Texas Discussion Thread

[Trakaplex]

Probably spoilers, just aws the Katy Freeway isn't featured

The Katy isn't really an interchange, its just wide. The High Five, either spoiler or just not there. My guess is not there....for now. Like I mentioned a few post back, unless we get a depot in North Dallas, no point in the High 5. In the past I mentioned roads that could come off US-75 in order to get it a depot though. I'm routing for something to North Dallas though. Stopping in downtown Dallas removes a ton of retail and other business that are North of downtown. There is more to offer off US-75 and 635 than there is off I-35 and I-20. Between I-35, I-30, I-45, I-20, I-35 and US-75, these is a massive amount that Dallas could offer. I am sure the same can be said with Houston with I-10, I-45, I-610, I-69 and TX-8 that we probably won't get due to space.

Just by looking at the size of some of the interchanges in the interchange blog, those things are 1:1. Some are just as large as small cities as the blog stated. Imagine the High 5 being the same size as Trinidad, CO, Craig, CO, Monticello, UT, Shoshone, ID, Montpelier, ID....that adds up and takes up a ton of space. If we don't get 635 which I doubt, we won't get all of the High 5 anyways. That thing is massive. I watch traffic on it every day outside my office window. I too drive thru it and under it every day. The size of that thing is larger than some may think.

In order to get the High 5 in full, it would have to be the intersection of 2 interstates that ATS can not do without. In this case its I-635 and US-75. 635 is a loop and slim chance of it making the game despite having several large trucking warehouse areas off it. Dallas runs out of space because Ft. Worth also needs room to be a large city. No way DFW exist without Ft. Worth having its footprint in. Pic 7 and Pic 8 are probably the closets to High 5 size we get. The ramps are super long and stretches are at least 1/2 mile long in all directions in real life. I don't see that being enough space along with everything else Dallas needs. My guess is we get 50% of the High 5 though. SCS will have to be creative with it so that it looks right. US-75 thru the high 5 unfortunately is the very very bottom so the view is very limited. This actually helps SCS a lot though. They can hide a half of it.

Southbound https://www.google.com/maps/@32.9247308 ... 8192?hl=en

Northbound https://www.google.com/maps/@32.9230961 ... 8192?hl=en. My office building is the one brown curve front bldg in this view when looking back South. If SCS get this in, that will probably be the first and only bldg I've ever been in that makes ATS, lol.

I-635 was in the dds files though, but I guess that is unreliable. I guess it could be similar to I-405 around Seattle. Problems, if we don't get US-75 from Dallas to Sherman in Texas, and it comes with Oklahoma, I-635 may be omitted (that wouldn't be fun for me). True, DFW is taking up a lot of space with the rest of the map if the Texas Triangle is 1:20. Also it looks like we won't be getting Woodall Rodgers since the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge isn't in the POV of the Dallas pic taken on the McDermott Bridge. The only cool thing about Woodall Rodgers is Klyde Warren, so idc. But they didn't add I-635, that would be a disappointment. In the Xmas 2020 stream, they leaked part of I-345 over Elm St (was it?), so we will definitely get US-75. And I-635 between US-75 and I-30 has a heck of a lot of roadwork. I'm not even sure if they have that interchange at I-30 up-to-date. As someone in east Plano, I usually take PGBT, but still...

I can theoretically suspect we can have I-820 as well, but that isn't as traveled as much as 635. And we have Denton, I immediately recognized that screenshot.

Problems is that I-635 is a loop that doesn't become concurrent with any other major highway, as US-290/I-610 does in the Houston area. But take word for it- if I-635 and High Five was left out, Dallas area residents would be complaining like crazy.

[flight50]

I-635 signage yes. I-35 and I-30 would have those signs. And then there is the I-20 part that is concurrent with I-635 for like 1/2 mile so yes, a small portion of I-635 must make the game but it won't be the part we can hope for. But the actual road itself I can't see. I wish we could get small segments of 635 though. Like the entire interchange with the first exit ramp to make a delivery somewhere of US-75 and something around I-30. That works, but going from DFW airport to I-20, nah. There's no space for that.

I think US-75 should go to US-380 though. Going to US-82 is a long shot but I would love to see US-82 go from Wichita Falls to Texarkana. I just don't think Texarkana is a Texas city. It can go to Arkansas to give it another big city. Woodall really isn't necessary for 1:20. Not when we can go I-45 to US-75. Woodall doesn't save much time at all for ATS. I:10 different story.

