With a 92% approval rating, American Truck Simulator currently stands as one of the most well-received games by gamers in 2016. While commonly overlooked, its commitment to simulation has made it a fulfilling and highly replayable title for PC gamers since its release in February.
Continuing from its success with the Euro Truck Simulator games, developer SCS Software is well-known for providing both free content updates and affordable DLC. Today, it seeks to improve the base game with multiple changes, including major alteration of the landscapes that players drive through.
SCS Software listed the most notable changes in today's American Truck Simulator patch via a blog post:
- Upping the map scale from 1:35 to 1:20, meaning 75% longer roads outside cities
- Retouching the the existing system of roads and intersections and revisiting the placement of cities and crossroads
- Focusing on a better sense of scale and distance, more space for large vistas
- Adjusting the timescale – meaning a slower day/night cycle and longer intervals between when the driver needs to rest and refuel
- Revamping problematic junctions – no more Interstate intersections!
- Revamping the driver experience system to more closely mirror ETS2's system
- More room for densely populated areas in future map expansions
The update in map scale is without a doubt the highlight of the patch. SCS Software states that it is now "equivalent to that of Euro Truck Simulator 2", which is much more true to the spirit of what truck simulation fans expect. The only caveat is that not all of the currently available game world has been re-scaled. A portion of it has seen some work, which includes improvement of road design and scenery, but a lot of it is still untouched. As such, SCS Software is currently devoting its time and energy on updating the full currently available map.
Earlier in the month the state of Arizona was added to the game world as free DLC. This included multiple cities and dozens of highly detailed thus increasing the size of the world by more than 45%. In the future the development team plans to add additional states in similar fashion, potentially replicating the entire continental United States at some point.
