Patch 1.56 is here, and while it’s not quite a giant content drop, it still packs a nice mix of polish and quality-of-life tweaks. We combed through the official changelog so you do not have to, grouping every item into a few easy categories.
If you have been running the public beta, you already sampled these changes, but everyone else can now enjoy smoother scenery, livelier depots, and a cleaner interface without resorting to mods.
Let us break down everything SCS Software slipped into the game files.
Visual Upgrade
The headline graphical feature is Height Blend, a system that lets grass, dirt, and rock merge naturally instead of meeting in sharp lines. SCS Software reworked more than 1,300 materials to use height-map data, so hillsides and quarries now look hand-sculpted with almost no frame-rate cost and only a slight increase in memory use. The scenery feels subtler and closer to real terrain.
Immersion Tweaks
Gameplay gains two noticeable additions. Dynamic cargo loading now covers more freight: logger and chipvan owners will watch material handlers stack logs, tubes, utility poles, or metal scrap in real time at select depots, turning pickups and drop-offs into livelier scenes.
Inside the cab, the zoom key can finally act as a toggle instead of a hold, a quality-of-life option that is handy for wheel and controller users.
Career and Fleet Overhaul
Starting, switching, or managing profiles is easier than ever. Careers now appear as large cards, with your current save pinned to the top and a dedicated slot for New Career.
A Truck Preference screen sits between headquarters selection and the opening cutscene, letting you view every available rig in full 3D before you hit the road. It also comes with a randomization option for when you’re not quite sure about what you want yet.
Company management also feels fresher. Driver, Truck, Trailer, and Garage managers share a unified layout that shows your logo, a seven-day profit graph, and one-click economy summaries. Garages unlock from day one, a checkbox moves a driver and their truck together, and clear XP bars plus group training settings make tracking NPC progress simple.
In-Game DLC Browser
Shopping for expansions no longer pulls you out of the action. A redesigned DLC Browser is now in-game, sorting items into Featured, Bundles, Map, Cargo, Trailer, Accessories, and Paint Jobs while showing more add-ons per row.
Ready to Drive
Update 1.56 is live on Steam, packing cleaner landscapes, livelier depots, and menus that get you into the trucking action faster. Download the patch, explore the refreshed interfaces (likely in preparation for the console release), and enjoy the smoother scenery while you rack up the miles. Safe travels, truckers.
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