Much of this expansion has you cruising on the wide Interstate
highways, unlike earlier ATS expansions which frequently took you down too-narrow local roads with too-frequent turns and intersections. On
the one hand, this makes for a great driving experience that - at
least for me - is the best part of the Truck Simulator series; it's incredibly relaxing to zen out as the miles roll past. On the other
hand, there's a distinct lack of actual destinations to visit. There's
a lot of Big Sky Country to see, but very little to go to. This was a
problem shared with the Wyoming expansion too and may be
representative of the actual state, but it does mean that a lot of
time Montana is a state you drive through rather than a destination
from where you pick up (or deliver) cargo.
Driving towards the border from Couer d'Alene (Lake City), I knew I
was in for something special. I was headed towards some of the
nicest-looking mountains I'd ever seen in an SCS truck simulator game.
It's not that the other maps didn't have mountains, but more often
than not these were represented by curvy roads with a slight increase
in elevation surrounded by some of those implausibly-sloped hills of
the sort you only see in video games. But with the Montana DLC, for
the first time I really felt like I was up amongst the clouds.
Not all of the Montana DLC's mountains are so convincing of course -
the stretch down Route 90 between CDA and St. Regis is the most
picturesque - but in general this expansion has much better and more
frequent elevation changes than any other; all the other maps feel
quite flat in comparison. The Montana DLC also has an excellent sense
of identity and place. I can immediately tell when I've crossed over
into the Montana DLC; for one thing, it's much /greener/ than any of
the ATS map expansions (still not as green as some of the "EuroTruck >Simulator" maps, though). It also looks the most 'American West' of
any of them; I fully expect to drive by a snarling Clint Eastwood
riding a mustang at some point.
Much of this expansion has you cruising on the wide Interstate
highways, unlike earlier ATS expansions which frequently took you down >too-narrow local roads with too-frequent turns and intersections. On
the one hand, this makes for a great driving experience that - at
least for me - is the best part of the Truck Simulator series; it's >incredibly relaxing to zen out as the miles roll past. On the other
hand, there's a distinct lack of actual destinations to visit. There's
a lot of Big Sky Country to see, but very little to go to. This was a
problem shared with the Wyoming expansion too and may be
representative of the actual state, but it does mean that a lot of
time Montana is a state you drive through rather than a destination
from where you pick up (or deliver) cargo.
Still, this is a minor complaint. Even if it is the epitome of
'fly-over country' that's only a small issue compared to its
convincing visuals and pleasant driving. Even if the only time I ever
see its roadways is when I'm hauling cargo to the Dakotas (assuming
the Dakotas are ever released as an expansion), that's still worth the
price of admission. The Montana DLC is a beautiful representation of a >beautiful state and I'm glad its part of my library. It's not going to >convince people who don't understand the appeal of the base game, but
if you do love ATS, then this is a must-have expansion.
Stop by Spalls! I live south of exit 333 on I-90, the original
entrance to Yellowstone National Park. About 30 miles south of
Emigrant in Paradise Valley.
I just bought the Montana DLC for American Truck Simulator but haven't
tried it yet.
I have flown around here in MSFS2020 and into the park and it is an
exact replica! I haven't looked for my house yet but seen other
peoples!
I do not recommend taking off of Gardiner airport in a 747 because you
can get airborne but crash into the mountains :-)
On Wed, 10 Aug 2022 22:28:14 -0600, PW
<iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
Stop by Spalls! I live south of exit 333 on I-90, the original
entrance to Yellowstone National Park. About 30 miles south of
Emigrant in Paradise Valley.
The commute might be a bit long and also my auto doesn't have floaties
so that may be a bit impractical, but thank you for the offer. ;-)
I just bought the Montana DLC for American Truck Simulator but haven't >>tried it yet.
I have flown around here in MSFS2020 and into the park and it is an
exact replica! I haven't looked for my house yet but seen other
peoples!
Well, it better be since MS Flight Sim 2020 uses satellite imagery,
and unless they've been taking pictures of some other planet (or, >alternately, you live on some other planet), your house should be
there ;-)
Sadly, you probably won't see your home in the Montana DLC since a)
it's not intended to be that accurate (it's more of 'create a
representative - if somewhat idealized - feel to the region' sort of
thing), and b) because the region is so compressed that there are
probably only several thousand buildings on the entire map ;-)
I do not recommend taking off of Gardiner airport in a 747 because you
can get airborne but crash into the mountains :-)
Which is why I keep telling the local aviation authorities that all
747s should be equipped with RATO pods. I'm sure most passengers would
find a 9G take-off quite exhilarating!
