We love to bring you new game updates, especially when they contain some cool features that have been requested for a long time! Today, we are happy to share with you that the 1.40 Update Open Beta for American Truck Simulator is now ready to be tested and tried-out by our community!

However, please keep in mind that this is the first iteration of the open beta, which is still very much a work-in-progress build. If you want to take it for a spin, you can help contribute by reporting any bugs you may encounter in the appropriate section of our official forums. Your feedback and reports are extremely valuable for our team and we thank you in advance for taking the time to help us out.

Please bear in mind that this huge update will likely render many community MODs incompatible. MOD authors may need to adjust and update their mods to work with this update. We strongly recommend that you use a profile without any third-party modifications if you wish to participate in the 1.40 Open Beta.

So, let's take a look at what the 1.40 update has in store!



[h2]New Visual Lighting System[/h2]
One of the biggest changes you'll notice when you first hop into your truck cab is the implementation of our new visual lighting system. However, this isn't just a simple change of our skyboxes; our new light system is fully dynamic and can now change not just according to current weather, but also based on simulated camera exposure taking into account not just current daylight intensity and weather, but also surface properties of game world elements in the view.



This new light system and the start of our new physical light model is a very important step towards a complete and better physical model of the whole world in our game, and how real it looks and works. All of our lighting is now based on real physical ratios and units, to make it as realistic as possible.



To prepare for this new light system, our teams had to make a lot of changes to existing in-game world objects; including a majority of the in-game assets, textures, and materials to better work with the new physical model of the new light system.



We are very excited for you to be able to experience and immerse yourself in driving in the new light. The result is the combination of thousands of hours by our programmers and visual effect artists and many other teams involved in the creation process of this new system.

During this open beta, your feedback is incredibly important and valuable to us, so we ask that you please submits yours to us in the 1.40 section for American Truck Simulator on our forums which you can find here.

[h2]Extended Chassis update[/h2]
For the 5th anniversary of American Truck Simulator, we wanted to bring a heavily-requested feature to our community to celebrate its progress and journey so far! This suggestion has always frequently appeared in our suggestions pile, and today we are thrilled to bring you an extended chassis range to all current truck models.



Our vehicle team has worked hard to bring you a range of long and short chassis types, allowing you to customize your truck for the job at hand. This update will feature 4x2, 8x4, and 8x6 chassis types which are used for a range of different trailers.



4x2s, also known as single-axle trucks, are frequently used for local distribution deliveries by supermarkets and by logistic companies for hauling doubles. 8x4 and 8x6 chassis are the big guns of the heavy-haul industry and can handle just about any load you decide to take on. All of these new options bring more variety to you, the driver! So we hope you enjoy this surprise addition to 1.40.



Here's a full list of all the new extended chassis options now available in the open beta:

• Freightliner Cascadia: Day cab 4x2
  
• Mack Anthem: Day cab 4x2
  
• International LoneStar: Day cab & Sleepers 8x4
  
• Peterbilt 389: Day cab & Sleepers 8x4 & 8x6
  
• Volvo VNL: Day cab 4x2, Day cab & Sleepers 8x4
  
• Peterbilt 579: Day cab 4x2
  
• Kenworth W900: Day cab & Sleepers 8x4 & 8x6
  
• Kenworth T680: Day cab 4x2
  
• Western Star 49X: Day cab & Sleepers 8x4 & 8x6