ProMods Blog

We’re Back Online

CommunityJuly 29, 20150Comments

Server-diary

Most of you may have noticed a blackout of promods.net websites. This was caused by a corrupted hard disk on our server. Fortunately no data was lost, so we could start from backups on a temporary hard disk. The second maintenance offline period was nescessary to replace the corrupted hard disk by a new one and move all data to it. Now everything is up and running again. Thanks for your patience!

What about another host?

Some people suggested to move to another host service. But we believe that we already found a powerful one: LeaseWeb, based near Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Just to give you an impression why we need to run our services on such a professional host:

Our WIP folders contain about 10 GB of data and we’re working with 16 developers in parallel on the various projects all over the map. To manage this, we use a professional document management software (SVN).

Our current release has a size of 1.6 GB. With over 170,000 installations, our server has to handle dozens of terabytes of data transfer within a few days or even hours when we release a new version. This is way beyond what a “simple” webhost can handle.

When will you release the next versions?

During the server failure we were able to work on our local copies of the WIP folders, but had to ensure not to overlap our work. This caused a delay in releasing the compatibility update for Euro Truck Simulator 2 v1.19 – Even though we’re still working hard on it, you should not expect a new version within the next 1-2 weeks.

In parallel, we’re working on our next big step: ProMods 2.0 – That version probably will become our biggest update ever! Our long time partner Poland Rebuilding joined us and will be included to the ProMods map. And there will be additional content in northern Sweden, Finland, the Baltic States, Romania and much more!

Two Mods become one: the Merge of Poland Rebuilding and ProMods

CommunityJuly 12, 201518Comments

Hello community!

Today we are very happy to tell you that ProMods and Poland Rebuilding are merged together into one map mod. And with that for some of you a long awaited wish came true. Poland Rebuilding always has been a must for ProMods Map players! Until now, these map mod was a separate option. In version 2.0 of the ProMods Map, Poland Rebuilding becomes an integral part of the ProMods experience!

Poland Rebuilding is a beautiful map done by a team of four map developers. The map is the proof of an awesome co-operation performed by a Polish team that have been investing all of themselves to give you the best possible driving experience of their home country. And they are not finished yet to give you a real driving impression of the Polish road network!

Radol – the leader of the Poland Rebuilding Team – always has been in contact with the developers of the ProMods Team. However, the compatibility between the two was still limited, especially at the bordering map sectors of the two maps, because each Team was working with the other released map version and not with the current version that’s in development.

But finally Radol made the decision to merge his Project under the flag of ProMods. ScuL took a lot of time and started and completed the merge of the data. MandelSoft assisted to properly connect all the overlapping map sectors. At this point, the merge have been completed!

Of course this will increase the size of the entire ProMods map package. This allows us to improve the bordering sectors perfectly by having actual versions and share our assets. It also helps greatly with co-ordinating the work between the two teams in the bordering areas.

Finally, in the future Poland Rebuilding Team has the support by the ProMods Team to help with Beta Testing and bring it on the performance standard level of the rest of ProMods map (which by the way will be further optimised for version 2.0).

So with upcoming ProMods 2.0, you no longer have to wait for a compatible Poland Rebuilding version; you no longer have to download it separately. It is an all-inclusive package! We want to give you the complete experience!

Best regards from your Promods Team

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Squirrel interviews Mandelsoft!

CommunityJuly 11, 20150Comments

Earlier this week, Squirrel interviewed MandelSoft, Lead Developer of the ProMods Team, about the future of ProMods. In this interview, MandelSoft explains various subjects, such as …

… the inner workings of the ProMods Team…
… how we recruit new members …
… what projects the team is currently developing …
… what the main reasons are why the Scandinavia DLC is required since ProMods 1.95…
… why TSM and ProMods just don’t work together …
… our vision for American Truck Simulator …
… and many more smaller subjects and surprises.

Video will be published at 17:30 GMT / 18:30 CET!

Stay tuned to find out who we are and hear something about our future plans!

Concept text from developers – MIRFI’s Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria

Euro Truck Simulator 2June 25, 201514Comments

With ProMods 2.0 starting to shape up, MIRFI’s work is starting to be completed. So I thought I’d “interview” him about his work and share his answers here.

Concept texts from developers is an idea we thought that would liven up the blog a bit. We’ve asked from all the developers to give us a paragraph or two about their map, which would describe how difficult it was to build it, what we can expect to see and a few opinions from the developer. In this case, we did this “interview” style so we asked some questions to the developer and got answers in return. So, without further ado, let’s have a look at his answers to our questions.

1. Why should we drive in the countries you made in your opinion? What makes them stand out from the other countries?

Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria are ex-communist states with Moldova even being an ex-soviet state. These countries give a different feel from the other parts of the map. They both have different architecture styles from the rest of the countries in the Euro Truck Simulator 2 world, since they feature an unique mix of pure undisturbed rural areas and big megalomaniac cities. Romania in particular stands out with some great scenery, the Carpathian mountains and the Black Sea, all of which give this country a rather special feel.

2. What can we expect to see in Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova? Is there anything new in them that we’ve never seen in ProMods so far?

Great scenery, and a lot of 2 lane roads! As mentioned their cities are built with a different style over the current cities in Euro Truck Simulator 2. The feeling that these cities give is very different from what we are all used to.

3. Was it difficult to build these countries? Were there any challenges along the way?

Yes, it was difficult, but it was fun too. The fact that the project was restarted from scratch during the building phase (due to some technical problems) and the lack of free time that I’m confronting with didn’t really make things any easier. But it was awesome to bring my home country to the game’s world!

3. Did you enjoy building these countries?

I loved it! Especially the Eastern part of Romania (the place where I live) and the Republic of Moldova.

4. Which is your favourite road/city/spot in these countries? Which place would you recommend us to go to?

They all deserve a visit! Romania has it all. From endless sunny plains to 2500m high mountains. Moldova has many hills, but it’s fun to drive country too. I would recommend you though to explore the eastern half of Romania, crossing the mountain passes over the Carpathian Mountains. Don’t forget to check out Piatra-Neamț, where you’ll be able to spot the house where I live or the city of Constanța, at the black sea shore. The capital of Moldova, Chișinău, is really worth a visit too!

That’s all from MIRFI, and on behalf of the ProMods blog team, we’d like to thank him for his contribution. And now, some pictures from his recommendations:

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