Vortex Gaming

· The Calais-Duisburg (CD) Road, the most famous stretch in Truckers MP, the multiplayer mod for Euro Truck Simulator 2, is a place where countless players flock for congested driving and amusing situations.
· This road runs from Calais to Duisburg, offering a straightforward route into the heart of Europe.
· Following the 1.59 Benelux update, this road has been reconfigured into multiple highways, meaning it's no longer possible to use one continuous national road. This video looks back at the CD Road of the past and its legacy.

· To understand the influence of the CD Road, we must go back to the very beginning: May 2014, when Truckers MP (then ETS2 MP) was just starting out, with a small player base and map.
· Within a month, players began congregating in Europort, a region in the west of the map. At the time, Europort was one of the easiest ways to travel between the UK and mainland Europe.
· Europort became a hotspot due to many players' tendency to check out already crowded areas. Some players even enjoyed getting stuck in virtual traffic jams.
· The roads leading to Europort were designed with two lanes merging into one, but players opted to use both lanes all the way to the merge point, rather than merging one by one like a zipper.
· The popularity of this area may have been due to Truckers MP's lack of NPC traffic. Players naturally sought out places where they could be around others.
· Videos from YouTubers like Squirrel likely contributed to encouraging players to visit the area and participate in multiplayer. By the end of 2014, a map website showing the location of all players on the server was released, highlighting the concentration of players in the Europort area, sparking curiosity.

· In the spring of 2017, Truckers MP launched its Discord server. Many players were already in the Europort area, and some preferred it.
· The original structure of the CD Road, apart from the Duisburg section, remained largely unchanged from single-player. There were railway crossings, intersections with inverted priority signs, and small gas stations.
· Over the years, these elements were upgraded to address traffic jam issues. The CD Road grew increasingly popular, leading to frequent long queues and collisions.
· There are several terms for why players seek out crowded places like the CD Road. First is the 'bandwagon effect,' where people follow a behavior or attitude because others are doing it. Second is 'social proof,' where people observe the actions of others, especially when uncertain, to determine the correct behavior. Third is 'herd mentality,' the tendency to follow others, especially within a group.
· All these terms can apply to the CD Road. The mentality of, 'Why is it so crowded here? I should go check it out too,' is at play.

· The growth of the CD Road may have been aided by a new type of content called 'Idiots on the Road.' This series showcased numerous crashes and extremely poor driving behavior, primarily centered around the CD Road.
· This series is believed to have started in the early days of ETS2 MP and, over the years, with hundreds of episodes, encouraged others to start their own content.
· As the road's popularity continued to soar, traffic jams became longer and longer, exceeding the road's capacity. To address this, a series of redesigns were implemented.

· In late April 2021, the Brussels intersection was redesigned, featuring a much larger space and clearer entry/exit lanes, allowing traffic to flow without stopping. Some felt it was too large for the area.
· In late 2022, the Truckers MP team redesigned the city of Duisburg. Previously a small area with only a few industrial facilities and a small service station, the redesign placed the entrance and exit roads on opposite sides and provided clear routes to various areas.
· For April Fools' Day 2023, much of the CD Road was jokingly redesigned into a dual carriageway, with additional gas stations and rest stops. Surprisingly, players loved this design, and many wanted it to remain.
· It was inevitable that this road would eventually transform into a real highway, but the current Benelux redesign was released two years after this prank.

· In the summer of 2023, one of Truckers MP's largest events, 'Real Operations,' took place. This event involved role-playing realistic scenarios in specific areas.
· The event was a 'Feature Zone,' a much smaller-scale version set in the Calais area. The event lasted about a month and introduced overhead gantries, which can still be seen today.
· Calais would have been an ideal testing ground for such an event. With hundreds of people already passing through, it added an extra layer of realism.

· In late 2023, the gas station in the middle of the CD Road was redesigned by the Truckers MP team. Not only was it larger, but the lanes were separated, preventing the crossing that was the most common cause of traffic jams. Players now had ample space to refuel and park.
· In May 2024, as part of the ongoing German redesign, Duisburg and its surrounding areas were altered. The city's layout was completely changed, larger intersections were added, and most importantly, the final section of the CD Road was converted into a dual carriageway. This marked a change for the CD Road.

· In the summer of 2024, a second 'Feature Zone' event took place in the Alps region. This event followed a specific road, featuring various construction zones and lane closures.
· Although there was an Austrian rework two years prior, this event may have been the first to generate as much traffic as the CD Road, leading more people to use that road and compare it directly to the CD Road.
· However, it wasn't the first event held there. The Easter egg hunt event that year also took place on the same road, with many people driving up and down it to find various eggs.
· In early 2025, as expected, the gas station closest to Calais was also redesigned by the Truckers MP team. This also featured fully separated lanes, ample parking space, and a small area for visitors.

· To this day, the road remains as it is. It took months for traffic to fully shift from Europort to the CD Road.
· Players often have their own favorite roads and areas to explore, and the loneliness felt on remote DLC roads, lacking NPC traffic, is understandable.
· Whether they will stick to the highway version of the CD Road, move elsewhere again, and what the next decade holds remains to be seen.