SCS Software's blog

Goodies from Logitech, still working on ETS2 patch

2013-05-15T09:53:00.001+02:00

We have received a very cool offer from Logitech for closer cooperation. We are getting access to developer SDKs, allowing us to take better advantage of the capabilities of their input devices. We were also kindly provided with a heap of hardware to try out and develop on.

Here is another picture from the hardware test lab as we are putting the steering wheels, gamepads, gaming keyboards and mice to good use:

Having so much cool hardware around gave us an idea - we can do some sort of a competition related to Euro Truck Simulator 2 with really great prizes! Good quality steering wheel with pedals and gear stick makes a huge difference when playing our simulators, so hopefully we will make a few of you really happy.

We will need to wait a bit more though until the next ETS2 update is finally available. No doubt we are testing the limits of patience of many of you; taking so long with the patch. Big things are brewing, both for the next update and for the overall vision of future evolution of ETS2 and our truck sims in general. Unfortunately big changes in technology take time to develop and test properly, we cannot release them half-done. We are now mostly done with the changes planned for the game update, so please bear with us, the wait is almost over (though not quite, we are talking probably weeks, not days, before it's all fine-tuned for release).

You may be curios what it is that we are cooking it for so long. To satisfy this curiousity, for once let us open up the kimono and show you unedited release notes which were sent to our beta testing group yesterday along with a new game update 1.3.51. As you can tell just from the version number, we have been though a ton of internal builds with incremental changes and improvements over the past months, the release notes only cover changes from previous 1.3.38 internal build.

Hi

Finally, after long time, we have a new testable build.

Patch from 1.3.38
http://_censored_

Full install
http://_censored_

We did several significant changes so unfortunately it did take long
time to get things back to a usable state. It is possible that there are
still some bugs related to them. Note that profiles and saves written
by this build can not be loaded by older version so you should keep a
backup copy of them in case there is some problem or if you want to
switch to the previous version.

The first major change is change of the map format from single file to
set of sectors. This change allows several people to simultaneously work
in distinct parts of the map and might allow coexistence of mods which
independently extend various distinct parts of the map. We also changed
format of several definition files to improve coexistence of some types
of mods. Existing maps in older formats need to be loaded in the editor
and re-saved before they can be used.

The second major change is addition of asynchronous loading.
Significant portion of the data is now loaded asynchronously to avoid
temporary pauses during the game. Note that currently there are still
things, mostly related to AI traffic, which do not support the
asynchronous loading so the pauses might still happen.

As side effect of work on multi-monitor support (still experimental),
the non-ui portions of the game now do not use letterboxing for
non-widescreen resolutions and instead they expand the vertical FOV.
Note that the advisor/on-hud mirrors are currently still positioned on
theirs letterboxed positions.

Known issues:
*) Some new texts are still in english and the build was currently not
updated from GetLoc.
*) The map contains parts which will connect to DLC. They are currently
not marked as unreachable so they are visible in the map and it is not
possible to get 100% exploration of the map.
*) Signs in new parts of the map are not finished yet.
*) When loading older save, the console will contain error messages
about various quarry objects. This is expected.

Additional changes
*) Improved resistance to missing data to some degree
*) It is possible to change length of transition area for clutch pedal
using g_pedal_clutch_range cvar
*) The engine now consumes fuel when left idle.
*) Various fixes and improvements of truck dashboard indicators and
backlight intensity
*) Various physics tweaks + even stronger clutch
*) Support for output of truck telemetry information for use by
third-parties (still work in progress)
*) Force feedback parameters were extracted to definition file so they
can be tweaked by mods
*) Fixed AI curves on UK bus stops
*) Added rumble-stripes to some prefabs
*) Fixed electro poll in the Sawmill
*) Fixed floating lines in recruitment agency
*) Tweaked "give road" sign
*) Fixed hole in forest mountain
*) Fixed missing light above 3rd door in garage
*) Magnum: Adjusted paintjobs, narrowed fenders
*) Fixed various bus stations
*) Fixed pavement in Bremen
*) Fixed alpha sorting for tunnel signs
*) Added stop lines to various prefabs
*) Fixed direction of arrows on roundabout signs
*) Adjusted curves on some crossroads to prevent AI crashes
*) Fixed shadows of some accessories
*) Fixed intensity of small light accessory
*) Fixed positions of accessories on frontgrills
*) Volvo: Fixed interior animations
*) Scania: Paintjob fixes
*) Various other map fixes

