The first version of ProMods: The Great Steppe has been released! But what exactly is The Great Steppe and what does it add? Fear not, for all shall be answered in this blog.
What is The Great Steppe?
The Great Steppe is a map mod first released in 2017 that covers a significant chunk of Kazakhstan and has been a mainstay in many people’s map combos for years. At the end of 2021 the original author, 09_KZ, decided to step down as developer of the mod and offered the map to us to take up ownership. After some consideration to ensure we would have the manpower to take over the project and just over a year of work later, the first version of ProMods: The Great Steppe has arrived!
What’s new in ProMods: The Great Steppe?
Version 1.0.0 includes all the legacy content from 09_KZ as well as the first stage of our project to rebuild the map with the most up-to-date mapping techniques and detail. In 1.0.0, we’ve rebuilt two cities from scratch, Uralsk and Zhimpity, as well as extensively refreshed two more, Shetpe and Sai-Otes.
We’ve also rebuilt 3 roads:
- The A-28 between Uralsk and Chapayev
- The A-29 between Uralsk and the RU-KZ border crossing
- The M-32 between Uralsk and Zhimpity
- And refreshed the A-33 between Beyneu and Shetpe.
Within the new map areas are a wide array of brand new 3D models and assets, as well as new AI vehicle skins with new, authentic license plates. There’s also a collection of genuine Kazakh companies and custom prefabs. We’ve also introduced a number of bug fixes to ensure that the legacy area of the map is as stable as possible.
What’s the load order?
The Great Steppe 1.0.0 (TGS) can be loaded both as a ProMods Addon and as a standalone map mod. To use TGS with ProMods, the two files should be placed below the rest of the ProMods files.
To use The Great Steppe as a standalone mod, you will also have to activate the FLD Prefab pack, available from the SCS Forums. However, the FLD Prefab Pack is not required if you’re using TGS in conjunction with another mod that already includes the pack within its files. (Map mods like ProMods and RusMap already include the FLD pack)
There’s no road connection?
If you’re only using The Great Steppe with the other ProMods maps, you’ll probably notice that there’s no physical connection between TGS and the rest of the map. This is intentional. While we would have loved to create a connection to the rest of the map, doing so would have required a significant amount of development time.
If we were to hold back the release of 1.0.0 until a connection was finished, the community wouldn’t have had access to an updated version of the map that’s compatible with the latest version of ETS2 for many months, possibly over a year. Instead of holding the map back, we’ve released it without a connection.
The current workaround for accessing the map is as follows: If you’re only using TGS, or you’re just using it in combination with the other ProMods mods, you can access the map by using the ‘quick travel’ feature that’s accessible on the main menu on your in-game profile.
Alternatively, you can use other map mods to create a road connection between Europe and The Great Steppe. See our List of Recommended Compatible Maps.
Please note: When combining large quantities of maps together in one profile, you may find that the game crashes when viewing the in-game world map. This can be resolved by loading a Zoom Crash Fix mod.
Is it compatible with TruckersMP?
Yes! Well, not yet at the time of this blog post’s release. But the TruckersMP team is working on enabling The Great Steppe as an optional mod on the ProMods TruckersMP servers as soon as possible! Keep an eye on TruckersMP’s social media for when its compatibility is announced.
What DLC does it require?
The Great Steppe requires the same DLCs as all our other map mods for ETS2, that is all the currently available map DLC.
How do I download it?
You can download the latest version from our homepage at ProMods.net. Previous versions of the mod can be downloaded from our addons page. (once future versions are available)
