Skip to content

Position and Hold

Realism through Simulation – A Flight Simulation Blog – Est. 2010

Menu
  • Flight
    • Flight Sim Articles
    • MSFS Addons
    • Scenery MSFS2020
    • MSFS Settings
    • Flight Sim Tutorials
    • Hardware
    • 2021 Around the World Adventure
    • Prepar3D Settings (v4.5)
    • Prepar3D Settings (v5.x)
    • Aircraft
    • Scenery P3Dv5
    • Older Flight Sim Articles
  • Information
    • About Jerry
    • Ask Me A Question
    • My Hardware
    • Add-on and Mods Directory
  • GBS Media & Social
    • GBS Discord
    • GBS Facebook
    • GBS Instagram
    • GBS Twitch
    • GBS Twitter
    • GBS YouTube
  • Other Sims
    • Train
    • Trucking
    • Farming
Menu

ATS Mod Sort/Load Order

Posted on March 22, 2018 by admin

While much of the content I publish in written form is to help others, I also write content for my blog site to serve as a reminder or simply an electronic organizer to myself in the event I need to perform a particular game uninstall/reinstall or even a full PC rebuild.  The topic for today will once again serve both purposes.  Today we’re going to discuss the sorting/loading order for mods in American Truck Simulator.  In theory this should also apply for Euro Truck Simulator 2 as well.  However, there are a few different requirements/recommendations due to ProMods.  I most likely will cover ETS2 in a separate blog post sometime in the near future.

I absolutely love mods, after all they make the games we already love even better.  I suppose you could call it an addiction, but I certainly don’t plan on stopping. At least not anytime soon.   Before I get into the meat of this discussion, allow me the opportunity to plug my mod spreadsheet.  I keep a fairly extensive listing of all the mods I’m actively using for game titles such as Farming Simulator 17, American Truck Simulator, Euro Truck Simulator 2 and even Flight Simulation (P3D).  While my YouTube channel focuses mainly on my FS17 game play, I do occasionally record my game play on other titles and publish those videos on YouTube.  Essentially it’s important to me, that if you take the time to watch one of my videos and you see a mod, or  you hear me discussing a mod…that you can easily locate where you can download that same mod.  It’s one of the reasons why I limit using private mods or mods that aren’t generally available to the public in my game play to only a select few.  Typically these will be FS17 maps I’ve been allowed early access to use, but release to the general public is imminent.    If you are interested in viewing my mod spreadsheet, just visit my blog site and click the link for Add-on and Mods Directory.  This will open a Google Docs Spreadsheet.  Just look to the bottom and select the tab for the game which interests you and you’ll find a list of all the mods I am using along with links where they can be downloaded.   Also, if you have a spare 5 minutes….please read a blog posting I wrote last year titled “Reputable Mod Sites for Farming Simulator Mods”.  In this article I discuss a few issues our gaming hobby faces and perhaps what we can all do to try to prevent it.

Order Matters

With all that out of the way, the number of mods I’m running in American Truck Simulator (ATS) is beginning to rival that of Farming Simulator 17.  However, the games themselves treat mods a little differently.  Unlike FS17 where we don’t need to worry about any specific order, with American Truck Simulator (and Euro Truck Simulator 2) sometimes the order in which we have our mods sorted does matter.  Having all of our ducks….err I mean mods in a row can mean the difference between a fun experience with mods versus a nightmare experience vowing to never download/install mods never again.

Differing Opinions

Just like many things in life, if you search long enough you’ll find many different theories regarding the sort/load order for mods in ATS and ETS2.  I’m simply going to share with you the order and method I use.  This same methodology should also work for you, but you are certainly welcome to do your own research and devise your own plan.

Order….Order in the Court

In a nutshell, here’s the sorting order I use.  I’ll spend some time below explaining what each of these categories mean and some mod examples, but I’ve been using this process for sorting my mods and it provides a nearly trouble free experience.  From top to bottom, this is how I sort/order my mods in ATS and ETS2.

