Texas Discussion Thread

[flight50]

Texas has been in development since 2019, almost 4 years. it cannot be developed forever[/b].
Last year we received only one DLC, Wyoming. if there is one DLC again this year, Montana, then it will be sad even more .

It would be sad but its for a greater cause. I'd have to agree actually. A better complete product.

If release Texas in early 2023 in favor of new companies, I'm fine with that. Of course, if currently many companies are already working for the 2D designers and the 3D designers
Mostly fans of companies and who generally notices them only on this forum in the main. On Steam, among the negative comments on any DLC, I did not notice that someone would complain about the small number of new companies every time. or noticed it at all, their absence. Even in Idaho where we got Zero new companies, how many positive reviews about Idaho DLC, and among the small number of negative reviews about the lack of new companies that their Zero is possible only 1-5 reviews, only 1%. Mostly complaints - few roads, few cities, optimization - all as always .

You won't see the same comments on Steam because its been noted by SCS several times that this forum is where the more hardcore players are. Steam you get causals that really don't care much about all aspects of the game. Steam would care more about visuals but on here there is a larger expectation. You can easily tell that by the types of conversations that go on here. So comparing Steam to this forum is a totally different group of mindsets.

I really hope we'll see BUC-EE's (or ATS version) in TX

You might want to read the February 15th blog. 3rd paragraph. https://blog.scssoft.com/2022/02/texas-truck-stops.html

But the problem is that we know SCS hasn't dealt with the AI traffic in a long time, and would be a mess around Texas interchanges. It's something Pavel indeed promised in one stream, but it hasn't been talked about lately.

Pavel never promised this. In fact it was Jakub on that segment on the stream when they showed Dallas off US-75 looking down Elm St. (iirc the exact road) at Reunion Tower. He said that they are working on trying to get busier environmnets.......no promises. Any time SCS says they are working on something, a lot of people twist those words and say SCS promised. You all spread those rumors and some people believe you. SCS never promises anything that far out because they have zero idea if they can pull it off. When they mention a feature/upgrade that is w.i.p. That stream was 1.5 years ago. If they say this or that is coming, that means they got something working or release ready to show off and then talk about it.

If release Texas in early 2023 in favor of new companies, I'm fine with that. Of course, if currently many companies are already working for the 2D designers and the 3D designers team, I believe it will not be a problem and Texas releases this year.

I drank a magic potion and grew a second pair of arms, we've got this dw

Ohhhhh yeah. This is what I'm talking about. So we have confirmation that Annie is working in overdrive. I sure hope she is on the Texas release stream to talk about everything she has worked on. We haven't seen her since Colorado and Texas is too large of a dlc to not get a segment without her. I think Texas needs a 2hr release stream though. So many important people that should give us details. Annie, Raven, Simon/Patrik, Pavel and of course Nemiro and Alex.

So if she says she go it....she got it. But what we'll have to see is how much new we get. Its not her call as to how many new companies Texas comes with. That call is made by someone else so lets hope they made the right choice as to what Annie gets to design for. Texas is huge so I hope Petr helped her with a few things at least.

[Tristman]

Depends on how you define tons, but I expect around 15-20 new prefabs which is more than average of newly introduced prefabs in an ETS2 or ATS dlc.

They would need at least 17 to equal Oregon, so here's hoping.

Also, nice to see Annie's post. If the amount we get is lower than what we were hoping for, at least it's not on the 2D team.

[flight50]

17? I thought Oregon produced like 11 new companies. Although 17 would be more ideal for Texas imo. In order for Texas to get that many though, I think that backs into what I always talk about. The asset team and research team needs to pause or dedicate some people and introduce a flood of national based companies. These are the ones that can be used in a huge portion of the US. They cover anywhere from 50% to 100% of the US. Some companies rebrand themselves in other regions but still operate under the same parent company. Then Texas has some regional stuff and of course some state specific stuff.

Its the one off for any dlc that can set the tone. Bring character to a state. The best thing to do for one offs is to make them generic enough that they can be rebranded a few times and rarely used. Example: Build a distribution center than is so generic that it could be used by 3-4 different companies and probably only used about 5-6 times for the entire game. They'd be quite spread out so the infrequent use wouldn't be that big of a deal. Such an example would be Blue Bell Ice Cream and H.E.B. in Texas. Make a factory for Blue Bell and a distribution center and a retail store for H.E.B. 2 generic prefabs for H.E.B.'s distribution and retail store can benefit several companies if they are generic enough.

[SCS_Annie]

Depends on how you define tons, but I expect around 15-20 new prefabs which is more than average of newly introduced prefabs in an ETS2 or ATS dlc.

They would need at least 17 to equal Oregon, so here's hoping.

Also, nice to see Annie's post. If the amount we get is lower than what we were hoping for, at least it's not on the 2D team.

We still have much work to do but I believe and hope fans will be pleased.

[VTXcnME]

Mostly fans of companies and who generally notices them only on this forum in the main. On Steam, among the negative comments on any DLC, I did not notice that someone would complain about the small number of new companies every time. or noticed it at all, their absence. Even in Idaho where we got Zero new companies, how many positive reviews about Idaho DLC, and among the small number of negative reviews about the lack of new companies that their Zero is possible only 1-5 reviews, only 1%. Mostly complaints - few roads, few cities, optimization - all as always .
No matter how perfect Texas will be, people will still complain ) people love to complain ) the more you give them, the more they want and demand)

So, like the gas stations argument folks had a recently when they rebranded everything for 1.45... I really don't notice the signs, I'm there to fuel up, not have a photoshoot. The in game businesses are mostly the same, I really don't notice them too much. Until you are looking for your delivery point and see the same exact companies recycled over and over and over again.

