Montana Discussion Thread

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Trucker_71
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Re: Montana Discussion Thread

#3781 Post by Trucker_71 » 14 Aug 2022 15:30

killingjoke28336 wrote: 14 Aug 2022 14:54 There is nearly nothing left in the USA when you are a mountain guy. Eastern US is basically Europe without the Alps.
Plenty of hilly terrain in the S. east. Tennessee, Kentucky etc.
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flight50
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Re: Montana Discussion Thread

#3782 Post by flight50 » 14 Aug 2022 15:36

Correct. The Appalachians are just as beautiful but in a totally different way. Some like them more than the Rocky's. Others like the Rockies more. But the mistake SCS can't do is make them the same height as the Rockies. Irl, they are basically half the height of the rocks. I think we still get real elevation thru them though. But consider Montana as the exit dlc from the Rocky's. The rebuilds will get reworked so yeah there's that.

This weekend, I'd driving the rest of Western Montana. I have Harve, Kalispell and Lewistown on the menu. I'm in Great Falls now and boy does it seem huge. Yet if fits so nicely on the map. Good things map wise can happen when there is space. So I'm going to travel North of I-90 this week and keep West of Harve and Lewiston and see how I like it. I'm saving Going to the Sun last if I can help it. I want to come from Eastern Washington or Idaho to make that trip to like Harve...twice, lol. Once for US-2 all the way and the other to cover Going to the Sun. The recommendation was to travel it from West to East.
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Re: Montana Discussion Thread

#3783 Post by oldmanclippy » 14 Aug 2022 15:46

flight50 wrote: 14 Aug 2022 15:36 Correct. The Appalachians are just as beautiful but in a totally different way. Some like them more than the Rocky's. Others like the Rockies more. But the mistake SCS can't do is make them the same height as the Rockies. Irl, they are basically half the height of the rocks. I think we still get real elevation thru them though. But consider Montana as the exit dlc from the Rocky's. The rebuilds will get reworked so yeah there's that.

This weekend, I'd driving the rest of Western Montana. I have Harve, Kalispell and Lewistown on the menu. I'm in Great Falls now and boy does it seem huge. Yet if fits so nicely on the map. Good things map wise can happen when there is space. So I'm going to travel North of I-90 this week and keep West of Harve and Lewiston and see how I like it. I'm saving Going to the Sun last if I can help it. I want to come from Eastern Washington or Idaho to make that trip to like Harve...twice, lol. Once for US-2 all the way and the other to cover Going to the Sun. The recommendation was to travel it from West to East.
Prominence is the metric we should care about when talking about how high the mountains should be in the games, not elevation, IMO. And in that sense, there's a good number of mountains in the east with prominence to rival the West. The Rockies aren't as prominent as you would think in relation to the roads near them. The Appalachians should get us some tall mountains that seem as some of the ones out west in-game. But of course they should be much easier to model in general compared to the Rockies due to the lack of, well, rockiness :)

I would recommend doing US-2 east to west personally. But that's just subjective preference. It's a great road either way.
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Re: Montana Discussion Thread

#3784 Post by killingjoke28336 » 14 Aug 2022 16:10

Trucker_71 wrote: 14 Aug 2022 15:30
killingjoke28336 wrote: 14 Aug 2022 14:54 There is nearly nothing left in the USA when you are a mountain guy. Eastern US is basically Europe without the Alps.
Plenty of hilly terrain in the S. east. Tennessee, Kentucky etc.
Exactly, hilly but not rocky like the Rocky Mountains.
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Re: Montana Discussion Thread

#3785 Post by flight50 » 14 Aug 2022 16:11

Yeah I like the way Going to the Sun was described here viewtopic.php?p=1728745#p1728745. I like to have it hit like bam after a corner. I'd do it got ways eventually though.

The rockies is imposing. That's what it has going for it.
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Re: Montana Discussion Thread

#3786 Post by AchUssGer » 14 Aug 2022 18:16

Montana is great.... actually at a loss for words
I will later describe my impressions in detail

...but one thing in advance:
I found this in glasgow almost at the same place in google maps
[ external image ]
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Re: Montana Discussion Thread

#3787 Post by oldmanclippy » 14 Aug 2022 21:07

flight50 wrote: 14 Aug 2022 16:11 Yeah I like the way Going to the Sun was described here viewtopic.php?p=1728745#p1728745. I like to have it hit like bam after a corner. I'd do it got ways eventually though.

The rockies is imposing. That's what it has going for it.
Oh yeah I'd recommend doing Going-to-the-Sun west to east as well, I was talking about doing US-2 east to west.
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Re: Montana Discussion Thread

#3788 Post by rbsanford » 15 Aug 2022 01:48

Well, now that I've driven just about every road in Montana, most of the major highways both ways, and have explored every city, I can give my two cents.

