What is the best state DLC?

[Calibuddy99]

Hi there. I'm not asking about what DLC I should buy, but I rather would know your opinions on state DLCs; such as which is your favorite DLC, which DLC has the most detail, and which DLC is the most accurate to real life. Like I said, I just want to know your opinions, and I am not using this to decide a DLC to buy, since I already have the ones I wanted. I would like people's replies to mention which DLC is their favorite, and any other states that you also like a lot. But, you can still just say your favorite state, or even discuss stuff in relation to them or even just general stuff such as whether you agree or disagree with people's opinions, including mine. Personally, my favorite DLC is the Montana DLC since it looks beautiful at many places. I also like Texas as well mainly because of the size of it, which was bigger than I expected them to make it. Feel free to say whatever your favorite state DLCs are. And anything else you'd like to say of course. And also, I'd like you to say your least favorite state of the game(Every state including the base map in this case). My least favorite state in the game is Nevada simply because it does not look like the real nevada that I've seen. If I lived in a state other than California, then California would probably have been my least favorite state before the rework. And since I do live in California, it never was my least favorite state in the game and never will be. And I consider California to be a lot better in the north thanks to the rework. I know that some people here probably live in Nevada, so if you are one of them, I can see you not wanting it to be your least favorite. But for me, it's just simply not good enough for me to like it very much and I hope the Nevada rework makes it a lot better.

[Xaagon]

I have several favorites.

Colorado, because I live here now. California, because I grew up there (Ukiah). New Mexico, even though it's an older one they got a lot of stuff right with it - I'm most familiar with I-25 from Raton to Albuquerque, but I also love US-64 west of I-25 going through Cimarron Canyon. Wyoming & Utah I think are for the most part pretty good models of the real thing and Idaho has a lot of beauty too - love the rivers especially. even though it costs more, Texas is probably the best value for content per dollar paid because there's so much included with it.

Currently Nevada is my least favorite ATS state due to the 2016 quality. It's one of my favorite states to drive through in real life so I'm sure this opinion will change when it gets reworked. I'm most familiar with I-80 and US-50 - since I've never been to Las Vegas in real life I don't have the same appreciation of the rework as I would have if I knew it better.

[Freeze338]

Colorado by far. It has 5000 miles road and almost every road has a scenic view. Driving in there gives pure enjoyment. It has Denver as a big city and number of the cities are pretty good. Also there aren't any dead spots on the map. At the end Colorado is the best one overall. We can argue which is the second best tho.

[VTXcnME]

Had a high school/college friend who moved to New Mexico with his wife after college. I visited them a lot. So NM is a top favorite as it reminds me of cruising around that state. As xaagon said, they got a lot of stuff right for NM (at least the parts I'm familiar with). I do wish the Sandia Mountains were more a focus around Albuquerque, as IRL they very visible from pretty much EVERYWHERE in ABQ. driving directions are given like "If you put the Sandias on your right, and go toward....". I'd like to see a simple refresh (not an overhaul) with some of the newer companies and a bit of touch up here and there to bring the visuals up to todays' standard (Idaho or better), but that's really quibbling.

Visually though: Colorado/Wyoming have some of my favorite spots for visuals. Sweeping mountains/etc.

I haven't seen everything in Texas yet, but that's a top contender.

Nevada for me also needs more TLC, and I hope the CA rebuild team moves to NV next to polish up the visuals there. Missing the Allegiant Stadium that's been built along I-15 near the casinos... Hope that's added as it's a major visual along I-15 now. You can fairly prominently see where the reworked I-80 visuals end and old school I-80 resumes.

[hangman005]

For me i'd go with MT, WY & CO. I enjoy the scenary, the roads, the towns, each has a couple of things that could be improved upon, but I just love the Alpine/High Country feel. Could probably add ID to that list too especially now it's not being held back by a lack of Montana.

TX is great in a vacuum probably not the right word, but It'll probably take until at least KS to reach it's full potential in the sense there are only limited ways to get there, OK makes it a bit better but excluding TX it only adds at most 2 new connections to the region from the existing map, so really KS really help with access from the North West.

NM is extremely solid for it's age and I do still enjoy driving through New Mexico.

As for the base map state, CA is getting better. NV definately needs to be bought up to current standards especially I-80, aside I-80 I still at least somewhat enjoy driving through NV though I really can't wait until it's pretty

[flight50]

It's hard to read the first post. Make paragraphs please, it's much easier to follow in paragraphs. Quick answer for me without reading the first post, my favorite is typically the newest dlc. The mapping detail typically gets a tad more detailed as each new map releases. Luckily the Idaho standard is pretty consistent now. Not night and day differences.