I-635 between US-75 and I-30 is my path to work, lol. I live in South Garland near I-30 @ I-635 and work at the High 5 so I go thru all that crap, lol. Its going to be sweet once they finish though. I watch the progress every day. When that construction blog came, I was really hoping to see something for I-635 @ I-30 interchange. ATS could use some HH bridge support beams. Both metal I-beams and concrete. Then on I-30 @ Lake Ray Hubbard, there is a huge project going there. Now that should make the dlc if I-30 kicks out to Sulphur Springs or Mt. Pleasant. Both Dallas projects will be on going well after Texas dlc drops.

I don't think 820 gets in either. Only the South portion as its concurrent with I-20 is all we get and then the interchange for I-820 @ I-35W.

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[Jacob94]

id love to see scs get to put HEB into ATS for a reason its a Texas Thing

[flight50]

No HEB is a miss honestly. Texas is large enough and there are enough HEB's in Texas (300+) to do one-offs just for Texas. I'd rather see HEB in South Texas than the outrageously overused Wallbert. 8-10 HEB's works for Texas but not sure we get it. Let's hope.

Frisco, TX just opened up the first HEB in North TX. Up here in North Tx HEB runs 10 Central Markets though. Surely SCS could do 1 or 2 Central Markets as one offs but they probably won't. I'm not sure why the food sector companies in ATS are lacking so much if every dlc has some type of farming. Too much agriculture in ATS to lack so many food related depots as it does.

[oldmanclippy]

I'd be interested to find out what's going on in the east of the state. Right now we have very limited knowledge:

- US-96 goes north for at least a bit from its intersection with US-287
- US-287 is in between US-190 and US-96
- Woodville is scenic and at least US-190 runs through it
- US-190 will connect I-45 and Woodville
- US-59 is in between US-190 and US-287
- at least part of Lukfin's ring road is in, specifically the southernmost segment of US-59, with US-69 going off to the southeast modeled at least
- Tenaha will be a scenic town
- Longview will be marked
- US-271 south of I-20 will be used to at least get us to the travel plaza

And that's it. So here's a few big questions we don't know the answers to:

- Will Tyler be marked?
- Will Lukfin be marked?
- Will Paris be in the game at all?
- What about Nacogdoches?
- How far east will I-30 go?
- How far north will US-96 go?

East Texas is the region we know the least about by quite a large margin, and it's probably the region I'm most interested in due to its radically different geography from anything we've seen in ATS so far.

[Trakaplex]

I honestly agree with flight50, and that for Texarkana we may have to wait until Arkansas. I think we could see at least US-271 at Mt. Pleasant as the eastern terminus. Yet, when US-271 gets to Hugo, I think they could add US-259. Tyler has to be marked if Longview is marked. I know the wiki is unofficial, but it says Lufkin as well (when there is no evidence). I think Paris will make it if we both have US-271 and US-82. Nacogdoches could be inaccessible, since it right off US-59 north of Lufkin. I think we will get all of US-96, now that we have Tenaha but no Slisbee/Lumberton, but the connection from the north side of Beaumont would make sense.

[Hell_Raiser]

If we have Tenaha then we almost certainly get US-59 to atleast Marshall (which could be marked). US-259 will be needed for OK, and should go to atleast I-30, probably to US-82. Likewise, I-30 should go to atleast US-259, with Mt Pleasant marked.

I feel like Texarkana really would make more sense coming with Texas than Arkansas. It ties the road network in eastern Texas together nicely, gives the opertunity to add I-49 with LA if LA and AR aren't boundled. While it will be important for the road network in AR as well, it will already be in game so that wouldn't really be a major consideration.

[VTXcnME]

I-635 signage yes. I-35 and I-30 would have those signs. And then there is the I-20 part that is concurrent with I-635 for like 1/2 mile so yes, a small portion of I-635 must make the game but it won't be the part we can hope for. But the actual road itself I can't see. I wish we could get small segments of 635 though. Like the entire interchange with the first exit ramp to make a delivery somewhere of US-75 and something around I-30. That works, but going from DFW airport to I-20, nah. There's no space for that.

I think US-75 should go to US-380 though. Going to US-82 is a long shot but I would love to see US-82 go from Wichita Falls to Texarkana. I just don't think Texarkana is a Texas city. It can go to Arkansas to give it another big city. Woodall really isn't necessary for 1:20. Not when we can go I-45 to US-75. Woodall doesn't save much time at all for ATS. I:10 different story.

