ETS2 Updates and Discussion - Release October 19th 2012

[CLR-GTR]

Three updates:

 

August 7th: License Plates

We are working hard on finalizing Euro Truck Simulator 2 for release, but there are still some unfinished tasks which we would like to get done so that the game is released in great shape. One of the problems are correct and believable license plates on vehicles.

 

In our previous projects, usually the license plate was a part of a vehicle's texture, so there was no chance to dynamically alter it or pretend that the trucks and cars come from different countries. For Euro Truck 2, at first we thought about a system providing slightly more variety - have a small set of license plates for each country, and assign them around, but it turned out that too many people take it as an offense if they happen to see multiple vehicles in the world sharing the same license plate texture, not to speak about lack of variety.

 

In the end, we are about to bite the bullet and implement a system to be able to procedurally generate the license plates based on a set of rules for each country in the game.

 

See the image below to see an example of how this is setup for the Czech Republic (specifically these would be license plates for Prague from recent years). There is a background for the license plate ready to accept the letters and digits in a given pattern, and then we generate the "text" with the particular combination of letters and digits that follows the country's rules for license plates, picking the alphanumeric symbols from a font texture with font specific for the given country.

 

 

Our problem is that for some countries like our own, we know those rules and can implement them with no problem, but doing the research for other countries is a time consuming task for us, with the risk that we'll still misunderstand the rules and implement the license plates for some countries incorrectly.

 

That's where the idea to approach our community and ask for help on collecting this know-how came to us. We would be very grateful for any pointers or URLs of documents that may help us, or explanations that you can provide, on how to compose believable license plates for vehicles in the various countries in Europe, mostly those present in the game already. Especially if you could point out if there are any things to pay special attention to, like differences between front and back plates, possibly differences between trucks and passenger cars and again if anything special is in place just for trailers, license plates differences as they are issued in different years etc, all this could help us to create a world which will be more believable when you drive though it.

 

If you have something useful to suggest, please mention it in a comment to this blog post, or alternatively send it to us by mail to info [at] scssoft [dot] com.

 

Here is a short movie as a way to saying thank you very much in advance..

 

 

 

August 9th: Playing with Depth of Field

First of all, big thanks for everybody who tried to help and sent us information about license plates looks, logic and rules in the various European countries. The amount of feedback was overwhelming, a real avalanche of information.

 

The realization that so many people are eager to help and devote so much of their time to write detailed explanations is humbling. It gives us great inspiration to build our games, it's such a great feeling to know that we have such a devoted fan community!

 

For today we are going to show you two images from the world of Euro Truck Simulator 2, showing one of our artists playing with "DOF" feature in the game's 3D engine. In these two shots the effect is a bit too artistic (though it may come handy in creating fancy screenshots perhaps), but we are using this graphics engine feature in a more subtle way usually, for example in worsened daylight conditions it makes a good combination with hazy atmosphere, or when there is rain out there. A bit of work is still needed to make the pedestrians look better, good enough to show them in focus :-).

 

 

 

August 13th: Management Screens

Euro Truck Simulator 2 is primarily a game about driving trucks - about the time spent behind the wheel, trying hard to deliver your load safely and on time. That's why we are building so detailed virtual world to drive in. We tried to calculate how much real time you'd have to spend driving in the game, at maximum speed allowed, to visit every place in the world just once. The theoretical minimum is over 40 hours of time! In practice, it will easily take double the time.

 

However, we are aware that for many players the second gameplay pillar of our big truck simulation games is very important as well - the ability to build a company and progress though a "from rags to riches" kind of career. We are not attempting to go overly deep with this aspect of the game, to compete with "tycoon" genre games when it comes to company management, but we still hope that you will have an interesting time with this part of the game...

