Free plugin for ETS2 and ATSv1.0.0-beta.2

Your keyboard becomes a steering wheel, and your mouse becomes your head inside the cab.

SZNT Drive + View are two plugins that work together in Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator. Drive makes steering, throttle and brakes progressive on W A S D, and View makes the interior camera behave like an actual head, so you don't need a wheel, a TrackIR or anything you don't already own.

Free, with an optional donation. The link is sent to your email.

Try it right here in your browser

Hold A or D and watch what happens to the wheel

On the left is what the game normally does with a keyboard: the wheel turns at one fixed speed and snaps back the moment you let go. On the right is SZNT Drive running the same math that ships inside the plugin, so you can see a quick tap making a small correction and a held key taking the turn.

Keyboard steering simulator
Running on its own. Press A or D to take the wheel.
Default game keyboardon or off
+0°
With SZNT Drivehands on the wheel
+0°
QWE
S
Hold A / D · ← →
Wheel position over the last 6 secondsdefaultSZNT
Max steering angle at this speed
78%
The SZNT side uses the same model as the DLL with the default values. The game side is an approximation of the digital keyboard.

Try tapping the keys at 90 km/h, then hold one down with the truck standing still. At speed the wheel gets firmer and the steering angle is limited, just like on a real truck.

What's in the download

Two plugins in a single installer

You can run both together, which is how they were designed, or switch either one off later in the installer itself.

SZNT Driveformerly TM Handling

Steering, throttle and brakes on the keyboard

If you play on a keyboard you know the problem: the game only understands whether you're turning or not, and whether you're on full throttle or none. Drive sits in between, simulates your hand on the wheel and your foot on the pedal, and hands the game analog values as if you had a pedal set.

  • 01
    A wheel with weight

    A quick tap moves the wheel just a little. Hold the key and your hand picks up speed gradually, and when you let go the wheel finishes its motion and returns to center on its own, firmer the faster you're going.

  • 02
    Progressive throttle and brakes

    Holding W doesn't slam the engine to 100%, because the pedal goes down slowly. When you need power, two quick taps on W floor it, and on S the double tap becomes an emergency brake.

  • 03
    Cargo weight

    The plugin adds up the tractor, the trailer and the weight of the job. Running empty, the truck responds quicker, and with 40 tonnes behind you everything gets slower, the way it should.

  • 04
    Surface grip

    On ice, snow, grass or wet asphalt the wheel gets lighter and barely returns by itself, which is exactly what a sliding tire feels like.

  • 05
    Pedal memory

    When you lift off W to change gear, your foot remembers where it was and goes back to the same spot quickly.

SZNT Viewformerly TM Head

A cab camera that moves like a head

In the interior camera the mouse turns the view as if it were bolted to a tripod, fast and weightless. View replaces that with a virtual head tracker, so your gaze speeds up and slows down like a real head, you lean in to check the mirror, and your neck keeps the horizon steady while the cab sways.

  • 01
    Look around with weight and inertia

    Mouse movement becomes head movement that starts smoothly and settles with a bit of inertia. You can check the mirror and come back to the road without that jerky snap.

  • 02
    Head zoom

    Hold the middle mouse button and your body leans toward wherever you're looking, whether that's a mirror, the dashboard or a tight junction.

  • 03
    Steady horizon

    In corners, under braking or over bumps the cab moves and your neck makes up for part of it, so the horizon stays steady without the image feeling stiff.

  • 04
    Body inertia

    Your body gets pushed into the seat in corners and under braking, following the sway of the cab suspension.

  • 05
    Surface changes

    When you go from asphalt to dirt, gravel or grass, your head follows along very slightly. The screen doesn't shake, and that was left out on purpose.

  • 06
    Breathing and looking into turns

    There's a light breathing motion and your gaze drifts a little into the turn. It's all very subtle, just enough so the cab doesn't feel like a still photo.

Recorded in game

See it in action

Every clip below was recorded in ETS2 with both plugins on and the default values, with no camera editing.

View
Looking around with the mouse

Notice how the camera speeds up and slows down instead of rigidly following the cursor.

DriveView
Taking a turn on the keyboard

Progressive steering on A and D, with your body leaning along with the cab.

View
Head zoom on the middle button

Your head moves forward in the direction you're looking, here getting closer to the mirror.

