cope with it, in fact for you the players it would be a hell of an experience too. Anytime you need to re-install a computer, or re-install just the game, you would have to find 10 e-mails with Product Keys purchased over the past couple of years, maybe even from various sources. It gets really messy quickly. Instead, on Steam, once you buy a game or register a key, no matter from which source you got it, it's with your Steam account forever. No computer migration issues ever, no need to worry about patches, no need to ever get in touch with our support regarding keys, except for actual technical issues.

Still, we are not rushing anywhere. There is a stream of updates coming for ETS2 through 2014 that will be provided for any edition of the game. If things go well, there is a major map expansion add-on coming later this year that will not require Steam, but just like Going East! will just work with the retail version. But this will introduce a third set of non-Steam Product Keys, and we fear that this will be the limit of what the customers and our customer support can still deal with.

Why not end this blog post with something cool to think about for the weekend instead. Here is a couple of screenshots from a major as-of-yet unannounced ETS2 map expansion DLC!

Flip Paints Designs DLC + Competition

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

Today we would like to announce the release of a new set of paint designs. It is expanding on our previous experiments with new truck paint effects we had offered as a free DLC for all World of Trucks users. (In case you haven't grabbed it yet, you can always find your activation key on your personal World of Trucks page!)

Flip Paint Designs DLC contains 11 customizable truck paint designs. Here are only a few examples of the wealth of customization possibilities:

Scs software wrote:

You can check all 11 paint designs now on its store page. We hope you'll like them!

COMPETITION

The rules this time are pretty simple and no modding skills are necessary to participate. We hope more of you would be glad to join in.

   Using the choice of 19 designs: previous Metallic Paint Jobs DLC (which is free for World of Trucks users) and the just revealed Flip Paints Designs DLC, you are required to create an interesting looking color variant and present your chosen truck as best as you can. All paint jobs are customizable within the game so immediately after getting the DLCs, you are ready to shoot some photos!
   Upload your creation(s) from the game to World of Trucks.
   Then send us a link to your image detail. Like this: https://worldoftrucks.com/en/image_detail.php?id=000000000000040E
   Email to send your best shots at: flippaintdesigns[at]scssoft.com (use @ instead of [at]). Please DO NOT ATTACH THE SCREENSHOTS - sending just links to World of Trucks gallery images is the right way to let us know about your creation.
   Email subject: Flip Paint Designs
   The competition will end on 30th June 2014.

P.S. In case you are an advanced modder and able to create your own design to show off the new Flip Paint, we sure would welcome such creations as well.

What we will be rating:

- Interesting color variation of the designs
- Having great composition of your truck will surely enhance the impression. Having truck shot on an interesting location or setting sure will give you additional notice points. Use it to your advantage.

Rewards:

- Editor's Pick. We will be picking and posting the best images at World of Trucks Editor's Pick section as soon as they'll start arriving.
- Fame: being there would allow others fellow truckers to admire your creations
- You will get an achievement! Every lucky player who managed to get into Editor's Pick gets an Achievement (yes, here is a little announcement right there!)  We do plan to enable achievements eventually and being in Editor's Picks is going to be one of the hardest of them. So this competition is a good opportunity to raise the chances to get spotted.
- 5 best creations will get a Steam key for the Collector's Edition of Euro Truck Simulator 2: This key unlocks not just ETS2, but also several additional DLCs and older games published by SCS Software. It would make a great present to a friend you want to introduce to truck simulators!

We are looking forward to seeing your creations!

Some Nordic Driving

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

Here we are, driving over new roads somewhere in the Nordics. Maybe you want to take a small peek, too?

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Every time we set to work on a new world expansion, production logic would dictate that we should restrain ourselves to good-enough quality and just get the job done. After all, there are hundreds of thousands of players out there who always want more, and as fast as possible. There is definitely a very vocal part of the fan community showing lots of impatience with us.

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Yet every single time, the desire to improve upon our previous work is stronger. The art and design team's push to raise the bar puts the pressure on the programming team, too. There is always the priority to improve our tool-chain, to improve the way we build the world, and not to lose performance even if we populate the world with richer content...

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Our goals for the upcoming major world expansion is more efficient rendering, more impressive and true-to-life environments...

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As before releasing Euro Truck Simulator 2, and before releasing Going East!, our bet is that our fans and customers are going to reward our ambition to ever improve. Even if it means that it's quite hard to get a reasonable estimate on when the work is going to be finished, as our grumbling publishing partners would attest!