ETS 2 & Oculus Rift

2013-05-07T22:48:00.000+02:00

We have been experimenting with Oculus Rift for a few days, and Euro Truck Simulator 2 is now mostly working correctly with it.

Looking around the cabin freely is incredible, it almost feels like being in there!

The experience cannot be really presented with a screenshot, you have to wear the device to actually appreciate how revolutionary it is. It's not perfect, but it's a promise of great things to come for sure.

Want to Drive a Truck for Real?

2013-04-19T15:40:00.000+02:00

The great guys at our UK publishing partner Excalibur Publishing have come up with a very cool idea to help promote Euro Truck Simulator 2 - a unique competition with a chance to win a Heavy Goods Vehicle driving course. Check it out!

New trucks coming to ETS2

2013-04-17T16:01:00.001+02:00

We have several new truck models under construction for Euro Truck Simulator 2. Today we'd like to show you a glimpse of another really cool looking model!

New trucks and lots more content will be gradually released in upcoming free patches of the game (though we also plan paid add-ons eventually). We understand that we are pushing your patience with game updates not appearing as quickly as you would like, but rest assured that we are working really hard on overhauling and improving major features of the game and the game engine to make things better. These are major changes, and they take time to implement, but they are necessary for us to be able to evolve the game features and technology properly. We need to lift internal memory constraints, improve our map construction and asset creation pipeline,we need to make the engine run smoother, and last but not least, we need to see how to make the game even more engaging. We are in this for the long run, ETS2 is still getting a lot of our love, and its continued evolution features highly in our plans for world domination ;-). Please have patience with us!

Public Linux Beta of Euro Truck Simulator 2

2013-04-16T13:40:00.000+02:00

After a few days of limited-group closed beta testing, today we are making the Linux Beta build of ETS2 accessible to general public, exclusively through Steam. This is not a free beta, you can only access it if you have already purchased/activated the full version of the game on Steam.

To test the Linux version of ETS2 you need to do following:
1) Install the game from Steam client. This will install the non-beta version which does not have Linux executables.
2) In the Steam client open the ETS2 properties screen and navigate to the "Betas" tab.
3) Select the linux_testing beta.
4) This will install the Linux binaries.

To provide feedback, please go to http://forum.scssoft.com and participate in the Euro Truck Simulator 2 - Linux Beta Testing discussion group.

The game works reasonably well on native NVidia drivers. There are some reports of flickering artifacts on ATI drivers. Older MESA versions are a problem, freshest MESA looks promising still with some serious artifacts, though.

We'll be happy to provide access to the beta to media for a preview, though there are still some elements in the Linux version that need ironing out.

The third pillar

2013-03-21T23:47:00.000+01:00

Today we are bringing you a few new images from the game that is definitely not losing our love - Euro Truck Simulator 2. Yeah, we have been taking our time producing a new patch, but this is mostly due to the fact that we are working on so many improvements in parallel. We have some cool things coming, and they should appear in patches through the Spring, but tuning and tweaking them all to a stable state takes time.

We are not working just on code and gameplay improvements (and the map DLC), the core game will also get very cool new content. Iveco Stralis Hi-Way is among the first major additions, but there is even more to come...

Stuff we are working on, too

2013-03-20T16:47:00.000+01:00

As we have hinted before, SCS Software is branching into several directions since the release of Euro Truck Simulator 2. (Don't worry ETS2 devotees, more news about evolution of the game in upcoming blog posts)

Here is a couple of images from yet another project we have under construction in our labs:

Disclaimer - any brands appearing in the images are only illustrative and not guaranteed to find their way into any future SCS Software project. It's just an experiment. Though if you happen to be an owner of a major coach bus operator in Europe, we'd love to hear from you and discuss how to make it possible to feature your brand in our game(s) ;-).