Environment Mods, Sound Mods, Real Company Logo Mods, Map Mods, AI Vehicle Mods, Wheel/Tire Mods, Trailer Mods, Truck Tuning Mods and finally Truck mods.

Everything Explained

  • Environment Mods – These would include mods such as the No Boundaries or Immersive Symbols mods.  These are the types of mods that change some of the default SCS game behaviors.  The “No Boundaries” mod simply removes the barrier icons for roads which SCS haven’t developed yet.  In other words, the roads you can’t drive down.  The Immersive Symbols mod removes the load/unload icons and replaces these with cones or man-hole covers.  Very cool…very immersive!
  • Sound Mods – The Sound Fixes Pack is a good example of a sound type mod.  These would go here.
  • Real Company Logo Mods – If you are like me, you understand why SCS used company names like Wallbert (Walmart), 42 Print (Vista Print) etc.  but you also want maximum immersion when playing and you really would rather see the real company names.  Mods like this fall into this category.
  • Map Mods – Any modded maps for ATS would fall into this category.  But wait!!  It may not be as simple as that.  In order for some maps to work with other maps (Coast to Coast for example) you may need to sort the maps in a specific order to avoid any unnecessary frustration.  At the present time, the most common add-on maps for ATS should be sorted in this order Project Going North, CanaDream, Tonopah Reworked, US Expansion (formerly US 50/CA 99 Map), Rick’s Interstate 10, Coast to Coast, Mexico Extremo HBS Resources Model Package, Mexico Extremo, Viva Mexico.
  • AI Vehicle Mods – These are mods which enhance the default vehicles we see driving around the ATS map.  Mods which fall into this category might be the AI Traffic Pack by Jazzycat or any of his other wonderful AI traffic packs including Bus, Truck and Classic Cars traffic packs.
  • Wheel/Tire Mods – Any mod that changes the tires/wheels will need to be sorted in this order.
  • Trailer Mods – Mods which add different types of trailers to the game would be sorted in this order.  Examples might include SISL’s Trailer Pack, Real Company Box and Tanker Trailer packs.
  • Truck Tuning Mods – Engine mods, light tuning etc. would fall here.
  • Trucks – Ahhhh, my favorite category.  This is where I place my awesome Pete 389 by Viper2 and my Volvo VNL670 by Aradeth.

Well…there you have it.  If you use a different sorting order and that works for you, then I see no reason to change it.  However, if you are experiencing issues…then perhaps compare this order with what you are using and make small adjustments then test.  It could very well come down to a little trial and error to get it just right.

I hope this helps you.  If you are interested in supporting the GrizzlyBearSims blog site and YouTube channel, please consider becoming a Patron.  Full details available at https://www.patreon.com/GrizzlyBearSims  Thank you!

Until next time…

Happy Trucking!!!

JT

Category: Trucking Sim

2 thoughts on “ATS Mod Sort/Load Order”

  1. David Buckley says:
    March 6, 2022 at 7:40 pm

    I know this article is three years old, but I keep coming back to this again and again because I can never remember the proper load order.

    So thank you for this!

    Reply
  2. Pingback: Reader Question–ATS vs ETS2 | Planes, Trains and Automobiles (and Farming Too!)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Flight Sim News

  • FSELITE
  • FSNews
  • Threshold

Flight Sim Blogroll

  • Darren’s Flight Sim Blog
  • Flight Simulation Association
  • iBlueYonder
  • MSFS Addons
  • On The Glideslope
  • PC Flight
  • Stormbirds
  • Twotonemurphy
  • X-Plane at Push-Point.net

Flight Sim Links

  • DCTRY
  • Deadstick Simulator
  • FS History
  • FS-Products
  • FSXLiveries.com
  • GSX Configs by 7X7Pilot
  • Hangar 226 Liveries
  • iniBuilds
  • sim bit world
  • sim-vector
  • SimPilotGroup
  • SimToolKitPro
  • The Flight Simulator Network
  • Tiger Flight Foundation
  • VATSIM
  • VATTASTIC
  • WebATIS