Upcoming ETS2 Update Sneak Peek

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

Currently we are hard at work testing and finalizing data and code for the next Euro Truck Simulator 2 update. There is a lot of stuff coming into it, some notable features visible on the surface, also many changes under the hood, including several months of tweaks of car AI code. We are working in "when it's done" mode - we don't have a specific release date for it to announce. If testing confirms that we are in good shape, we would like to have the update out before the Summer really kicks in, but don't take it for granted.

We have already shown you the work-in-progress Seat Adjustment feature earlier. It has since been further improved to get a little extra flexibility with more camera controls.

Scs software wrote:

Thanks to contribution from our friends at Heavy Load Studios in Poland, we are adding 3 new cities: Venice, Graz, and Klagenfurt to the ETS2 world. This extension of the map will be a free part of the update for all players. The new roads comprise a lot of kilometers to explore.

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Here are some countryside shots from this map expansion as a little teaser:

Paint jobs for our Brazilian fans

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

Brazil's economy depends to a large extent on truck transportation. Truck manufacturers from all over the world are competing for the Brazilian market intensely. Brazil is a big country, and it has come a long way to becoming a major global economical power.

Scs software wrote:

So obviously it is not a coincidence that we have a lot of players playing and buying our truck sims in Brazil. There is a very strong fan community there, many people making mods, uploading YouTube movies, sending us e-mails with suggestions. Even though there is a language barrier for us at SCS to understand what our games' players at the various community websites are talking about, we understand that this is a country with a big potential for our games in the future, and that we should pay more attention to it.

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As a way to say "thanks" to our fans in Brazil, and also to celebrate the upcoming World Cup football championship just starting in Brazil, we are releasing a new truck paint job pack for Euro Truck Simulator 2 today. Have fun!

More about the next BIG update

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

In a recent blog post we have shown you a few things which are coming with the next major Euro Truck Simulator 2 update, including three new cities and the Seat Adjustment feature.

Venice driving

Scs software wrote:

Another feature is worth mentioning - displaying current road speed limit in Route Advisor, similar as it's available in common car GPS devices. Our Route Advisor tries to be even smarter about it - it will show *truck specific* speed limits - our game is about trucks after all. So limits for normal cars must be in some places capped by the country's truck speed maximum allowed. This feature is optional, so you can track speed limits on your own if you prefer, and hide speed limit Route Advisor icon in game options.

Scs software wrote:

There were also some changes in the game user interface. The UI received a facelift to clean up its look a bit and make it fresher. This is for example what the game's "desktop" UI hub will look like:

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During testing we took some more images of the new areas. We'll be showing them all over a series of blog posts. Let us start with the approach to Venice and some shots from inside the city:

Even more about the next BIG update

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

Let's continue previewing even more items that you can expect to experience in the upcoming Euro Truck Simulator 2 update to ver. 1.11. This update is under extensive testing now, and no, we still don't have a release date to announce, other than when it's done.

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Today's post will be illustrated with images captured while testing deliveries around some of the new map areas: close to the city Klagenfurt am Wörthersee and the border between Italy and Austria.

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As with all previous updates lumping together several months of continual development, the new update will touch pretty much every aspect of the game: physics, AI, simulation, and gameplay refinements.

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Speaking of physics: We have added support for sway bar simulation. Refining the composition of truck suspension has given us more control over truck and trailer stability. We have also recalculated the center of gravity of all cargoes, achieving more individual behavior of the whole rig depending on what is being transported. Now if you apply too much vigor during cornering, flipping the trailer is a more likely possibility, especially for particular loads. At the same time, we still need to keep in mind that the game must be playable for people without a truck driver's license and experience, so it's about finding the right balance between providing simulation fidelity and giving the player assistance during driving.

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There was also some work done to improve collisions of player's truck and AI vehicles, or situations when the truck is scrubbing the railing or other surface - vehicles now have more realistic inertia post-crash. Finally, we have re-created all scratch and crash sounds in the game. Remember our Demolition day?

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On topic of sounds, while we have much more ambitious plans to improve our sound system in a considerable way in the future, we have finally listened to your feedback concerning imbalance between interior and exterior sounds, and provided a stop gap solution. For this update, where needed, we have altered and equalized the sound volume of in-cabin engine sounds and external engine sounds for all trucks.

Digging deeper into ETS2 1.11 update

Scs software wrote:

Today we have another dose of info and images from the upcoming Euro Truck Simulator 2 version 1.11 update for you.

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There are several additional features simulation fans may enjoy:

Tempomat (Cruise control) received an additional mapping. Now it is possible to map the keys/buttons on the controller of your choice to increase or decrease speed, in addition to just having enable/disable hotkey. This should make cruise control act closer to what the real thing does.

We have also achieved more realistic timing for the air brake sound. Retarder indicator is lit during automatic retarder usage, and you can now configure the maximum steering angle in game options.

