Best ATS Mods - Upgrade Your American Truck Experience
We have prepared a list of ten essential mods for American Truck Simulator, which are best suited for starting the adventure with modding the hit sim from SCS Software.
American Truck Simulator is one of the best truck simulators we've ever had a chance to play. The game is receiving constant support not only from the developers, but also from the community. In this genre, only its sibling, Euro Truck Simulator 2 can boast a larger modding community.
The mods on this list are great for starting the adventure with expanding the American Truck Simulator. There are thousands of mods out there, so a set of 10 essential tools and packs should be useful for starters.
Best ATS mods are:
- SiSL's Mega Pack – a great pack for everyone
- SiSL's Trailer Pack USA
- SiSL's FlatUI – modernizing the interface
- Google Maps Navigation
- Real Companies & Billboards – realistic setting
- Real Traffic Density ATS, i.e. traffic jams :)
- Realistic Vehicle Lights Mod – better car lights
- Realistic Economy (Hard Mode) – for bigger challenge
- Realistic Rain
- Sound Fixes Pack
SiSL's Mega Pack – a great pack for everyone
Let's begin with the most important mod that seasoned users usually recommend to people, who are new to modding American Truck Simulator.
SiSL's Mega Pack introduces over 400 new cabin accessories to the game. There are toys, snacks, electronics, to scarves, air fresheners and even many characters that can accompany you during the long hauls in the passenger seat.
With this mod, we can customize the cabin to our preferences, which seems absolutely crucial considering how much time we spend in it. The quality of the project is best reflected in the fact that its author actually got hired by SCS Software and has been a member of the teams working on American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2 for several years now. Despite this, he didn't stop updating his mods.
SiSL's Trailer Pack USA
SiSL's Mega Pack is not the only project of this author that's worth getting. Another one is 18×16 svgSiSL's Trailer Pack USA, which adds over a hundred new trailer trailers, all based on the largest companies in the American logistics industry.
Each pattern has been prepared with great attention to detail, based on numerous photos and official materials of given companies. Importantly, although the models are detailed, the mod doesn't negatively impact performance. Most impressive!
SiSL's FlatUI – modernizing the interface
The latest mod from this author that you should definitely install is SiSL's FlatUI. It overhauls the user interface. Once installed, the UI becomes simpler, gains clarity and generally looks much more modern.
The fact that this relatively short list of the best mods for ATS includes three from the same person says a lot about this modder's prowess. These are simply must-have for fans of this simulator.
Google Maps Navigation
Google Maps Navigation, on the other hand, is a simple, yet very useful mod that changes the navigation screen in the car to resemble the one we know from the Google Maps navigation app.
Colors of the navigation screen were changed, along with the arrow and map icons, which makes the nav screen look just like the real thing.
Real Companies & Billboards – realistic setting
In the vanilla game, all companies' names are made up, as licensing real ones doesn't really seem viable. This, of course, negates the realism of the game a little, but you can easily change that with the help of Real companies & billboards. The project changes the names of stores and firms, swapping their logos and textures with real ones.
Initially, gas stations were reworked in the same way, but the latest update doesn't seem compatible for now, so the creators of the mod had to undo the changes in this respect. However, they are already working on consolidating these two.
Real Traffic Density ATS, i.e. traffic jams :)
The roads in ATS can seem pretty empty compared to rush hours in your favorite metropolis. Real Traffic Density and Ratio changes that. With the mod, we get realistic traffic that depends not only on the time of day, but also on the location, type of roads or city size.
All this increases the difficulty of the game, but at the same time makes it that more interesting.
Realistic Vehicle Lights Mod – better car lights
Up next, the Realistic Vehicle Lights Mod, which improves the lights of cars and trucks. The author increased the resolution of these effects, improved reflections and the light visibility distance. This applies to both player and AI vehicles, as well as all other objects in the game.
The effect is excellent and makes driving at night much more of a thrill. It's worth noting that all these visual bells and whistles do not cause performance issues.
Realistic Economy (Hard Mode) – for bigger challenge
The economy in American Truck Simulator is relatively simple. Making money is easy and most players never face bankruptcy. For people who only play ATS for driving, that's a good thing, but many users would like to run a more complex business operation. This is where the Realistic Economy (Hard Mode) mod comes to the aid.
The mod thoroughly reworks the balance of the entire economy, all the costs and fees, so as to ensure high realism of the game. Needless to say, this makes the game much more difficult. According to the title, this is, in practice, a new, higher level of difficulty, which finally makes achieving business success in ATS exciting.
Realistic Rain
Visually, the American Truck Simulator is a pretty game, but it has a few shortcomings. One of them is rain. You can fix this with the Realistic Rain modification.
The mod changes textures related to rain (both those outside the cabin and drops on the windows) and introduces more advanced particle effects. The sound effects of falling rain and thunders have also been redone, implementing better samples and adding a lot of new ones.
Sound Fixes Pack
American Truck Simulator's sound design quality leaves a little bit to be desired. Therefore, people who value immersion should definitely install the Sound Fixes Pack mod, the last item on our list of essentials.
This is a great mod, continuously supported for seven years, which replaces many vanilla sound effects with new ones, offering higher quality. The mod makes a huge difference, making long journeys across the States even more fun.
