Euro Truck Simulator 2’s Isle of Ireland Team Hit the Road for Real-World References

Euro Truck Simulator 2 developer SCS Software sent members of its map team across Ireland in June to gather real-world references for the upcoming Isle of Ireland DLC. The studio detailed the journey in its August 8 announcement, including the roads, towns, terrain, and infrastructure the team studied along the way.

Five map team members made the trip: World Map Design QA Lead Ivan, Road Department representative Josef, Map Designers Kristián and Libor, and Isle of Ireland Project Lead Honza. Community Manager Alex and Videomaker Cenda also joined them to document the journey for a future episode of SCS On The Road.

A long route through Ireland’s cities and countryside

The group began in Dublin and traveled through Rosslare Harbour, Waterford, Cork, Killarney, Limerick, Galway, Westport, Sligo, Benbulbin, Londonderry, Bushmills, the Giant’s Causeway, and Belfast before returning to the capital. That route gave the developers a look at busy urban streets, rural roads, mountain regions, and exposed coastal areas.

For Honza, seeing Ireland in person offered details that photographs and Street View could not fully provide. He pointed to the country’s exceptionally green vegetation, public murals, and artwork painted onto electrical boxes as small touches that could give the virtual environment more character. His favorite areas included the west coast, the Caha Mountains, Killarney National Park, Connemara, the Antrim coast, and Galway.

Kristián is working on his first DLC with SCS Software and used the trip to inspect many of the roads between Waterford and Rosslare Harbour. He noted that those routes had undergone extensive renovation during the previous two years, giving the team a view that online maps may not yet reflect. The visit also included a look at a film studio’s Custom Depot in Belfast.

Libor focused on the N71 through Killarney National Park and its surrounding area. Earlier reference photos had mostly shown the region under gray, rainy skies, so sunny conditions allowed him to study the colors, mountain scale, vegetation, traffic, and road network more accurately.

Road design and industrial details will also shape the DLC

Josef’s work centers on the right-hand-drive prefabs planned for Isle of Ireland and the UK rework. These functional 3D models cover road intersections ranging from basic crossroads to complex roundabouts, and the trip helped him examine how those features work in both the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.

His reference notes include road studs known as cats’ eyes, box junctions, traffic-light-controlled roundabouts, and the left-side driving system. The journey also gave him a chance to visit a real intersection he had previously known only through his work on a screen.

The team received support from Škoda Ireland, with Raymond Leddy and his colleagues supplying two Škoda Octavias for the trip. The Czech Embassy in Ireland, including JUDr. Pavel Vošalík and his team, helped arrange several special visits, including a tour of a cement plant in Limerick. That visit showed the developers how trucks are loaded, unloaded, and used to move materials through the facility.

Ivan, who works in QA, said the trip has already helped with his daily map reviews. Familiar roads now come with memories of the towns, stops, and routes the team experienced firsthand, making it easier to judge whether a location feels authentic and to spot details that might otherwise be missed.

SCS Software has not announced a release date for Isle of Ireland in this update, but the research trip shows how the team is collecting references before the expansion is finished. More footage from the journey will appear in a future SCS On The Road episode.

The Ireland expansion is still in development, but this trip gives its roads and scenery a firmer foundation. Share your thoughts in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.

Euro Truck Simulator 2

Developed by SCS Software

Euro Truck Simulator 2 is a vehicle simulation game and a direct sequel to the 2008 game Euro Truck Simulator. Travel across Europe as king of the road, a trucker who delivers important cargo across impressive distances! With dozens of cities to explore from the UK, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and many more, your endurance, skill and speed will all be pushed to their limits. If you’ve got what it takes to be part of an elite trucking force, get behind the wheel and prove it!

• Genre Racing, Simulator
• Platforms Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Mac, Xbox One
• Perspective First person, Third person, Bird view / Isometric, Side view, Virtual Reality
• Modes Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
• Release October 19, 2012
• Publisher SCS Software
• Age Rating
• Time to Beat

  Main

  1h

  Main + Extras

  53h

  Completionist

  137h

PlayStation Store Xbox Store Steam Explore Euro Truck Simulator 2 Official Site