Drive
U-turn at low speed

Slowly, the wheel goes lock to lock, and when you let go it returns to center by itself.

View
Checking the mirror

A quick glance to the side and back to the road, with no snapping in between.

View
A straight road with a living cab

Suspension sway and breathing give the cab some life, while the horizon stays steady.

Full demo

A minute and twenty seconds inside the cab

All the clips put together in one video. Turn the sound on if you want to hear the engine.

Controls

Nothing new to learn

The installer only remaps W A S D and the mouse in the interior camera. The arrow keys and everything else stay the way they were.

AD
Steering
tap to correct, hold to turn
W
Throttle
progressive, double tap to floor it
S
Brake
progressive, double tap to brake hard
Mouse
Look
with weight and inertia, interior camera only
Middle button
Head zoom
your body leans where you look
1
Interior camera
View takes over the mouse
2 to 9
Other cameras
the mouse goes back to normal
Settings

Tweak anything while the game is running

The defaults are already tuned, but if you want to change something just open sznt-drive.ini or sznt-view.ini, edit it and save. The plugin reloads the file within half a second, and when you update, the installer keeps your values.

sznt-drive.ini
steer_rate_low= 0.36; wheel speed when maneuvering
steer_ramp_time= 2.4; seconds until your hand reaches full speed
throttle_rise= 9.0; seconds holding W to reach 100%
weight_reference_t= 40; total mass where the base tuning applies
grip_rain= 0.85; asphalt grip in the rain
sznt-view.ini
mouse_weight= 0.22; head weight and inertia
lean_forward= 0.30; how far your head moves in a zoom (m)
body_freq= 1.8; body spring frequency (Hz)
Install

It takes less than a minute

  1. 1
    Close the game

    The plugin can't be installed while ETS2 or ATS is open.

  2. 2
    Run the installer

    It finds the game in every Steam library, copies the files and sets up the controls for all your profiles, always backing them up first.

  3. 3
    Start the game and click OK

    You'll see a notice about advanced SDK features, which is normal for any plugin.

Requirements
  • Euro Truck Simulator 2 or American Truck Simulator on Steam, 64-bit Windows
  • Current game version (tested on 1.61)
  • Drive is made for keyboards. View works with keyboard, controller or wheel
  • Plays nicely with sound, weather, lighting and map mods

If Windows says “unknown publisher”, click More info and then Run anyway.

No internet access

The plugins run inside the game and don't send anything anywhere.

Open source

The code lives on GitHub, and every release file has its SHA-256 published so you can check it.

Keeps your settings

When you update, the installer merges your .ini values with the new ones and redoes the controls with a backup.

Clean uninstall

It shows up in Settings > Apps, and uninstalling puts controls.sii back exactly the way it was.

Pay what you want

The plugins are free and they'll stay that way

When you download, you choose whether to donate something, and leaving it at zero is completely fine. Donations help pay for the hours of testing after every game update and for the next plugins I'm working on.

Make a donation
Questions

Things people usually ask

Is it really free?

Yes. There's a donation field on the download page, but you can leave it at zero and you'll get exactly the same file.

Why do you need my email?

The download link is personal and gets sent by email. If you tick the box, we'll also let you know when a new version comes out. Every email has a link to unsubscribe.

Does it work with a real wheel?

Drive is made for keyboards, so if you have a wheel you don't need it. View works with any controller, and you can turn Drive off in the installer.

Can the plugin change the FOV?

No, because the game's SDK doesn't allow it. You still set the FOV in the game's own camera options.

Does it work in American Truck Simulator?

It does. The installer finds both ETS2 and ATS in every Steam library, although ATS is still being tested in this beta.

Can I use it on TruckersMP?

The plugins only use the official SCS SDK, but every server has its own rules, so check them before using plugins in multiplayer.

My antivirus complained. Is it safe?

The plugins don't access the internet and the code is open. Since the installer isn't signed yet, some antivirus tools get suspicious. You can compare the file's SHA-256 with the one published on the release page.

Why isn't it on the Steam Workshop?

The Workshop only accepts .scs mods, and SZNT is an SDK plugin that has to go into the game folder. That's why it has its own installer.

Ready to drive with SZNT?

You'll get one installer with both plugins, and you can try it on your next job.

Download free