On Thu, 11 Aug 2022 11:37:08 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
On Wed, 10 Aug 2022 22:28:14 -0600, PW
<iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
Stop by Spalls! I live south of exit 333 on I-90, the original
entrance to Yellowstone National Park. About 30 miles south of
Emigrant in Paradise Valley.
The commute might be a bit long and also my auto doesn't have floaties
so that may be a bit impractical, but thank you for the offer. ;-)
I just bought the Montana DLC for American Truck Simulator but haven't
tried it yet.
I have flown around here in MSFS2020 and into the park and it is an
exact replica! I haven't looked for my house yet but seen other
peoples!
Well, it better be since MS Flight Sim 2020 uses satellite imagery,
and unless they've been taking pictures of some other planet (or,
alternately, you live on some other planet), your house should be
there ;-)
Sadly, you probably won't see your home in the Montana DLC since a)
it's not intended to be that accurate (it's more of 'create a
representative - if somewhat idealized - feel to the region' sort of
thing), and b) because the region is so compressed that there are
probably only several thousand buildings on the entire map ;-)
I do not recommend taking off of Gardiner airport in a 747 because you
can get airborne but crash into the mountains :-)
Which is why I keep telling the local aviation authorities that all
747s should be equipped with RATO pods. I'm sure most passengers would
find a 9G take-off quite exhilarating!
*--
Yeah, and it must make alot of noise that may be noticed around here.
Even though some yahoo sometimes (I assume it is the same person) in
a while shoots barrels of gas just for fun and it shakes even my house
for a 1/2 second from a mile away. I forget what those are called.
But living so close to YNP, some of us are always on "alert" for
earthquakes because we supposedly are living on top of a volcano and
the media likes it like that.
In 30 years I have only noticed some things shaking in my office. I
had no trouble tying a trout fly :-)
-pw
Driving towards the border from Couer d'Alene (Lake City), I knew I
was in for something special. I was headed towards some of the
nicest-looking mountains I'd ever seen in an SCS truck simulator game.
It's not that the other maps didn't have mountains, but more often
than not these were represented by curvy roads with a slight increase
in elevation surrounded by some of those implausibly-sloped hills of
the sort you only see in video games. But with the Montana DLC, for
the first time I really felt like I was up amongst the clouds.
On 10/08/2022 23:37, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
Driving towards the border from Couer d'Alene (Lake City), I knew I
was in for something special. I was headed towards some of the
nicest-looking mountains I'd ever seen in an SCS truck simulator game.
It's not that the other maps didn't have mountains, but more often
than not these were represented by curvy roads with a slight increase
in elevation surrounded by some of those implausibly-sloped hills of
the sort you only see in video games. But with the Montana DLC, for
the first time I really felt like I was up amongst the clouds.
Not the type of game that I can say I understand the appeal of
particularly. That's probably because in the UK there is no romantic
ideal of driving a truck. Quite the opposite in fact and I'm not sure
sitting in a stationary truck for six hours on the M20 waiting to get
into the port of Dover would be a big seller. Press H to pee into a bottle!
Saying that we do have a romantic ideal about trains and there's still
lots of dads with large train sets in the loft.
Yeah, and it must make alot of noise that may be noticed around here.Fuel-Air Explosives (FAEs)? The biggest non-nuclear explosives made to
Even though some yahoo sometimes (I assume it is the same person) in
a while shoots barrels of gas just for fun and it shakes even my house
for a 1/2 second from a mile away. I forget what those are called.
date. :D
What I'm looking forward to is the upcoming helicopters in Flight
Sim... I always enjoyed flying choppers more than planes in games,
going back to the days of Gunship for the Atari ST... and in the case
of Flight Sim, the scenery sight seeing will be no doubt be awesome.
Now if only they would release a combat DLC with missles and
destructible environments, now we're talkin
| Sysop: | Keyop |
|---|---|
| Location: | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK |
| Users: | 297 |
| Nodes: | 16 (0 / 16) |
| Uptime: | 115:51:13 |
| Calls: | 6,662 |
| Files: | 12,209 |
| Messages: | 5,334,175 |