American Truck Simulator – Nebraska: the promise of something more

The previous update of American Truck Simulator – Kansas was not boring at all, but it was released six months ago, so American Truck Simulator – Nebraska appeared in time to keep players from getting bored. What has happened in ATS recently and what has been added in the new DLC and the important 1.50 update that was released a few days before it.

Christmas Winterland Event

But first, let’s recall the events of the end of 2023, namely the Christmas Winterland Event, which was held simultaneously in ATS and ETS. This is a very successful demonstration of the fact that SCS Software can implement the change of seasons in its games if desired. The players liked the separate snowy Christmas map with a picturesque town and the update of the physics of truck behavior in the snow, so let’s hope that someday autumn, winter and spring will appear in SCS games and the endless summer will finally end.

Update 1.50

The first thing that players will see after launching the updated ATS/ETS2 is the completely redesigned game interface in version 1.50. It is currently being criticized, which is understandable because some options are located in unusual places, drop-down menus are not to everyone’s liking, etc. But, despite the fact that sometimes you really have to look for a familiar function, I like the new interface. It is light, modern and, most importantly, adapted to the Ukrainian language. Finally, a good font, finally all the inscriptions are the right size, because the phrase “Drive”, which for all these 8 years (and in the case of Euro Truck Simulator 2 – 12 years!) has been beyond the corresponding button, was very annoying.

The entire virtual trucker community has been waiting for a major update to the ATS and ETS2 engines for a year now. And it seems that it is coming soon, but each time the release date of the new version is postponed, and instead SCS Software adds some new rendering options to the old engine.

In version 1.50, which still uses DirectX 11, TAA anti-aliasing was added and it really made a difference in shadows, especially from wires and leaves, which were downright annoying with “steps”. The new cascading shadows feature made the transition between shadow boundaries smoother, although some glitches remained, especially in the shadows from beveled interior elements, such as the sun visor. In addition, I’d like to remind you that simply increasing the rendering and display resolution by 200+% already gives a good result, including anti-aliasing.

In 1.50, we also updated the soft particle system, which is something that deals with dust, dirt, and splashes that the truck picks up. But that’s about it. We have updated and optimized the light from the street lamps. The shadowing range has been increased – this can be clearly seen in large cities and in tunnels. This is all very nice, but where is our DirectX 12?

An important part of the 1.50 update, as well as some previous updates, is the redesigned California, the very first part of the game’s map, which is already 8 years old. This is the third phase of the California update and it mainly concerns San Francisco and Oakland. Finally, these cities have become more like themselves – be sure to come back here!

Among other things, this update updated the exteriors and interiors of the International LT S13 and International LoneStar tractors and a little bit of the Western Star 49X.

Hello, Nebraska! Bye, Nebraska!

What can we say about American Truck Simulator – Nebraska itself? Well, it is a beautiful state, but a small one. As is usually the case with SCS Software, it is even better developed than the previous ones. But you can drive around it in just a few days.

There are cool new viewpoints, hidden paths, and interesting sights that are worth reading about later. New types of industries and cargo, including special deliveries. The number of campers on the roads has increased. There is a new dynamic animation of loading bulk cargo. Nebraska has many interesting murals and graffiti. There are 12 large cities and 20 small towns. And, of course, there are hidden secrets and references.

It’s a beautiful state, but it’s just another state. Of course, SCS held a special event in the game to celebrate the release of the expansion.

What’s next

Two more map extensions for American Truck Simulator are currently in development: Arkansas and Missouri. Plus two expansions for Euro Truck Simulator 2: Greece and Nordic Horizons. In addition, ETS2 will soon have the first electric truck, the Renault Trucks E-Tech T, and later the infrastructure for it. We hope electric trucks will appear in ATS as well.

And, of course, we are all waiting for an updated engine with DirectX 12 support, ray tracing, DLSS, FSR, and other interesting technologies. We hope this will happen in 2024.