American Truck Simulator’s v1.54 update adds new physics system

After around a month in Open Beta, American Truck SImulator’s v1.54 update is finally available to download, and the headline feature is the implementation of a whole new physics system.

ATS has used its Bullet physics engine to great effect over the years but it occasionally led to inconsistent interactions between inanimate objects (such as cones) and trucks. Now, with the help of Nvidia’s PhysX engine, this should be a thing of the past, with developer SCS Software extolling the virtues of the system’s enhanced debugging tools. 

The new physics should help eliminate the phenomenon where in-game objects appear to be floating, with collisions now handled more consistently and realistically.

Several other v1.54 improvements are listed below.

Driving Academy Awards

Players who have completed the first part of ATS’s Driving Academy mode will receive a special in-game accessory and a new paint job. The livery is a customisable Driving Academy-themed scheme, while the accessory is a small blue traffic cone to hang from your mirror. Tasteful.

Both ATS and Euro Truck Simulator 2 are also set to feature an update to the Driving Academy in the near future, with a harder ‘Truck Driving Proficiency’ module set to test virtual truckers’ skills. Perhaps more rewards will be added then too?

Truck Adjustment Menu Redesign

Players can now adjust settings like FOV, seat position and mirror position from the same menu, with controls better optimised for both mouse and gamepad use (including shoulder buttons).

Keyboard users can still navigate the menu using the WASD keys and use their mouse to adjust sliders, while gamepad users can use the D-pad to navigate, the left stick to change values and the right stick to move the camera for mirror adjustments.

Redefined cargo system 

ATS’s cargo system has been simplified in v1.54, so now different combinations of trucks and trailers take up less disk space and use less memory than before.

The new system allows trucks and trailers to merge automatically, so SCS’s art department will no longer need to create individual model combinations for every truck and trailer type. This will also make it quicker and easier for the team to roll out content updates in future.

Do you think v1.54 of American Truck Simulator is a useful game update? Let us know in the comments below.

American Truck Simulator v1.54 changelog

Gameplay

• Cargo System Redefined
• Driving Academy Rewards

Visual

• Truck Adjustment Menu Redesign
• First Launch Screen Flow Refresh

Vehicles

• Lode King & Prestige Trailers Pack bug fixes
• Other
• PhysX Implementation

Source: SCS Software