Texas is the next map expansion for American Truck Simulator

SCS Software is preparing for a drive through the Lone Star State with its newly announced expansion.

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Five years have come and gone since SCS brought its popular trucking sim style to North American with the release of American Truck Simulator back in 2016. While the original release focused heavily on California, the development team has been expanding the scope of the game’s map ever since. In perhaps the biggest expansion milestone for the game so far, SCS has announced that Texas will be the newest DLC for the game.

As recently as this past November, SCS released the Colorado expansion for American Truck Simulator. The team has already taken the wraps off the upcoming Wyoming expansion but felt confident enough in the follow-up project that Texas was announced prior to the Wyoming launch. With the most geographically diverse terrain since the game started in California, Texas is sure to provide lots of great sights and plenty of long-haul jobs.

Don’t expect the Texas expansion to be released anytime soon, though, as the announcement post declared work on the state to be in the early stages and SCS would not commit to a firm 2021 launch date. In the meantime, players can look forward to the 1.40 update and the overhaul to lighting it is expected to bring. SCS claims this is the biggest graphical improvement the game has experienced since its launch. 

More realistic lighting, better weather effects, and more natural tones are expected from the lighting update. SCS says it will also be able to off HDR output for the first time. SCS says the work included in the 1.40 update is the first step toward physically-based rendering which will enable materials to reflect light in a more realistic fashion. There is no firm date yet for the update, but players should check out the beta version on Steam in the meantime.

For all the latest news and updates on the newest games, be sure to check out our 2021 video game release dates calendar so you don’t miss anything coming down the pipe.

Contributing Tech Editor

Chris Jarrard likes playing games, crankin' tunes, and looking for fights on obscure online message boards. He understands that breakfast food is the only true food. Don't @ him.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    March 16, 2021 12:05 PM

    Chris Jarrard posted a new article, Texas is the next map expansion for American Truck Simulator

    • reply
      March 16, 2021 12:09 PM

      The lighting changes look really nice.

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      March 16, 2021 6:41 PM

      That shot looks exactly like a stretch between Austin and Midland.

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      March 16, 2021 6:48 PM

      Texas is so happy they can’t mask their excitement

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      March 16, 2021 6:57 PM

      I bought the New Mexico dlc just to compare and it's not nearly as detailed as I thought it would be. Surface streets are basically off limits so Albuquerque consists of mostly the view from I-25, and the view from 1-40 (and yeah, I know that's all most people of Albuquerque... especially truckers). I guess I was hoping for more of a GTA experience, where the cities are large and you're free to roam.

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        March 17, 2021 4:52 AM

        Yeah Truck Sim is about the long hauls, not much point in fleshing out the cities that much. Also over 120 cities so having GTA level detail on them, even a tenth of them, would be an astonishing feat.

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