Where there is damage, there also must be fixes. This is how rallying works. As we talked about the prior in the last devlog, it’s time for the latter. And you’ll be spending a lot of time doing just that. Getting your (virtual hand dirty and making your team’s car run as well as possible. Let’s move on to some details, shall we?
[h2]In-game mechanics[/h2]
There will be a number of ways to repair the damage. Major of them are:
Changing the part to a new one if we took the car to our tent in the service park or if we bought the new part in the store via our garage.
- Fixing the parts in separate workstations. The workstations, due to their cumbersome nature, will have two forms - the basic one, available in the service park and the full one, present in the garage. The garage will also present some exclusive methods of fixing.
- Replacing a particular part when you work on a set of parts.
What does it mean in practice? We analysed how fixing parts worked in our previous game, Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator, took the best ideas and added a slew of new ones. So, you can expect a lot of tinkering with screws, painting, connecting and disconnecting electronics, removing and attaching parts to the car and so on. All of this will be as user-friendly and enjoyable as fixing a battered rally car can get.
[h2]Getting around to it[/h2]
One of the most important parts of getting your car race-ready will be identifying damaged parts. Then, you’ll need to figure out what is going to get fixed… And what will have to wait. In the garage, you’ll have all the time in the world. Rebuilding a car from scratch would take something like 40 minutes. However, you will have time limits during rallies. Time’s a limited amount of time in real life and we aim to emulate it. You can expect 5-15 minutes of time to make the car ready to go somehow. You’ll be able to cross the imposed limits, but it will result in a penalty.
When dealing with more serious damage and restoring parts, you’ll have to schedule that to be done in the garage. You won’t be able to, say, rebuild a transmission or get your rims unbent during a rally - just like in real life. The best, but also costly, way of going around it would be to have spare parts. It all depends on the money. If you have enough funds won in races - no problem. If not, and you probably won’t for a while, then you’re in a pickle. There will also be other avenues for earning, so don’t worry (too overly) about it.
There’s this mechanic in the game that we currently call “the danger limit”. You’ll be able to release a car that’s not entirely fixed, but if the danger limit’s broken, you won’t be allowed to partake in the next race. This provides another layer of strategic complexity and a challenge to tackle.
[h2]Real life vs the game[/h2]
As Rally Mechanic Simulator is, obviously, a simulator, it’s heavily inspired by real-life know-how. However, we need to make the game fun. And, honestly, there’s a lot of mundanity to the process. So, we decided to take the most boring parts away and “hide” them behind fun minigames. It’s all done in order to make a more playable and enjoyable game and we believe it’s the right call to make.
While we may slightly deviate from accuracy in the aforementioned aspect, we want to be as accurate as it gets in terms of presentation. All of the audio and graphic assets will be realistic and there’s a ton of work we’ve already done (and still have to do) to deliver that. One of the things scheduled to be done is to make the aftermath of fixes actually visible on salvaged and restored parts.
An interesting aspect is… Washing the car. It’s a factor in the real world, too.
[h2]There will be tuning[/h2]
Everyone looks fondly at the old games that allowed you to customise your car and rip on the tarmac. We’re not exactly building that, as you won’t be able to drive the car or fit neons under it and audio in the booth. Still, some forms of modification and tuning will be present in the game.
As per aftermarket body parts, you will be able to modify how the car looks. It probably won’t have an awful lot of influence on performance (if any), but you’ll be able to turn the visuals of your car into something that screams “It’s a purpose-built machine and it’s mean”. By this, we mean that some parts like bumpers and spoilers will be swappable. Additionally, there will be an ability to paint and slap sponsor stickers onto the vehicle.
The next thing is mechanical modifications. Let’s be honest - pretty much nobody runs stock cars in rallies. You’ll have a slew of performance parts at your disposal (for the right price). The investment may be sensible - the more money you put into your car, the faster it will be, and the higher your place in the standings will be, so you’ll have money for better parts yatta yatta yatta.
[h2]Conclusion[/h2]
As you can see, the repairing work that you’ll encounter will invest you in many levels. From battling against time constraints through prioritising crucial fixes to dealing with limited equipment at times - all with budget management and performance undertones. Simply put, we’re already proud. It’s gonna bun fun, engaging and challenging at once. How will you fare in that environment? We’ll do our best to make Rally Mechanic Simulator as good as it gets and hopefully, you’ll appreciate it!
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