The Dakotas (North and South) Discussion Thread

[Tails]

I would love to see a bundle of both Dakota states

[Bedavd]

So I was just looking at ads678's South Dakota prediction, and I noticed they have nothing on I-90 between Rapid City and Mitchell, which seems a bit too empty for me (even for SD). I was trying to think about which town along the way might be included if there was one, and I landed on Wall, SD. Here are my reasons and I'd love to hear what others think.

First of all, prominence in South Dakota. Along I-90 through the state, advertisements for Wall Drug are EVERYWHERE. It's a huge tourist trap with some great significance to the traveler, so being able to take Main St past the store and having tons of parked AI making the route really tight would be super cool.

Second, this would obviously be a town on the much smaller side, so it doesn't need more than a few depots. Two could easily be added into the town proper. Dakota Mill and Grain, just north over 4th from Wall Drug, would fit with the new Montana grain silos we got in the far NE of Montana. Next, west along 4th across I-90 is West River Electric, which has a nearby yard FILLED with utility poles. The perfect place for a Faraday Energy. There are plenty of smaller business around that town that could be made into Tidbits or Voltison autoparts stores, and not to mention the agriculture north and south of town for a Sunshine or Bushnell.

Lastly, this brings greater value to US 14 leading over to Pierre. Wall could have a remote depot in Quinn, Phillip, or Midland as well. Particularly, Phillip has a large livestock auction, metalworking factory, farm equipment supplier, and an even larger grain silo facility that could all be added as Wall. In fact, it might even make sense to mark Phillip and have Wall as the remote depot unmarked town, but I'd prefer it the other way around instead.

A mark against these towns is that they are all itty. None of them have over 1,000 people and SCS just doesn't seem to mark towns this small anymore. No towns between Rapid City and Chamberlain crack 1,000 people, so the options are few if SCS wants to add something in this portion of the state.

[AlexxxF1]

My preference is to get two different Dakota DLCs.
firstly, it is to receive two different events.
secondly - one small DLS can be obtained earlier, and not wait a whole year.

In ETS2, I would prefer the same thing, getting a slightly smaller DLC in size, but more often than once a year.
This creates more interest in constantly returning to the game, rather than long breaks.

[Trakaplex]

And while differences certainly exist, you could say the same for several states that aren't split, like Northern/Southern California or Western/Eastern Washington. Or Western/Eastern Texas, for that matter.

Well, two Dakotas are actually two different states, while California, Washington, and Texas are all single states without legal division between north/south or west/east. It's just not comparable.

I prefer bundle. As said both are a little smaller than Montana, but are quite dense in road network so it'd take about a year and a half. I'd say they start bundling around LA/AR. But for OK, KS, and NE to be a single DLC is kind of ridiculous to assume due to progression standards.

[VTXcnME]

I don't think we'll see dlc's Montana or Texas sized going forward. Those were exceptions- not a new standard.

Each state is in the 72-75,000 sq mile range that would fit a single state dlc. And to echo whats already been said- I'd rather they focus on the states unique features (Mitchell corn palace in South Dakota for example).

That said a full map team with 10 mappers and support staff should have no issue knocking the state out in 10-12 month window. Conceivably we could see south Dakota drop at one point with north Dakota following up w/in 6 months.

[angrybirdseller]

South Dakota-Wall Drug exit along I-90 and exit 110 wonder if SCS can do that one or 1880 town I-90 off exit 170 where they filmed the movie- Dance with Wolves. Sturgis signs or paraphernalia all over the state. We have Sturgis signs along US-212 here in Minnesota and that time of the year more motorcycles than truck and cars on the weekend sturgis happens.

[rbsanford]

I-90 in South Dakota is just one big tourist attraction, and it ramps up the further west you go. There are Wall Drug signs as far east as the Minnesota state line, then there's the Corn Palace, and after you cross the wide Missouri (with the Dignity statue) you start seeing signs for 1880 Town, Rapid City's Firehouse Brewery (each billboard has a vintage fire engine sitting nearby), the Rushmore-Borglum Museum in Keystone (all the signs are on old semi trailers), and the Wall Drug signs really ramp up. And then there's Skeleton Man Walking Skeleton Dinosaur and the Wall Drug Dinosaur, and it all comes to a head in the Black Hills, which is filled to the brim with tourist traps. It's a pretty interesting road, despite the land generally not being very scenic (especially not east of the Missouri, since the west has the Badlands). I-90 without all the tourist stuff would be like Las Vegas without the casinos.

As for Sturgis, that happens in August (it's going on right now, actually), and ATS is locked in eternal summer solstice, but maybe the jamboree could be held early.

[Bedavd]

If we get Sturgis, I'd be shocked if it wasn't loaded up with motorcycles. That's a pretty widely known event in the US.

[Polarlicht]

This event is also know outside the US. I know it from American Pickers TV show.
If OK and KS aren't bundled, SD and ND will be the first

[flight50]

Single dlc gets my vote. Although separate can work, I don't think they are $11.99 states. Not enough pushing them but together yes. I'd be okay with $17.99 for a Dakota bundle though. Between the 2 states, there are only 3 interstates. 80, 90 and 29 connected up with a whole lot of back roads and a whole lot of farm land. Not enough weight for big cities. Between the 2, we could be looking at about 20-24 cities. These two states are basically 2/3 of what Eastern Montana is. The square miles is high yes but very similar in the amount of work. I'd put a 15-18 man team on it. 7-9 people per state and bundle it.

Single state releases for these two would feel like SCS is nickeling and diming people. That is the comment you'd see on places like Steam and the SCS blog. But to get either of these, I-29 is huge. We'd need Missouri and Iowa first just to get I-29 into the Dakotas. Otherwise, its going to be tedious like Idaho was before Montana. So no telling how soon the Dakotas will even come.