If Texas brings what we're looking at for delivery cities (I've heard anything for 20 to 30 cities) plus the delivery points that are considered part of a given city but are really in a scenery town adjacent, that's going to be a LOT of repetition. How many Walberts can you place in one city before it feels wrong? 2? 3? What's the harm in making a Walbert and a competing store called Bullseye, or some other parody of Target?

At the end of the day it really doesn't matter, but we're here to discuss things for Texas, and for me, that'll be one negative. Excessive repetition. But here's the cool thing: You have one opinion and I have another, and neither are incorrect.

[SCS_Annie]

I drank a magic potion and grew a second pair of arms, we've got this dw

Ohhhhh yeah. This is what I'm talking about. So we have confirmation that Annie is working in overdrive. I sure hope she is on the Texas release stream to talk about everything she has worked on. We haven't seen her since Colorado and Texas is too large of a dlc to not get a segment without her. I think Texas needs a 2hr release stream though. So many important people that should give us details. Annie, Raven, Simon/Patrik, Pavel and of course Nemiro and Alex.

So if she says she go it....she got it. But what we'll have to see is how much new we get. Its not her call as to how many new companies Texas comes with. That call is made by someone else so lets hope they made the right choice as to what Annie gets to design for. Texas is huge so I hope Petr helped her with a few things at least.

I did a few smaller streams since but yeah it's been a while since I showed my mug on the stream
And regarding Petr, he has done a LOT of work for the DLC, he's a joy to work with . Matches my energy. He's very experienced too. We try our hardest improving ATS the best we can.

[fra_ba]

@flight50 That number is concerned with new delivery depots though. Some of the depots like timber harvest and sawmills are all deepgroove. Also two of new prefabs belong to P&S from base map and two depots for avalanche. In terms of new companies like you said, I think it was around 10 for Oregon. That's the part ATS is lagging compared with ETS2.

[VTXcnME]

I was blown away by what was done in Montana. I'm hoping Texas is going to have the same effect. Been a long time coming.

Mostly nervous about over-recycling of current assets, but it appears that might not be an issue! Thanks for checking in Annie.

[flight50]

@SCS_Annie I love your energy. I think a lotttt of people here can agree. I'm always smiling when I watch you on the streams. Its always nice to see devs come in to do quick post too. So thanks for taking time out your busy schedule to do so. Its always great to see your work and feel your excitement. Its amazing to see how you think design wise.

If Petr is matching you, I think ATS is in great hands. I hope you get a chance to do some of that 3d modeling you mentioned in the past. As one of ATS's biggest fans, I think what you and Petr do now and in the future will literally give ATS a second life visually. Graphically ATS is now coming to life since you arrived. After this beast (Texas) is done, states get much smaller so hopefully even the past assets can get some love as well as introducing new things to the past areas already done.

@fra_ba. Gotcha. I misinterpreted, my fault. I see now Tristman responded to your prefab comment. Yeah its not the prefabs themselves I was thinking, I'm so new company oriented, lol. I'm always cool with new prefabs from the same companies. That too brings variety but getting actual new companies is even more critical. Imho, I think SCS can always create new prefabs for existing companies whenever. They can get swapped out, placed here, placed there whenever. But new companies, that takes more time and coding. New companies have to get integrated into the economy. So the larger the flood of new companies, the easier the future for placing those. This is a lot more powerful with the national based companies.

Example, if we got just (1) Sam's Club or Costco's prefab (there's at least 15+ I always mention). Get those in ATS now and it can go in all current states (where they exist). In future dlc's, make 1-2 other prefabs. Mappers at that point can place any of the 3 for the US vs just that one. So start small and they expand once established as a depot. Variety for prefabs but diversity for new companies. Both go hand in hand.

Regional companies, Texas is the first in the South region. Kansas should be the first in the MidWest. So these regions are fairly new. There is time to develop new. The West is complete so its harder to go back and implement things but that too must happen eventually. If Texas can bring a few national companies, that sets up all of ATS. If Texas can bring a few regional, that sets up the South. Kansas could easily be on the menu for 2023 so the same can happen there. But from now until Kansas, there are a lotttt of national companies that can bring diversity to ATS. As more industries comes, a lot more missing middle men companies should pop up. Whatever Texas doesn't address, we'll have to wait and see how SCS pushes the logistics system in the future. What dots can we connect to get more complete cargo chains is what I'd love to see. When Pavel mentioned features and cargo on the Montana stream, that gives a glimmer of hope that he now acknowledges what ATS lacks for logistics.

@VTXcnME I totally agree. If Texas doesn't outshine Montana, people are going to bring up the development time. I can see the comments now. Texas will not outshine Montana in regards to natural beauty. That is totally different aspect. But everywhere else, Texas could be just as good. We already know the cities and road network will outshine. It has too. With the space for road density and just the sheer potential for cities, its just a lot to take in. Not only the accessible cities, but think about all the scenic cities we'll get, the rest stops, truck stops, introduction to new interstates and US hwys. A lot of new can come to Texas across the playing field.

[55sixxx]

Look, I ain't trying to be the bad guy here or anything but... Texas has to be a 2022 release. Releasing it later at early 2023 just to make extra companies for it is a bit weird and it would impact the release of the next states without a doubt. If they can't ship it with a lof of new companies at release then it's fine, just ship the ones that couldn't make it into day one with a future update, like they do with extra roads.