Flight Sim Products I Use

  • A Pilot’s Life
  • A2A Simulations
  • Active Sky 2016
  • Addit Pro
  • Aerosoft
  • AivlaSoft Electronic Flight Bag
  • Captain Sim
  • Carenado Aircraft
  • Drzewiecki Design
  • FeelThere
  • FLAi
  • Flight Replicas
  • Flight Sim Labs
  • Flightbeam Studios
  • FlightSim Commander
  • FlyTampa
  • FRAPS
  • FS2Crew
  • FSBuild
  • FSDreamTeam
  • FSFX Packages
  • FSimStudios
  • FSPassengers
  • FSUIPC
  • GoFlight
  • iFly B737NGX
  • Imaginesim
  • Just Flight
  • JustSim
  • LatinVFR
  • LevelD Simulations
  • Majestic Software
  • Milviz
  • Navigraph
  • ORBX Terrain
  • Plan-G
  • PMDG Simulations
  • Prepar3D
  • Professional Flight Planner X
  • Project OpenSky (POSKY)
  • QualityWings Simulations
  • Real Environment Extreme (REX)
  • Scenery Config Editor
  • ShareX Screen Capture and More
  • SimToolKitPro
  • SteveFX – DX10 Scenery Fixer
  • Super Traffic Board
  • TopCat
  • TripleHead2Go
  • UK2000 Extreme
  • VAT-Spy
  • VRInsight
  • World of AI

Archives

  • June 2025 (9)
  • May 2025 (2)
  • December 2024 (4)
  • November 2024 (4)
  • October 2024 (6)
  • September 2024 (4)
  • August 2024 (5)
  • July 2024 (5)
  • June 2024 (5)
  • May 2024 (8)
  • April 2024 (9)
  • March 2024 (2)
  • December 2023 (6)
  • November 2023 (1)
  • June 2023 (2)
  • May 2023 (1)
  • April 2023 (1)
  • March 2023 (1)
  • February 2023 (3)
  • January 2023 (3)
  • December 2022 (3)
  • November 2022 (4)
  • October 2022 (1)
  • September 2022 (2)
  • August 2022 (5)
  • July 2022 (1)
  • May 2022 (1)
  • February 2021 (1)
  • January 2021 (8)
  • December 2020 (5)
  • November 2020 (2)
  • September 2020 (12)
  • August 2020 (7)
  • July 2020 (5)
  • June 2020 (4)
  • May 2020 (10)
  • April 2020 (6)
  • March 2020 (4)
  • February 2020 (1)
  • January 2020 (1)
  • November 2019 (1)
  • October 2019 (3)
  • September 2019 (3)
  • August 2019 (6)
  • July 2019 (7)
  • June 2019 (10)
  • May 2019 (9)
  • April 2019 (7)
  • December 2018 (1)
  • October 2018 (3)
  • September 2018 (17)
  • August 2018 (14)
  • July 2018 (13)
  • June 2018 (14)
  • May 2018 (8)
  • April 2018 (4)
  • March 2018 (3)
  • January 2018 (2)
  • December 2017 (1)
  • November 2017 (2)
  • August 2017 (1)
  • July 2017 (4)
  • June 2017 (10)
  • May 2017 (7)
  • April 2017 (1)
  • March 2017 (5)
  • February 2017 (1)
  • January 2017 (1)
  • November 2016 (3)
  • October 2016 (25)
  • September 2016 (14)
  • July 2016 (1)
  • June 2016 (2)
  • May 2016 (10)
  • April 2016 (22)
  • March 2016 (31)
  • February 2016 (19)
  • July 2015 (2)
  • June 2015 (12)
  • May 2015 (11)
  • March 2014 (2)
  • February 2014 (2)
  • December 2012 (7)
  • November 2012 (7)
  • January 2012 (1)
  • November 2011 (1)
  • September 2011 (2)
  • July 2011 (4)
  • June 2011 (10)
  • May 2011 (3)
  • April 2011 (1)
  • March 2011 (2)
  • January 2011 (2)
  • December 2010 (5)
  • November 2010 (5)
  • October 2010 (8)
  • September 2010 (9)
© 2025 Position and Hold | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme