The Dakotas (North and South) Discussion Thread

[flight50]

No US-12 continued East of Montana would be a miss. In Montana we got MT-200. We didn't need both unless US-12 brought new marked towns. In ND and SD though, US-12, I-29, US-85, US-83 and US-281 are the perfect example way we should be able to either get the Dakota's bundled or made separately but can choose to bundle. 2 different states so 2 full production teams so that both get out withing 12 months.

If we get Missouri and Iowa before the Dakota's, that would setup I-29 out of Kansas City. It works well with I-35 coming out of Laredo Texas.

[VTXcnME]

If Sturgis is left out, given this game is in perpetual summer, that would be a HUGE mistake.

Sturgis is the largest rally, every single year in it's namesake. Sturgis needs to be at the VERY least a well designed scenery city, but I'm hoping it makes it as a marked delivery city where you see bikes parked on the side of the road everywhere instead of cars. That Main St view is nice, but that's not the only place you see bikes there. Just like Daytona in the winter, they are literally EVERYWHERE. Motorcycles outnumber vehicles easily 10 to 1 once you are in the rally city.

[Tristman]

Well it is sandwiched in between Spearfish and Rapid City, so I don't expect Sturgis to be marked, but I agree it would be nice to at least see it as a scenery town.
Neither Sturgis nor Spearfish has that much industry, so maybe they can find a way to include both.

[flight50]

Sturgis gets squeezed out as marked in my opinion but its easily scenic. Spearfish and Rapid city are our marked cities. Just give us Sturgis Motorcycle Museum. ETS2 has motorcycle cargo use it and or make some more based on the pics I gave and make Sturgis happen.

I'd give it a remote depot from Spearfish though. I think Spearfish has enough industry to bring it.
1. Warf Mine

2. Homestake Mine

3. Simon Centennial Asphalt Quarry

4. Walmart retail

5. Drake Car dealership

6. Bomgaars (Farmers Barn)

7. Voltison Dealership. DeMuro is only in Utah so make a new one. Texas is bring a factory so a 1-2 new dealerships are needed for sure now

8. Spearfish Forest Products

I just found 8 of them. Use 5-8 and make Spearfish marked.

[hangman005]

ND I would be tempted to run MT13 up to MT/ND 5 connecting to US85 at Fortuna... I imagine there would be enough space above US2 to run further North even at 1:20

[oldmanclippy]

North Dakota is gonna be pretty easy to predict. 8 cities, 4 along I-94 and 4 along US-2. Maybe a 9th marked city somewhere as a bonus. The cool thing about North Dakota is that it's basically tailormade for 1:20 scale, because there's not a whole lot besides the obvious marked cities. Fargo, Jamestown, Bismarck, Dickinson. Grand Forks, Devils Lake, Minot, Williston. Done, easy peasy. North-south roads are pretty obvious too: I-29, US-281/US-52, US-83, US-85. ND-200 as an additional west-east road in the western 2/3 of the state is necessary to get to some more oil and gas depots. And of course US-12 sweeping down from Miles City but I don't see any marked cities on US-12 in ND. That's all SCS needs to know about North Dakota research

South Dakota will be more interesting to see what they do because they actually have options. I could see Spearfish or Hot Springs as marked, but not Sturgis. Leave that as scenic. Wall, I think should be marked. I think it's hard to understand why Wall should be marked if you haven't driven I-90 in South Dakota. Or US-212 in Minnesota The advertising for Wall Drug is oppressive. Not in a subtle way at all. I-90 loses so much authenticity if they don't make a Wall Drug parody and slap billboards for it everywhere. Similarly, in the Black Hills proper there's tons of tacky billboards for attractions so those need to be parodied as well. The 2D art team will have more fun with South Dakota than any other state if they fully embrace all the possibilities.

The obvious marked cities for SD are Rapid City, Mitchell, Sioux Falls, Brookings, Watertown, Aberdeen, Huron, Pierre, and Mobridge. That's already 9 cities. Yankton I think should be obvious but might not be at first glance. It's the original capital of the Dakotas and would be a nice stop between Sioux City and central South Dakota. So that's 10 cities, plus possibly Wall and Spearfish or Hotsprings. So 10-12 marked cities I think is a good number for South Dakota.

Roads are pretty obvious with one exception. I-90, I-29, US-14, US-12, US-281, US-83, US-85/US-385. US-18 for Yankton and Hot Springs if applicable. SD-44 is another option for below I-90 and could get us to Interior. Otherwise the Badlands won't be much more than a distant feature from I-90. As for connecting Mobridge and Bismarck to Rapid City, either US-212 in the western part of the state, or a combination of state highways and possibly part of US-212. That'd be a pretty ugly hole in northwest SD that would negatively impact Rapid City and Bismarck especially.

I'd like to see some good additional density in the eastern part of the state similar to what I hope Kansas and Nebraska get. Tons of farms to deliver to. Western North Dakota can get cattle ranches, eastern North Dakota can get farms.

Canola is the new industry I'd like to see with North Dakota, with cattle, oil, and gas getting an upgrade too. South Dakota, corn and soybeans should get expanded if it hasn't already by this point. And supporting tourism in the Black Hills is a must to capture the vibe.

[Tails]

North Dakota is number 1 state for producing honey. This could open up some honey farms.

[hangman005]

I've always been advocate off adding bee hives to Flat decks, or curtain sliders (Pretty sure I've seen them being carried on these,) Not sure what the next step is, is bulk honey trucked out or is it usually packaged than and there.

[flight50]

North Dakota is number 1 state for producing honey. This could open up some honey farms.

That's a very interesting fact to know. That is a must have industry. It deepens the pool for cargo. It adds to the food industry as well. Warehouses, packaging facility. That then brings in your post for bee hive loads from the ATS flatbed thread. You thought I forgot about that huh, lol. viewtopic.php?p=1394094#p1394094. Nope. I remember a lot of things we post there. Its a very very easy cargo to make. Square boxes that are multi colored. Make 2-3 variations......done.

So if we get Honey as an industry, SCS can go back in to Montana and California and add this. But the Dakotas can get this to start. The more unique industries we find that have 3+ cargoes and 3+ destinations to pick up and take it from, I think (x) industry is worth the add in ATS. The unique ones gives a bit more spice and character. +1 for Honey for sure.

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@Kraake

[hangman005]

It needs to come, transporting between farms. Bee's are a strange thing, I have a fascination with them (at one point I wanted to become a bee keeper) but I am terrified of them, so even though it's a game, if I'm hauling bee hives, I keeping my windows closed.