Nebraska Discussion Thread

[oldmanclippy]

I think Ogallala can be scenic if need be. I'm not convinced the need is there since like others have said the I-80 cities in Nebraska are more set back from the interstate and generally have one major exit so their location can be cheated a bit.

US-30 can start in Grand Island. It'd be nice to get it parallel of I-80 west of there but it needs to get us from Grand Island to Columbus/US-81 to Omaha.

Marked cities I think 10-12 is a good number. Scottsbluff, Chadron, Valentine, Norfolk, Columbus, Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Kearney, North Platte, and maybe Ogallala or even McCook or Beatrice, Hastings, or Broken Bow if they wanted to throw a surprise in there.

Omaha they can do without having to go into Council Bluffs for NE. US-275 can come from Fremont as scenic and then the interchanges with I-80 and US-75 can be modeled so they can keep I-80 in Omaha proper free of extra exits.

I-480, that's a tough one. If it gets modeled, then I-480 @ US-75 would need to be modeled in which case they might as well get us across the river on I-480 once Iowa comes. But I think we should get the US-275 bridge over the river too with Iowa, so then that would be 3 bridges over the river and that's a lot. But there's a good amount of room to play with with Omaha so they could potentially pull it off.

If we're ever going to get downtown in a big city though I think Omaha could be the place to do it. I'm pretty sure US-6 is truckable and downtown Omaha is pretty small in general so if they were feeling particularly ambitious it could be a good opportunity to take advantage of.

I think what's most likely is that we just get I-80 and US-75 through the city with exits off of them. But I think Omaha has enough opportunities to do cool stuff with it that I'd like to see something a bit more intricate.

[flight50]

I think Omaha could be a really crown jewel. I'd love to see it be about the size of Redding with lots of exploration to do. It really the main city to go all out on with Lincoln trailing at 60-70% of Omaha's size. I-29 is just over the river with Council Bluffs. One of 3 things can happen.

1) Keep Omaha to Nebraska only so model up to the Missouri River.
2) With nothing to get to in Iowa, go ahead and do Council Bluffs as part of Omaha in one big lump sump. Go ahead and model I-80, I-29 and I-680 as a loop around with US-75 coming thru
3) Do number one but when Iowa finally comes, add Council Bluffs then and add a few remote depots to Omaha.

Now the problem with number 3 is I don't know if they can add remote depots to Omaha if Council Bluffs is part of Iowa. Seems like number 2 is the best way to eliminate the issue of number 3. Heck I really don't know how it all works but Omaha should be a pretty good sized city. Lincoln can push West a bit to give Omaha space to be like Redding.

If OK/KS/NE is the target for 2024, I soooo hope AR/MO/IA is 2024. Getting I-49 and I-29 in the game before both North and South Dakota really helps. With Kansas City in the mix, it ties in Omaha, Des Moines and Oklahoma City very well. Then there is DFW on that same link of interstates along with St Louis further East which sets up Chicago with
I-55. OKC to Fort Smith along I-40 all the way to I-55, then North. Chicago can get I-70, I-80, I-44 and I-55 going for it. East of I-55 is when interstates really becomes intertwined.

So the next 2 years with set the tone of what SCS is thinking. I think the xmas stream this year could be a very exciting one.

[fra_ba]

I expect Council Bluffs be marked, seems important trucking-wise. On Omaha, I would like to see some representation of Carter Lake, Iowa. It would be a nice detail since it is located west of the river and there are some Iowa welcome signs.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.2870683 ... a=!3m1!1e3
Beside some typical industries, UP bailey yard is a must since it is the largest rail yard in the US. I hope for a new rail cargo company too.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.1517264 ... a=!3m1!1e3

[angrybirdseller]

US-30 should be parallel from Wyoming state line why not use if it available starts at Pine Bluff Wyoming end US-30 in Fremont to give room for Omaha. The cities and depots should of more spread out not always in town like they been in the past. The US-30 goes into the same towns as I-80 till Grand Island veers off goes to Fremont. There is benefit with detours and add small delivery depots for corn and soybean drop off points for animal feed.

Both US-30 and I-80 connect to exactly the same towns as I-80 till Grand Island. In Kimball won't be marked city, but it can have cargo depot along US-30 and truckstop with NE-71 connection to Scottsbluff is there as well, and extend US-30 east to Sidney to US-385 these two connect no problems. From Sidney to Ogallala US-30 and I-80 are options there as well as US-26 connects to US-30 as well and from Ogallala to North Platte same things as previous towns. North Platte to Kearney can add Cozad as scenery town along US-30 with landmark about 100th degree parallel. From Kearney to Grand Island along US-30 there sizable business and industries long the strip, and finally from Grand Island to Columbus veer away from I-80 then you can have US-34 that parallel I-80 to Lincoln.

With US-34 add York as scenery town with delivery depot as Lincoln will be primary delivery city as it will pushed west little bit to add Omaha and US-81 connect to Salina Kansas and the US-81 connects to Columbus. With Lincoln can run to Union with US-34 or use NE-2 route two to Nebraska City which connects to US-75.

Idaho DLC made big miss excluding US-30 there was room for it if your remove rest stops from Bliss to Twin Falls at minimum.

[Optional Features]

Beside some typical industries, UP bailey yard is a must since it is the largest rail yard in the US. I hope for a new rail cargo company too.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.1517264 ... a=!3m1!1e3

Wow, that place is incredible!

[fra_ba]

Yeah, interestingly, Nebraska has some nice rail yards beside this one, like in Lincoln and Alliance.

[angrybirdseller]

Railroads tend to follow Platte River in Nebraska as they needed water supplies. US-30 tends to follow large portion of the transcontinental railroad same with I-80. The settlements were built the along the railroad like North Platte, Kearney, Sidney same thing with Wyoming as Rock North Platte has large railroad depot as well. Grain Elevators to warehouses are all along railroads along with food processing facilities.

[Tails]

Grand Island , Nebraska has this Case IH agriculture machinery factory.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Case+ ... 8075?hl=en

[oldmanclippy]

Getting way way ahead of myself here, but for the cover art (assuming it's standalone) my pick would be the Great Platte River Road Archway on I-80 near Kearney. I'm pretty bummed that I never got to see this in the daylight, I drove under it at night IRL.

[ external image ]

Another option could be US-20 in the Sandhills, but SCS does recognizable distinct locations for the covers so not sure that really fits their M.O.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9211579 ... 312!8i6656

Omaha is an option but as much as I like Omaha it doesn't really capture the essence of the state like LA does for California, Seattle does for Washington, or Dallas does for Texas.

New Mexico is known for being deserty so we got Ship Rock
Oregon is very forested compared to the base map + New Mexico so we got a forested cover
Washington is very known for rainy Seattle so we got that
Utah is known for its rock formations so we got Spotted Wolf Canyon
Colorado is known for crazy mountain roads so we got Million Dollar Highway
Wyoming is known for natural monuments so we got Devils Tower
Montana is known for Glacier NP so we got that (I think)
Texas is known for big cities so we got Dallas' famous neon skyline

Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska I think could be tougher to pin down. There are fewer widely recognizable, distinct locations to choose from. So SCS just might need to pick less distinct locations that instead convey a general sense of the state rather than a specific place. So Oklahoma could get something in the south of the state that shows mountains and prairiers to highlight its geographic diversity, Kansas could get something very agricultural, and Nebraska could get something either emphasizing I-80 or the sandhills.

[NotABurnerAccount]

I thought Idaho and Montana were “less interesting”. I think people will find Nebraska is way more scenic and beautiful away from 80. Most of Idaho looks pretty awful if you’re only on the interstates