Research Trips: British Columbia & Alberta

Welcome to the second post in our revived blog series! This time, we’re tagging along with one of our developers who recently visited British Columbia and Alberta, bringing back not just scenic photos, but valuable research material for the future of ProMods Canada.

Visiting Canada for the First Time… as a Developer

In July 2025, our developer, “bricksathome” had the chance to travel across British Columbia and part of Alberta. While the trip was primarily a vacation with his parents, he didn’t miss the opportunity to gather real-world reference material for the ProMods Canada project; “I’ve been a developer on the team since the project began, but as someone who lives in the UK, I’d never actually visited Canada. So, flying into a country I’ve spent years studying through Google Maps and Street View felt surreal, like walking into a world I’d only helped recreate virtually…”

After a few days in Vancouver, we picked up a Cruise Canada motorhome and headed for Vancouver Island by ferry — where we coincidentally passed the very same ferry I had modeled just a few months earlier! (Though it’s clearly had a fresh coat of paint since the reference images I used.)

Over the course of three weeks, we covered a lot of ground: Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, the Sea to Sky Highway, Pemberton, Lillooet, Cache Creek, Kamloops, the Canadian Rockies, Alberta’s Icefields Parkway to Jasper, then back to Vancouver via Clearwater and the Coquihalla Highway.

Street View to Driver’s Seat

Years of developing ProMods Canada meant I already had a mental map of towns and highways — and actually driving into places I’d only seen digitally was a strange but amazing experience. I often found myself knowing which turns to take and what to expect before we’d even parked!

Thanks to years of ETS2/ATS muscle memory, driving a right-hand-drive vehicle in Canada felt oddly natural. On top of that, being familiar with Canadian road signs and traffic rules (thanks to development work) helped reduce the stress of navigating unfamiliar terrain.

Landmarks & Regional Details

Beyond general sightseeing, I spent time capturing high-resolution reference photos of regional details that are tough to find online — things like signs, structures, and unique landmarks that help add realism and local flair to the map.

For example, the Rogers Pass Memorial features several remembrance and informational plaques, and just down the path, the Visitor Centre has a few beautifully designed benches. With full reference images now collected, both of these will be recreated in-game with much greater accuracy.

These specialized bins are found across British Columbia, especially in bear country, and are designed to prevent animals from accessing waste. They’re currently missing in-game, but not for long!

Elsewhere, I grabbed plenty of useful material from smaller towns and parks — from signage in Field and Revelstoke, to park service vehicles and trailhead features. It’s these little touches that help our maps feel grounded in the real world.

Fresh Perspective & Future Improvements

Seeing these places in person gave me something Google Maps never could, a true sense of scale and atmosphere. It helped spark new ideas and has inspired several improvements to existing areas in the map, such as the terrain around Green Lake in Whistler.

The trip also reminded me how important little details are in creating a believable world. Every small road sign, mountain silhouette, or regional quirk helps bring the map to life, and I can’t wait to implement what I’ve learned.

ProMods Canada 1.4.1 is Out Now!

We’ve just released ProMods Canada 1.4.1, bringing compatibility with the latest American Truck Simulator version.
This is predominantly a maintenance release only, no new content just yet, but it includes important bug fixes and ensures full functionality on the current game build.

We know it’s been a while since the last major expansion, and we feel the same as you, we want to see the map grow just as much as you do! A lot of progress is happening behind the scenes as we have shared, but there’s still more work to be done before we’re ready to release the next big update.

In the meantime, you can catch sneak peeks of our in-progress work on Vancouver Island, exclusively in our Discord Server.