Does anybody else play Automation?

"E. Julius" (soonerfrommi) 12/12/2014 at 13:42 • Filed to: videogames

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From the game's !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! : "Automation is a car company tycoon game in which you design and build cars from scratch.

It is you who designs everything from the very core that is the engine, over the chassis, to the suspension and the car's looks.

Several games have tried this before... but were able to merely scratch the surface.

Go ahead, build your dream-car company, or simply aim to dominate the world markets with your superior design skills! "

Currently only the engine designer and car designer features are available, but I've been following the game for awhile and the developers have improved and added so much. They are currently preparing for a Steam Early Access release, but a demo is available in addition to a purchased version which unlocks all of the currently released features.

The engine designer and car designer are both a lot of fun, and technical enough to keep knowledgeable gearheads interested for many hours. There's loads of interesting design challenges to hone your skills, and it's always fun going into sandbox mode to answer questions like "What if BMW put a V8 into the 2002?"

The engine designer is pretty refined, with options for I4s, I6s, and V8 (cross-plane and flat-plane for the Italian/GT350 fans), and turbochargers, with more being added in the future. Also included is the ability to tune your creations for anything between reliable efficiency and dyno–busting power, and select individual components (e.g., cheap, heavy cast iron conrods, or expensive and indestructible titanium)

The car designer has just left it's infancy, but the versions in the most recent developer preview look much improved and add a lot of good options. My only real complaint is that, unlike the engine designer, which produces a dyno graph and concrete HP/torque numbers, most of the evaluation of your car design is confined to somewhat arbitrary statistics like "Comfort" and "Tameness". Distilling all the factors that go into the experience of driving an automobile is obviously a difficult task though, and these numbers will be much more meaningful once the tycoon portion of the game is released. There's also a really neat feature that uses all of the statistics of your car and engine to generate a simulated track lap. Think you can build a GTR with a faster 'ring time? Go ahead!

I would say that, short of becoming an engineer or using some other extremely specialized computer program I don't know about, this is the most technical and realistic means available to simulate designing your own car. If you do check it out, remember that the game is still deep in its development, with loads of features to be added. If anyone is currently active or ends up picking up the game, feel free to comment with your forum handle and I'll look you up!

extraspecialbitter > E. Julius 12/12/2014 at 13:44

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good lord, i forgot i had that game...

Rainbow > E. Julius 12/12/2014 at 13:46

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I got the demo and could never figure out how to make an engine that works.

E. Julius > extraspecialbitter 12/12/2014 at 13:47

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If you haven't played it in a while, it's been substantially approved.

E. Julius > Rainbow 12/12/2014 at 13:48

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It's definitely not for everybody.

thismightbemylastburner > E. Julius 12/12/2014 at 14:21

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I'm impatiently waiting for the game devs to respond to my email asking why my game key doesn't work. :( Its been two days... I want to play! I've paid, yet only have access to the demo.

E. Julius > thismightbemylastburner 12/12/2014 at 14:23

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Bummer!

punkgoose17 > E. Julius 12/12/2014 at 15:52

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Can I build cars with 90 degree V2 engines. The I6 and the 90 degree V2 engines are the only 4 stroke engines that are naturally harmonically balanced in both the 1st and 2nd degree. That is why I think it is the engine of the future as companies are cutting cylinder counts.

E. Julius > punkgoose17 12/12/2014 at 16:16

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Unfortunately they neither have V2s nor are they planning to implement them. I've never heard anything about 2–cylinder engine balancing (not a motorbike guy, and that's not typically covered in automotive material), but I haven't found anything to refute that. I'll also add that the V-12 is naturally balanced as well, but that's basically two I6s on a common crankshaft : )

Hiroku > E. Julius 12/12/2014 at 16:22

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Hadn't heard of it. Downloaded the demo, played a couple levels, it's actually more realistic and in-depth than I expected when it comes to engine design.

Great, there goes all my hours of sleep for the next couple of weeks...

E. Julius > Hiroku 12/12/2014 at 16:26

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Yeah I think the designers put a big focus on making sure their engine modeling actually produced realistic results. It's pretty common for people to replicate real engines and get the values within a few percentage points of the actual results. The game's been in development for years but these guys aren't half–assing anything.

punkgoose17 > E. Julius 12/12/2014 at 16:35

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That is disappointing. And yes, you are completely right about the V12. Thanks for the response. I really want this game, but I may avoid it, to try and get other things done.

E. Julius > punkgoose17 12/12/2014 at 16:42

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The good thing is, the longer you wait the better it will be!

aquila121 > Rainbow 12/12/2014 at 19:42

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I had the game suggesting to lower compression a ton, then I remembered that a richer fuel mixture can help to alleviate knock, but the ratio gets tricky. Every Honda-esque engine I tried to design would blow up like a volcano. Then, I started looking at real-world performance engines (bore x stroke, compression ratio, etc.) on Wikipedia to get a starting point. Also, using higher-quality parts helps (the slider on the right of each parts section). I still struggle a ton with turbo-sizing, though.