It's nice to have another state I've been to IRL, and Montana's the western state I've been in the most. It's pretty neat to see something in the game and go "Huh, I've been there," like Marias Pass (Game | Real, as seen from the other side of the highway), the Two Medicine Gorge (Game | Real), and Cut Bank Coulee (Game | Real). Something I would've liked to see in the game, however, was the Sweet Grass Hills; between Havre and Shelby is some of the flattest land there is, and to the north of US 2/the railroad are those isolated mountains, like islands on a sea of grass. That's really my only complaint about US 2, and it's one of the few complaints I have; it's not a dealbreaker at all, though. It was great, though, to see the Crazies from I-90. I remember those were the first real rocky, snowcapped mountains I had ever seen in person, way back when 12 years ago, and I was surprised at the time that it looked like little streaks of snow instead of the big blankets they're often shown having, and that there really is snow up there in the middle of summer. From what I remember, I-90 between Bozeman and Crow Agency, US 191 between Bozeman and West Yellowstone, and I-94 all the way to Glendive are pretty accurate in their vibes. It may not be completely realistic, as people are quick to point out, but I think the feel of it was nailed.

One thing I was really happy to see was I-15's three crossings of the Great Divide. I was sure Monida and Elk Park Passes would be shoe-ins, but Deer Lodge Pass (the one just south of the Port of Montana) is obscure and isn't very prominent, so I was afraid it would be skipped, but sure enough, it made it! 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. The other passes are all excellent, especially Homestake, and I love I-90's course west of Butte, through all those gorges. My only complaint in this department is how the Missouri River Canyon felt a little toned down from how it is IRL, but it's still a fairly scenic area. Also, I-15, between Great Falls and Shelby, crosses the Dry Fork Marias River instead of the main stream of the Marias like US 87 (I loved that detail), but that's really not a big deal, I don't know how many other people noticed that, but I can't imagine it's very many. Despite those two blips, it's very satisfying to see I-15 more or less complete (all we need now are reworks to everything south of Vegas, or at least between Vegas and I-10, and maybe an extension to I-5), and I feel the same way about US 191 (never mind the missing chunk between Lewistown and I-90; I'd love to see it, but I can get by without it) and US 93; three more major highways that have been in the game since the beginning (well, the 191 was four months later) now at their full length, at least until Canada and Mexico have them go the last legs to the borders. It's also very nice to see that huge gap in I-90 filled, and US 2 given a big boost eastward (we are now 644 miles from Duluth).

If I had to sum up Montana's towns and cities in two words, they would be "detailed" and "lively." The team did a fantastic job with all the murals across the state, as well as the historical markers (even though the text besides the title can't be read, it's easy to cross-reference the ones in the game with those listed on the Historical Markers Database) and all the dinosaur statues in the Badlands. All the unique churches, courthouses, statues, tourist traps, train stations, etc., etc... it's all amazing dedication and attention to detail. Annie's work also helps a lot, hopefully she'll be kept busy going forwards. My favorite city is a tough call, but it might be either Butte or Miles City. Butte is incredibly scenic and has some good surface roads, but I really like what was done with Miles City's Bushnell depots. Missoula is also up there; Thompson Falls would be too, if only it had a rest area.

TL;DR: it's pretty good.

I'd rate Montana 9.5/10. I have some 250 screenshots already taken in and around the state right here, awaiting captioning, if anyone's interested.
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Handy maps and diagrams.

Furthermore, I consider that I-80 across Nevada must be redone next.
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Re: Montana Discussion Thread

#3789 Post by hangman005 » 15 Aug 2022 11:40

Have to double check on an unmodded profile when I get home, but I noticed driving through Greybull the out of sync traffic light bug has been fixed, by removing the entire traffic light :lol: Can't imagine it's a mod conflict with what I run, but want to double check when I get home.
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Re: Montana Discussion Thread

#3790 Post by 55sixxx » 15 Aug 2022 12:43

flight50 wrote: 14 Aug 2022 15:36 Correct. The Appalachians are just as beautiful but in a totally different way. Some like them more than the Rocky's. Others like the Rockies more. But the mistake SCS can't do is make them the same height as the Rockies. Irl, they are basically half the height of the rocks. I think we still get real elevation thru them though. But consider Montana as the exit dlc from the Rocky's. The rebuilds will get reworked so yeah there's that.

This weekend, I'd driving the rest of Western Montana. I have Harve, Kalispell and Lewistown on the menu. I'm in Great Falls now and boy does it seem huge. Yet if fits so nicely on the map. Good things map wise can happen when there is space. So I'm going to travel North of I-90 this week and keep West of Harve and Lewiston and see how I like it. I'm saving Going to the Sun last if I can help it. I want to come from Eastern Washington or Idaho to make that trip to like Harve...twice, lol. Once for US-2 all the way and the other to cover Going to the Sun. The recommendation was to travel it from West to East.
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.
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