Euro Truck Simulator 2

Euro Truck Simulator 2 is a truck simulator game developed and published by SCS Software for Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS and was initially released as open development on 18 October 2012.^[2] The game is a direct sequel to the 2008 game Euro Truck Simulator and it is the second video game in the Truck Simulator series. The game is non-linear with basic premise of the game being that the player can drive one of a choice of articulated trucks across a condensed depiction of Europe, picking up cargo from various locations and delivering it. As the game progresses, it is possible for the player to buy more vehicles and depots, as well as hire other drivers to work for them.

Euro Truck Simulator 2
Developer(s)	SCS Software
Publisher(s)	SCS Software
Series	Truck Simulator
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows Linux macOS
Release	Microsoft Windows 18 October 2012^[1] Linux 16 April 2013 (beta) macOS 29 January 2015
Genre(s)	Vehicle simulation
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

The game has sold over 9 million units as of March 2021, according to a press release by Renault Trucks.^[3]

Game play

 

Driver's view from a DAF XF during gameplay, crossing the Belgian-Dutch border. There is a UI in the bottom right corner in which the player can view a map with 2 separate UI elements representing the mirrors.

Euro Truck Simulator 2 is a truck driving simulator with business management elements. Players drive articulated trucks in an open world rendition of Europe, delivering loads to a designated locations in order to be compensated with money and experience points. The payload must be delivered to the destination within a given amount of time, and with the least amount of damage to the goods as possible, in order to get the most money and experience points possible.^[4] Players will have to spend money on refuelling, toll costs in certain countries, and maintenance costs if damage is incurred.

When starting out, players choose their headquarters location in any of the game map's cities. At first, the player can only take what is known as quick jobs—these jobs involve making hired driver deliveries while employed by a delivery company, with a provided truck and all expenses (fuel, road tolls, ferry crossings) covered. As the player earns money or takes bank loans, they can eventually afford to buy themselves a truck, acquire a home garage, and start accepting better-paying jobs by using their own truck instead of being a driver for hire with equipment being provided.

Money earned in the game can be spent on upgrading or purchasing new customizable trucks and ownable trailers, hiring non-player character drivers to take on deliveries, buying more garages and expanding them to accommodate more trucks and drivers.^[4] The skills of the drivers hired by the player also grow with experience and the player can create a huge fleet of the trucks, each with the option of having their own trailer, and drivers to drive the fleet, in turn, expanding the business across Europe.

The player gains experience points after each delivery. A skill point is awarded after each level-up. Skill points can be used to unlock deliveries that require different ADR classes, longer distance deliveries, special cargo loads, fragile cargo loads, deliveries that are urgent and eco-driving. This progression allows the player to take on better-paying jobs. The base game features 71 cities in twelve countries, over twenty types of cargo and over fifteen fictional European companies. There are seven items of map downloadable content (DLC) that expand the game to more countries and locations, and multiple other truck and trailer DLCs.

Map updates

Excluding downloadable packs, the base game features Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, north-eastern France, Germany, northern Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, western Poland, Bratislava in Slovakia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Part of SCS Software's recent development philosophy for Euro Truck Simulator 2, amongst releasing paid downloadable map packs, is to improve old areas of the map. The initial reception from fans and media highlighted that areas such as the UK appeared to be unrealistic. ^[5] As the initial game areas were mainly ported from older SCS Software games, these older areas did not stand up to the quality of recent expansion packs. Map updates are free. Early updates included the cities of Venice, Graz and Klagenfurt.

Update 1.26 included reworked parts of France, parts outside of Vive la France DLC. Update 1.30 prepared existing Italy areas for the Italia DLC. Germany was rebuilt in stages with Travemünde added in version 1.33, with overall improvements visible in versions 1.32, 1.35, 1.40^[6][7] with Hannover rebuilt in 1.45.^[8] Several French cities received free updates. Update 1.37 brought changes to French cities of Dijon, Metz, Strasbourg and Reims, with reskin of Lille arriving in version 1.38, rebuild of Calais in version 1.39, and the rebuild of Lyon present in version 1.43. An entire rehaul of Austria was released as part of the version 1.44 update in May 2022.^[9]

Downloadable content

 

Map of Europe demonstrating the countries available in the game. (The basic and DLC maps include Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia and exclude Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom as of v1.45.)

  Available

  In development

  Not available

Map expansion packs

Euro Truck Simulator 2 offers several downloadable content base map, major expansion packs.