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With the Seat Adjuster feature, we have paid more attention to side mirrors. While moving your head in the cabin, the side mirrors are now adjusting their perspective of the world rendering. It took us a while to work this out, but in the end effort had paid off with the realistic mirror perception. This should be even more noticeable to the lucky few who are using head tracking gear like TrackIR, or with head-tracking enabled virtual reality sets.

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In additional little touch - now you can sell a garage or relocate your headquarters to another city.

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New ETS2 Paint Jobs: Canada, Poland

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

We are taking two more steps in our plan to create custom truck paint jobs for players in the countries where we have the most registered copies of Euro Truck Simulator 2.

Today is Canada Day! Canadians obviously happen to be a trucking nation -  Canada has made it to our Top 10 list, even for a game that is squarely aimed at European audience. It's an important reminder for us that our American Truck Simulator team should not forget to expand the game world up north eventually! Here is the DLC link: Euro Truck Simulator 2 - Canadian Paint Jobs Pack.

Scs software wrote:

This week a new edition of our game is entering retail stores in Poland - Euro Truck Simulator 2: Edycja Roku. It is an attempt to attract new players to discover the genre; seasoned ETS2 players of course have been playing the game forever and don't need to go and buy it again. In cooperation with our Polish publishing partners, we have spiced up this new edition with additional paint jobs, including a new set of paint schemes inspired by Polish national symbols and flag colors. This edition requires Steam to install - adding the "mini DLCs" to the game is technically only possible for us by taking advantage of Steam's infrastructure for installation and maintenance. The DLC is also now available on Steam as a standalone purchase: Euro Truck Simulator 2 - Polish Paint Jobs Pack.

Scs software wrote:

Here is a link to check out our complete portfolio of downloadable content for Euro Truck Simulator 2.

We still have a bunch of countries on our paint job to-do list - most likely a few more months of work ahead of us. For some of the countries, we really need to hurry - Independence Day is almost here!

There is some grumbling here on the blog in comments sometimes that we should concentrate on different features. Rest assured that creating these optional "cosmetic" DLCs is not a distraction that would delay the other teams at SCS Software. It can keep a dedicated 2D artist here occupied full time, and we hope for a modest profit in the long run that will help us in further development of the Euro Truck Simulator 2 project. Our focus is firmly on expanding the core ETS2 game with worthwhile features and expansions, and we have some very cool stuff is in the pipeline!

New ETS2 Paint Jobs Pack: USA

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

To celebrate Independence Day on 4th of July, we are introducing a new DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2 - USA Paint Jobs Pack.

ETS2 version 1.11 is now live in the Steam beta branch

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

We are happy to announce that an open beta of Euro Truck Simulator 2 update 1.11 is now available on Steam, accessible in the public_beta branch. Although we feel that we have been through a good amount of polish for this update, Steam open beta system proved to be invaluable testing ground to iron out the final build during the previous game update testing cycle, so we are trying this method again. Please note that this is a BETA, not the final patch - only install it if you want to help spotting and reporting possible problems!

As an appetizer, we have a short promo trailer unveiling this update:

Scs software wrote:

Unless something unexpected is discovered in the beta, we hope that it will only take a couple of days in beta before we are ready to make the final build for Steam and retail editions of the game.

There is one more feature in 1.11 that we haven't shown you yet - we have cleaned up the Radio Player. We have revised the listing of stations, so now you can take advantage of additional filtering, add radio station to favorites and sort station by available categories.

Here are a couple of fresh images from the new areas of the map from the 1.11 update:











P.S. Metallic Paint Job Competition was concluded a few days ago. Thanks to all participants! We are in the process of picking best of the best submissions, you can expect winner announcement shortly.

Twenty Tons of Sand

Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

We are happy to report that we are proud owners of twenty tons of sand.

We also happen to own a trailer to carry it around, repeatedly, as need arises.

We have been doing it wrong. Until now. The truck sound recordings.

We have been through several recording sessions with various trucks, but we were never quite satisfied with the results. We have never managed to record the necessary variety of sounds, and most importantly, as we seldom had access to a loaded trailer; we lacked sounds with the truck engine working under strain.

Now finally, we are going to fix the problems. This IVECO sound recording session starts a new era for us, and we should now come up with much better results. With the quality bar pushed higher, we will need to go back and revisit most of the trucks we have already considered "done" - but the result should be well worth it.

