Poll: Choose (3) States you would like to see next

[Tristman]

What are the backroads like in the Dakotas though? In Idaho, the north-south roads other than I-15 were all roads that snaked through hilly terrain, with lots of low-speed corners.
If the Dakotas mostly consist of long, straight backroads like some of the roads in eastern Montana, I don’t think people will complain as much as they can still maintain a decent speed.

[Quark]

Yes definitely, mostly straight backroads is not comparable to these curvy ones in Idaho. Furthermore, according to this map (not that easy to see, click on the links there to open the map in a higher resolution and zoom in) you cannot really consider the section of I-29 between Omaha/NE and Sioux Falls/SD a major trucking route, at least no more than a few other north south connections between Nebraska and South Dakota do represent. Because US-81, US-83 and US-281 do not appear any less important. In some sections possibly dual carriageways too.
Still, while the Dakotas without I-29 is certainly not the end of the world, i think we can all agree that it at least would be more preferable with it.
By the way, the site where that map came from that i've linked to is really interesting. Tons of maps and data and stuff to get lost in it for a long time if you are interested in freight transport on US highways (but also in general).
For example look here:https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/freigh ... /index.htm

[Shiva]

AlexxxF1, possible.
That is possible.

[flight50]

I get all the presented data put forth. I can’t argue that. Shortest route in real life works. Virtual world, people want speed. Interstates are typically higher speeds and straighter roads. What I am trying to convey is the end user. The end user is us....the video game players. One must separate what a real like trucker will do vs what a virtual trucker, wants to do.

If the backroads have less small towns, that is less stopping and/or slowing done. That might change some minds. I agree the type of roads in the Dakotas differ from Idaho. I didn’t consider that part. But what I do consider is that not everyone like backroads in ATS. I love them and I hope SCS continues to add density for them where they can. Interstates in the GP states are limited beyond Oklahoma. They thin out North and South until we get back over to
I-55. It’s the I-35 to I-55 gap that North to South is reduced to back roads to get North to South. I just see I-29 being in place before the Dakotas allowing those interstate users the option to not be reduced to backroads.

[Ch_R0me]

I've noticed that significant portion of folks wants Louisiana... Well, if Texas was the biggest state added to the game up to now, Louisiana would be the smallest one...

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Source: OpenStreetMap, cut manually.

[55sixxx]

Well, decided to come with another prediction map for the next DLC's and this is what I think could happen:

First one is the most pessimistic take on it. Which I hope doesn't come true.

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Second one is the optimistic take. Why? Because if SCS managed to get to Texas in 6 years time all the while having just a handful of mappers in the first years, I'm sure they can finish the lower 48 in less time considering the map teams are only getting bigger and bigger.

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It's nice to think that by 2026 we finally may get C2C trips.

[Marcello Julio]

The second option seems to me the most realistic. With Pavel saying they want to get to the Great Lakes, it's the most likely option.

[harishw8r]

Now that Oklahoma is announced, will the poll be reset or it will be done after the second state is also announced?

[oldmanclippy]

@55sixxx Your pessimistic take is certainly not pessimistic. Realistic probably, if anything maybe it leans slightly optimistic. Plus, who is going to buy just Maryland and Delaware? Surely that's supposed to be in the 2027 or 2029 categories.

Your optimistic one, I'll eat my hat if that comes true. Maybe it looks like we're almost halfway there based on land area, but the eastern half of the country will need to be jam packed with roads and cities in comparison to the western half. It'll need to be as dense or even denser than Eastern Texas from here on out, with the exception of the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Maine. Sure it's a lot easier roads to map but there will be a huge volume of work to do still. ads678's concept map gives you a good idea of the difference in density as you move east: https://i.ibb.co/Hh2LCV4/ats-concept-map-col.png And ads' map is always on the conservative side of things, ATS almost always makes things more dense than they predict.

In terms of road mileage and marked cities I bet we're about 1/3 of the way there. The last 2/3 is in some ways harder and in some ways easier. So their output would need to be twice as fast or almost twice as fast as it has been for the entire lifecycle of ATS so far, for us to be done by the end of 2028. Which is plausible, but I have serious doubts that a finishing date earlier than 2028 is even possible. Without seriously sacrificing the quality and quantity of content anyways. If they want to keep average density the same as we move west to east, then yeah 2027 is possible. That would be a huge disservice to the game though.

[55sixxx]

@oldmanclippy On the first take where Maryland and Delaware are kinda isolated, it means that it will come bundled with other states that same year. Ex: The first that year would be NC/MD/DL and later we'd get FL/GA/SC.

Plus, I would like to believe that the second option is very possible not only because the teams are only getting bigger but also because a lot will be cut off due to scale and some of these states won't get more than 5 or 6 cities.