Road kings

[flight50]

Nope, not at all. I much rather infinite gameplay like ATS/ETS2. The game never ends unless I turn it off.

[Brendan0620]

I did see in the FAQ that the game will benefit from live ops and grow as time goes on, so that probably means that the story will also grow along with it.

I'm hoping with the map that they expand it south of Jacksonville FL and maybe get to Atlanta GA or even into South Carolina since Savannah will be in the game (most probably) at launch.

The map scale is the biggest question for me at the moment, I think it could be larger than 1:20 given the screenshot locations, and there is signage for I-295 Beltway in the trailer, which is most likely not going to be in ATS' 1:20 Florida.

[flight50]

Yeah the scale is definitely a question mark. If they are doing 1:15 or 1:10, good luck. But they could be using AI to build. Not sure how well that will go but we'll see whatever they come up with. I'm sure the small sample is to gauge how many people will buy into their game. The more than buys in, the more they develop just like SCS I bet. So committing to a larger than 1:20 scale map will take years to build out. They'll have to grow their team or source things out. ATS is 10 years in and about 50% of the US covered. If RK's plan is the entire US (if things go well), they too will take some time to build their map.

I'm sure RK will not be a $19.99 game though. If their maps are sizeable, they won't be 11.99 either.

[oldmanclippy]

I think if Road Kings wanted to differentiate themselves from ATS, it could be smart to do larger scale, smaller maps, each with their own missions/story/etc. So maybe if launch goes well with the northeastern Florida map themed around hurricanes, they could make an expansion that's about ice road trucking in Canada, or winter storm trucking in New England, etc.

I think it would be a losing battle to just try to do what ATS does but worse and lagging behind.

[JoeAlex23]

So you basically want them to do the same thing as SnowRunner? That's how the maps are, their own separated thing with their own missions/story, that could be interesting.

[flight50]

They already doing what ATS doesn't, they have a lot more sim going on. Looking at the now pic, ATS has the jump on map size and their business model but that's pretty much the where things differ. Just listening to what RK does, SCS doesn't do what RK is doing already. So RK already stands out. I'm sure devs of RK has listened to what SCS fans has asked for. That's what RK is focusing on first as the core of the game. More map comes later. But the gameplay with more bells and whistles seems like what RK is targeting.

[oldmanclippy]

Sort of like SnowRunner, I guess? They could come up with other ideas, but I'm just skeptical that a) it would make financial sense for them to try to just gradually expand to cover the US a la ATS if the game is successful, or b) that they are even making the game with a high enough realism standard to make that goal make sense. From what we know so far, things like signage for example are a lot closer to GTA than to ATS.

Taking a similar approach to Forza Horizon but on a larger scale, where maybe things aren't that accurate, but the vibe is captured well so it feels "realistic", would be cool.

[Brendan0620]

Yeah the scale is definitely a question mark. If they are doing 1:15 or 1:10, good luck. But they could be using AI to build.

One thing about Unreal Engine, the engine they will be using for Road Kings, is that it has the ability to procedurally generate content even with OpenStreetMap plugins. I wouldn't be surprised if they are doing that to speed up map development, but I do remember Peter Mack (Director of Saber Porto) saying that the game has been in development "for around three years" (said in August 2025); so it's been a long time, maybe they will have a scale around 1:5 or 1:10, which sounds plausible.

I do also recall one interview with Gamereactor UK where Peter mentioned interstate driving and long haul trucking, so it could be that cities are smaller in scale and the length between cities and roads is longer.

I think it would be a losing battle to just try to do what ATS does but worse and lagging behind.

Agreed big time. If RK did the same scale as ATS with only North Florida and South Georgia, it could be a DOA scenario. I don't believe that will happen though.

[flight50]

1:5 or even 1:10 would be insane lol. But a lot of ATS/ETS2 fans have been hollering for that. So if it takes 3 years to build a map that size, expect 39.99 or higher for that map. You can't have you cake and eat it too. There has to be a compromise. I'm sure some components will have to be hand made like SCS though. Just probably a bit less than SCS. Speed, Quality and Quantity. RK might be going for Speed and Quality. SCS goes for Quality and Quantity. We can only have 2 out of three. Something has to get squeezed out with those three.

[JoeAlex23]

RK will totally be a $39.99 game, that's usually what Saber driving games cost.

It will be interesting to see when they release the first proper gameplay video, that first impression will say a lot about the game right away.