Under the Hood: JCB Equipment Pack

With the recent release of the JCB Equipment Pack for Euro Truck Simulator 2 & American Truck Simulator we wanted to take the opportunity to talk with one of the driving forces behind the new and unique addition. In today's 'Under The Hood' blog, we spoke with George, Art Leader of Vehicles, who helped bring this DLC to life.

Renowned for their innovation and reliability, The JCB Equipment Pack includes 10 different branded construction and agricultural machinery from JCB's machinery line-up for drivers to haul and deliver across the virtual roads of Europe and America. So what was the inspiration behind creating this DLC?

"At the time, the project was entrusted to me, as I had the most experience in our party. I accepted the offer with enthusiasm and humility, and now in retrospect I have to say that working with everyone involved was a daily joy that continues. We are no longer just a bunch of enthusiasts, but also, above all, one big family that works as a team to care for this baby that we created together".

So what was your role in creating the JCB Equipment Pack? We asked George to find out. "In the middle of 2023, after a three-year break, I returned to SCS as a senior 3D artist. I spent over 7 years at SCS before leaving, so there was no need to familiarize myself with work processes and technology from scratch. The guys at SCS have come a long way in that time and have done a lot of work to improve the output quality, tools and workflows. My first assigned task was the JCB FASTRAC 4220 Icon cargo asset. I immediately fell in love with it because it is a racer among tractors".

So how many people were involved in the creation of this DLC? "At the time, 2 artists were working on JCB and gradually others, including me, joined. In total, our team of 3D graphic artists consisted of asset creators Dino Čičak, Luboš Gregor, and Serhii Trystan, and for cabin accessories, Wolfka. And of course many others were involved too, from production to research, QA and marketing. Over time, the project swelled and thus the need for greater control and optimization of production grew".

So how long did it take to create this DLC, and which cargoes were the most fun and/or most challenging to create? "After almost a year of hard work, nurturing, tuning and optimizing every single machine or toy, we got the green light. The final product was approved at all levels! We are delighted that there is huge interest for JCB content in both our game".

With such an extensive catalogue, how did you decide which JCB equipment and machinery to include? "Reference materials cannot be neglected, the quality of which reflects the result. These were delivered in the form of CAD models directly from JCB, which also set a preferred selection of machines that we mutually agreed upon".

George goes on to explain further "Our game also requires balanced and interesting content in this regard. As for the CAD files, they are mainly intended for the production of real machines, containing millions of polygons and are useless for the game itself. In our case, they only served as a template. These detailed templates had to be supplemented with photogrammetry, in simple terms a technology for processing several hundred walkaround photos, from which a 3D model is subsequently created using specialized software. Compared to a CAD template, such a model offers an