Montana Discussion Thread

[oldmanclippy]

And it's a shame that we didn't get Bozeman Pass in all its glory, but I really have to give the devs credit for putting a summit there, so at least there's a representation of the pass.

Yeah considering how little room they left themselves between Bozeman and "Livingston", I thought they did a surprisingly good job capturing the vibe of Bozeman Pass, even if it is extremely shortened.

and US 2 given a big boost eastward (we are now 644 miles from Duluth).

What's really crazy is that Culbertson to Duluth is just about the same exact distance as Culbertson to the Idaho border via US-2. So from Sandpoint to Duluth, Montana already got us more than half way there in terms of US-2's length.

My suggestion would be a full I-90 trip... And like I said to some of my friends over at our Discord, my first trip through Montana wasn't even TO Montana. (Gilette to Wenatchee, because I couldn't find anything to Seattle).

When you do this route, you experience everything twice. First there's the Mountains right next to Seattle and then it get's to dryer grasslands after Wenatchee, after you're past Spokane the lush forests comes back so as the Mountains and then Grasslands are on the menu again right after you pass Butte and they continue all the way to Gilette and beyond.

Yeah I-90 being complete from Seattle to Moorcroft might be my favorite thing that Montana gave us. It's definitely one of my favorite trips in either game now. It's the first time in ATS where I've gotten the feeling of doing part of a true cross country road trip. I-10 and I-80 aren't completely in good quality, while I-70, I-15, and I-25 are mostly good but they aren't part of true cross-country roads. I-5 will give that feeling to a lesser extent when CA rework is finished, but when I think of cross-country I think of west-east. I-90 is, and taking it I can imagine what it will be like to have that segment be part of a coast to coast Seattle to Boston trip, and it's really amazing. That is the ultimate promise of ATS, the goal that they're pushing towards. Now that I-90 has its gap filled, the next big milestone like that might be Seattle to Chicago, but I think it's probable that either I-80 or I-10 get their reworks before Wisconsin comes to finish the job. So San Francisco to Chicago or Los Angeles to Houston will most likely come first.

Wisconsin and probably Minnesota will probably create the last gap on I-90. Once those are filled in, then it should be linear forward progress on I-90 all the way to Boston. I-80 hopefully won't get any gaps as long as Iowa comes before Illinois, which it should IMO. I-10, zero possibility for gaps to appear.

[55sixxx]

Wisconsin and probably Minnesota will probably create the last gap on I-90.

I don't see how there would be a hole, unless I'm missing something. Because Wisconsin most probably won't come before Minnesota. And as long we get SD first, MN second and then WI, there will be no gaps as far as I know. It will only end sooner.

[oldmanclippy]

I don't see how there would be a hole, unless I'm missing something. Because Wisconsin most probably won't come before Minnesota. And as long we get SD first, MN second and then WI, there will be no gaps as far as I know. It will only end sooner.

I think we'll probably get Illinois before Minnesota or Wisconsin, so that's where the gap comes from.

[55sixxx]

If I'm being honest, that would create a weird shape on the map with IL sticking out like a un-hammered nail.

Like I mentioned in another thread, I think what could probably happen is after SCS finish stacking the states above Texas (KS, NE, SD and ND), they'll start heading east and a bit south all at the same time... So that would give us MN/IA first, MO/AR after, WI/IL in third and then MI/IN/OH.

That way, we would have a smoother map border without having to contour a state's border to get to another (Similar to what we had to do to get from Washington to Utah, without Idaho as a middle ground, or what we had to do to get from NV to NM, or maybe even WA to NM). And we would already be bordering Pennsylvania as soon as 2026. Because it's like I said before, the map teams are getting bigger and bigger by the day and Pavel knows we want and that ATS needs to at least reach the East Coast a lot sooner, bundling up states is the way to go especially when at least 75% of each state will be cut off. SCS simply can't keep with this "2 or even 1 state per year" from now on.

[flight50]

On the Montana stream, Pavel mentioned a few things. We know the intent but we have zero knowledge as to how things will come. We all can speculate all day long. Nobody is wrong at this point until those states are released. I wouldn't even say announced states determine releasee because one state could jump ahead of another even in the central states just like Montana recently jumped Texas. If one team moves faster than the other, why hold it back. Start making capitol asap.

[killingjoke28336]

Just notice another odd thing, why didn't they make Dillon a marked city? I just had to drive 100 miles to pick up cargo from Butte and took the interstate exit where it says Dillon. Odd choice to make this industry belong to Butte.
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[flight50]

I wouldn't have marked Dillon myself honestly. Its either mark it to Butte or don't put the depot in at all. 100 miles is about the max I'd do for a remote depot. I like remote depots because they make you explore parts of a dlc that you normally wouldn't.

[killingjoke28336]

Yeah me too, but this just seemed very odd to me to drive 100 miles away from the city to Dillon and it is specified as Butte cargo pick up.

[MarkON]

World Of Trucks event - Cruising Montana. Community goal done

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[flight50]

So less than 2 weeks. I'm not surprised. Its a pretty good dlc so far. I still have a lot more to discover myself before I hit my personal goal.