I-635 between US-75 and I-30 is my path to work, lol. I live in South Garland near I-30 @ I-635 and work at the High 5 so I go thru all that crap, lol. Its going to be sweet once they finish though. I watch the progress every day. When that construction blog came, I was really hoping to see something for I-635 @ I-30 interchange. ATS could use some HH bridge support beams. Both metal I-beams and concrete. Then on I-30 @ Lake Ray Hubbard, there is a huge project going there. Now that should make the dlc if I-30 kicks out to Sulphur Springs or Mt. Pleasant. Both Dallas projects will be on going well after Texas dlc drops.

I don't think 820 gets in either. Only the South portion as its concurrent with I-20 is all we get and then the interchange for I-820 @ I-35W.

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I-20 itself makes the game but not the interchange/expressway, correct? I really hope they don't start segmenting Interstate systems as we go east. . . . :/

[flight50]

Texas will have plenty of cities to visit so Texarkana helps Arkansas a lot more than it helps Texas. Longview was confirmed already based on blogs. Beaumont is a given so those 2 are perhaps the Eastern most cities. We also know that the Eastern portion of dlc's are always missing so Texarkana is not a day one must have. The roads connect up without it as long as we have US-59 and US-96 in the mix. Not to mention....Texas is huge. US-259, I-49 and Texarkana can really go to the much smaller Arkansas. Even a AK/LA is much smaller than Texas. Unless we get all of Texarkana with Texas, it benefits Arkansas a lot more. Texas will have 25-35 cities as is. Minus one won't hurt.

@VTXcnME Honestly I have to say that entire interchange must make the map. I don't think SCS does half interchanges. We should get the entire thing but I-635 is blocked off. Now US-175 gets skipped. No point in it. But with no continuation of I-635 North, there should be plenty of room for the entire I-635 @ I-20 interchange to exist. There's really nothing affecting it. If they can get all the interchanges in downtown Dallas in (which they don't have a choice), I-20 @ I-635 is a cake walk.

Solid chance of I-635 @ I-30 interchange getting skipped. We'll need the space because Lake Ray Hubbard must make the map. Now I-635 @ I-35 is iffy. It depends on how we get to DFW airport. I don't see that not coming. The microsite says there are airports and no way DFW and one of the Houston airports don't make it. They are the 2 that are worth putting in the game for sure. Airports is plural on the microsite so Texas gets at least 2 of them.

On page one of this thread, I highlighted all the possible interchanges that could come. Option 3 is the bare minimum but I did that sketch 2 years ago. A few more could get scratched. Only interchanges that are a must have are the main 2 digit interstates as we must get them to change direction to another city. We need to access all 4 directions. But I-820 loop, I-635 loop and US-75's High 5....they could skip those interchanges. Hopefully US-75 @ I-635 isn't skipped though. Its the crown jewel interchange in Dallas right now. But the one by my house...I-30 @ I-635, that one is really shaping up to be something else. Once its done, it might not matter because that interchange may get skipped anyways. If it doesn't, I'll definitely notify SCS for an update. There is the one on I-30 @ TX-360 that is getting a royal make over. If that makes the game (it might not due to space), SCS will have to update that one once its done.

[Hell_Raiser]

I really don't think that's a good reason to not include Texarkana in Texas. Sure, we should have atleast 28 other marked cities in Texas, but adding one more isn't going to hurt it. Especially when that city ties together the road network in a more logical way. It is close enough to US-259 that it would be a good idea to do them at the same time, and we will need US-259 before AR.

As for AR needing the extra city, there will be plenty of other cities to chose from, and the density of cities should be considerably increased by then. The limiting factor for AR cities will be how many will fit with the map scale, so fudging Texarkana a bit further west might actually help.

While SCS has regularly left off sections of road at the edge of a state that wouldn't connect to another marked city, they haven't left of a major city. It's possible they could start now, but it certainly isn't ideal.

Edit: Additionally, we know we are getting Tenaha as a scenic town. Including that section of US-59 only makes sense if Carthage, Marshall, or Texarkana are marked town's. I initially thought it would be Marshall, but that is probably a little close to Longview. Carthage could work, but it doesn't have a lot of options for depots. I think Texarkana is the most likely of those three to make the game.