[gt379]

Oregon:
Pacific coast drive on US-101 with all the bridges;
Columbia River Valley drive on I-84;
natural diversity of the state (driving US-20 from Newport to Ontario really shows the topography, the type of land present in the state);
desne road network (after version 1.35 with proper time zone for Malheur County and added road SR-140 ,SR-58);
the chain of the wood industry introduced in the ATS economy: wood harvest site, paper mill, sawmill, furniture factory (give a sense to your work / drive);
Portland giving a sense of a large realistic city with all the bridges, flyover ramps, city center views is a SCS chef-d'oeuvre;
unique truck stop at exit 99 on I-5;
I-5 drive in general keeps you on your toes;
Mount Hood view from US-197;
probably something I forget...

What I would like to be improved in Oregon:
road geometry (road banking to allow smooth curve cornering) pointing at Cabbage Hill (I-84)!!!!;
addition of SR-38, US-26;
more traffic density in Portland (I-405 is literally empty every single time I drive there);
probably something I forget...

[Calibuddy99]

It's hard to read the first post. Make paragraphs please, it's much easier to follow in paragraphs. Quick answer for me without reading the first post, my favorite is typically the newest dlc. The mapping detail typically gets a tad more detailed as each new map releases. Luckily the Idaho standard is pretty consistent now. Not night and day differences.

Sure, I'll do that. Can you tell me what your least favorite state is? That was one of the other questions I had.

[rbsanford]

My favorite is Montana, since it's big, detailed, incredibly scenic, and I've been there a couple times IRL (in case you're wondering, it may not be a perfect copy, but the vibe was spot on, so I'd say it's fairly close to reality, from what I've seen IRL). Colorado is my second favorite, and my third might be Washington (not just for its merits, but also the nostalgia factor; when I'm there, I can travel back to the summer of 2019), but Wyoming is another contender.

As for the best state, as in not just my favorite but the best state that's been done so far, I'd say that's Texas. It's enormous, has a dense road network; has tons of cities, some very big (and very well done, for the most part); and brought new industries, companies, and some huge depots that are fun to interact with. The detail is very impressive, and for what it lacks in dramatic mountain scenery (although it does have a bit of that) it makes up for in variety of enviroments. Texas might actually be my third favorite, or even my second, now that I think about it, but no matter how I rank it personally, I think it's the best state DLC so far.

My least favorite state DLC might be Oregon. It feels kind of incomplete without US 26 and a connection between US 101 and I-5 near Coos Bay, and US 20 over the Cascades could have been done better. New Mexico's kind of in the same boat; Texas helped by making it not at the edge of the world anymore, but it's still missing some key roads. These states aren't bad, of course, they've just lagged behind.

[flight50]

Can you tell me what your least favorite state is? That was one of the other questions I had.

That is wayyyyyyyyy to easy to answer. Idaho by far. I expect new ICC's with every dlc. We paid for recycled content. Visuals only go so far. Although Idaho set the standard for visuals, it offered nothing for the economy.

The best part about Idaho though is.........it can be fixed. SCS can add new economy to it but will they? If they add new economy, newcomers will get new ICCs. But new ICCs for Idaho shouldn't be stuff we already have. It should have a one off or two. There are new retail stores that are national chains that Idaho could have added if they thought they didn't have anything to add. The economy in Idaho was never a thought. The economy should always be thought of. It wasn't even a last minute thought. Whoever thought it was a great idea to not introduce anything new for paying customers, failed the ATS fan base. Idaho by far is the biggest slap in the face for me as a huge ATS fan. Its a dlc I will never approve of its release in the manner it came out. I'm critical on it so much because its a mistake that should NEVER be repeated with any paid map dlc. They'd never do that with an ETS2 dlc........why ATS is my question.

There are also missing roads in Idaho that could have come to help the road network. The road network isn't SCS fault but they sure didn't maximize what it could have had either to make up for the real life lack of a network. Idaho should have connected to at least Coleville Washington. Completing US-2 to Spokane is harder based on the mapping design. ID-21, ID-3 and maybe even ID-28 could have made a densier Idaho.

The 2nd worst part of Idaho for me is the ball that was dropped for White Bird Hill. Its a great looking road but complete failure on the build of the grade. There is no summit and there should have been 2+1 lanes. I posted 2 videos (Northbound and Southbound) well before the state released and apparently not one person on the Idaho team looked at it as a reference. Instead, the grade is very very shallow and the road is a 1+1 road. Look at grades in Montana, Colorado, Wyoming and even Washington. Much much better grades that make the truck work. Even NV-140/OR-140 that came years before has a really good grade for its summit on the boarder of Oregon/Nevada. The visuals are great for White Bird but one of the most famous grades in the West was a fail for me.

All map teams need to take the references serious and get these grades in. It doesn't make sense for some maps to nail grades and others don't. It boils doing to caring about your work and depicting it as best as possible.