by "Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
Published 12/18/2017 at 10:48
by "Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
Published 12/18/2017 at 10:48
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STARS: 0
I bought it, I tried it, and, well, meh. At least it was cheap.
It seems like an interesting premise, but there doesn’t seem to be any penalty for needlessly wasting time approaching the problem incorrectly or replacing too much stuff. No book times or warranty costs. No issue with repeatedly going back and forth to the parts supplier over and over and over again. And I just can’t stomach the idea of some repairs, like just replacing one spark plug, or using old pads on new rotors or an old clutch plate with new pressure plate. I’ve always replaced the clutch if it’s got some wear on it if I’ve got the engine and transmission separated.
I found it easier just to disassemble the entire car and replace everything that didn’t meet a certain wear percentage. It was a lot less frustrating (but still annoying) than thinking you’ve fixed the problem and have to redo everything you’ve just done; taking out each pushrod and rocker arm, for example, is an excruciating task in this game. You could argue that mechanics IRL experience this kind of frustration, but there would be financial and time issues if they were to fully disassemble the car and rebuild it; this game doesn’t model that. And no, the advanced mode doesn’t make it any more realistic, just more frustrating to find the problems.
And then there’s technical inaccuracies. OK, if you’ve got a generic car it doesn’t have to be accurate, but if you’re using a brand-name vehicle you should model the car properly. I laughed at the last version for having a RWD car with a transverse V6, but that was sort of OK since it wasn’t a real car. But a Bentley Continental GT with a transfer case behind the transmission with a separate, external shaft going to a front differential? That car may be as heavy as a truck, but it doesn’t have a truck’s drivetrain. And everything, regardless of transmission type, has a clutch, pressure plate and throwout bearing. Uh, no.
At least the various car models look nice. The C126 is quite attractive, as are many of the other MB and Bentley models, as long as they’re painted in appropriate colors - a shocking green or purple 300SL just makes me want to vomit a little.
Save this one for the children who don’t understand how car parts and repairs work, and perhaps take the word ‘simulator’ out of the title. But then again, it’s a game and not an educational tool, but still, c’mon...
"Aremmes" (aremmes)
12/18/2017 at 11:52, STARS: 2
That sounds a lot less convincing than My Summer Car.
"bwp240" (bwp240)
12/18/2017 at 11:52, STARS: 2
I find that it is a decent puzzle solver, albeit a bit easy. It works well if you want something to occupy an hour, but not be too in-depth of a game.
One thing that irks me about this genre is it is almost impossible to lose money. There is no penalty for over repairing or buying the wrong part. Once you get into the car flipping stage, it is almost impossible to lose on a car.
"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech)
12/18/2017 at 11:55, STARS: 2
Agreed. Never played, but watched enough on YouTube. One video I saw required crankshaft replacement. But the actual repair procedure was done in car, transmission still in place, only the oil pan had to come off. That’s like saying a heart surgeon just cuts a hole in your chest, pops your heart out and slaps a new one in place, simple as that. How do you even determine wear percentage of something like a ball joint? It’s either good, or it has play and needs to be replaced, there’s no test or measurements to tell you it’s 67% worn. Conclusion, this game is 83% worn out, time to ditch it.
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
12/18/2017 at 11:56, STARS: 0
I haven’t spent a whole lot of time on My Summer Car. Should I?
I think it was last summer that I was upstairs sleeping and kept hearing some twangy country music playing for hours, and I thought it was my upstairs neighbors being annoying. As it turns out I had left MSC running downstairs...
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
12/18/2017 at 12:03, STARS: 0
I think the one that got me was cam replacement on an OHV V8 without pulling pushrods or lifters. And why can’t I leave spark plugs in place if I want to pull a cylinder head? Oh, and more fasteners on the valve cover than on the cylinder head itself. I could go on and on. Can I just pull an engine and rebuild it on a stand rather than trying to do it in the car? Bck and forth, lift up and then lift down, pulling pieces one at a time. NO!
I tended to use techniques I was taught in class, like removing the trans if I was pulling a crankshaft, but found such actual techniques to be a waste of time in this program. I do wish reality would sometimes work like a game as it would save me quite a bit of time.
"Aremmes" (aremmes)
12/18/2017 at 12:08, STARS: 2
If you’re only interested in the car building portions of the game, then there’s little reason to spend more time on MSC beyond getting the Satsuma up and running. The appeal of it is the environment, and the experience of building and customizing a thing and trying it out in the world. The game should more properly be categorized as a Finland simulator.
"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech)
12/18/2017 at 12:54, STARS: 1
Yeah it’s pretty terrible as a simulator. If they dropped that from the name, it might not seem so bad.
"DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time" (dc3ls-)
12/18/2017 at 13:16, STARS: 0
To be fair, I know 90's Hondas can have the engine rebuilt while still in the car. Even according to the factory manual. Although idk if you can actually replace the crank that way, or if it’s just to replace crank bearings and piston rings.
"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech)
12/18/2017 at 13:20, STARS: 0
You can do pistons in car on lots of things. But the crankshaft connects to trans. Engine and trans need to be separated for crank removal.