UK Improvements?

[Superdavecan]

thekovacs wrote:
In terms of considering Leeds... Don't you think, there might be a problem that Manchester and Leeds would be very close in-game, considering the scale of the map? It might limit other development in that area.

I don't think it would be a huge problem... remember, the scale in the UK is 1:15 rather than 1:19 on the continent, so that actually gives a little bit more space. Yes, Leeds is close to Manchester and also Sheffield... all of them are fairly close together. If in Germany it works to have Köln, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Dortmund (and now Oberhausen in the upcoming ARP) with even less space, then I really see no problem in having all of Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, and Leeds. (Although if Leeds was built, maybe York is a little too close... and it's not on the A1 (M) anyway. But who knows. As for limiting other development in the area... I think it would be 10x better already if all this got fixed and Leeds got built. Apart from possibly York, I don't see a pressing need to build anything else in that area, just to fix it up and make it look better.

I just hope that whatever SCS is doing in the UK will rectify some of these issues... and for the ones that don't get fixed, well, I think between us we've come up with a lot of things! Hopefully ScuL will file this list somewhere important... he probably has a very similar list ... then when it's possible to work on the UK again, there'll be lots of good suggestions to work with!

I often do make suggestions about things to improve, some of them big laundry lists like this one... but I do try to keep them reasonable and realistic. I don't see the point in making silly requests. Serious advice and suggestions only. For example with the Italian development, they haven't got anywhere near this part yet, but I disagreed with the plan to build Trapani and Pozzallo as ferry terminals, and completely omit Palermo and Catania (the two largest and most important cities on Sicily)... so I really hope they take my advice on that point, when they get closer to Sicily (although that's a long way off). In the same way, I hope all this collective advice we've just given about the UK gets taken seriously when it is once again possible to do something there.

[Andy_GTI]

I completely agree with all the suggestions listed so far (Although theres a hell of a lot of work to be done to get it all completely, Promods would need a separate team just complete it!)

Just to add to Superdavecan's suggestions, the connection out of Newcastle should be the Tyne Tunnel to the Port of Tyne, as technically SCS have modelled Gateshead and not Newcastle (The Tyne Bridge can be seen to the north atm)

Also I think Teesside should be modelled instead of York. York is not exactly a commercial/industrial powerhouse - its more of a tourist destination (Would be good to see it in Bus Simulator!)

[Superdavecan]

I'd completely forgotten about the fact that they built Gateshead instead of Newcastle Andy_GTI! Perhaps Newcastle is due for a comprehensive rebuild then... with everything on the north side of the River Tyne, and then a simple connection to the port via the A194 (M). This way the port could be accessed from the south quite easily, and it would also solve the problem of having to go all the way out to the A1 and back again to go between Newcastle and the port... just place the port east of the city of Newcastle, like it is in real life!

You're right about Teesside, I'd forgotten about that too. It doesn't really seem right to assign the name of a region to a city though... so for the purposes of the game shall we just go with Middlesbrough (the largest city of the Teesside conurbation?)

[thekovacs]

The only part of Teesside which I can see any point in adding would be Teesport, which is quite a large industrial area, and you could add the A19 up from the A1(M) towards Newcastle to feed it, giving another link to the port there, then link the A66 to the A19 across the A1(M) via an extension, as in real life.

However... I'd personally prefer to see Hull introduced as a proper city, instead. I also think that if the M42 is introduced, either Nottingham or Leicester need to be built, for it to make sense, and the 'Sherwood Forest' signs modeled next to the M1. The East Midlands is presently a gaping hole in the map.

[Andy_GTI]

Yep Middlesbrough would be my choice,!

[ZelvaCZ]

Hull is half-completed town with two companies even in vanilla game.. IMO it's the easiest British city to build.

[MistahDave]

Wales is just horrible. Living in Cardiff, it pains me having to drive there. I would LOVE to see a Cardiff rebuild. I'd love to do it myself if I knew how. Wales has some of the most interesting and fun roads in the UK to drive on, and none of these are represented at all.

[Glowstrontium]

The thing is, before new towns and roads are added, the existing ones need to be brought up to standard - IMO it's the small details that make things feel much nicer and realistic - adding more towns and cities is worthless if they all feel generic.

[KubaJAM]

I agree with Superdavecan's suggestions. The areas most in need of improvement to me are, in no particular order, Birmingham (build it on bridges like in real life and make it seem huge), London (quite obvious really, and I like the Luton idea), Wales including the Severn bridge, and M6 seeing as that's a road I'm on quite a lot of the time!

Having upwards and downwards sliproads leading to flyover/ under roundabouts is also very important for the UK feel, although ProMods already touched upon this in the Dover area.

[Andy_GTI]

It's just a shame it's been placed on the M2/M25 interchange as iirc there isn't one there irl.