Texas Discussion Thread

[hangman005]

@flight50 "That's a bit graphic, lol. Considering the game is PEGI3, not a chance for all that."

So does that eliminate any chance of an easter egg for me

[Sora]

By no means am I saying all this needs to or should happen for Texas but for the entire US, many of these can happen. And this is a generous list. I deleted half of these. So far ETS2 has 170 companies and ATS has 46. Surely ATS can get 170 for the entire North American continent if ETS2 can fit 170 now and still growing into its space. See comparison map.

Now that you word it like that, I'm actually a bit more accepting of how few companies ATS has!

If we assume Europe ends up at around 225-250, and that North America should have a roughly similar amount of companies, we'd be looking at around 120 US companies, right? So being at 46 when we're only about a third of the way through the country -- and in the least dense third, at that -- feels about right, actually. Assuming we start swapping a few companies out as we near the east coast, and add a few obvious new industries, it shouldn't be too hard to achieve. From there, Mexico and Canada can pretty much take care of the rest; there will definitely be some overlap, but there's a lot of space for new stuff too.

[flight50]

@Sora I sure hope they add a lot more companies and start to slowly swap out all the repeating companies. In several cities we have two of a too many companies. (2) Wallberts, (2) Plaster & Sons, (2) Gallons, (2) Coastline Mining, (2) Bitumens, (2) SunCrops, etc....... I could be wrong but you won't find this in ETS2. There is room to place new companies if you remove a repeat prefab or just simply rebrand the ones that can be rebranded depending on industry type. SCS mentions its not easy to do so but imho, its a matter of someone just making the time to set it up. I just don't get how many companies are in one game but not the other. Someone had to sit there and put all that together did they not? The small amount of companies in ATS also contributes to the low amount of cargo. If I didn't think it was an issue, I wouldn't keep talking about it. But its another issue the isolates ATS from its big brother....sister or whatever the relation you want to call it. Its an issue that is a concerning one moving forward.

I'm seriously worried about Texas though. Its a massive state to cover. I'm intrigued to know how much new comes with it. Sure there will be repeats like Home Store, Walbert, Charged.....as those are national companies, but I really want to know what comes along with them. With the amount of work it will take to pull off Texas, why not go all out like the ETS2 team does with every new dlc and create all these new companies. Creating newer prefabs for the same company is not the same as a new company. It just creates more building layouts but its still the same ole company. We know new roads will come with Texas and there should be several. We know oil/gas and livestock won't be new but expanded hopefully. Texas starts I-20, I-30, I-35 and I-44 as Interstates that will lead into another state someday. There should be new US highways introduced as well considering Texas is the Southern most state. Like US-50 and US-20 go East to West, hopefully we will get some roads in Texas that will span across multiple states.

[Sora]

I sure hope they add a lot more companies and start to slowly swap out all the repeating companies. In several cities we have two of a too many companies. (2) Wallberts, (2) Plaster & Sons, (2) Gallons, (2) Coastline Mining, (2) Bitumens, (2) SunCrops, etc....... I could be wrong but you won't find this in ETS2.

I don't see this as being inherently unrealistic. Those depots often represent different aspects for the company; for example, a Wallbert market and a Wallbert distribution center. There's nothing unusual about both of those being in the same city; hell, not far from where I live, there's a CVS distribution center right down the street from a CVS.

Even if they were the same depot, it's not unusual for even a medium-sized city to have two of the same businesses. I know of an intersection that has a Shell gas station on three corners, and I know plenty of towns with multiple grocery stores from the same company.

I do agree with your core point, though -- that I hope they continue adding new companies with each state, particularly for Texas. NAMIQ and Ultimus were a nice precedent for things they could do to improve company diversity down the line. (NAMIQ is a little weird in that I don't think what they were trying to do with the "I" works in English, but they sort of lucked out in that you can still sort of read it as Mining and Quarries.)

[flight50]

I agree that it is not unusual for the same companies in the same city.....in real life. The problem is, comparing a 1:1 world to a 1:20 virtual world and that is the problem I'm pointing out. I'm about the only one making the biggest fuss about it because its not right and its not fair to ATS. Like I mentioned, you don't see that in ETS2 because there is a massive variety in companies and I am sure Europe as distribution centers as well. As distribution centers, you only need one per every 5-6 stores in about a 500-1000 mile radius. You don't need a distribution center for every 1-2 stores less than a 100-200 miles radius. That's obsessive. Even then, your point could be valid for Wallbert...what about all the other repeat companies per city? Wallbert and SellGoods are the only distribution companies in the game if I'm not mistaking. There should be a ton more. Repeating companies per city is a shortcut to populate the map instead of putting more effort into new companies. They took the easy way out when they started ATS and they continued it instead of modeling it after ETS2 and provide one company per city.

