New Mexico Discussion Thread

[Gazer75]

US-550 in NM is a non-STAA highway, therefore restricted to 43' trailers and shorter. However from what I have read most truckers ignore that and haul 53' down it anyway.

Where do you find this info. I searched for hours.
I find most American websites to be confusing and hard to use.
Probably a language thing.

Wonder why they restricted it though. It looks pretty straight forward to me. No hairpin turns or anything like that.

I sure hope that permitted loads means heavy transport. 550 in Colorado is the Million Dollar Hwy. It will be one of the main attractions in Colorado. The million dollar is as close as we can get to the Dalton in the lower 48, lol.

That video is almost 9 years old. A lot can change in that time. They may have closed it after this was made.

[Hell_Raiser]

US street atlas (actual paper map) and truck forums. I looked in the atlas first and it wasn't marked as an STAA route but the atlas is a few years old so I did a quick google search and confirmed that it hasn't changed. As to why, no clue, most truckers ignore it and carry the 53' anyway, and it doesn't appear to be strictly enforced.

[dkasper00]

Has anyone else seen the AI technically getting hit by the train in Santa Fe? Or is it just me...

[bagnome]

I like the little detail of the county line and river name signs.

Though they do not aid in the slightest in navigation in the game like they would in real life to the traveler with a map. The signs do add a level of authenticity to the game. My only criticism is that SCS remain consistent with the placement of these signs if they are going to use them at all. A trucker should see a name of every river he or she crosses, and know when he or she is crossing into any county.

Though I can't speak for the consistency of these states in real life, as some are more consistent than others with sign placement. Though I do know that here in Louisiana, on any major road or route, one will see a sign for every parish (county) he or she enters. The ones used here typically say "Entering ________ Parish" or simply "________ Parish." However, the state is rather inconsistent with the placement of river name signs. They seem to only ever be placed on interstate highways over major rivers.

Texas, on the other hand, will place a sign for every river, creek, brook, and bayou on every state, U.S., and interstate highway they have. Same goes for identifying county lines. Similarly, a person will occasionally see the name of a road on an overpass even if there is no exit ramp to that road. It makes sense though. Texas is a big expansive state and needs those signs so a motorist can pinpoint his location on a map if his GPS happens to fail. Getting lost out in the middle of Texas would not be good. It also makes playing GeoGuesser easier.

[vulchor]

The one thing that is huge that is missing in regards to signs is mileage signs. There should be signs up every now and then, especially on the Interstates, that give a list of the major cities on the route and how many miles to each one. If we had those, I could finally stop using the navigator for my freeway travels. Example:
[ external image ]

[natvander]

Mileage signs should appear after every interchange.

[bobgrey1997]

I like the little detail of the county line and river name signs.

Though they do not aid in the slightest in navigation in the game like they would in real life to the traveler with a map. The signs do add a level of authenticity to the game. My only criticism is that SCS remain consistent with the placement of these signs if they are going to use them at all. A trucker should see a name of every river he or she crosses, and know when he or she is crossing into any county.

Though I can't speak for the consistency of these states in real life, as some are more consistent than others with sign placement. Though I do know that here in Louisiana, on any major road or route, one will see a sign for every parish (county) he or she enters. The ones used here typically say "Entering ________ Parish" or simply "________ Parish." However, the state is rather inconsistent with the placement of river name signs. They seem to only ever be placed on interstate highways over major rivers.

Texas, on the other hand, will place a sign for every river, creek, brook, and bayou on every state, U.S., and interstate highway they have. Same goes for identifying county lines. Similarly, a person will occasionally see the name of a road on an overpass even if there is no exit ramp to that road. It makes sense though. Texas is a big expansive state and needs those signs so a motorist can pinpoint his location on a map if his GPS happens to fail. Getting lost out in the middle of Texas would not be good. It also makes playing GeoGuesser easier.

A "Parish"? Didn't know the U.S. used that name!
Here in Arkansas, we call that "County". Every single road that crosses a county border will have a sign to show it, unless the sign gets knocked down and no one takes notice.
When I was working at Dominos in Bryant, I often (hundreds of times each day) passed a sign that said "Pulaski County" above a "Little Rock (Capital City) Welcomes You!" with a nice blue-to-white Downtown Little Rock thing on it. On my way back, I would pass another sign at the same spot that said "Saline County" with nothing else at it. Poor lonely Saline County sign...

[vulchor]

I know they use the name 'parish' instead of 'county' in Louisiana, maybe other places too in the US. Alaska uses the word 'borough'.

[Blackspots]

Mileage signs should appear after every interchange.

In Texas, they're posted as often as every 5 miles

@bobgrey1997: Louisiana uses parishes instead of county, as it's state law is based on French law.

[flight50]

I dated a chick from Louisiana about 20 years ago. That is the only way I knew of Parishes, lol. I thought it was weird when she reference her Parish. I was like huh....what. What is a parish. She had forgotten that she was talking to some one outside of Louisiana that didn't know the lingo, lol. But I think there are a few other states that do not call them counties.

@bagnome. County and river would be an interesting detail but like you said, they don't aid in our travels. The biggest headache I can see is that it would cause SCS to know county borders and this part of research just isn't necessary. But yes, I noticed they label every little river, creek, lake, pond.... every body of water here in Texas. I have a puddle in my driveway after a big rain and the City keeps trying to come by and place a sign that says Flight50 Pond, lol. In regards to consistency, I agree though. There are some signs that are too close to one another at some of the exit ramps. 1:20 scale creates this issue so I understand. I prefer them to be there than not to be there so I can deal with it. I also notice in some seriously curved roads, they did not place the < < < < signs along that path. I believe this was one curve in NM I encountered. I most signs were use proper and present but they missed a few. They can't them all though, so I understood. But like you said, if they are going to put them.....put them in accordingly. I also looked for the signs on the over passes with no exit ramps. That is typical thru out the US I think. Nice detail to add but again, I think it is a bit too much to have SCS add. Not all roads in ATS have names so that means that each road might as well have it's name displayed on the map/road as we drive. At what point do they get a breather and cut it off. All this extra detail adds to development time. I think we are good how they have it. Now once we get all 48 (if it happens) and they go back an touch up stuff, then yes, detail out what they didn't from the beginning.

@vulchor. I like your thought. That sign would be awesome to have as long as they don't go overkill with it. But Natvander, we don't place those signs after every interchange. That would be over kill. We only use that sign so many miles outside of most big cities/towns you just pasted that are off the same road you are traveling one. Having it posted no more than twice in ATS from city to city would be adequate on long stretches of road. I am not sure how much thought SCS would have to put into this but placing it along the highways would require them to measure distance to some sort. Good thing the game is 1:20 scale. Mile markers would be another awesome detail. This would be wayyy overkill in my opinion though. I would prefer to just have the sign of the pic you posted. That is very feasible and one heck of a detail to add. Throwing that in with the current signage system should be nothing.