Did you notice anything interesting in the screenshot above? That's right: the window is open. The window is more than half open, which is one of the conditions of an open truck window. But this is not a real truck. This is an American Truck Simulator truck, and the windows will be open in update 1.37.

"Some might consider it a gimmick," SCS Software writes. There is a reason for that. The "American Truck Simulator" simulates a truck, and trucks have windows.

That's a bit of a joke, but it seems to me that these little details rendered in a truck simulator game are much of the fun. Maybe we just like pushing buttons and are disappointed when they don't work as expected. I think it's a great addition.

The big change in update 1.37 is the new sound engine. Instead of hearing different sound effects inside and outside the track, it is one set of audio filtered according to perspective. The video below shows how much more believable the new audio is.

Thanks to this new audio engine, it is now possible to open the windows. This is because it would be uncomfortable if the soundscape inside the car did not change when the windows were opened. Simply mixing outside and inside sound effects would not have produced a good result; the FMOD engine allows for "a continuous sound level between the well-insulated cabin with the windows closed and the roaring traffic coming from outside when the windows are fully open," SCS Software writes. Placing a fan on the desk increases the power of the simulation.

The patch is not yet ready for full rollout, but if you want to try it out in beta, you can download it now: head to your Steam library, right-click American Truck Simulator, select Properties, and from the dropdown on the Beta tab Select "Public Beta - 1.37 public beta." This will automatically download the beta version of the patch.

For more information on the contents of update 1.37, please see the SCS Software announcement article.