I am currently working on improvements for BeamNG and after it is released I want to try creating custom maps for ETS2/ATS.
I am not talking about creating map mods inside ETS2/ATS. What I want to do is create map mods only with roads and paths inside ETS2/ATS and create/render environment in custom engine so you can drive on the roads.
Vehicles will be handled by game, they will be rendered by custom engine and environment/weather will be handled/rendered by custom engine.
I was already working on custom engine for my own game and I want to try that inside ETS2/ATS, also maybe BeamNG in the future.
Details
Custom maps mostly in forests & mountains
High quality realistic PBR assets (only vehicles from default game)
High quality realistic roads with proper data to handle rain/snow/dirt
High quality realistic weather system with a lot of dynamic elements (proper wind, rain, snow, fog etc)
4 seasons
Low view distance with high density ground fog (high view distance = lower quality graphics and high performance impact, its not worth with the current tech. I want to get most realistic high quality result)
Single lane roads only (multiple lanes are boring)
It is not possible to improve the game anymore without changing assets. Current assets are not high quality for better performance because SCS wants everyone to play the game. I just want realism. But even if all the assets changed 1:19 scaling is just bad, doesn't feel realistic at all. I think its just better to make custom maps with better assets to get max realism.