Stuff we are working on

2013-03-19T23:11:00.003+01:00

Our recent blog posts may have concentrated too much on non-development stuff, and you are probably quite tired of links to sales charts, press articles and app stores. Sorry, let's turn the page and start giving you glimpses of things that we are working on again.

Today we have a teaser shot of a new 3D truck model that was built from ground up in recent weeks. This truck tractor is not going to appear in Euro Truck Simulator 2 though, it is created with the plan to use it in a different game ;-).

The good thing about this 3D model is that it uses roughly half the polygon count of our highest-detail ETS2 trucks, yet due to smarter system of shading and rendering and the use of surface normal textures it looks even better, while consuming less video memory.

Scania TDS on Mac App Store

2013-03-18T13:53:00.001+01:00

It has taken us almost half a year to port our current engine technology to Mac OS, but finally this weekend we have managed to get Scania Truck Driving Simulator released on Mac App Store. It's an important milestone for us on the way to port its bigger brother Euro Truck Simulator 2 to the platform as well. Hopefully this time we won't need half a year again, but there is still a ton of work to do on the port, so it's hard to come up with an estimate yet. And everybody knows how imprecise we can be on such estimates.

We are happy with the results so far, here is an analysis of best selling charts across various countries for the game as available on APPlyzer:

Speaking about failing with time estimates, we are tempted to claim that the Linux version of ETS2 is now less than two weeks away from being ready for release. Didn't we say it was two weeks away from release several months ago already? We are bad at estimates indeed, and we shouldn't give in to temptation yet again. But after overcoming some unexpected difficulties with input controllers code, we are feeling reasonably well about this new estimate.

Changing topic, GamaSutra published an interesting article titled Who's buying all these niche simulation games, anyway? We found out. It's a peek behind the scenes of niche simulators, not just truck sims but also farming and more. The story got picked up by Reddit, too, if you are interested in following this discussion.

Iveco Stralis Hi-Way Sound recording

2013-03-11T16:31:00.001+01:00

Time flies so fast! We have had a couple of new 3D models of trucks in development since the start of this year already, but there is still work to do before we are ready to release them as a part of future Euro Truck Simulator 2 updates. As truck manufacturers come up with new or face-lifted vehicles, we'll need to try to keep up with them, but it's going to be a race with no end.

One of the all new 3D truck models coming to the game is the new IVECO Stralis Hi-Way. This is the first truck of ETS2 to be created by a new method, too. Rather than pushing polygon count to the limits (slowing down anything but the best of the best 3D cards), we are going to balance polygon count with higher surface detailed offered by normal mapping techniques. It's a bit of a learning experience for the artists, plus new rendering effects were required to be coded by the programmers to make this happen. The results are going to be well worth it; perceived detail is comparable or higher, while the number of triangles that your 3D card has to chew on is limited, which should have positive implications for framerate.

Part of our research when we are building a new truck for the game is of course spending some time with the vehicle - we need to record engine sounds, we take lots of photos of exterior as well as interior, and try to get a general feel for the truck. The recording session with Stralis Hi-Way took part several weeks ago already, today at last we have managed to prepare the little video from the day...

Euro Truck Simulator 1 on Steam

2013-03-08T22:11:00.001+01:00

Five years late (and five years after we started trying), the original Euro Truck Simulator is finally on Steam as of today, basking in the success of its younger brother ETS2. Here is the Euro Truck Simulator 1 Steam Store page.

Both Windows PC and Mac OS versions are available on the service (note though that the Mac build is a very different codebase from Windows version and due to file format incompatibility does not support mods).

By now the game is of course an old classics in the genre, but it may still be interesting for players just now discovering to the truck sim phenomenon...