[CLR-GTR]

A small team from SCS Software made a quick two-day trip to Cologne, Germany, to "talk business" at Gamescom, the biggest European game show. We have spent most of the time in a section not accessible to general public - two of the huge halls at Koelnmesse are dedicated just for trade visitors to give them room for networking and business development talks. In fact we were so busy with the business aspect of the trip that we did not venture much into the public halls, staying away from the deafening sounds and big crowds. We haven't even managed to take any cool photos worthy of showing you on the blog. But the trip was very important for us and the future success of our games.

 

We try to keep an open dialogue not just with our fan community, but also with our publishing partners. They better have total confidence into us and our projects, to be willing to spend money and effort on massaging the retail as well as digital distribution channels to offer and promote our games. Big games industry events are a good opportunity for us to meet our colleagues from publishing companies in person and discuss our plans.

 

Without good partners who are specialists in the field, a niche game like Euro Truck Simulator 2 would hard time standing out among much bigger mass-market titles on the shelves. Inn fact without a network of reputable partners we'd have hard time even appearing on the shelves at all in most countries

 

We were also excited to meet a representative from Valve's Steam to discuss our chances to get our games on their service. We have tried submitting our games to Steam before, but without success (truck simulators really were considered too niche by their approval committee it seems, especially after a competitor truck game was given a chance but was not quite accepted so well by Steam players). In a few weeks, Steam is going to come out with Greenlight/url], a new system that will depend on fans of games to help them sort out candidates for inclusion on Steam. We definitely plan to be on Greenlight with ETS2 as soon as it launches; we have high hopes that we can count on your help! With the number of fans of our games, we should be able to get our voice heard. You are definitely going to hear from us again on this topic soon, asking you to join us in the rally to put our games to Steam!

 

To conclude this post, let us show you something that wasn't yet shown extensively - the central "hub" screen of the user interface system of Euro Truck Simulator 2. The game doesn't have a text-based main menu any more as did our previous games, and another set of menus for other in-game screens (the old "notebook" mental concept). With ETS2, we knew that the system needed to be more flexible to accommodate a lot of features, and yet we wanted to have a chance to make it understandable, to be able to liken it to an existing paradigm of control of an application or device. After some experiments, we settled on "desktop" approach - there is a central screen which you can think of as a desktop screen of the operating system on your computer, where we can add "application icons" for various features in the game. Where appropriate, related function icons are grouped into "widgets." We will make the "applications" appear over time on the desktop; we don't want to overload the player too soon with too much stuff. The learning curve is not too steep initially, but we have lots of room to add game features, which we plan to do even beyond the initial release of the game ;-).

 

 

 

[CLR-GTR]

To demonstrate the scale of the game world, they released a new vid. It takes a few minutes but is actually 2 real-time hours of gaming, a drive from the UK to Italy:

 

[superhyper]

Wow that's impressive :eek:

[Ryzza5]

Cool, although 2 hours in a truck is comparable to 30-45 mins in a supercar (comparing to a lap of O'ahu in TDU1)

 

 

Let's hope it comes out (with TrackIR support) at least a few weeks before Forza Horizon.

[Ozzmcom]

Cool, although 2 hours in a truck is comparable to 30-45 mins in a supercar (comparing to a lap of O'ahu in TDU1)

 

 

Let's hope it comes out (with TrackIR support) at least a few weeks before Forza Horizon.

good point, also any words on multiplayer yet?

[The Compensator]

There will be no multiplayer I think. CLR knows everything about it, ask him. I'm just here to watch videos and write that I can't wait to play it. :p

[CLR-GTR]

No multiplayer. SCS's team behind ETS2 is extremely small and doesn't have much experience with flawless multiplayer games, so ETS2 won't have multiplayer.

 

Quote from late 2011:

 

''There won't be multiplayer in ETS2. With the size of our world, doing MP right is not an easy thing. Trust us that we are thinking hard on how to put multiplayer into our games and how to do it The Right Way, but you will still need to be patient with us, it is not doable in the timeframe of this project. Delaying the game any more because of this feature is not an option for us.''

