Following several months of preview posts, the big 1.44 update for American Truck Simulator has finally arrived. The update includes a major rework for the state of California, a new system that lets you refund in-game currency used in mods for the trucking game, some enhancements to the UI in the garage, and more.
The big addition in this free update, of course, is phase two of the California rework, which removes the city of San Rafael (sadly enough) but rebuilds Eureka, Ukiah, Sacramento, Redding, and Truckee “from the ground up” to include more local landmarks and architecture.
For modders, there’s a handy new feature included in this patch. American Truck Simulator mods frequently add new pieces of equipment to buy in-game, but what happens when you uninstall the mod, or it becomes incompatible with a game update? Until now, you’ve lost the in-game currency you spent on it, but with update 1.44, American Truck Simulator will recognise when you’ve lost a piece of equipment this way and give you the option to accept a refund for the amount lost. Nice!
Here’s a trailer that shows off all the new enhancements and additions:
As anticipated, update 1.44 adds the new drop-deck trailer to the stable of ownable equipment. These trailers feature a low centre of gravity and can be used to haul huge pieces of equipment or machine components.
Over in the garage, you’ll notice that there are some new icons on display that flag parts as being factory-issue, licensed, aftermarket, or unknown. SCS Software says this should help drivers who want to make sure they’re keeping their rigs within manufacturer specifications, or who want to use a specific set of aftermarket components.
There’s also a new map feature included in update 1.44. Now, when you drive onto an unmarked road, you’ll get a notification letting you know. The road will then appear on your map as a broken orange line, and any part of it you haven’t yet traveled on will show up in grey.
Update 1.44 weighs in at about 1.9GB on Steam, and it’s available now.