American Truck Simulator & Euro Truck Simulator 2 Open Beta 1.40

King of the Realm

We already know for a long time that SCS Software is never resting. The moment we get an update or new DLC, we can assume that SCS is already working on the next project. 2 projects we know of are, first of all, update 1.40 which brings us some new features, and secondly the Iberia DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2.

For both games, the Open Beta 1.40 got launched a couple of days ago. Let's have a look at each and one of them separately.

American Truck Simulator Open Beta 1.40

New Visual Lighting System (ATS and ETS2)

Let's start with a big change under the hood of this game, the new visual lighting system. SCS Software worked hard on a brand new lighting system (and is still working on it). A very noticeable change is the implementation of new skyboxes.

But it doesn't stop there. The light sources in the game are all working differently, taking the objects and assets around you into account. So you will also notice a big difference in the weather conditions and how they look like.

Of course, these changes are not simply made by adding different light sources to the game. The developers have to work hard to change a lot of in-game world objects, assets, textures and materials so that they fit the new lighting system.

The changes implemented in Open Beta 1.40 are the first step towards a completely new and better physical light model. Every step of the way, those changes will make everything in the game look more realistic than ever before.

New chassis

Another big change, or should we say addition, is the so-much-requested different chassis choice. SCS Software is adding a whole range of new chassis to the game. In 1.40 we can find new 4x2, 8x4 and 8x6 chassis, which can be used for a wide range of trailers and cargoes.

Here's a full list of all the new extended chassis options:

Freightliner Cascadia: Day cab 4x2
Mack Anthem: Day cab 4x2
International LoneStar: Day cab & Sleepers 8x4
Peterbilt 389: Day cab & Sleepers 8x4 & 8x6
Volvo VNL: Day cab 4x2, Day cab & Sleepers 8x4
Peterbilt 579: Day cab 4x2
Kenworth W900: Day cab & Sleepers 8x4 & 8x6
Kenworth T680: Day cab 4x2
Western Star 49X: Day cab & Sleepers 8x4 & 8x6

Western Star 49X

Do you still remember the launch of the Western Star 49X, back in September 2020? SCS Software was very proud to be able to implement this truck in the game on the same day as when the truck got revealed in real life. That was really a unicum and something they can be proud of. Of course, that early launch went together with the lack of customization options for that truck.

In update 1.40 that all changes. 2 new sleeper cabins, the fuel tanks and the range of new chassis are making it possible to create 36 different combinations!

New viewpoints in Oregon and New Mexico

Throughout the entire map of America, we have a variety of viewpoints. Viewpoints are special places where you can stop with your truck and get a short video of the surroundings and are marked with a green video camera icon. The developers started implementing that a couple of updates (DLCs) ago and with almost every update they add some more of those beautiful videos, for us to enjoy.

(Original blog post: https://blog.scssoft.com/2021/02/american-truck-simulator-140-open-beta.html)

Euro Truck Simulator 2 Open Beta 1.40

New Visual Lighting System (ETS2 and ATS)

As described earlier for American Truck Simulator, also Euro Truck Simulator gets that same new visual lighting system.

The German Overhaul

In the past, we already got quite some changes with almost every update for Germany. Germany is one of the big countries in Europe that is a member of the original game countries. Since the game already exists since 2012, it is time to improve some details and therefore the developers are implementing those overhaul changes on a pretty fast pace, which is with almost every update.

The biggest changes with the 1.40 update go to the highways and other roads. There where the mapping team already made a lot of retouches to in-game assets, they never changed anything to the roads and highways. It is time to do that. Especially the areas around Dortmund, Köln, Dusseldorf, and Duisburg will benefit from those changes and even the southern part of the Bundesautobahn 7 will be available now.

New cities for the Viva La France DLC

The south of France will get some new cities, which will connect the country with the upcoming DLC Iberia. Bayonne and Lacq will be 2 new cities which will bring the virtual truck drivers from France to Spain and eventually to Portugal.

We will talk about that more in-depth when the Iberia DLC gets released. Which will probably be very soon after the official 1.40 update rolls out, there Iberia is wholly developed according to the new lighting system which has to be in place first.

More lines!

With update 1.40 we also get more lines for the Super Stripes Paint Jobs Pack.

Back in November 2020, SCS Software wrote several short and seemingly insignificant posts on their Euro Truck Simulator 2 and SCS Software Facebook pages, where they called upon their community to cast votes on which DLC designs they liked the most. The two most popular designs are getting an upgrade so that everyone can match these designs on both trucks and trailers!