One of the largest and most eagerly-anticipated updates in Automation's history is almost here, and you can experience it early!
Just like the Al-Rilma Open Alpha, the whole world stops and takes notice of this imperious luxury sedan by ThatOneFatAmerican.We are launching the Al-Rilma Update into a public, open-alpha phase, which you can
opt-in if you wish to participate. Do so by performing the following steps:
- Right-click on Automation in your Steam library, and go to Properties.
- Go to the Betas tab.
- From the Beta Participation drop-down, choose openbeta - Al-Rilma Update Open Alpha
Allow Automation to update automatically, then launch the game!
As always, this is an
alpha test - there will be bugs, unfinished features and the occasional lack of polish in this version; please comment and leave your feedback on what you find so we can make Automation better for everyone!
Compatibility Notes All Sandbox cars from the current public build will continue to work just fine, though their engines will need a bit of re-engineering with the new fuel selection tab in the Engine Designer, and new cylinder head types chosen from the new options. All publicly-listed mod content on the Steam Workshop that is compatible with the current public build will continue to work seamlessly in the Al-Rilma Update.
Due to the number of new body families/variants in this update, we strongly recommend you subscribe to the
Legacy Car Bodies mod, as this is where we put all of the old, retired and otherwise broken bodies we remove from Automation; this will at least preserve your existing builds that are on these bodies!
Campaign Mode has been disabled temporarily in the Al-Rilma open alpha; when it is restored, all Ellisbury Update campaign saves
will no longer be compatible with the new version.
Wishing for sunny climes and fast cars, with this gorgeous modern supercar by Ivan.Al-Rilma Update Open Alpha Changelog
[h3]Car Designer[/h3]
- Complete re-work of body family and variant selection; no more clicking through years one or ten at a time!
- All-new car reliability calculations, and a chart to break down exactly where you are losing reliability.
- Re-worked the design flow of a car to be more logical.
- Added heavy-duty frame options, which benefit large pick-up trucks, off-roaders and delivery vehicles especially.
- Re-worked wheel choice options for more consequential choices by the player.
- Increased the effect of the weight distribution slider and moved it to a location that makes more sense.
- Added over 300 new bodies in several new or expanded families.
- Incorporated several new fixture families.
- First playable draft of the completely new Test Track simulation, which should be much faster and more accurate than before.
- Many bugfixes and stability improvements based on player feedback.
A pretty stunning, 60s/70s concept car interior by Portalkat42.[h3]Engine Designer[/h3]
- Added superchargers, twincharging, sequential and compound turbochargers.
- All new throttle and gas flow simulation more accurately simulates engine behaviour at part throttle settings.
- Completely new reliability calculations, to go along with new car reliability calculations.
- Re-worked the fuel systems tab, to include a more accurate and realistic depiction of fuel mapping for emissions.
- Increased maximum family bore/stroke sizes.
- Re-worked engine reliability system - all engines have stress now to some degree, zero stress is (probably) impossible!
- Many bugfixes and stability improvements based on player feedback.
Yes, superchargers are really here, you're not imagining things![h3]Muitiplayer[/h3]
- Multiplayer scenario play is back after nearly a decade-long hiatus. Try it out today!
Games are always better with your friends, as Gravity points out![h3]Other Changes & Improvements[/h3]
- General performance and lighting improvements in crafted 3D photoscenes, which should help with the poor performance and crashing issues many have reported to us.
- New design environment - Fruinian Garage.
- Added audible button clicks, making manipulating menus and sliders more tactile.
A delightful little family hatchback from the 80s, courtesy of Leonardo.What's Next?
Our immediate task after the launch of the open alpha is to collect all of your bug reports, feedback and suggestions over the few weeks and work through them to fix any issues and streamline the experience for players. There is also quite a bit left to do in this update that we've promised, but haven't got working in a satisfactory manner just yet, such as:
- The standalone Track Editor,
- Campaign Mode, and
- certain quality-of-life features in Multiplayer mode.
As these features churn their way through internal and closed alpha testing, we will include them in the many regular patches that will be coming your way in the weeks following, and we will discuss them more as the time comes. Once that's all taken care of and the Al-Rilma Update reaches full release, our focus will then turn to the final part of the Supercharger Update suite - the Terso Update...more news on that in the near future!
Cheers!
Long, low and like a sci-fi spaceship; the winner of our Jet-Age Design Competition earlier this year, courtesy of Prium.