Base Map Rebuild (CA, NV, AZ) General Discussion Thread

[oldmanclippy]

@Sora The issue with using this thread for prospective rework discussion for all states is that the existing state discussion threads already have rework discussion in them. So my suggestion would be to keep that information in one place (for each state), and then once we have a project announced then a new thread could be created to handle that as needed.

I wouldn't be opposed to spinning off a Route 66 Rework thread but then I think this thread would need to be rebranded sort of like you suggest to avoid similar conversations happening in both threads. I do like how it's handled on the ETS2 side (which if I understand correctly is basically what you're suggesting we do here): a "which countries should be reworked next" thread, and then each rework project gets its own thread spun-off.

None of these threads are "mine" so I don't really care that much, but in general I think it's good practice to make "topics" as searchable as possible, which generally means limiting the number of threads where any given topic is discussed.

[flight50]

This thread can't be for all states to get reworks, that's too vague. Each thread is specific for a reason. This one is specific to the base map. Looking in the public research threads, Kraake created those rework threads separately for a reason. Same principles apply to the general discussion threads for the most part. Much easier for researchers to comb thru. The same should be for general threads. The problem is the threads get way to large to find things with so many random thoughts about too many states and if the right keyword is not used, things get lost even easier.

[disintegration7x]

IMO, this thread should be used for rework projects *which include the base map*. So if SCS announces a Oregon+Washington refresh project, that would go in a different thread, but if SCS announces an I-80 corridor rework project which includes parts of Utah, the discussion for Utah should be in this thread just like how the discussion for northern New Mexico belongs in this thread now.

That is to say, I think I-80 Utah discussion should probably go in this thread for the time being, but discussion about a full-blown Utah rework in 15 years should probably go in the original Utah thread.

Honestly, I feel like this thread should probably evolve into a general prospective rework thread, with known future reworks being split off from this one - e.g. a new thread specifically for the Route 66 rework.

I don't feel like it makes sense to resurrect a decade-old thread to discuss a rework (especially if it covers multiple non-base states), nor do I feel like dumping everything into one thread is really helping anyone keep information organized. At most, rework threads could link back to relevant state discussions + this one as reference material.

But this board has a really weird obsession with splitting threads that don't need to be split (like the truck brand topics) while combining threads that probably shouldn't be (like the Dakotas). I know better than to attempt to fight it.

I agree on all points. This board is already kinda empty and further fragmenting the threads certainly doesn't help with organic discussion. It is what it is though lol.

[gptsj]

Yeah I am curious if this will end up being more like a Northern AZ + Northern NV rework vs just the I-40 corridor. Looks like Northern AZ is on the table, but not sure if Farmington/Raton will get reworked for NM too, or not. It would be really cool if they did because then that connects the Front Range corridor with I-40 and thus SoCal, in addition to just using I-15 and I-70 to connect them.

The blog says

That's why we've kicked off the Route 66 Rework Project, focusing on key segments in Northern Arizona and parts of New Mexico, especially along I-40.

which to me implies that Northern AZ will pretty much all get reworked, whereas with New Mexico it might just be the I-40 corridor.

Hopefully it's a Northern AZ + Northern NM rework. Otherwise it'd look weird when coming from Utah to Arizona and from Colorado to New Mexico.

[justgettingold]

Ngl it would be so hilarious if neither of the teams was working on I-80 I wouldn't even be mad at this point.

[Neoba]

Very late to this, but given that new city intros were added for Santa Fe and Farmington in northern New Mexico, I doubt they will be reworking that area of the state (at least with the Route 66 rework)

[Onagerlinn]

Very late to this, but given that new city intros were added for Santa Fe and Farmington in northern New Mexico, I doubt they will be reworking that area of the state (at least with the Route 66 rework)

If that's the case, that's odd. The change in quality from southern NM, to the Rt 66 corridor, to northern NM, to Colorado would be very jarring.

[rbsanford]

I don't know, I think I-25 in New Mexico mostly holds up. I'd say the same for Farmington and Santa Fe, although the Sangre de Cristos over Santa Fe look kind of dated. IMO, it's I-40 between Gallup and Santa Rosa that needs touching up the most, followed by US 64 between Tierra Amarilla and Raton (the mountain models are very old, and leaving out Brazos Summit and Taos were some big missed opportunities if you ask me). There might be some jar, but I wouldn't expect much.

The city intros being added doesn't prove that that area won't be reworked, by the way, just that those cities won't be reworked; remember how Phase I of California reworked the highways of the north while leaving the cities (except for Hornbrook, RIP) untouched. Of course, this isn't to say that the area is guaranteed to see any rework with Project Route 66, just that it's not guaranteed not to.

This all has me wondering about Albuquerque's new layout. The arch seen in the blog screenshot is just a block east of Coors Blvd (NM 45), in a part of the city west of the Rio Grande, so it's not like the Rio Grande Blvd-centered western "neighborhood" of the in-game city is going to just be refreshed (unless that's what's going to happen, with some artistic liberty). Getting the Los Volcanes neighborhood instead of the current Old Town would make sense, since it's more industrial, so I'm wondering what else might be changing in the layout.

[raskol]

Friends, I caught something in the SCS Software Route 66 project. The image looks like the entrance to the canyon rocks coming from Arizona, as if they enlarged the area to a more detailed level.

Here's the image;[ external image ]

[Onagerlinn]

@rbsanford Yeah I guess it won't be quite so bad in NM, but it'll be much more noticeable on the AZ side. If you're running from Phoenix to Salt Lake it'll be a problem, though.

I-25 from ABQ to Raton is one of my favorite "older DLC" stretches of freeway. In fact, all of I-25 in NM is pretty solid