We have good news for all American truckers. The 1.56 Update for American Truck Simulator is officially released! Let's see what's in store for you.
Before we take you through all the new features this update brings to the game, we would like to thank everyone who took part in the Open Beta and reported issues on our forum. This really helped us fine-tune the update and make it ready for the full update release.
Height Blend
The Height Blend effect is a technique used to create more realistic and visually appealing transitions between different types of terrains or surfaces, like grass, dirt, or stone. It works by utilizing a height map texture, a grayscale image that represents the elevation of a surface, to determine how different textures blend together.
For example, where a grassy hill slopes into a rocky cliff, the height blend effect ensures the textures mix naturally based on the terrain's height and slope, avoiding harsh or unnatural edges. For map designers, it eliminates the need for many decals, which previously had to be added to achieve a believable look, saving time and effort.
Under the hood, our team has converted, tweaked, and visually checked over 1,300 materials from our library to ensure seamless integration. During our testing, we didn't observe any significant impact on performance. There is only a minimal increase in memory usage, caused by the newly added texture.
Dynamic Cargo Improvements
We have expanded the dynamic loading and unloading feature to cover more cargo types. Truckers using their own logger or chipvan trailers can now see a material handler dynamically managing their loads at selected depots across the USA. The logger's cargoes - large tubes, logs, and utility poles - as well as the chipvan's metal scrap, are now included in this feature to make your trucking experience more immersive.
Camera Zoom - Hold/Toggle
The 1.56 update also brings a small but welcomed accessibility feature. Players can now choose whether the interior zoom function requires holding the key (the default) or can be switched to a toggle mode. This option not only adds convenience but also improves accessibility, offering a more comfortable way for all players to take a closer look at the details inside their cab, in the mirrors, and around their truck. Players can find this feature in "Options → Gameplay and Options → Accessibility".
DLC Browser
We are also introducing a brand-new design for the DLC Browser. This redesign aims to make browsing and discovering additional content for your game easier and more enjoyable.
The updated browser now features improved categorization, with clear sections such as Featured, Bundles, Map, Cargo, Trailer, Accessories, and Paint Jobs. The main layout has been completely redesigned, increasing the number of items displayed per row from three to four for a cleaner and more modern look.
The DLC browser is just the beginning of a feature with the potential to grow and evolve further. While it may take time and further development to see how far it can go, the vision is to make it possible for players to explore and enjoy all our DLCs without ever leaving the game. We plan to continue gathering feedback, and this feature might get some future adjustments.
Career Creation and Start-up Flow
We gave the career system a big refresh, which includes a new UI design and improved navigation. The old table-style list of careers has been replaced with larger, card-like slots that give a cleaner and more modern look. Your active career will always appear at the top, with your other careers sorted by most recent playtime. The first slot is reserved for starting a brand-new career, and switching between your careers is now quicker; simply double-click on a card to jump right in.
Whether you're a new player or a seasoned veteran, the career creation process has also been redesigned to be simpler and clearer, focusing only on the most important options and selections needed when starting a new career.
A new Truck Preference screen has also been added between selecting your headquarters and the opening cutscene. Here, you can preview all available trucks in a rotating 3D view that spins automatically, or you can rotate them yourself. You'll be able to cycle through brands, switch between different models, or even press a “random” button to let the game surprise you. We hope this new preference screen gives both new and experienced players a detailed look at each truck and its key specifications.
We've also refreshed the Edit Career screen, which now focuses only on details that really matter for your career. Many of the older fields have been moved elsewhere, keeping the editing process simple and uncluttered. To make things more convenient, clicking on your career from the desktop top bar now opens a new Driver Details screen, where you can view all the important info about your career and even change your avatar without having to return to the title screen.
This redesigned approach not only makes career navigation smoother but also gives the whole experience a cleaner, more modern feel. Whether you're starting your very first trucking journey or managing multiple careers, we hope this update makes your career management more streamlined and accessible. As we gather more input, this feature could see further improvements down the road.
Management UI/UX Improvements
In the Company tab on the Desktop, the Driver, Trailer, Truck, and Garage Manager screens now feature a redesigned company subscreen. The refreshed company subscreen shows the company name and logo alongside key statistics, a redesigned seven-day profit graph, and highlights of the most profitable assets. It also introduces an economy summary pop-up for quick performance review and a company properties option for editing the name and logo.
We've also added a quality-of-life improvement to the relocation screen: when both a driver and their truck can be placed in the same garage slot, a checkbox allows relocating them together in one step. To improve accessibility, the Garage Manager and Driver Manager are now unlocked from the very start of the game, rather than only after purchasing a truck.
Finally, the Driver Manager subscreen has been polished with a clearer layout, including a new XP bar that lets players track their NPC drivers' progress, and a simplified job information and skills overview, where you can assign a collective preferred training policy for newly hired drivers. Our plan is to keep gathering feedback, so in the future, this feature might be further refined.
Changelog
Gameplay
Dynamic cargo improvements
Camera zoom - hold/toggle
Visual
Height blend
UI
Career creation – redesigned UI/UX and start-up flow
Management UI/UX improvements
Other
DLC browser - redesigned
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