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We are a bit crazy, still trying to improve what some people now consider an "old game" - but we definitely do plan to keep improving and evolving Euro Truck Simulator 2 for a long time. And it is only possible thanks to your continuing support. Thank you guys! [Yes, this is where earnings from stupid things like paint jobs DLCs is invested into]

This time the final cut of the video material recorded during the sound recording is quite more extensive than usual. You can tell that the sound recording and filming crew - Irenej, Matej and Milos - all had a lot of fun during the two days of the recording session. Over 50 GB of raw sound was recorded! Out of so much sound data, with any luck, you should hear a bit in one of the upcoming game updates.

Humble Weekly Bundle: Simulators 2

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

We have accepted an invitation to make Euro Truck Simulator 2 a part of Humble Weekly Bundle: Simulators 2. If you don't know what Humble Bundle does yet, they are worth checking out and maybe even bookmarking - you can get good games on the cheap, and at the same time do your bit to make the world a better place by supporting charity.

Somewhat related, our regular audits reveal that there are still hundreds of thousands of people playing the game, to put it gently, with no valid activation code. This discounted bundle may be a chance for them to finally buy a genuine copy of the game and support SCS Software in our work towards the ultimate truck simulator. To improve the proposition, we have even spiced up this bundle release with a time-limited exclusive: an all-new truck paint job DLC, with a theme quite attractive to old-school gamers. We'll make it available for purchase after the event, but for a few days the Fantasy Paint Jobs Pack DLC can only be had in the Humble Weekly bundle.

Scs software wrote:

The comments below this blog post will of course be mostly about the status of the upcoming ETS2 update and overall progress...

So here is a short status report before the weekend:

The open beta for ETS2 update 1.11 has brought in a lot of feedback. We have a huge changelog of bug fixes and improvements since the open beta was launched, probably more than we anticipated, but it only proves that spending some time with the community at large providing feedback is very useful before actually going public with a game update. ETA for release? Possibly early next week, unless a new major bug is spotted. In that case, we'll test your patience again - but surely you'd prefer to get game updates with as few bugs as possible.

The new DAF Euro 6 truck is now very close to finish line at last. It had better - over a half man-year has been invested into it so far! We hope to release it as the main star of one of upcoming game updates at some point this summer. Meanwhile, the teams are working on two more truck models for ETS2, and two more for ATS!

The Euro Truck map design team working on a new ETS2 expansion - DLC Scandinavia - is working very hard even now in the middle of the hot summer. There is extensive work being done on the back-end of World of Trucks. Yet another bus model is under construction in one corner of the office, while a new trailer set is under construction on the opposite side of the office. New game features are trialled for future 1.12 ETS2 update already in closed testing... you see, we keep ourselves busy!

Fantasy Paint Jobs Pack DLC for ETS2

Original post @: Blog scs software

Scs software wrote:

The Fantasy Paint Jobs Pack DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2 has just been made available for purchase on Steam.

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There was some grumbling that we did a time-limited exclusive deal for this new DLC before actually releasing it at large, depriving the fan-base of the chance to get it immediately, too. To make up for this sin at least a little bit, we are launching it with a short but very generous 80% discount!

1.11 Is Available Now

Original post @: [url= 1.11 Is Available Now]Blog scs software[/url]

Scs software wrote:

Finally the time has come - Euro Truck Simulator 2 update 1.11 is now officially out on Steam. We are now preparing 1.11 builds for retail game versions, give us a day or two to prepare it all and upload to mirror servers.

It has been quite a long beta period, but we have managed to address a lot of issues thanks to community feedback. If you are interested what had been done during beta, here is a series of patch logs of beta builds fixes.

We have covered items in the 1.11 update over the last several blog posts and even have shown here on the blog a promo trailer with the new cities included in the update. But in case you have missed it:

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Let us shortly recap the major items that are included in ETS2 1.11 update, as it touched pretty much every aspect of the game: physics, AI, simulation, and gameplay refinements:

   3 new cities: Venice, Graz, and Klagenfurt with a lot of new kilometers to explore
   Seat Adjustment feature
   Several months of tweaks of car AI code
   Re-designed radio player for with additional sorting and filtering options
   New Cruise control features
   Displaying current road speed limit in Route Advisor (disable, or switch car or truck specific limits in options)
   Complete UI facelift
   Support for sway bar simulation
   Refined the truck suspension for more control over truck and trailer stability
   Recalculated the center of gravity of each cargo (more individual behavior of the whole rig)
   Controls to adjust trailer stability in options
   Improve collisions of player's truck and AI vehicles
   Re-created all scratch and crash sounds in the game
   Equalized the sound volume of in-cabin engine sounds and external engine sounds for all trucks
   More realistic timing for the air brake sound
   Retarder indicator is lit during automatic retarder usage
   Ability to sell a garage
   Ability to relocate your headquarters to another city

If you wish to read the full list of changes for the 1.11 update, you can do it here.