Created using Alex Kleinwachter's mapping tool and MapNG, Great Plains USA will be an 8192x8192m map representing the High Plains of the central USA. Largely based on the area around Grainfield, Kansas, it will not be a faithful replica of the real-world area, but it still aims to be realistic, meaning motorsports facilities, large bodies of water, large towns, forests, and hardcore off-roading areas are out of scope and likely will not be added. Highlights will include an 8km stretch of Interstate in the main map, an Old West town, a river valley with undisturbed prairie, and Lone Butte, a rare high point on the plains. Certain roads will also be extended outside of the main map using 3D mesh scenery like in Johnson Valley; this will at least be true for the Interstate but I may also add a loop of two-lane rural road. Concept map with main locations (subject to change): Screenshots:
Looks like an awesome map to send fast cars flying, races, and police chases. I'm a fan of long highways. Excited for the full release!
I've almost finished laying the roads from the Master Spline. I decided to scrap what I'd done so far on Haskell Centre and re-lay the street grid with more realistic 120x120m blocks.
Progress is slow due to real life but Haskell Centre is coming along nicely (note the brick building on the left, the first of several custom assets), as is the commercial strip area of State Route 23 south of Pawnee (the generic OSM building to the left of the Interstate will become a logistics hub).
You'll be able to drive many kilometers away from the town of Pawnee thanks to the extended road network built using mesh roads on 3D mesh terrain outside of the terrain block, similar to what Johnson Valley, Caney Ridge and Skeleton Coast do. I've already built around 14 total kilometers of Kansas State Route 23 on the default MapNG backdrop (note the Pawnee buildings way in the background), but due to its low detail this will almost certainly be scrapped before the initial release in favor of retiling the expanded terrain with new high-resolution meshes in places where it needs to be driven on, and optimised low-resolution ones in places it doesn't, both nulldetailed for performance.
