Colorado Discussion Thread

[flight50]

Lol. You caught North of US-95 too. I said the exact same thing. That's what the GP states will look like. Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon's vegetation is similar but without all the elevation.

[bigfoot31415926]

Yeah, the first time I went through that area, I was as giddy as a school girl. I probably hadn't been that excited since ATS itself came out

[J. Ritter]

I got the same feeling from some of the eastern parts of Washington and Oregon. I am looking forward to the plains, too. It will be fun to get on the big road and just hammer down!

[Xaagon]

I was thinking the best preview of the great plains so far is eastern New Mexico. Granted, it's more desert than farmlands, but it reminds me a lot of southeastern Colorado. Southeast Colorado is also very dry and has a lot more ranching than farming because of this - the exception is the Arkansas River. There is a big strip of irrigated farmland on either side of the river. At about I-70 and north of there the landscape gets a lot less dry and you see more farming.

I'm also looking forward to long straight stretches. So many times there's been a car coming the other way in that one spot where you could pass the slowpoke in front of you and you get stuck going 10 mph below what you want... I also feel that SCS cut too much out of the Utah salt flats (I-80 east of Wendover). I understand needing the room to make Salt Lake City as awesome as it is, and I'm really happy the big smelter smokestack west of SLC is in the game (tallest free standing structure west of the Mississippi River), but the salt flats in game are not representative of how vast they really are. Also seems that they left out any views of the Great Salt Lake, but I digress - this thread is about Colorado...

I'm looking forward to seeing how they will model roads that follow rivers for long stretches. US-50 & the Arkansas River, I-70 & the Colorado, and I-76 and the South Platte.

[flight50]

I-70 will be delicious. If we get US-550, magnificent. US-40 all the way to I-70 also looks great. I-25 makes a major connection South to link up NM. US-160 look interesting as well. The entire Western portion of Colorado (West of I-25) just from looking at Google maps, make me super excited as to what we can have in ATS. The one state I have been ready for since 2017. It will be one of the better dlcs for sure. I am sure it will top Washington though in visuals and terrain, at least for me.

[dkasper00]

One thing I hope they include are the markings where there is / was a mine.

[flight50]

If they show off the main road, that would be a pretty cool detail. Adds to the realism.

[interstate trav]

I’m looking forward to seeing how Denver is done.

[flight50]

@Xaagon. As a South Colorado resident, what is your take on US-160? Seems like a very good road to add but is it ATS worthy. It is the Southern most West to East road. I assume that US-491 makes the map once Colorado is added. It looks like US-160 would be a nice addition from US-491 to I-25. I am not sure if CO-10 runs from I-25 to La Junta though. Might be tight. SCS can't do CO-10, US-50 and US-350. I'd imagine US-50 definitely makes it. Considering US-160 runs beyond I-25, I'd be cool with 50 and 350 only.

I am really hoping to see US-40 as the Northern most West to East road. I like US highways that parallel interstates. Slower but much more scenic in most cases. West of I-25 will be a challenge to get right. Those mountain really have to shine in this dlc. I am loving the rock formation tool from Utah. Colorado should be just a good or better. I am sure Colorado will be one of the favorite states if SCS pulls it off.

[Xaagon]

@flight50 I think US-160 is a must. It is THE way to get to Alamosa from I-25. There may be more scenic ways to go (not that LaVeta Pass isn't scenic), but this is the way trucks will most likely go. Also, with US-160 connecting to I-25 you have a really good place to put Walsenburg as at least a scenic town, though I would add a fuel station and a resting place.

I think US-160 will be the southernmost east-west route through CO (at least to I-25), US-50 will be the south-central way, I-70 the north-central way, and US-40/CO-14 the northern route. At least, I really hope they have room to add all that. East of I-25 I think we'll definitely have I-70 & I-76, almost certainly US-50, and possibly US-34, US-36, and/or US-6. US-24 from Colorado Springs to Limon would be great, as would CO-14 from Fort Collins to Sterling.

If they could give us enough of these parallel roads, the detour feature would be awesome instead of annoying.

US-160 east of Trinidad maybe won't happen, especially if they plan to continue US-64/US-87 east of Raton in New Mexico. You could add CO-10, but US-350 seems more likely. I haven't taken either of those roads personally... I live in Colorado Springs so most of my eastbound travels have been US24, CO94, and US50.