[REL][WIP] Project USA 1980's - Real 1980's billboards and textures

[Torbett]

Wow this is a great idea! nice work btw

[Jaytheboss]

Wow this is a great idea! nice work btw

I hope this gets updated soon.

[kostraelpayaso]

Hey, sorry for the lack of updates, I have been quite busy irl since the turn of the year, hopefully by mid May I will have more free time.

My last progress was reworking WY billboards, which was becoming a bit tedious since I can't find where some of them are they placed ingame. I also found a bunch of billboards that I can't really find where in the game files are located, like this one:

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@kostraelpayaso
Could you add a billboard for the department store Mervyn's? I remember seeing a image a long time ago of one, but I sadly cannot find it.
If you're wondering what it looked like, it had the Mervyn's logo and underneath it it said Portland since the billboard I guess was in Oregon.

If I had any real life references I would gladly attempt it. But suggestions are always welcomed.

[Jaythegreat]

@kostraelpayaso
This is my recreation of it. Again, this was from someone's description. You can add my version or make your own based off of mine, I really don't mind.
https://sta.sh/0253lxid11x4
This is the link.
Maybe ask someone who knows the ATS game about the billboard files?

[Jaythegreat]

@kostraelpayaso
I was thinking about this mod last night, while I was awake due to my issues with sleeping.
Anyway, I think this mod would pair well with Minor Urban Overhaul. The 80s was sort of a boom for suburban areas, and MUO paired with this mod, would make a amazing combination. Hell, maybe someone can make some box trucks look like original Ryder trucks from that era, so it feels more realistic. And changing some of the truck stops, to feel more 80's like, with billboards behind the truck parking, would be so cool. I can't wait for this mod to release, so I can go on a 80s road trip. It'll feel so nice, and will take me to a era I never got to see, but now I have a small chance to maybe see.
I'm hype for this mod, hope once you have more time, you can keep working on it, and hopefully it'll have a Summer release possibly :shrug:
With ya all the way, be the first one to download when it releases.

[kostraelpayaso]

I'll defo check MUO over, I do agree that some time period correct map overhaul would be interesting, particularly now that some of the new prefabs are getting more prevalent (like the dunkin donut alike with the big, colorful, three dimensioned signs) which look too modern for the context of this mod. I've always seen the 1980's urban landscapes as a sort of transitional thing with a touch of decadence, probably related to the successive economical turmoils of the 1970's and 1980's . In many of the pictures and media you tend to see decaying buildings and infraestructure, unkept storefronts with peeling off pre-digital painted signs, elements from previous decades which by the time probably were becoming a thing out of time.. while scs world things tend to be a bit too.. pristine. Obviously a large part of this will probably be the bias of someone whose idea of those years comes from another people's eyes but still.

To be honest I have been considering for a while that as soon as I am over with the billboards, I sould give a try to editing the textures of stores and such. Gas stations and drive ins would be a bit more complicated for me, as they'd probably need some modeling to edit the signs. My I idea after that was to continue with ai trailers, but I still haven't found the energy to start with that. We will see..

About those box truck, man, I wish jazzycat or trafficmaniac would add some commercial vehicles to their classic ai traffic packs. A couple years ago, I edited the GMC van on his traffic pack to the old bell telephone paint job but I can't make it work anymore. Someone made for GTA a seventies U-haul Ford truck and there are several other box trucks. Hopefully some time they will get converted into some traffic pack.

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Sorry for the long ass text, now a bit of an update, I found out why signs were not showing up in Wyoming and fixed it. I am not satisfied yet with some of the billboards blend with the state so I'll need to make corrections before a release. I was considering to release it after Montana DLC comes out to include that state as well. Also, I'd be interested in knowing if they have added any new billboard signs for the California overhaul.

[Jaytheboss]

@kostraelpayaso
I could see you wanting to wait for Montana to release, the only question that comes to my mind is when Montana is going to release? From screenshots, it looks like they could have it out by this summer at the earliest. And I'm sure with the Cali overhaul, they might've added new billboards and such.
With MUO, it seems they've added more of those new restaurants. I'm hoping, they're easy to just remove entirely, but I don't think it'll be that easy.

[kostraelpayaso]

I was hoping for an early summer release of Montana but not sure whether if that will be the case, so if they aim for late summer I will probably just release an early version of the mod when I am done with Wyoming, which I almost am, as well as Cali, in the case they introduced specific billboards for the reworked areas, which I haven't checked yet.

From an outsider perspective I am not sure if the content and style of the billboards change too much between different states -ie. more rural states to more industrial ones. I guess I wasn't so sure if the ad selection I originaly made for WY had the vibe I expect for a 1980s rural state.

About the new prefabs, maybe some rework of the textures could help but I don't think they'd fit too much in the 1980's style fast food drive in, perhaps they could pass for the later part of the decade, I don't know.

[MLH82]

By a look at the micro websites and especially the number of blogs waiting to be published neither one is to be expected soon I think.

https://americantrucksimulator.com/montana/
https://americantrucksimulator.com/texas/

[kostraelpayaso]

[ external image ]

Almost done with Wyoming.

Still trying to find the placement of two of the billboard textures ingame, so I can check how they would blend with the background, there is not much road left to check so it shouldn't take long. I've changed some other older ads from other states too and checked the new road network from CA but it doesn't seem like they added new ones... which is a shame as I had a few prepared specifically for California.

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Right now trying to chose which of the above to include for Wyoming. Maybe going for the True Value one and leave the other one for when smaller billboards are added.