SCS Software have taken to their blog for the 4th time this week, this time previewing the bus stations for the upcoming Coaches DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2, which was announced earlier this year and adds in licensed coaches to the truck simulator.
We first get some details on how bus stations will work. Bus stations will serve as the main hubs when you’re driving coaches, and will be where you both pick up and drop off passengers. SCS notes that bus stations are something that has been receiving extra attention from their team as they prepare the in-game work for this DLC.
Part of this process has been refreshing old prefabs to introduce brand-new stations. Prior to the DLC announcement, there was 7 prefab bus station models used in over 100 locations across the Euro Truck Simulator 2 map. They go on to mention that their plan is to completely rework 6 of them, as they are almost 10 year old prefabs. The 7th prefab from the Road to the Black Sea DLC will receive a light refresh instead.
SCS go on to mention that unlike the older prefabs, which were surrounded by fences or walls, the new ones will allow them to remove them so that bus stations can connect more naturally with the environment they’re in.
Importantly, not every bus station that players will encounter in this DLC were previously in the game, with the team adding new stations across Europe. They state that:
“We checked the station distribution and tried to cover as many blank spaces as possible, and also add coach stations to most of the main cities. Sometimes our map designers had already built custom coach stations, similar to custom depots. In other places, we didn’t have anything close to the city centre or to the real coach station location, so we had to improvise and use a small stop, which in reality is sometimes used by coaches.”
SCS has also taken the time to include rela-world landmark coach stations, noting that whenever it was possible with the map scale they did. They also give a screenshot of the bus station in Hunedoara, Romania, which is a unique landmark location.
Some of the custom stations that players go to will be harder than others to navigate, as they will be small. They have been testing these stations to make sure they are difficult, but not impossible, to maneuver in. In some cases, there may also be other vehicles already parked up, adding to the challenge.
Finally, SCS clear up a question that they’ve been asked a lot: Will map updates be exclusive to those who own the coaches DLC, and there’s some good news regarding this. Any map updates to either the base map or map expansions/DLC will be available to everyone own owns Euro Truck Simulator 2, or the respective map DLC, regardless of if you own the coaches DLC. SCS is also committed to long-term support for the coaches DLC, by adding new stations to future DLCs and reworks, as well as the current base maps.