 

 

Valve has launched their Greenlight system yesterday, but it was too late in the day of us to manage to submit ETS2. Unfortunately, it looks like a too-active fan from Poland has managed to do this overnight instead. Please don't vote for this submission, we have no option but to have it removed by legal action. We have no control of the contents of the submission as is, and we need to be able to control it, not to speak about the need to describe the game properly.

 

If the person who submitted ETS2 for Greenglight reads this, we would really appreciate if he could get in touch with us so that we can try to see if we can fix the problem in amicable way. I am sure the game wasn't entered to do us harm, it looks like a dedicated fan trying to help - but in fact it is delaying the official submission and start of the real voting process, giving other games more time to establish themselves in the voting system, possibly even hurting ETS2 chances to appear on Steam.

 

Quite a few people have raised their concern that if the game supports Steam, they will avoid it. Obviously public opinion on Steam is split - some people like it, some don't. Rest assured that Steam was always considered as a complementary distribution channel for us - we would not require people buying the game in the box edition in stores or digitally from our own website to have to install Steam or use any Steam services. But being present on Steam is very important for any independent game developer. Steam is the 800-pound gorilla of the digital distribution world, many people just go there for their games, many people discover new games only thanks to Steam. This could bring us additional sales that we couldn't get otherwise - and additional sales mean more funding for further improvements of ETS2 as well as for our future projects. Our games are 100% financed by your purchases and nothing else - we don't have any big publisher investing into our projects.

 

We hope that the problem is resolved soon. The game will be re-introduced to Greenlight with its new official logo, too!

 

[Ozzmcom]

:( that would've been a great selling point

[CLR-GTR]

They can work on it with demo-games like that Scania Truck Driver game and Trucks 'n Trailers or something. Also, right now, they have no pressure from competition. There are no other truckinggames, let alone any with multiplayer, so then it's understandable you wait with it for when you have time and people again.

[CLR-GTR]

MAJOR UPDATE:

 

Euro Truck Simulator 2 has been officially submitted to Valve's Greenlight today!

 

 

 

Let's celebrate it by unveiling the new official ETS2 logo :-)

 

If you want to help us make the game appear on Steam, please vote for it here:

 

Steam Greenlight :: Euro Truck Simulator 2

 

Quite a few people have raised their concern that if the game supports Steam, they will avoid it. Obviously public opinion on Steam is split - some people like it, some don't. Rest assured that Steam was always considered as a complementary distribution channel for us - we would not require people buying the game in the box edition in stores or digitally from our own website to have to install Steam or use any Steam services. But being present on Steam is very important for any independent game developer. Steam is the 800-pound gorilla of the digital distribution world, many people just go there for their games, many people discover new games only thanks to Steam. This could bring us additional sales that we couldn't get otherwise - and additional sales mean more funding for further improvements of ETS2 as well as for our future projects. Our games are 100% financed by your purchases and nothing else - we don't have any big publisher investing into our projects.

 

Note: There appeared a fan submission for the game to Greenlight system yesterday already, causing a bit of confusion. It looks like a too-active fan from Poland has managed to submit the game overnight, faster than we could have done so ourselves. Please don't vote for this alternate submission, we have no option but to have it removed by legal action. We have no control of the contents of the other submission.

 

If the person who submitted ETS2 for Greenglight reads this, we would really appreciate if he could get in touch with us so that we can try to see if we can fix the problem in amicable way. I am sure the game wasn't entered to do us harm, it looks like a dedicated fan trying to help - but in fact it is competing for people's attention with the official submission, probably taking away votes voting process that should be going to the correct entry.

 

post updated to reflect recent developments

 

All you enthusiasts out there, now is the time to show you really do care xD

[Ryzza5]

I thought buying the Scania sim was showing I care

 

They'll still sell the game on DVD anyway, I found the Scania one was cheaper on DVD at EB Games than it was online for digital download

[CLR-GTR]

You could always care more, you could help em to find a big release platform, a sort of publisher. They've been having enough difficulty finding one for the UK, but outside they still have nobody. A release on steam would make em even more known and could mean better games in the future, they only have the sales of Trucks and Trailers, Scania Truck Driver and ETS1 to fund ETS2....

