Released Desert Highway 2021.12.29

As of now it's on my back burner. I don't have all the time in the world to mod nowadays. Plans for this map include doing away with almost all mesh roads and building up a proper town or two. I just need to get motivated.

More random props? Sure why not

 

I know there's an enormous area at the far end of the map with nothing in it, apart from that road that leads you back. Maybe you could do something back there? Not many features that end

 

You have a point. There's lots of untouched land

 

How about a junkyard?

 

You asked this before. Why do you want this so bad?

 

Some people have some weird fetishes

 

I mean, I guess

 

I don't know. but if there is so much empty space so maybe thats why

 

Dude, the most epic map of all Beamng, im one of these people who make funny stories in freeroam and this map is PERFECT for things like that, 100/100

 

i love maps like this were i can just hammer the throttle. thunmbs up.

 

Version 13 in progress.

Planned features:

• New road textures by bob.blunderton
• Doing away with all mesh roads except those needed for structures. The new smooth tool helps a lot.
• Expansion on the eastern town.
• Might create a new town but not sure yet.

Hype

 

I did think of something that you could potentially add, or have scattered around if it isn't too much work. But you could have a few of those old oil drills like the image i posted.

Dunno if that's something you'd want to put in, thought it would be neat

 

Nah, I don't feel like it fits the map very well.

 

I can't wait. I was was just driving around last night and wondering when it would be updated again

 

--- Post updated ---
Quick video showing off my work from yesterday and today.

Nixed the mesh roads from one of the hillclimbs. Now you can rip up this thing!

 

I can't wait to try that out - I took the new sport bike out on the main straight for a speed and stability test - it did pretty good.

Now I just need to figure out how to get it up and down the hill climb without slowing down to the point of tipping at the hairpins Maybe the terrain roads will help with that.

 

Yeah! I hope to have an update out around Thanksgiving. I'm just so busy with work and school now that I don't have time to mod.

 

It'll be nice to have a new version of this map.
I saw the post about oil derricks, surely they would NOT look out of place here, in this desert-esque terrain.
A junkyard or plane scrapyard would also not look out of place here. There was a map mod for GTA IV or EFLC that put some red-dead redemption desert in there that had a shed-load of models of crashed planes, I used to use that mod and bounce cars all over the place.
Something to look into if you're bored of ideas or motivated but not quite sure on just what to add. Not worth drastically lowering map FPS (though, going into your ini for static objects and invoking meshculling to 1 can help a little bit (more for slower cards, and this is if you have not already done so).
Just was checking up on this. My new So-Cal version is dropping in the next 24 hours, that's coming with plenty of new 'new asphalt' textures, so if you like them (and my Roane County Tennessee map if you've tried it), my textures are fair game for you or any other Beamng.drive mapper.
This is the map (along with Ouerbacker's Black Hills) that inspired me to build some highways. Crazy speeds, flying through the air. I loved the old version that was before all the mesh roads (which sadly, does no longer work as well as it once did on 0.4.x).
Will be looking forward to the new version & will post a proper review on the review page. Sorry, I don't have the drive space to do recordings (no HDD's in here), at the time, I gave all the money for PC parts to my sister for her family's Chrismess to be good.
--Cheers
P.S. IF you don't have motivation, don't eat so many carbs, go eat some meat and potatoes (they're good carbs)...diet can mean a lot, a whole lot. I know this from myself. If you're depressed, take some time away from the computer, be social, get some sunlight, go for a nice long walk or if weather-permitting and safety-permitting, take a hike in the woods (or take a buddy to be safe, in-case someone gets munched on by woods monsters, heh). The woods I used to hike through were only on Easy Difficulty, so you ran little chance of getting nibbled & becoming dinner.
Hope this helps, just saw some posts about motivation, and being in my mid-30s, I know a lot about the human mind. It's surely a complex thing.

 

Well firstly, I appreciate your concern. To make many long stories short, it has been a busy past couple of months in a personal aspect. Not that anyone needs to know but I've gone through job changes in the past 3 months with the current one I have not holding fast in terms of job security; so that's often on my mind. I also entered my first relationship which ended sourly. This was distracting me greatly from school and work so, I had to break her heart and let her go. Anyway and more in the forefront of my recent schedule has been college. Since I've gone on break a couple of weeks ago, I've been catching up on sleep and my social health as well as playing some beloved games a lot that I've been missing out on (mostly Overwatch, some Beam since 0.8 update).

But enough with the personal blah. I've been working on the map in bits and pieces for a while now. In a short summary, I've removed all but about 5% of the mesh roads; the only ones left are serving as structures since I don't know how to model outside of the game. The hill climb sections (there are two of them) are about 90% redone; no more mesh roads and the terrain is being molded to create a flying experience. It's really fun over there now!

In terms of adding things, I'm not opposed to doing this. The map is barely being used; it's massive. There is a whole side of the map where roads don't touch. This could be an opportunity for some expansion. My only downside is I don't want to get enveloped into this work and then have to stop dead in a couple of weeks when I return to school. This upcoming semester is the busiest one I will have had yet as I work hard to complete my Associates degree on time.

To recap, many (sorry to say) more important things get in the way. I'm not going to sacrifice a much needed night out to stay home and mod or (more common) turn down my IRL friends who want to play Overwatch or other game we play.

Many things are still bright for this map's future. I think I'll have at least the reworked roads update out before the end next week so that is something to look forward to. A setback I was having was an annoying spawn bug which I have remedied.

 

Sounds good - hey you know what they all say 'Beggars can't be choosers'. I will always be thankful for the things given (especially if free, heh), and not sitting here whining about what I don't have like an ungrateful lout. Take the time you need, and if you ever take a lengthy break from it, there's nothing wrong with that.
I put my Tennessee project on the back burner while I had to fix up So-Cal Interstate (and now Nevada Interstate), even though people were anxious to see what Tennessee would bring next. Priorities first, they say. It's good your committed to keeping the map working, and we'll all be quite thankful for when this is working like a top again.

There's only one of you. Do what you need to do for you, because you are the ONLY one who is here 100% for yourself, no one else will do it for you.
If you wait for others, you will have a sad, sad life - so no sense in that, right? Your college must come first, I wish you the best with job placement, it's a very tough market right now but getting better. We can only hope Donald Rump's job policies and tariff policies (import duties, something I personally argued for the last dozen years we've needed sorely) help bring more jobs back to America. The car industry is showing us this quite a bit.

Wishing you only the best. When there's a new version, I'll be sure to pick it up while it's hot off the editor :x
I was just chiming in so you know you haven't been forgotten. Mapping does take time though, and it's always better when it's not rushed (we aren't even going to mention how many deadlines I've set weeks in advance only to miss my own deadlines anyways, but still release a completed map just a few days later, completed to my own satisfaction enough that it's not shorted on anything). Sorry for my god-awful grammar and such. Like I said, we'll be here.
--Cheers