SCS Software has made update 1.61 of American Truck Simulator available in open beta before its full release down the line.
The update includes the proximity exploration system, which basically increases the size of the area revealed as you drive around, making getting 100% map discovery easier. That being said, it doesn’t fully reveal secret roads, but only the first segment.
It’s also optional, so if you prefer having to drive every inch of road manually, you can.
We also get the improved material system for the interiors of the International LT and International LoneStar.
Map changes have been implemented to enable the Road Trip expansion, including Tourist Boards across California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and the upcoming South Dakota DLC, alongside a number of gas stations.
The Tourist Boards will be inactive until the Road Trip expansion releases.
New types of cargo will include Seed Containers, Trailers, and Truss, on top of updated Rails cargo with a new model and improved textures.
Below you can find a gallery of screenshots and the full changelog.
Changelog:
Map
- Proximity Exploration
- Map Changes for Road Trip
Vehicles
- New Cargoes
Visual
- Improved Material System: International LT & International LoneStar
American Truck Simulator is available for PC, and it’s the sister game to Euro Truck Simulator 2. PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions are also coming.
South Dakota is likely the next DLC, and we already saw its Truck Stops, countryside, towns, cities, more Truck Stops, the road network, more settlements, even more towns, Hot Springs, Badlands National Park, the Industry, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore, on top of gameplay.
The game will soon cross the borders of the United States and go to Canada with the British Columbia DLC, of which we also saw some screenshots, some of the towns, and the tunnels.
Then American Truck Simulator will return to the US with Indiana and North Dakota, on top of a Nevada rework.
Another big project is the Road Trip feature, spearheaded by the Ford Car Pack (of which we also saw the Ford Crown Victoria, the Ford F-150, the Ford Mustang Fastback, and the Ford Bronco Badlands) and the Ram & Dodge Car Pack with the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody, which will expand the simulator’s experience from trucks to cars and pickup trucks, including pure exploration and the delivery of smaller packages.
We also saw the Atlas feature coming with Road Trip and the way you’ll purchase and customize rides.
