West Balkans Expansion Discussion

[LegoTechnicFanBoi]

Southern part of Dalmatia - Dubrovnik Region belongs to Croatia IRL but in ETS2 it's shown as part of Montenegro. I noticed this error while browsing world map

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[DeltyM]

@oldmanclippy the outline of the mountains in the background fits very accurately, you can even see the river that flows through the valley, streetview is from 2016, satellite images come that the road is from 2020 and the road lines. The image must be more or less north-oriented according to the shadows

[oldmanclippy]

@oldmanclippy the outline of the mountains in the background fits very accurately, you can even see the river that flows through the valley, streetview is from 2016, satellite images come that the road is from 2020 and the road lines. The image must be more or less north-oriented according to the shadows

That is a good point, the background mountains are pretty close. And yep the satellite does have the correct road markings. It's just those distinctive rock formations that are throwing me off. I wonder if there was a landslide at one point that got rid of the rocks, and SCS was using a source pre-landslide? Something along those lines. It is a bit strange that everything else seems to fit so well but then there's one detail in the screenshot that's quite distinctive that's nowhere to be found IRL.

I'll mark it as orange-inconclusive on the map like the Split marina. But I think you've convinced me that this is in all likelihood the correct location.

So that just leaves pic 5 without a solid candidate.

Pic 1 klopps: The Adriatic Highway at the Verige Strait in the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro, just north of the ferry that might someday be replaced by the Verige Bridge
Pic 2 Aljaz: Đurđevića Tara Bridge on P4 road in Montenegro
Pic 3 DeltyM (inconclusive): SH5 in Shkodër County, Albania
Pic 4 Aljaz: A3/R1311 roundabout in Bitola, North Macedonia
Pic 6 Edoo_Kaplan: M4/M18 interchange at Šićki Brod, B&H
Pic 7 DeltyM (inconclusive): Zenta Marina in Split, Croatia
Pic 8 DeltyM/Edoo_Kaplan: M17 over the Neretva River between Mostar and Jablanica, B&H
Pic 9: see pic 8
Pic 10 DeltyM: E-75 Northbound near Mladost Lake, North Macedonia
Pic 11: see pic 6

[Aziz]

I'm basing my guess only on 5 minutes in google translate. It appears that only in Albanian "restaurant" is written "Restorant" and I think that's what it says in the picture. The only thing that's missing are the pedestrian crossings but I'm yet to find one that's not absolutely faded out in street view, to see if there's one painted red and white.

[DeltyM]

pic #5 When searching, I would advise to rely mainly on the mountains in the background, this is the most accurate part of the picture, the orientation I guess is northeast or southwest. GPS location: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.3309743 ... a=!3m1!1e3 is very similar, but I don't think so.

[oldmanclippy]

@DeltyM I assume you mean this view? https://www.google.com/maps/@41.3307848 ... 312!8i6656 It's actually a pretty decent fit. It's oriented southeast, but you can see a lone minaret in the distance (the Unazës së Re Mosque), there's a wall that appears to be there in satellite view still, the building to the left of the street view camera has a roof that matches the one on the close left building in the video as the camera pans down, the building ahead to the right is pretty good match, and there's new apartment buildings in that field now. Hills aren't directly in this view IRL but it wouldn't be much for the orientation to be slightly different in-game, and then the hills off to the left IRL become a better match (and then also give us a northeast orientation possibly). Plus northeast would be the direction they would push that road towards if the construction zone is indeed in that direction, to separate it more from the main road.

I personally think it's close enough to mark as inconclusive. Looks like there's still ongoing construction projects in that area via satellite view which could explain why the road is included.

Pic 1 klopps: The Adriatic Highway at the Verige Strait in the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro, just north of the ferry that might someday be replaced by the Verige Bridge
Pic 2 Aljaz: Đurđevića Tara Bridge on P4 road in Montenegro
Pic 3 DeltyM (inconclusive): SH5 in Shkodër County, Albania
Pic 4 Aljaz: A3/R1311 roundabout in Bitola, North Macedonia
Pic 5 DeltyM (inconclusive): Feizi Himzo Street @ Nexho Konomi Street in Tirana, Albania
Pic 6 Edoo_Kaplan: M4/M18 interchange at Šićki Brod, B&H
Pic 7 DeltyM (inconclusive): Zenta Marina in Split, Croatia
Pic 8 DeltyM/Edoo_Kaplan: M17 over the Neretva River between Mostar and Jablanica, B&H
Pic 9: see pic 8
Pic 10 DeltyM: E-75 Northbound near Mladost Lake, North Macedonia
Pic 11: see pic 6

So nothing yet from Slovenia, Serbia, or Kosovo if all the locations are correct. Serbia and Kosovo's absence from the reveal blog doesn't surprise me, but Slovenia's does. I would have thought that they would be working that sort of in tandem with the Austria rework, as a lot of the environmental assets can be shared I would imagine. Maybe they were but they just didn't have anything complete enough to share.

I do hope we get a West Balkans microsite like we did with Texas and Montana, along with a list of planned-but-subject-to-change blog post titles. Border Crossings would be a very fun blog to get

[DeltyM]

@oldmanclippy yes, I meant exactly this shot, but I'm taking it for granted, I'm looking for more convincing evidence. as a tip it's good

EDIT: I managed to identify the second shadow from another direction, so I will specify the location during the weekend

[Janaff]

To compile all the #5 ideas, I suggested Shkodër, @mickymike suggested a spot in central Tirana, and DeltyM above suggested a spot in the west of Tirana.

Of these, I think Mickymike's idea is the least likely due to the distance from the location to the Mosque. I think between my idea and Delty's, my idea has a closer matching Mosque minaret, but doesn't have as easy of a view to the background mountains.

As a disclaimer, I am not familiar with the languages and cultures of the Balkans beyond the surface level. But if the main hint of the image is an sign in Albanian, is there a possibility that this image could instead be in Kosovo?

[Trucker Nik]

I hope to receive a blog about the Balkan DLC soon, 12 days have passed since the announcement this extension

[jackalnxt]

It is possible, however, practically speaking, it is more likely to be Albania, simply by following the pattern of the 'presentable' roads. Also, Kosovo is unlikely to have more than 1 or 2 non capital cities, so the implication should be that it's Albania.