Name	Release date	Countries added/expanded	Expansions added after DLC release
Going East	20 September 2013^[10]	Poland   Slovakia   Czech Republic   Hungary^[11]	new cities in   Hungary (see note)^[a]
Scandinavia	7 May 2015^[12]	Denmark   Norway (partially)   Sweden (partially)	new city in   Sweden added (see note)^[b]
Vive la France!	5 December 2016^[13]^[14]	France	Corsica (see note)^[c]
Italia	5 December 2017^[16]	Italy^[17]	Sardinia (see note)^[d]
Beyond the Baltic Sea	29 November 2018^[19]	Finland (partially)   Russia (partially)   Estonia   Latvia   Lithuania^[20]
Road to the Black Sea	5 December 2019^[21]	Romania   Bulgaria   Turkey^[22]^[23] (partially)
Iberia	8 April 2021^[24]	Spain   Portugal^[25]^[26]	new cities in   France,   Spain and   Portugal (see notes)^[e]^[f]
Heart of Russia	Postponed^[g]	Russia^[30]^[h]
West Balkans	TBA	Albania   Bosnia and Herzegovina   Croatia   Kosovo^[i]   Montenegro   North Macedonia   Serbia   Slovenia^[31]

Other expansion packs

SCS Software has released several other minor expansion packs. Euro Truck Simulator 2 can be enhanced with several paint job packs for trucks, ranging from seasonal repaints to nation-themed repaints.^{[citation needed]}

Other expansion packs expand the game with licensed content from real-life manufacturers: Feldbinder Trailer Pack,^[32] Krone Trailer Pack,^[33] Schwarzmüller Trailer Pack,^[34] with additional tire, wheel and truck parts modifications from Goodyear, HS-Schoch and Michelin. In addition, special tuning packs are available for each truck manufacturer besides Iveco and MAN. These packs add more tuning options, ranging from bullbars to branded mugs^[35] to all trucks of the selected brand, except for the Renault tuning pack, which only features new tuning parts for the newest Renault Range T truck.^[36]

There are several expansion packs that expand the functionality of the game, including Cabin Accessories DLC (which allows players to personalize their truck interiors), and two DLCs that allow transport of heavy cargo: Heavy Cargo DLC and Special Transport DLC (also available for American Truck Simulator; consisting of even heavier cargo that exceed regular cargo regulations with escort vehicles that will help guide the player deliver cargo at short distances). With this DLC, the dynamic is separate from the regular gameplay. Players can take special jobs, during which they cannot make stops at rest areas, gas stations or deviate away from escort vehicles.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	79/100^[37]

Awards

Publication	Award
PC Gamer	'The Sim of the Year 2012' Award
Steam Awards	The 'I Thought This Game Was Cool Before It Won An Award' Award
Steam Awards	The 'Sit Back and Relax' Award

The game was generally well received by critics, holding a score of 79/100 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[37]

In a review for Destructoid, Jim Sterling praised the game's accessibility, noting how easy the GPS and map features were to use, as well as the option to stream European internet radio, and the multitude of control options available. They also praised the graphics, stating that "[f]rom the shape of the traffic lights to the atmosphere of the backdrops, there's a sense of individuality to each new territory you uncover, and the trucks themselves are lovingly recreated with an intricate level of detail", although they did criticise the AI of the other vehicles on the road.^[38]

In a similarly favourable review, Tim Stone of PC Gamer called it "unexpectedly engrossing", praising the size of the map and the variation of the roads and scenery available. He did however have reservations about the accuracy of the surroundings, commenting "no one seems to have told SCS’s countryside crafters that rural Britain features long green things called hedges. Cities are often depicted with the shortest of visual shorthand – a few warehouses, the odd landmark if you’re lucky."^[5]

Rock, Paper, Shotgun listed Euro Truck Simulator 2 ninth on their list of "The 25 Best Simulation Games Ever Made".^[39] In 2012, PC Gamer awarded the game with the accolade of "The Sim of The Year 2012".^[40]

Ports

Initially released for Windows and available for purchase and download via SCS's own website, the game was added to Steam in January 2013.^[41] Expanding beyond the Windows version, SCS announced in March 2013 that they were developing a Mac version of the game.^[42][43] One month later, they released a Linux beta version of the game to the public through Steam.^[44] On 27 February, they stated "the Mac OS port of ETS 2 is taking longer than anybody would like, but trust us, we are still working hard on it."^[45]

On 19 December 2014, SCS Software announced on their blog that the OS X version of the game is ready for a public beta available on Steam.^[46] On 21 January 2015, a 64-bit version of Euro Truck Simulator 2 was released, which allows for more memory to be used by the game.

Notes

1. Going East DLC: Pécs and Szeged added in a later update
2. Scandinavia DLC: Kapellskär added in a later update
3. Vive la France DLC: Corsica added in a later update^[15]
4. Italia DLC: Sardinia added in a later update^[18]
5. Iberia DLC: Cities of Bayonne and Lacq only as they were released along with this DLC as cities on the border with Spain and Portugal^[27]
6. Iberia DLC: Beja and Soria added in version 1.43
7. Postponed in response to 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine^[28][29]
8. SCS Software plans to extend the country somewhere between the Oka River and the Volga River
9. The political status of Kosovo is disputed. Having unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, Kosovo is formally recognised as an independent state by 101 out of 193 (52.3%) UN member states (with another 13 recognising it at some point but then withdrawing their recognition), while Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own territory.