[CLR-GTR]

SCS realises they forgot one specific game-asset: zombies.....

 

 

Thanks for everyone's support with Steam Greenlight campaign for Euro Truck Simulator 2. We have over 1,600 votes already, and over 50 pages of mostly very encouraging comments.

 

Still it looks like it might be a good idea to add a few zombies into the game; judging by some of the leading submissions so far, adding zombies could bring us an order of magnitude more votes! ;-). We'll most likely resist the temptation - but kidding aside, this is a cold reminder for us as well as for you our fans that the potential of our truck sim "niche" is really limited compared to mainstream topics that Joe the gamer wants to deal with in the games he buys. The scope, depth and quality of our games are always going to be limited by how much money = manpower we can invest into them; how much money it's possible to make selling them to people willing to buy them. This pool is not that big. Exposure is key to get the game in front of as many eyes as possible.

 

The push for ETS on Greenlight will definitely continue for some time, nothing is decided yet. We thought that perhaps the fan community can help us even more in this long term effort. The effect of our blog has its limits, the news will get old very quickly. But quite a lot of you are running trucksim-related websites, blogs, facebook pages and message boards. Some visitors may come to you only from time to time, wouldn't it be great to have something permanent on the page to bring their attention to our cause?

 

We would like to offer you a set of banners and buttons that you can put on your web property to support ETS2. If you like any of the buttons, please use them to link them to the ETS2 Greenlight page. Big thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

We have these buttons and banners nicely packed in a ZIP file for download, with version including JPG on black and white backgrounds and PNG with transparency, at several sizes here:

 

http://www.eurotrucksimulator2.com/ets2_greenlight.zip

 

To wrap up this post, we have another YouTube movie for you. This one has been actually recorded over 2 weeks ago, some of the things in the game have been changed since then, and even the game logo in it is now obsolete. But we thought it would be a shame to lose all the work invested into creating the video, we quite like it.

 

[Ryzza5]

[CLR-GTR]

I kinda like those timelapse vids, it gives a good impression on the size of the map :)

 

Another update. EDEN AND ATARI, READ AND CRY:

 

One wish-list item we can take off the list, a hundred more to go...

 

During the past weeks, we have toiled on the flexible registration plate system both for trucks as well as all types of AI vehicles. The goal was to represent each country in the game with proper license plates for front and back of vehicles (which usually differ, and not just by color as in the UK). Our previous license plates system was often criticized before for not being good, in fact in the early days of beta test it was the most raised issue for taking away the feeling of reality on the roads. So we decided to listen to player's feedback and do something about it. The new system is very flexible; it's data driven so customizable and extendable, it's procedurally generated so a huge number of combinations are possible, and it's actually better optimized than the old system.

 

 

 

We DO listen to your feedback all the time, you just must keep in mind that the volume of requests for features to include in the game is huge. If we were to grant all your current wishes (and no doubt more will come), we'd have to spend several more years on the game before it's finished. Nobody really wants that, right? ;-) We really need to concentrate now on just wrapping up what we have started already to get the initial release of the game out. We know you are very impatient to get your hands on the game already.

 

The release date of ETS2 doesn't mark the end of development for the game. Just as with Scania TDS, and if fact even more so, we are committed to continuing development of the game beyond release version. Future updates will not contain just bug fixes if any are needed, but also major feature additions. There are also plans brewing for extending the virtual world - of course we are aware that many of you are not happy that we are not properly covering more of the territory of Europe. It will not be a small undertaking, but with your support, we may be able to gradually grow the virtual world, too.