ETS2 reviewed by Inside Sim Racing

2013-03-08T08:21:00.000+01:00

Highly respected site Inside Sim Racing reviewed Euro Truck Simulator 2 a couple of days ago, and it looks like they quite liked it...

Some YouTube Goodies

2013-02-25T14:01:00.000+01:00

We'd like to say "Hi!" to Keralis, a famous pro YouTube blogger who is showing a lot of love for Euro Truck Simulator 2 on his channel. His list of ETS2 episodes is now up to #22, and he still keeps going - and handing out free ETS2 Product Keys in the process! ;-).

The second video is showing something really incredible for us. This is a true confirmation that Euro Truck Simulator 2 is now going mainstream. Our Polish distributor cdp.pl is crazy enough to promote the game on football matches of Extraklasa team Podbeskidzie Bielsko. Over 300k people are watching those matches on TV and seeing the ads!

A Coach Bus?

2013-02-09T08:42:00.000+01:00

It has taken us almost exactly a month to edit a "making of" video we have taken while recording sounds and taking tons of photos of a Scania Touring HD Bus, but finally it's here.

A small team at SCS Software is exploring an opportunity to go beyond just trucks in one of our upcoming games. You will not see or hear this bus just yet in the world of Euro Truck Simulator 2, even though down the road it's not so hard to imagine.

On a very related topic - would any of you be able to gain access to a Scania Irizar i6 bus to be able to take high detail interior and dashboard reference photos?

ETS2 available as digital download in Japan now

2013-02-08T13:50:00.000+01:00

Our Japanese may be a bit rusty, but it looks like the game has a good start among digital downloads in the country. It's #3 now on DLsite, and also #3 at Amazon.co.jp in PC category! What a company! ;-)

We are very grateful to our volunteer translators from Japan who have helped us make this happen! Domo arigato!

Trying to help broken mods - Update 1.3.1

2013-02-07T22:51:00.000+01:00

We could not stay deaf to so many complaints as people were struggling with mod incompatibilities. So we spent the day today reproducing the most common issues that you guys were reporting to us, and trying to implement workarounds that would mean that the game doesn't crash when it encounters the problem.

The result is a new Euro Truck Simulator 2 update - version 1.3.1. There are no new features in it, not even any fixes of game functionality itself. All that's new are a few extra robustness improvements in the code when the game loads savegames/profiles with problematic mods created for older versions of the game.

Find the patch here: http://www.eurotrucksimulator2.com/update.php

Note that we have created a very small version of the patch if you are already running 1.3.0, but also incremental patch from the 1.2.5.x edition and a full patch from any previous version.

If you are not using mods, or haven't bumped into any mod-related crashes, there is no hurry for you to update. But if you had trouble even reading the player profile, or crashing when using retarder, or using physics mod, this is the patch you should look into, it may help.

Patch impact Fallout

2013-02-07T11:48:00.000+01:00

After reading various reports of problems, we would like to give you some tips to work around problems with the patch versus moded games.

The patch changes a lot of things "under the hood" in physics code, but the result is that some properties (variables) were changed or removed. Any physics mods out there may now have values stored in them which can crash the game. If you are using a physics mod, switch this mod off, it can be done individually per-profile and per-mod - you just need to go to Profile Edit screen. Really, for any mod user, the Profile Edit screen is now important for you.

If you acted hastily and decided to nuke all mods just to make sure the game doesn't crash because of mods, you may in fact hurt yourself. As described above, for the time being switching off any physics mods is a good idea (until you obtain fixed mods from their authors). On the other hand, many cargo mods people are using have become embedded into their save game files, and their removal can be a source of a different type of crash. So you need to be selective about which mods you remove and which you don't - it may be the case that both removing none and removing all mods may be wrong, and you need to find the right mix.

It's not just physics and cargo mods, there are also problems related to sound mods, as the updated game has changed some stuff and added retarder sounds, if you sound mod is "masking out" our new sounds by an old sound bank, the game may crash when it cannot find expected sound effect.