The company culture in ATS needs to be revamped, rethought out..given more attention. Of all the Fortune 500 companies in this link, surely 150-200+ are ATS worthy imo. Not all are valid yet because we need more maps to come. If you want to just think food only, surely 15-20 could emerge from this link. I just talk about this stuff to make the obvious...obvious. Its overlooked by the devs and by some fans that don't really care about the game economy but it doesn't pass my eyes. I'm a fan that takes the game a little more serious than many and I'm calling it out to get addressed. Some can call it whining if you please but I see it as bettering the game in general. If ETS2 was done the same way, there would be very little I could say.......but ETS2 is not done that way so its an issue to me in ATS.

If distribution centers were better planned, put them in remote isolated locations outside of town which is closer to reality. Distribution centers are large as they supply multiple stores in a region. ATS doesn't have space in town for true distribution centers so the double Walmarts take up space for lets say Target, Kohl's, Sam's Club and others. No distribution center in the US is as small as the Wallbert Distribution centers that we currently have in town. The new one in Wyoming off I-80 and West of I-25 that can be seen if you use the dev cam, is the perfect example of isolated. Its also a bit better sized to mimic a real distribution center. Warehouse/Logistics distribution centers would be better instead of so many Wallbert distribution centers imho. We only need so many Wallberr distribution centers.

Warehouses/Logistics can supply several brands of stores across several industries..........if we had them. Wallbert distribution only supplies Walmart branded stores. But something like Grocery Supply, Sysco or US Foods could support a much larger market of stores beyond Wallbert. The problem is......we don't have that variety.

[interstate trav]

Hey Flight50, I could see them having an Easter egg for you, just like after the California rebuild I could see them doing it to me. Lol

[SmokeyWolf]

I have to agree with @flight50. I would add a new company and name is Distribution Logisitics Supply or DLS for short to compete with Sell Goods.

[flight50]

I like DLS. That name could fly. Let Annie have at it and see what she can do. I'd like a lot more than just one though. ETS2 has 25+ logistics companies now with Iberia. There are numerous US hauling carriers that could have ATS parodies. Heck, Swift just recently tweeted SCS and SCS responded. Knight-Swift is the largest carrier there is. Get something licensed/official with them....and that starts a domino affect. At this point, ATS could easily have at least 5 logistics companies. Wyoming is around corner and will be the 10th state in ATS. Texas will be the 11th this time next year and it add a massive piece of land. Sell Goods alone should not cover 11 states. That's like saying we only have Knight-Swift in 11 states which is completely off.

We need some focus towards gameplay. Sound - addressed with Fmod and still improving. Graphics - addressed with DX11, SSAO, new Lighting and still more improvements to come. What about the economy/gameplay, the AI? California is getting rebuilt and Texas is perhaps a year away. The two most populated states. Vehicle traffic, pedestrian traffic and busier environment would have to be reflected in some type of way with California and Texas. Busy was mentioned on the 2020 xmas stream so we'll have to wait and see if anything can be pulled off.

[SmokeyWolf]

Knight and Swift are trucking companies. They don't do warehousing.

Lot of warehouses are ran by Ryder and Ceva.

We need more logistic warehouses and truly the cargo flow should go warehouse to Wallbert DC then stores. Should never go from 3rd party warehouse to store as the DC has to break the load down to each individual store. This is were multiple drops can shine.

[flight50]

Its actually Knight-Swift, they merged in 2017. But yes I'm aware they are not a warehouse. I never said they were. I stated they are a carrier. Logistics in general is the transportation of goods by a carrier, not just warehouses or distribution centers. But anyone can be a carrier. Its just a service by a company from point A to B is how I see it. Texas can support several logistics companies if you as me. Whatever Texas adds should get spread out across the map. Replace some of those Wallberts and Plaster and Sons. They are by far the most over used imo for just 9 states. Imagine what these numbers will look like once we have all the West, South and Midwest in the game if we don't get more company diversity. The number of depots per company would be much much smaller in ATS if there was a lot more companies to spread around the map.

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Compared to ETS2 which is a much larger map and it doesn't even have the same level of repeats. The amount of reused depots is drastically much much less for ETS2. The most used one is still almost 3 times less than Wallbert. Even Plaster and Sons is twice the amount of the most used ETS2 depot. I sure hope a lot of ATS depots get swapped out. 9 states and 105 Wallberts, 61 Plaster and Sons, 45 Bitumens...........wayyyyyy to many double companies per city and its become very frustrating to see this in one game and not the other. Every new dlc that releases lights a fire for me. Its more fuel to the fire to see ATS get so little. And guess what, there are tons of Wallberts left to do. ATS could end up with 300 Wallberts by time all the US is done if change doesn't come like yesterday. Target can cut that number by 35%. Sam's Club and Costco can cut it by 20% as they are also national chains that can do the same thing as Walmart. They can even justify bulk loads better than Walmart. So 35%+20% leaves 45% to be Walmarts. Add a few regional stores around the country and Wallbert's numbers will go down even more. That is 3+ additional stores to spread out that load. Walmart might be the US's largest retailer, but at 1:20 scale doesn't mean it has to show it in ATS when there are other options. Add some variety and break up this monopoly.

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