[The Compensator]

Consider it good news whenever you notice lack of updates here on the blog - it just means that we are working so hard and are so deep into high-priority work that we don't even have any time left for creating movies or screenshots. ;-)

 

This has been the situation during this week - testing and tweaking of ETS2 is consuming all our time. We are close to finish line - our plans call now for releasing Euro Truck Simulator 2 into retail and digital distribution on October 19, 2012. So here you go - here is the date that you have been asking for so persistently!

 

After leaving you hungry for any news for several days, today we finally have something new for you. It's an interactive "mini game" on YouTube - actually it's 15 movies linked together, with only the first one being public, the rest you must discover by making choices while "driving."

 

[CLR-GTR]

Lol that was nice.

 

I edited the thread title to contain the new release date.

[CLR-GTR]

Prepare for some bad news:

 

 

We owe you an update on some things happening now which are already frequently discussed in comments.

 

Truck brand licensing situation is clearing up, and we don't have just good news. Despite years of trying to approach truck and trailer manufacturers, and in some case very extensive negotiations, we are far from securing all major truck brands. For a long time, we have been showing you in-development screenshots and movies with proper branding. It was a part of our negotiation strategy: to show truck manufacturers how public - our fans - react to real brands in our games. Fans' reaction has been without exception always positive, people are excited about driving "real" trucks - but even that is not strong enough argument it seems. As you may have seen in recent movies and screenshots from the game finding their way on the Internet, we are now in the process of switching back to "Majestic" and "Valiant." The destiny of another major brand still hangs in the balance - after two years of discussions, there are only precious few days to see if the negotiations are concluded successfully at the last minute.

 

 

 

Steam Greenlight situation is tough, too. We have been giving a good fight, but recently it looks like our little campaign for our fans to vote on Steam is losing steam a bit. It's not a lost cause yet, but our chances of making it into Top 10 anytime soon are not too high. In fact recently the number of votes for ETS2 seems to be slipping compared to the average votes of Top 100 games in the rankings. Here is a screen-grab from current Greenlight statistics available for developers.

 

 

We are not losing faith that Euro Truck Simulator 2 can still win your hearts even without all brands covered. The release of the game is only a new beginning, with any luck will be able to boast about good sales numbers, so we may have better arguments to persuade brand owners to join in. We are going to support the game long term with updates, fixes, and improvements, there are exciting things planned beyond initial release.

 

If you are eager to see some more moving pictures from ETS2, we have created a new Playlist on our YouTube channel with a collection of movies coming out of beta testing. There are 8 videos in it at the moment, but it looks like there are going to be hours of in-game footage there eventually:

 

 

 

So freaking annoying, they try their best, put in all the effort, yet the brands somehow think a game can damage reputation and they want too much for it in return..... Oh well..... STILL WANT!

[Ozzmcom]

not a big deal, there will be loads of mods anyway.

[The Compensator]

As ozz said, I swear there will be a real logos mod within two weeks. :p

 

Go SCS, go!

[CLR-GTR]

I know, but not everybody mods their games, and for SCS as developer it stays a stab in the back if they can't obtain licenses after such long periods of intensive negotiating.

[Ozzmcom]

I know, but not everybody mods their games, and for SCS as developer it stays a stab in the back if they can't obtain licenses after such long periods of intensive negotiating.

 

yeah it is a shame. Like the companies get to showcase their trucks anywhere ever aside from truck convention day urgh how much I wouldn't want to be there.

[Ryzza5]

Honestly doesn't bother me, I'm not the biggest truck fan but I'm interested in features and content; to spend thousands on a logo (exaggerating) seems a waste for a game of this size.

[CLR-GTR]

Seems french brands can do good things too... :p

 

Yesterday afternoon we have successfully concluded our talks with Renault Trucks, yet another major truck manufacturer, bringing the total of licensed truck brands in ETS2 up to three. Yeah, still long way to go, but with Euro Truck Simulator 2 on the market soon, chances are the other big names will finally take notice, too.

 

We are happy to give you a new wallpaper to celebrate the occasion!