If you are a Steam user using mods, the situation may be even more complicated - with mods embedded into save games and the game automatically updating to version 1.3, players may have been caught by surprise. The above suggestions should help, but in case you want to revert to previous version of the game on Steam, it is now possible, we have made the older version temporarily available through Steam, see for more info here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/227300/discussions/0/864959088248519109/.

Euro Truck Simulator 2 - update 1.3

2013-02-06T14:04:00.000+01:00

At last, we are releasing a new update to ETS2! Lots of fixes and improvements, and a new patch application which should hopefully make the updating procedure a lot smoother.

It may be a good idea for you to back-up your player profile (look for it in Documents > Euro Truck Simulator 2), especially if you are using mods which may have compatibility problems with this update. This way you would have a fall-back option to temporarily revert to a previous version in case of problems.

Steam edition of the game will be updated later today, please have patience with us, this patch is applicable to all retail as well as digital editions of the game except for the Steam build.

Find the update here.

What's new in this update:

official licenses from Iveco and Volvo
ability to change the company name, logo or preferred brand
retarder (automatic or manual)
per-profile mod selection (can be overridden using -force_mods command line parameter)
support local currencies of each country in the game
gearbox accessory selection
new online radio stations (now up to 190 stations)
physics takes into account different weights for trailers and cargos
Renault Premium upgrades
Renault Magnum side-skirts are now an optional upgrade
hired driver log
hired drivers more likely to find suitable cargo on the way back
re-hired driver issue fixed
ferry fee is not charged to player for quick jobs
UK distances in GPS fixed
fixed memory leak when playing mp3 files using radio
improved handling of corrupted save files
improved resiliency to some types of corruptions caused by mod removal
fixed cabin blur during rain
over 200 map changes and fixes
several German roads thoroughly tweaked and prettyfied
bump causing damage on German A3 fixed
powerline columns in the middle of the road removed
gas station in Bremen
AI curves fixing on some prefabs
increased vertex buffer sizes to improve game stability with more detailed vehicle models
Product Key verification step added, only genuine keys in good standing accepted as of version 1.3+

Any new bugs to report? Please report them on forum.scssoft.com.

ETS2 Eastern European Expansion

2013-01-31T16:18:00.000+01:00

We are happy to announce that we are working on the first official add-on for Euro Truck Simulator 2. This map expansion is centering on Eastern Europe with special focus on Poland, so we took the opportunity of a press-day taking place at our Polish publishing partner CDP to let the word know about it yesterday.

We have been working on the expansion for some time already, we have bits and pieces to show already, but there is still a lot of work left to complete the new part of the map.

Why go East for the first map expansion? With all respect to our truck sim games' fans across the globe, Polish fan community is one of the most active and most supportive. Cooperation between CDP and SCS in Poland is also exemplary. So we felt that this region is a great candidate for testing out if creating map expansions is going to become a viable business for SCS Software. It would be great if the market can prove that growing the world of Euro Truck Simulator 2 is not lost time for us.

Once ETS2 EEE is completed, we'll have to decide where to go next... Scandinavia? Rest of France with an option to go toward Spain? Italy? Balkans? Continue East towards Russia? We will have to try to come up with a method to understand the highest potential and set the priorities right...

Final note: This map add-on/DLC will not be free (we are pondering ~EUR 10 price point), but it's an optional expansion. Throughout the year 2013, we are going to keep improving the core game with free updates for everybody with fixes and many improvements, including for example all new trucks models, or new AI code. So while the 1.3.x patch is very near, stay tuned for further patches coming down the road. And some surprises on top of it all ;-).

A New ETS2 Patch Almost Here

2013-01-25T15:24:00.000+01:00

In a few days we should be ready to finally update Euro Truck Simulator 2 again. We are working on improving many parts of the game, we are definitely not just in maintenance mode. The development effort is substantial; we are committed to evolving the game for a long time. But things take time to get them done right, more than we would like for sure. Several extensive features which will not make it into this patch are already under development. Please have patience with us!

