Kansas Discussion Thread

[Xaagon]

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[etsuco05]

Pic 2 could also be I-35 in the Flint Hills. Whatever highway it is, that looks like the Flint Hills.

I'm pretty sure it's I-70 but can't find an exact match.

I-35 through the Flint Hills has a narrow paved median with a concrete barrier, like almost all of the Kansas Turnpike does, so I don't think it's I-35.

There is also a section of I-70 between the Colorado state line & Goodland in western Kansas where the median is wider than normal. https://goo.gl/maps/8EBsuDHqHHJUnBic7 I don't think there are enough hills in this area compared to pic 2, though.

K-177 between I-70 & Manhattan is four-lane divided through the Flint Hills, so that could be another possibility. Link to the area: https://goo.gl/maps/uGxoEGctvgKx3Azz8

[Xaagon]

@Janaff Kansas City might not be the first actually. We do know Texas 2.0 is coming and we have no idea what might happen with it. People see stuff in the map editor already.

Texas 2.0? I think I missed something. Are they working on Texarkana?

I'm really curious about KC too. The bigger part is in Missouri, but it seems too important to Kansas to just end the DLC at Topeka or Lawrence. Would they build the Missouri side and leave barriers up to keep everyone west of State Line Road?

[Marcello Julio]

Really a little bit sad that we're not getting Nebraska together, mainly because it's the Texas team and I believed that they would be able to do both states together, but if didn't happen, I understand and we should have this opportunity in the future again with other states. But at least we know that this year we will have two states again.

[flight50]

@Xaagon On the Texas release stream, Pavel mentioned Texas 2.0. The High 5, Sherman and Paris was mentioned on a blog comment from the map lead as well. From South Texas and roads that goes thru Oklahoma and up to Kansas just gives us some long North to South routes to drive on. So the further East, the better for all the column states that are North of Texas. For the most part, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, S Dakota and N Dakota, the Eastern border for all those states is the straightest North to South line in all of the US. Get past that line and ATS is really rolling. That's pretty much the 50% line for the US. ATS could hit that mark come 2024-2025.........depending on what happens after Kansas.

@Marcello Julio Its not the entire Texas team working on Kansas though. We do know that the Texas team had enough numbers to equal about 2 map teams so more than likely they split up back to normal. It would have been nice but we'll get by. Definitely we'll get the opportunity to get bundles in the future. Hopefully its before all the rebuild stuff is done. There's a ton of North America left to map. We have about 1/3 of the US but only probably 1/5 of North America. I'd like to see ATS look like ads678's fanmade map eventually.

But yes, we are back on track with 2 maps a year in ATS. 2022 actually did that with both Texas and Montana releasing. The 1st and 3rd largest states in the lower 48. Then the 2nd largest is undergoing a rebuild. So lots of manpower was really spread out in 2021-2022. Kansas coming solo might just mean SCS is trying to catch their breathe a tad. Texas was a beating I bet. A 3.5+ year project and its still getting work. But considering Kansas is nothing like the West and nothing like Texas, we just might get some pretty fast mapping done. If Wyoming was done in 10 months, I don't see Kansas taking longer. Heck all the Great Plain states at this point could be closer to 10 months than 12 months. Not everything is flat but surely the terrain isn't as complicated as the rockier regions of the West. Rocky areas are more sporadic now as the terrain turns hilly green and wooded green.

Hopefully in the next 3-4 Kansas blogs, we'll get an industry blog to see what new is coming for Kansas. At some point, wheat, corn, soybeans, barley and alfalfa has to come forth as crops. We got Lode King so hopefully those trailers have more purpose along with dumpers and flatbed. For corn, perhaps even ethanol comes.

[halbtollekreatur]

Pic 1 could be here at US-36

Pic 6 could be here at US-160 (farm house is missing but the rest is there)

I don't know about pic 1 being US 36. Maybe they just put a farm there to have a little more activity, but I've been looking for US highway entries with a farm at the border and came up with US 50/400, but the environment isn't as close as the 36. US 40 could also work. It's a border with Colorado for sure; the western border with Oklahoma has most US highways entering at towns, and the eastern border is in a more wooded area.

Pic 6 could be anywhere. Lone grain elevators right by the highway are very common sights in the Plains.

Pic 2 could also be I-35 in the Flint Hills. Whatever highway it is, that looks like the Flint Hills.

Pic 4 seems almost impossible to locate exactly, but based on the greenness, I'd hazard to guess that it's in the east of the state.

Yeah. You are probably right. As always it's hard to say but just the landscape or a hand full of buildings.
Anyway. Looking forward to more pics come up to be identified.

[Marcello Julio]

@Marcello Julio Its not the entire Texas team working on Kansas though. We do know that the Texas team had enough numbers to equal about 2 map teams so more than likely they split up back to normal. It would have been nice but we'll get by. Definitely we'll get the opportunity to get bundles in the future. Hopefully its before all the rebuild stuff is done. There's a ton of North America left to map. We have about 1/3 of the US but only probably 1/5 of North America. I'd like to see ATS look like ads678's fanmade map eventually.

But yes, we are back on track with 2 maps a year in ATS. 2022 actually did that with both Texas and Montana releasing. The 1st and 3rd largest states in the lower 48. Then the 2nd largest is undergoing a rebuild. So lots of manpower was really spread out in 2021-2022. Kansas coming solo might just mean SCS is trying to catch their breathe a tad. Texas was a beating I bet. A 3.5+ year project and its still getting work. But considering Kansas is nothing like the West and nothing like Texas, we just might get some pretty fast mapping done. If Wyoming was done in 10 months, I don't see Kansas taking longer. Heck all the Great Plain states at this point could be closer to 10 months than 12 months. Not everything is flat but surely the terrain isn't as complicated as the rockier regions of the West. Rocky areas are more sporadic now as the terrain turns hilly green and wooded green.

Hopefully in the next 3-4 Kansas blogs, we'll get an industry blog to see what new is coming for Kansas. At some point, wheat, corn, soybeans, barley and alfalfa has to come forth as crops. We got Lode King so hopefully those trailers have more purpose along with dumpers and flatbed. For corn, perhaps even ethanol comes.

Yes, yes, we had a lot of people from the Texas team that were from the California Rework team, and only Kansas can imply that many have returned to California and we may have an acceleration of Rework this year. Other than that, probably some people stayed in Texas to add and finish things that we didn't get to see at release and that we should see this year in updates.

But yes, we are still 1/3 of the US away and we may have a new packaging opportunity in the future.

[Gormanbros]

I'm glad we're getting Pittsburg. It's a historic coal mining town, with some mining still going on there, so I'm sure that plays a big part in us getting it. I'm thinking it will be a marked city because of that mining industry. Yes, it's close to Joplin MO, but not too close for both to fit. Helps that it's a pretty small town and isn't close to other cities in Kansas.

Also, its just nice to see another state that goes right up to the eastern border like Texas did. Makes it feel more complete out of the gate.

[flight50]

Joplin shouldn't cause an issue since its Southeast of Pittsburg. Since they are both fairly small, nothing that cut planes can't massage. There was also a lil trick that SCS uses now that is a visibility trick for scenes. They can bring a lot of density with this new visibility technology. Cities and towns that are close proximity will be a cake walk.

[Shiva]

halbtollekreatur, the grain silos? sun doesn't match that location at all.