ATS | Idaho 'Viewpoint' Feature Coming Soon

Paul Jeffrey

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American Truck Simulator new preview time is here again folks - this time looking at a cool new feature under development.
  • Update on upcoming Idaho map expansion.
  • First look at proposed 'Viewpoint' cut scene feature.
  • 'Viewpoint' under consideration for wider roll out across the playing area.

SCS Software, the development team behind European Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator are an incredibly prolific studio, often developing and releasing new and increasingly impressive content and features for their portfolio of trucking simulations.

Keen to keep in tune with the wishes and needs of their massive community, the studio have recently showcased a new feature they are considering rolling out to the wider game area - 'Viewpoint' - special cut scene locations where drivers can stop off and admire some of the digital beauty baked into the various landscapes around the game.

  • First pass coming as part of the Idaho DLC.
  • Potential to expand with more detail if well received by the community.
  • Several active locations placed within the new expansion.

SCS Software have developed these new cut scene features as a bit of an experiment within the new map expansion, as can be seen in the video above they will initially launch with a simplistic overview of some key areas within the region.

However, should this new feature prove to be popular with the community, the studio are open to reviewing functionality with a possibility of integrating it deeper into the gameplay experience, whilst expanding the level of content and detail over and above a simple graphical cut scene.

ATS Idaho 1.jpg


At the moment, we still consider the new feature an experiment. If the reception is positive, we are thinking of expanding it further, not just to more cool locations across the whole game world, but also to make it more feature-rich, and a more integrated gameplay element. We are thinking of expanding it with descriptions and more detailed facts on why the place is interesting and important, providing a light education element. We may also consider creating a log of visited places, giving the player a chance to re-play the cut scenes of visited places as a reminder of their travels. If you have any additional ideas on how to get more fun out of the feature for players, we'd like to hear them!

ATS Idaho 2.jpg


The experimental feature is set to only release within the new Idaho expansion (due to become available July 2020) and in limited locations, however knowing how fast SCS Software work, and how committed the community are to their simulations, I think this very cool new feature is pretty much nailed on to be implemented and expanded across the whole game space within the title - and probably head to European Truck Simulator 2 at some point later on!

A really cool feature, and something that breaks up the main role of the game - carrying out long distance deliveries - I for one hope to see more of this kind of thing in the future, so we can truly enjoy the impressive and varied landscapes within the title.

Do you like the idea of these cut scene areas within ATS / ETS2? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!


Original Source: SCS Software


American Truck Simulator is available from Steam exclusively for PC.

Having issues with the simulation? Post a thread in the American Truck Sim sub forum here at RaceDepartment and let our awesome community help you out!

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I'd be happier with more States... at the current rate of expansion, it'll take over 20 years to have the entire US mapped, and that's forgetting completely about Mexico and Canada... Features like this are totally ho-hum to me, and most likely won't ever be used...
 
They should have already created the next gen already, on a new graphics engine, with realistic physics and features that would make it an actual TRUCKING simulator. Not just a dumb truck driving arcade game.
Challenging economy and management. SEASONS and a weather changes! BIGGER maps with MORE cities and points of interest.
Seriously it's been 8 whole years since ETS2 got released and only recently they implemented ownable trailers, but even this is practically just a gimmick. There's no NEED to own trailers because the game is DUMB.
 
Race was good, Ok, how do I do that?
When you own a truck you're free to do as you please, so you'll need to earn the money to buy a truck and/or loan some from the bank. Then you're free to cruise around as you please. If you don't want to invest time in driving around there's even a ”dev-cam” available. A small tweak is needed in a configuration file to enable the dev-cam though. I'll walk you through that if you're interested.

EDIT: You don't actually have to buy a truck either. Just use the key/button assigned to unhook the trailer while on any job and then just drive to where ever you like :)

EDIT 2: dev-cam mode isn't available while on a "world of trucks" job, just on the normal jobs or while free-roaming
 
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They should have already created the next gen already, on a new graphics engine, with realistic physics and features that would make it an actual TRUCKING simulator. Not just a dumb truck driving arcade game.

Because an actual TRUCKING simulator would be mind-numbingly boring as hell. Who wants to sit at their sim rig for 8 hours straight driving mile after mile through bland rural America (which is what ACTUAL trucking mostly is). ATS and ETS2 are niche games, narrowing the target audience even further... now THAT would be dumb. Sorry, DUMB. Besides, there are now more alternative truck driving games/sims available, surely there must be one out there that fills your needs, no?
 
They should have already created the next gen already, on a new graphics engine, with realistic physics and features that would make it an actual TRUCKING simulator. Not just a dumb truck driving arcade game.
Challenging economy and management. SEASONS and a weather changes! BIGGER maps with MORE cities and points of interest.
Seriously it's been 8 whole years since ETS2 got released and only recently they implemented ownable trailers, but even this is practically just a gimmick. There's no NEED to own trailers because the game is DUMB.

Or maybe these games just ain't your cup of tea and time to let it go and move on?
 
I am new to ATS and just today D/L the ETS demo. I don't see the problem of why people don't like it. I think it's pretty good and alot of fun.

Mainly depends on what kind of game you're looking for.
If you were looking for a hardcore truck-sim, then I can understand why people won't get onboard with ETS/ATS.
In the same way that if you bought a NFS game thinking you'd get rF2, you'd be a little disappointed as well.
 

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