What to expect now?

First and foremost, the 1.3.x patch is bringing two more official truck brands into the game. Of course moders are doing fabulous job in this area already, but this is major news for us. We are proud to have official support from 6 of 7 biggest European truck brands. Down the line, this is going to have very important influence on the quality of our games, as well us perception of our games by the public and truck industry insiders alike. Far from all ETS2 players use mods, so having the real brands in the game "out of the box" is a welcome feature for the many thousands of players just using the standard game.

Second major development is addition of Product Key verification step to the activation process. It is no secret that in the recent weeks, a "key gen" has appeared which can fool the built-in Product Key check in many cases. On release, the game had no true "DRM" protection, it never contacted any database of valid keys to see if the Product Key is really issued and in good standing. All that the game did was check if the Key conformed to a complex mathematical formula. This protection step though was reverse-engineered, a key gen unleashed, and since then piracy is through the roof. It's not just casual piracy, it seems that several shady companies have made a business out of selling these fake product keys on the cheap, scamming customers by claims that these keys are valid. We had to do something about it, it was urgent as this was badly hurting both our pocket and our reputation. So instead of bringing you a new patch quickly, we had to concentrate on closing this hole and spend over a month of programmers' time implementing an extra Product Key verification step to the game. As of the new patch, everybody will be asked to re-enter their Product Key again, and this time the check will be more thorough, actually comparing the key with a database of valid keys. Any keys which are not genuine or are coming from stolen credit card purchases will be refused. We expect quite a storm of complaints as people will find out that the key they were using until now just fine was in fact invalid, but we simply must take this step to protect our business. Steam version of Euro Truck Simulator 2 can be activated by using genuine Product Keys issued for any other edition of the game, and seeing the activity on Steam it is already a clear indication of what to expect with so many people trying to use fake keys to register the game there.

The patch change-log has some 20 lines covering fixes and improvements not listed above, but we'll post this detailed list closer to release of the patch. For now, let us show you some of the visible changes and additions to the ETS2 truck fleet.

Small advertisement for our twitter channel

2013-01-17T09:34:00.001+01:00

If you are not following SCS Software on our Twitter, you are missing out on some tiny news, just like right now about ETS2 being #1 Top Seller on Steam!

At Last!

2013-01-16T19:48:00.001+01:00

We are looking forward to welcoming new truck simulation game players - Euro Truck Simulator was published on Steam just a few minutes ago.

Update 1 am Prague time:

We just got word from Valve, the original ETS2 Product Keys (also known as CD keys though they are not necessarily only from CD editions of the game) should as of now activate the game. Please try again if you've failed to activate the game on Steam before!

Steam today!

2013-01-16T00:24:00.000+01:00

We got word from Valve that finally, Euro Truck Simulator 2 should appear on Steam Store today. It has taken many more weeks than we hoped, but finally we have managed to push the game through the system and get it ready for release. Unless they bump into some last-minute show-stopping problem, this page should be on Steam tomorrow:

Product Keys (also known as CD-Keys) issued for ETS2 should allow for activating the game on Steam as well. No key-gen trickery will work though - this is a topic which will be addressed by the next non-Steam patch, too.

The first version of the game to appear on Steam will be equivalent to 1.2.5 which has been out there for a long time. We are working on several improvements and new features for the game, but they will only appear in the next update - When It's Done.

Linux is close!

2013-01-11T01:26:00.000+01:00

Finally today we see the light at the end of the tunnel - Euro Truck Simulator 2 Linux port is almost finished. Very soon we should be able to start beta testing it.

ETS2 Game of The Year!

2012-12-29T00:54:00.002+01:00

Euro Truck Simulator 2 has been announced as PC Gamer's Simulation Game of the Year 2012!

Few moments working in the games industry are as gratifying as receiving such an award by a prestigious games publication, except perhaps when reading praise straight from you, our fans! ;-)

Looks like our UK publisher Excalibur Publishing is already celebrating this fact in their nice video introducing the game to sim newbies...