Euro and American Truck Simulators' stunning lighting update is here

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Long-haul trucking just got a whole lot prettier.

Truckin' in the rain.
(Image credit: SCS Software)

Update 1.40 has arrived for both Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator, bringing a total lighting overhaul to the two continental truckers.

Announced last week, the update completely reworks the way headlights and sunbeams illuminate your road trips. To facilitate this, the developer has also gone to great lengths to rebuild the game's textures and models.

Naturally, PC Gamer's resident trucker Andy Kelly has gone behind the wheel to provide some lovely snaps of American Truck Sim's highways.

(Image credit: SCS Software, Andy Kelly)

Evenings and night-time deliveries now get properly dark. I'm particularly fond of how the sunset dapples against the hood of the cab here.

(Image credit: SCS Software)

The new lighting works best in severe weather conditions, adding a level of drama that's always been sort of absent from the truck 'em ups. But even the most boring, overcast day in Euro Truck Simulator 2's (now rather dated-looking) Scottish carriageways is given a level of depth that was previously missing. 

Quickly hopping in for a trip up to Aberdeen almost made me carsick at my PC, so it must be doing something right.

(Image credit: SCS Software)

Patch 1.40 went live for both American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2 yesterday. The latter comes with more than just lighting, too, bringing with it a reworked German landscape and new French locations near the Iberian peninsula. Both games are currently 75 percent off on Steam—not too shabby for one of the best open-world games on PC.

Natalie Clayton
Natalie Clayton
Features Producer

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.