Published , by Chris Jarrard
Published , by Chris Jarrard
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.