For those looking to experience the feeling of being a trucker in the United States, look no further than American Truck Simulator. Between buying and upgrading a truck and trailer, completing jobs, and driving around the country, this game encapsulates the experience well. However, many games can be further improved, and no one improves better than the modding community. With that in mind, here are some of the best mods to download for American Truck Simulator.
What mods should I download for American Truck Simulator?
Trilex Rims
As the name and images suggest, this mod by Overfloater allows for the customization of your truck wheels, allowing you to change them to Trilex style wheels. This then allows you to customize the disk, nuts, hubcaps, and covers, making it easy for you to change the wheels to whatever you envision. Furthermore, you can then customize the colors on these parts, making the wheels as colorful as you prefer.
The mod can be found on the download-ats site, and on its main page there will be directions on how to install and run the mod.
Mega Pack
Aptly named a mega pack, this mod by SiSl adds over 400 different customization options for your truck's cabinet specifically. These range from regular decorations like bobbleheads, toys, and air fresheners to a co-driver among many other things. The sheer amount of customization in this mod makes it a worthy addition, allowing you to make your cabin uniquely your own in many different ways.
Downloading and using the mod is pretty simple, as it is obtainable from its Steam page. However, for more complicated additions to the mod, SiSl puts directions on the page for those looking to take customization even further.
More Jobs and Rewards
As the name suggests, this mod by Redcorpsworld increases the rewards you get for completing said jobs. The mod has varying levels for this that you can set. For example, you can set the money and experience gains to either two times or four times their original amount. This makes lining your pockets and buying more stuff for your operation much easier and quicker, reducing overall money headaches.
If you're looking to download this mod, head over to its main page on Nexus Mods. There, you can find directions on downloading it as well as all the required files.
Real Companies, Gas Stations, and Billboards
Less of an addition to the game and more of a quality-of-life preference change, MLH82's Real Stuff mod replaces all of the fake placeholder companies, gas stations, and billboards in the game, replacing them with realistic ones. As seen in the image, recognizable companies like Exxon, UPS, and Shell all appear along with many other notable or recognizable companies.
For those looking to make their gaming experience more realistic, you can find this mod on its Steam Page and download it from there.
Sound Fixes Pack
The aptly named Drive Safely created this Sound Fixes mod to add further immersion to American Truck Simulator. This mod's function should not be underestimated, as it overhauls dozens of different sound sources, from vehicles, to cell phones, and even music. This serves to fix the clunkier noises of the game while bringing further clarity to noises that already sounded solid.
There are two sources to download this mod from, those being Nexus Mods and the mod's Steam Page. Of the two, Drive Safely highly recommends the Steam Page version as it has procedures in place to keep it compatible as new versions of the game are added through patches.
Realistic Economy (Hard Mode)
It is likely that most of the gamers who decided to pick up American Truck Simulator did so for a relaxing experience. However, for those hardcore truckers looking for a real challenge, look no further than the financial nightmare that comes with ptr1ck's Realistic Economy mod. Also dubbed Hard Mode, this mod tweaks almost every aspect of the economy in ATS, making it very hard to keep your money in the green. It does make some things cheaper to balance things out, but be warned that this mod will make the game quite the challenge.
If you're looking to turn the trucking difficulty up to 11, you can download the mod from its Steam Page. You can also find every change ptr1ck made to the game in the mod's details on that page.
Trailer Pack USA
Another cosmetic mod, this time SiSL introduces over one hundred custom trailer skins into the game, each of which is based on a prominent freight company you would typically see in reality. In this pack, all of the skins are companies one would see in the United States. This adds a ton of diversity to your truck's cosmetics, as you can equip your favorite trailer skin for added quality-of-life. It also makes it so other trucks you see while driving can have these skins equipped.
For those looking to expand their trailer skin catalog, you can download the mod from its Steam Page. Here, SiSL breaks down everything the mod adds, as well as any notes you will need for downloading and using it.
FlatUI
One of American Truck Simulator's ultimate quality-of-life mods, SiSL's Flat UI takes ATS' admittedly poor UI and overhauls it from the ground up. This mod redesigns the UI in a more modern gaming fashion, simplifying the UI's icon system and reducing the amount of gradients within it. While this seems like a simple list of changes, the amount of difference it makes when playing the game is huge, making menu exploration much quicker and easier.
This is definitely a mod ATS players will want to try, and if you're looking to give it a shot, its download and directions can be found at the mod's Steam Page.
Municipal Police Traffic Pack
Now, hopefully you've been the world's greatest simulated truck driver and have never even seen a police car, let alone been pulled over by one. However, in the event that you have been pulled over multiple times, you more than likely noticed the police cars look quite similar regardless of where you are. Truck driver extraordinaire gabens88 decided that they wanted to be pulled over by the correct police, and so took it upon themselves to add a ton of new police cars and skins into the game to reflect what area of the country they resided in. This led to the Municipal Police Traffic Pack, which, in the event that you are pulled over, will have an accurate vehicle and livery being the one responsible for your ticket.
If you are looking to make sure you're pulled over in style, head over to the mod's Steam Page to find directions on downloading and using it.
Realistic Rain
Last but certainly not least is another cosmetic mod, this time one that changes the quality of the rainy weather effect. Aptly named Realistic Rain, this mod by Darkcaptain adds a ton of new changes to the way rain interacts with the world around it, as well as its visual quality. Truly, it is incredible how much Darkcaptain changed rain, as they break it down into over a dozen different changes in an effort to make rain more realistic. This may seem silly to some, but a game looking its best can be very important to player immersion, and this mod does this extremely well.
If you want to see how much a mod could possibly change rain, head over to Realistic Rain's Steam Page to check out all the changes the mod brings as well as directions on using it.
Want more information on driving games? Check out How to get a Hard Charger Skill in Forza Horizon 5 and Best Need for Speed Games, Ranked from Pro Game Guides!
Published: Mar 2, 2023 04:17 pm