Automation - The Car Company Tycoon Game News

We're getting close to merging all the game branches and releasing the big update to the public branch. While that was planned to happen in mid February, we are not of the opinion that the LCV3 plays nearly well enough just yet for us to move on into the next longer dev cycle. On the other hand we need to release it to the default public branch in order to get rid of a lot of the compatibility issues caused by having the two versions in parallel and switching versions.

Thus we shall release the update for everyone the coming Monday, but will continue to patch and upgrade the LCV3 until it is more solid and plays well even for non-experts at the game. So we will continue regular patching beyond that coming update.

In today's patch we see a release candidate. If this is not causing any new bigger issues or still has big issues that are campaign show-stoppers, we will release either this or a fixed version on Monday.

Here is the full changelog for today:

• Added back and enabled true fullscreen mode. Fix for certain AMD card problems?
  
• Added a 70s Coupe, 70s Coupe Convertible, and 90s SUV car bodies
  
• Implemented basic tax system based on your profits for the year and HQ region
  

• Fixed demographics not unlocking / always being available in the campaign
  
• Fixed demographics region size multipliers being arbitrarily applied
  
• Fixed car scores only being calculated for trims that are in stock, fix sales oscillations
  
• Fixed names resetting when cloning trims in campaign
  
• Fixed issue with deleting mirrored fixtures
  
• Fixed issue with UI not showing expand / contract after sorting cars in sandbox
  
• Fixed fuel availability display issue showing lowest available fuel
  
• Fixed "select all available countries" button functionality
  
• Fixed step size of competition slider on campaign setup screen
  
• Fixed lights becoming dim in BeamNG exports when using too many lights
  

Please continue to help us find any remaining issues by posting about them in the bug reporting thread.
Cheers!

More fixes before the weekend, and plenty of new dependencies and game mechanics too. Getting rid of some of the long-standing exploits is also a nice touch... Like super slow cars generating fuel instead of using it. I still want one!

• Fixed cars spawing in mid-air in BeamNG.drive
  

• Changed car/engine designers to expand on double click if they have trims/variants
  
• Added "Engine Architecture" tech / research to unlock materials and engine configs
  
• Added leaded fuel ban company alerts
  
• Added direct effect of top end quality slider on valve float, independent of tech pool
  
• Added direct effect of exhaust system quality slider on power output
  
• Added over- and under-automated factory penalty to build quality
  
• Added tooling time multiplier depending on tooling quality & automation sliders
  
• Added company headquarters location info to car project sales panel
  

• Fixed crash when trying to load fixture favourites of mods no longer installed
  
• Fixed soft top based trims not calculating
  
• Fixed factory tooling time being independent of factory size
  
• Fixed super slow cars sometimes generating fuel, dominating eco categories
  
• Fixed campaign end screen not popping up when completing campaign
  
• Fixed changing trim bodies removing all fixtures
  
• Fixed new tire speed cost multiplier not being implemented in sandbox
  
• Fixed brake quality making brakes heavier instead of lighter
  
• Fixed exploitability of quality slider when no driver assists were selected
  
• Fixed steel panels saying they only need a small factory (requires medium)
  
• Fixed rim paint category icons being 1 3 3 instead of 1 2 3
  

• Set up car bones to understand Blender left/right naming conventions
  
• Set up car bones to be able to have constraints in parent bone space
  
• Set up car bodies to (optionally) use morph targets as bones
  

Next week we will merge the openbeta branch with the default branch, which will get rid of all kinds of startup / corrupted data issues people are having. It also means all UE4.17.2 based mods will have to be updated to be usable.

Cheers!

Fixing more important campaign issues in today's patch, some which where making it such that some cars would never come out of engineering.

The new company alert system is also seeing some useful additions, along with a new game mechanic that now in more detail evaluates if your car is deemed fast enough for the intended market - depending on road quality. Good stuff!

• Added company alert for upcoming minimum safety regulations
  
• Implemented Top Speed based desirability penalties for different stats per region
  
• Added 70sCoupeLargeSize coupe and sedan
  

• Fixed changing model body after making a trim breaking all kinds of things
  
• Fixed issue that could cause cars to not sign off correctly, staying in engineering forever
  
• Fixed issue (potentially) with log file flooding with FMOD errors in rare cases
  
• Fixed issue where pressing ESC would kill the UI in sandbox
  
• Fixed countries being selectable even when greyed out in marketing hub
  
• Fixed (roughly) alignment of factory manager UI
  
• Fixed grille materials incorrectly displaying on some scoops
  

There will most likely be another patch on Friday as we're getting ready to merge the current open beta branch into the default branch - and with it get rid of all those "corrupt data", plugins, and database issues.

Cheers!

A quick update to address a critical campaign issue that caused timeline freezes due to a missing file. Along with that fix come a few updates as well, check out the changelog below:

• Implemented first basic message/news system (WIP)
  
• Added tire cost penalty for low (for their time) tire profiles
  
• Improved tire cost progression when going over 300 & 350 km/h
  
• Fixed critical campaign issue caused by missing file (time freezes)
  
• Fixed Longitudinal FWD being selectable when using front live axle
  

Hope that resolves the issue!
Cheers

In today's patch there is a bit of polish and optimization, but also some much needed attention to the BeamNG Exporter. Engine designer scenarios are back (and car designer scenarios to follow next week) as we are preparing to merge everything into the default branch of Automation.

We are still looking for some cars that break the exporter, BeamNG, or cause simulation issues in BeamNG. Now would be a great time to send us the .car files to such cases ([email protected]) so that we can look into them further to fix some of the remaining exporter issues that have been following us around. One specific testcase we need is a car that is breaking in "exporting sounds" phase. If you have one of those lying around, please send it to us! :)

• Engine designer scenarios are now back, car scenarios will come back soon
  
• Big optimization for model designer performance
  
• Made top bar's time controls work on demographics and market UI
  
• Added rough difficulty presets for the lite campaign
  
• Added factory requirements tooltips to chassis, engine block, bottom end, interior
  
• Added warning to torsion beam rear suspension to show it can't be driven
  
• Removed back button in designers where it was not applicable
  
• Improved world map plaque text and its scaling, improved country selection info UI
  
• Fixed issue with car paint
  
• Fixed camera issue with world map view
  
• Fixed countries not being greyed out when you can't sell to them in marketing screen
  
• Fixed issue with engine not reloading properly in car after engine change
  

• Fixed several instances where exported cars would cause simulation instability
  
• Fixed issue with shift points for automatic transmissions
  
• Fixed issue where exported car's rear suspension would break
  
• Fixed issue with viscous diffs don't seem to do much locking at all
  

More improvements and fixes are coming next week!
Cheers