Today, we are happy to share with you that the 1.45 Open Beta branch for American Truck Simulator is now available to try and test out. Please note, this Beta branch has been released earlier than usual and is a work-in-progress build that contains known issues & bugs. If you plan on participating in this Open Beta, we ask that you please help us by reporting any bugs you may encounter in the appropriate section(s) of our official forums.
Your feedback and reports are extremely valuable for our team and we thank you in advance for taking the time to help us out. So, without further ado, let's take a look at what the 1.45 Open Beta has in store.
Cody + US-14 Wyoming DLC Addition
A much requested update to the Wyoming DLC from our community has arrived with 1.45, which includes the additions of the city of Cody and the US-14!
Self-proclaimed as the “Rodeo Capital of the World”, Cody offers drivers the chance to see famous landmarks and attractions such as the Buffalo Bills visitor center and the Rodeo Stadium; and that's not all! Drivers will also be able to discover and deliver to new industries in Cody, a Truck Trailer service, and a Waste Transfer Station too, which are a small taste of what you can expect to find in the upcoming Montana DLC.
Cody is also known for being the gateway to the Yellowstone National Park, located 52 miles from the east entrance to the country's first national park, which also brings us onto the US-14. Beginning at the east entrance to the Yellowstone National Park is U.S Route 14, one of the original United States highways of 1926.
Drivers will have plenty to see on their drive on US-14, including the Buffalo Bill Reservoir and Dam, Pahashka Teepee, and of course, the stunning scenery and natural beauty that Yellowstone offers its millions of visitors every year.
We can't wait for you to explore it for yourselves. The Cody + US 14 update comes free for current and future owners of the Wyoming DLC for American Truck Simulator as part of the 1.45 update.
Ownable Cistern Trailers
We are also happy to share with you another long-awaited addition coming to the selection of purchasable trailers - ownable cisterns!
For now, we will be adding two different types of cistern trailers into our games - Fuel Cisterns and Silos (Dry Bulk trailer). Both types will have different customization and uses. And don’t worry, we plan on bringing more versions of this trailer to you in the future!
The fuel cisterns in American Truck Simulator will be used for the transportation of combustible liquids. They will feature 6 connection types (Single, Double, B-double, Rocky Mountain Double, Turnpike Double, Triple) and 2 different customizable body types (Single drain pipe, 4-way drain pipes)
Silos will also be an addition in ATS and you will be able to deliver a number of bulk materials with them, for example, sand, concrete, or grain. Apart from having 5 connection types (Single, Double, B-double, Rocky mountain double, turnpike double) and a single body type (Classic), it will have plenty of customizable options as well.
Gas & Truck Stops Rebranding
We've revisited 6 of the brands which we've used for in-game truck stops and gas stations which have been present since the game's release in 2016. Originally when we first designed these areas, we did not have the amazing team of dedicated 2D artists and talent at our disposal, which we have now at SCS Software.
As many of you might have seen originally from our concept art from the Texas and Montana DLC microsites, these new designs bring a fresh, modern and more realistic look to gas stations and truck stops, wouldn't you agree?
We hope you enjoy seeing these newly rebranded areas on your travels throughout American Truck Simulator. Let us know which one is your favourite via our Social Media Channels!
Optional Mods Support for Convoy
One feature our teams have been working on for Convoy, our in-game multiplayer, is support for missing modifications. We recognise that many players do play with third party modifications created by our talented community, but we also understand that not everyone would like to download all the required modifications to join a friends' convoy session.
Thus, our team have come up with a solution to allow you to join Convoy sessions without the need to have all of the required modifications of the host's session. There will be options to opt-in, both on the server's and client's side to enable this if you choose to use this. In most cases, the session will not display the modification that is missing, however in some cases, such as if a player is using a vehicle that you do not have, it will show as a coloured placeholder box in that replicates its size.
If you are a modder in our community, please note that your modification must be tagged as "mp_mod_optional" to be recognised as a MOD that can be ignored by a convoy server that allow for missing optional MODs.
Rain Sensor
When you are out travelling on the road for a while, you are bound to come across a bit of rain at times. Whether it's just a short passing rain shower or a full on storm, it's important for drivers to stay safe while driving on the road during variable weather conditions.
One of the more common safety features found on vehicles today are Rain Sensors! This nifty piece of technology does exactly what it says on the box, it detects the density of the rain and and in turn, adjusts the speed of the wipers for you. This feature is active when you set the wipers of your vehicle to the first position.
This new feature will be available as an option which you can choose to enable in the settings page. So next time you are driving towards some liquid sunshine, you won't have to worry about adjusting your wipers.
Option to hide inaccessible road markers
Another new UI option which we are introducing in this update is the ability to show or hide the X markers which mark inaccessible/undriveable roads for the player. This new option may make the game feel more immersive for some drivers, however we do urge players to take care and follow the correct route, as the invisible barriers which stop you from driving down these areas will still exist and appear for a short time if you hit them!
We hope that you will enjoy this small addition which we know many of you from our community have been requesting for a long time!
Changelog
Map
- Cody + US-14 Addition to Wyoming DLC
- Gas & Truck Stops Rebranding
Gameplay
- Optional MOD Support for Convoys
- Rain Sensor Option
- Option to hide inaccessible road markers
Vehicles
- Ownable Cistern Trailers (Dry Bulk and Fuel Tank)
So enjoy all the new additions, but please remember: It's only an open beta, not a stable public version - so you may encounter bugs, instability, or crashes. It's completely okay if you want to wait for the final release. But if you're interested in helping us to get there faster, we'll appreciate all of your feedback on our forum and your bug reports in this section.
Please check our modding wiki to get details pertaining to mods for the game.
If you wish to participate in the open beta, you can find this version in the public_beta branch on Steam. The way to access it is as follows: Steam client → LIBRARY → right-click on American Truck Simulator → Properties → Betas tab → public_beta → 1.45. No password required. Somtimes you have to restart your Steam client to see the correct branch name there.