Developer SCS Software has been hard at work on the next expansions for American Truck Simulator — the states of Montana and Texas — for quite a few months now. Montana was announced last, but will likely be completed first as Texas will be one of the largest maps that SCS has ever produced, due to the sheer size of the state itself. Nevertheless, the team has provided a fresh look at both new areas in its development blog. If you’ve been hungry for gameplay clips for American Truck Simulator‘s Montana and Texas, today is the day of satisfaction.
The city of Great Falls has been shown off, primarily due to it being such a picturesque and unique location in Montana. Despite having a small population, it is home to several dams and powerplants, and SCS has made sure to represent them as well as several other landmarks.
Small town meets big industry
Several industrial areas will serve as delivery and pickup locations in-game, leading players to haul different kinds of goods. Those include beverages, construction materials, and more. New gameplay aside, SCS has not yet announced a release date for Truck Simulator‘s Montana expansion. But the team does mention that it will be providing more new details “in the near future.” For now, the new gameplay clip does provide a decent look at how Montana is coming along in Truck Simulator.
All across the “Lone Star State”
As for the big boy, Texas, the scenery designers are working hard to capture the state’s many varied geographical features and areas. In this dev update, SCS mentions how the real Texas has 367 miles worth of coastline. In-game, “several cities” along the virtual Texas coastline will be available to explore.
The team is ensuring that players get to experience the “multiple biomes within the state in addition to the overwhelming deserts.” One of Texas’ most southern cities, Brownsville, will even be included. In real life, it kisses the Mexican border. The team also acknowledges that this town is home to SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility, though none of the screenshots or the fresh gameplay clip show off representation of that (yet).
Other Texan cities mentioned are Corpus Christi, Fulton, Port Lavaca, Palacios, and finally, Gavelston, all the way to the north. The latter will even feature a ferry ride that will allow players to travel “even further north” into Texas.
It sounds like Texas will be healthily represented in the world of American Truck Simulator, even though the expansion is not being a full 1:1 reconstruction of the state. Nevertheless, just on its own, it will have a lot of ground to cover. It will likely take a solid chunk of time to explore fully.
Again, no release date for the American Truck Simulator – Texas expansion has yet to be revealed. By the looks of it, it shouldn’t be expected until much later in the year — perhaps closing off SCS’ 2022 release schedule. After all, the sister team for Euro Truck Simulator 2 is preparing a similarly gargantuan project—the Heart of Russia expansion. These two projects happening simultaneously, combined with smaller expansions such as Montana (and perhaps unannounced new areas, too), shows just how many cogs the team has spinning right now. That said, it’s all the more exciting to see this all come together.
SCS also just rolled out the beta version of the new 1.44 update for both American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2. It will outfit both sims with new features, including adjustable ride height suspension, new ownable trailers, enhanced sequential shift, and more.