References

1. "Euro Truck Simulator 2". SteamDb. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
2. "The time is now!". SCS Software. 18 October 2012. from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
3. "2021 EVOLUTION OF RENAULT TRUCKS T, C AND K REVEALED IN EURO TRUCK SIMULATOR 2". Renault Trucks. from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
4. Leino 2017, p. 5.
5. Stone, Tim (6 December 2012). "Euro Truck Simulator 2 review". PC Gamer. Future Publishing Limited. from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
6. Carthoo. "Euro Truck Simulator 2 Update 1.35". Retrieved 15 July 2019.
7. "Euro Truck Simulator 2 Update 1.40 Open Beta". Retrieved 11 February 2021.
8. "Euro Truck Simulator 2 Update 1.45 Open Beta". Retrieved 14 July 2022.
9. "Euro Truck Simulator 2: 1.44 Update Release". 12 May 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
10. "It Is Past Midnight". 20 September 2013. from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
11. Savage, Phil (4 September 2013). "Euro Truck Simulator 2 heads east for its first DLC expansion". PC Gamer. Future Publishing Limited. from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
12. "Here we go: ETS2 Scandinavia map expansion published!". SCS Software's blog. 7 May 2015. from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
13. ""Vive la France !" Available Now!". SCS Software's blog. 5 December 2016. from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
14. . SCS Software. Archived from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
15. "SCS Software | Corsica". SCS Software. from the original on 12 October 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
16. "Benvenuto in Italia!". SCS Software's blog. 5 December 2017. from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
17. "Bella Italia". from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
18. "Sardinia". from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
19. "Beyond the Baltic Sea released!". SCS Software's blog. 29 November 2018. from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
20. "Beyond the Baltic Sea". from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
21. "Road to the Black Sea Release". SCS Software's blog. 5 December 2019. from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
22. "A Road to Somewhere New". 18 March 2019. from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
23. "Road to the Black Sea". SCS Software Blog. SCS Software. 5 May 2019. from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
24. "Iberia: Release + #CruisingIberia Event Start". SCS Software's blog. 8 April 2021. from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
25. "Iberia & New Light System: Development Teaser". SCS Software Blog. SCS Software. 1 December 2020. from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
26. "The Good News and the Mixed News". PC Games N. 1 December 2020. from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
27. "Vive la France ! DLC: Iberia Connections". SCS Software. 8 January 2021. from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
28. Bigas, Jiří (14 March 2022). "Exclusive: Heart of Russia for Euro Truck Simulator 2 will not come out now". Vortex (in Czech). Prague: Vortex Media. from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
29. Coyle, Anne-Marie (15 March 2022). "Euro Truck Simulator 2 developer postpones Heart of Russia DLC indefinitely". GamesRadar. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
30. "Heart of Russia". 5 March 2021. from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
31. "Introducing West Balkans Expansion". SCS Software's blog. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
32. "ETS2: Feldbinder Trailer Pack DLC Release". SCS Software. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
33. blog.scssoft.com/2018/09/krone-trailer-pack.html
34. "Schwarzmueller Trailer pack announcement blog posting on SCS Software Blog". SCS Software Blog. SCS Software. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
35. "FH Tuning Pack Release". SCS Software Blog. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
36. "Renault Trucks T Tuning Pack DLC". SCS Software Blog. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
37. "Euro Truck Simulator 2 for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. from the original on 6 August 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
38. Sterling, Jim (31 January 2013). "Euro Truck Simulator 2". Destructoid. from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
39. Stone, Tim (15 May 2015). "The 25 Best Simulation Games Ever Made". Rock Paper Shotgun. from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
40. Stone, Tim (27 December 2012). "The Sim of the Year 2012: Euro Truck Simulator 2". PC Gamer. Future Publishing Limited. from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
41. "Steam today!". from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
42. SCS Software (18 March 2013). "SCS Software's blog: Scania TDS on Mac App Store". blog.scssoft.com. from the original on 24 August 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
43. . PaultheTall.com. Archived from the original on 8 September 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
44. "Public Linux Beta of Euro Truck Simulator 2". SCS Software's Blog. SCS Software. 16 April 2013. from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
45. SCS Software (27 February 2014). "SCS Software's blog: Bus Driver - Pocket Edition". blog.scssoft.com. from the original on 24 August 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
46. "Euro Truck Simulator 2 now available as a beta on Mac". from the original on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.

Bibliography

• Leino, Olli Tapio (2017), Chaos at the Europoort: Performance, Empathy and Materiality in Euro Truck Simulator 2 (PDF), Kraków: The Philosophy of Computer Games Conference

External links

• Official website
• Euro Truck Simulator 2 at IMDb