Update Speculation thread

Yeah, there is still plenty of "construction" going on in various places. and part of the expressway is still blocked off, as well as other parts of the town still blocked off and unfinished.

 

Honestly, I was expecting the ETK test center to get drastic changes in 0.24, only the materials were worked. I hope we can see a stretching autobahn in this map or total remake of it to a german map which would add to the portfolio of beamng's diverse landscape

 

I see. The bottom line is that the Devs learned from their past experience with level/map development and this experience is already being implemented and further developed in Italy.
Let's not outrun things (if anything, this has its negative consequence, which is disappointment after overenthusiasm) but, with this thinking path, it kinda seems natural that, sometime, the WCUSA map will be replaced by a new, larger one, with the existing map (just as it is, for not alienating the fan base and also for time saving during development) being only a part of that larger map.
If anything, the WCUSA map deserves to be larger because even the size alone is better representing the source of inspiration of this particular map!

 

Yes 100% WCUSA was certainly envisioned to be much bigger than it currently is, and with updates im sure these little reworkings will come around to it, you perfectly described the mindset

Yes most certainly, at the time im sure WCUSA was almost the devs pushing to see how big and how detailed a map could be, which is why it features a cramped, somewhat bizzare layout when comparing it to a real world city. In my opinion, it will feature a full replacement rather than a revamp, much like how Dry Rock Island was fully replaced by Jungle Rock Island once the devs realized they had outgrown that map and restarting would be easier than constant revisions.

now of course this new map would not come this update, not next update, or for a long time, since remaking an entire map on a larger scale is nightmarish to almost anyone, but im willing to hedge a bet that it could come in the next 3 years, seeing as how the game has progressed with its mapmaking recently

 

i wish there was brazilian like beamng map,

 

where would it take place? Sao Paulo, Rio? a rural-urban map would be nice

 

maybe sao paulo because its cool

 

Going to start my hypothetical “West Coast V2” map in a couple minutes. I’m m going to make it more Italy like, increasing size to 4km by 4km and adding more towns and attractions, while making it still less dense.

 

cant wait to see it, also cant wait to see who thinks its an official WCUSA remaster first

 

Great, looking forward to it! BTW, expect my WCUSA- Alternate History No Racetrack map mod to hit the repository by summer 2025. No guarantees though.

 

I already made some improvement on a map this summer's and I posted it on my ideas thread.
It was not really well done but I still think that it could be nice to repost it here

 

Thank you!
Tbh, I believe the existing assets can be ported into a larger map and the rest of the city can simply be designed around it. They have the initial map ready (plus the improvements they did on the 0.21 and 0.22 Updates, plus what we suggest for improving its functionality), they just gotta make the rest of it now. One thing is for sure though: the roads being interrupted by the edges of this initial map should not exist. There's no realism in those.

 

I really like the shopping mall idea. I loved the VC port partly because of that. However, this hypothetical one hopefully won't get taken down or have slightly nsfw ads in it

 

well, here it is.. wcusa v2 (v1). ran out of ideas about halfway through so that explains the big empty space. what the things are

• black is belasco city, which has undergone some changes, most notably being enlarged
• orange is the old dockyard district, with old brick buildings and a dockyard
• red is belasco city international airpiort
• brown is the current island, enlarged. hypothetically, it would have big ol fancy houses and some vineyards
• the darker green is christmas valley national park, which is a mix of sequoia and yosemite national parks. named for the redwood trees (and their green leaves), and the stunning valley
• the yellow is an extension ofcurrent redwood forest, just bigger
• the light green is vista al acantilado, meaning cliff view. it's like big sur
• both greys are beach towns. i'd imagine one has an amusement park on the dock, but not so sure about the other

this is not finished, any suggestions, please tell me

 

awsome!! maybe you should add another neighborhood in the hills like LA has with the cliff houses also maybe a observatory at the top! just suggestions

 

hmmm

 

I don't see the point in making a new WCA, it'd require so much work that you'd be better off just making a new map instead.

In terms of US maps, there are still a lot of options, including but not limited to:

1. Rocky Mountains
   
2. Southeast USA (just please not Florida it is literally just flat and overdone)
3. Midwest
4. Great Lakes
5. Pacific Northwest
6. Appalachia

An all new map based on one of these regions would be a much better use of dev time than making an all new West Coast USA as if you remake WCA from the ground up you just end up with a single map based on California, if that dev time was spent on a new, different map you'd end up with the current WCA (which is still pretty good) and an all new location to explore.

 

valid yes, but thinking about how the map is supposed to be the large west coast city, it seems rather small and cramped, which would be much more suited on a larger map, plus belasco city right now has alot of currently existing features for it (police skins, etc) meaning its very much intended to be used in game
the same goes for ECUSA (which i think will get a map size increase before WCUSA as a proof of concept) which has firwood skins and other assets unused
although i almost certainly agree we will get a new map before technical hurdles like this are undertaken

 

Italy has four times the area of WCA, but both rely on the same size of heightmap. Belasco's steeply inclined streets require more terrain precision than 1m/px, especially the ones that aren't cardinally aligned.

Expanding WCA without removing features would require changes to the engine that allow it to take bigger heightmaps (which I would enjoy, even if official content never uses it to its fullest potential).

 

Honestly, I wondered if those changes had been made when Italy first appeared. I thought 1m/px was the standard back in the 2x2 era?