Montana Discussion Thread

[Izmaragon]

Well, it wouldnt be right without perhaps highway 16 from Glendive all the way to Plentywood, not sure if highway 13 would make it in from I think Circle to Scobey. Highway to should be done to Culbertson.

I can see Colstrip added as a mine within Billings area, or maybe Miles City.

Fort Peck Lake, Canyon Ferry Lake and Flathead lake could likely all fit. Please Note the first lakes I mentioned are both on the Missouri River, which wanders through quite a bit of the state really. Funny how the Yellowstone comes into the state not far from where the Missouri is formed [bout 100-150 miles or so]. Kinda like how the Snake river wanders through a number of states...

Ofc, you have the general geography too. Montana, Wyoming and Colorado all share the same general mountainous west, flat east layout. Granted to the former two, its more varied with areas of river valleys, small mountain areas and various natural vistas depending on one's point of view. Northeast Montana is generally flat with very few trees. Sunrise in summer is around 4am... true sunset is about 10 to 1030pm. at night. Not joking. I remember as a kid seeing lights from an old AFB that was roughly 25-30 miles away on the horizon at night. So yes, NE Montana = flat in general. SE Montana, you have the hills that build up to the badlands and Black hills of South Dakota. Although, east of Sidney is an area of badlands that likely wouldnt be bothered with until North Dakota.

Central Montana, Highway 200 goes straight through the most desolate section of the state, yet also some good vistas in parts. But again, very few trees. In Montana, most trees will be near the rivers or areas with a source of water. Great Falls should have a light smattering of trees towards the western portion of the city towards the mountains that divide the landscape from Lincoln area if you put that in, highway 200 from Great Falls to I-90 east of Missoula.

Anyway... Got carried away a bit there...

[rip_c_bennington]

Imho we will not see Montana in the next 2 years. First they do Wyoming, then focussing on Texas and then they will make Oklahoma and Kansas (maybe also Nebraska) before Montana.

[flight50]

@rip_c_bennington check out this thread viewforum.php?f=139. There is no Kansas and Oklahoma only comes after Texas. Montana will come either before or after Texas. Maybe you haven't noticed how Idaho's dead ends limit the state like no other in the West. No way Montana takes a back seat to Oklahoma or Kansas. That's a huge chunk of land missing if everything else is in place around it. Kansas before Montana really doesn't make much sense at all though.

[interstate trav]

I’m hoping before Texas. I do look forward to Montana after Idaho I feel like Montana will help.

[flight50]

Montana will definitely help Idaho but Colorado and Wyoming should come first. All would have been much better if SCS gave up that small portion of US-93 to Lolo from Salmon and run US-12 East to connect. We should have had more logging on US-12 imo. Maybe when Montana comes, we can get 1-2 new logging camps along US-12. Even better, a new lumber company to come with Montana.

[Xaagon]

Well darn, this Montana thread slipped all the way to page 3. I'll bump it up with a list of cities that I think are likely to be included in ATS:

Billings - Montana's largest city, it's sure to be included.
Missoula - Montana's 2nd largest city, at I-90 & US-93 I think it's going to be in.
Great Falls - It was in 18WoS, so why wouldn't it be in ATS too?
Bozeman - Maybe too close to Butte, but it's big by Montana standards.
Butte - I-90 & I-15, it's surely in at this major crossroads.
Helena - Also maybe too close to Butte, but SCS hasn't missed a state capitol yet.
Kalispell - If US-2 is in, this intersection at US-93 is surely in.
Havre - US-2 & US-87, I think this one gets in to anchor the northeast corner.
Miles City - I-94 & US-12, I think this one gets in as a regional center.
Livingston - I-90 & US-89, I think this only appears as scenic and only if US-89 is in.
Lewistown - US-87 & US-191, Has a good chance - there's not much else close by.
Glendive - I-94 & Yellowstone River - Also has a good chance as not much else is close by, could be the eastern anchor for I-94.
Polson - US-93 at the south end of Flathead Lake - Could be in as a scenic town.
Shelby - I-15 & US-2, big crossroads I think this is in at least as scenic.
Glasgow - Last biggish town on US-2 as you head east, could be in.

Now we're getting into the really small towns, so I'll just mention these:

Malta - US-2 & US-191
Broadus - US-212 in the southeast part of the state. Crossroads with MT-59 which goes to Gillette, WY.
Baker - US-12 close to the east border, may come as scenic town with North Dakota DLC.
Sweet Grass - I-15 & Canadian border, should be port of entry when Alberta DLC is added.

[flight50]

Missing Glendive as marked for Montana would be a big miss. Getting I-94 that Far East should open up all of Eastern Montana. WY-59 should make it all the way from Wyoming. I expect
MT-59 and I-94 to anchor down a large portion of Eastern Montana. Getting from Southern Montana to US-2 to Culbertson using MT-16 perfectly squares up Montana.

I do like Broadus and Baker for sure.

[averyc2506]

i think those are good options, maybe add sidney. i personally dont see livingston, polson, baker, broadus, or sweet grass marked. they definitely have a strong possibility of being scenic. also highway 200 is going to be a very lonellyy road. theres towns along it (barely any) but they are so small so they have a very little chance of being added.

[flight50]

I hear MT-200 is a scenic route though. Especially in the West. If we can get it from Sandpoint, that would be sweet. Another East West route.

[supersobes]

Helena - Also maybe too close to Butte, but SCS hasn't missed a state capitol yet.

I honestly don't think SCS would ever skip over a state capital. In my opinion, in order for a state to be considered complete, the capital city it a must. Every country in ETS2 has at least its capital city as well. Luckily for a lot of the smaller states like Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, the capital city is also the state's largest city, so SCS should have no problem fitting both the most prominent city and the capital city.