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 RACING SEASON BEGINS ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST! There will be another Automation challenge in the future, have your say in what goes into the next version!  Greetings, So, What Is It? Automation Website posted: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! Well, there's this vidya game being made by Camshaft Software called Automation (Get it here on Steam) or at AutomationGame.com that is basically a car company tycoon game, except this one is made by a team of serious car guys/gals, just like you and I! Unlike most tycoon-style games that kind of gloss over nitty-gritty details about the products you make, Automation has a very in-depth engine and car designer; in fact, it's kind of the defining feature of the game. Want to build your automotive empire on trucks and SUVs? Sure you can do that. Just build an engine:  Design a chassis and body to put it in:  And send it around the track for fun!  (yes, that 5700-pound hunk of metal is lapping the former Top Gear test track faster than an BMW M3) Want to be a boutique manufacturer of fast little sports cars? You can do that too:  So, what is it? OH WILL SOMEONE PUNCH HIM OUT! Anyways, you'll notice I haven't made much mention of the tycoon side of the game...that's because Automation is still in early access, and as such the actual tycoon part of the game is non-existent (but should be coming in an early form in the next six-ish months - the devs not only are working on this as we speak, but also spend a lot of time engaging with the community in a constructive way, which is very refreshing for an Early Access title - their Youtube channel is a prime example of this). So how will we occupy ourselves? By building and racing some virtual GT racing cars, of course! What's the plan, then? Design a car (or two cars in two different classes) to conform to the rules below, submit the design to me, and when I have all the entries, we (well, I) take these cars out for a simulated 15 (and possibly 16) race season on some of the greatest historic race tracks and time trials from around the world. Whomever has the most points at the end of the season wins their class! I Don't Know What I'm Doing! Neither do I!  Just do the best you can at building a fast car that complies with the rules in the next post, then follow the submission guidelines in the third post.EDIT: I totally forgot to mention, this is NOT the first Automation Challenge I've run; I did one back in the summer in Automotive Insanity...Go check it out, this is about how it will look when this one is up and running! MrChips fucked around with this message at 06:44 on Feb 1, 2016 |
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Dec 26, 2015 04:44
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SA-GT 1975 Design Criteria RULES Chassis and Engine Revisions Revisions are not permitted in-season. Fuel Consumption Fuel consumption is modelled based on in-game data, and fuel weight will be simulated in the race simulation. Reliability Chassis reliability calculations will be made based upon the following: -Body Quality Points; -Chassis design Quality Points; -Gearbox Quality Points (additional weighting); -Wheels and Tires Quality Points (additional weighting); -Brakes Quality Points(additional weighting); -Aerodynamics Quality Points; -Suspension Quality Points (additional weighting); and -Overall Reliability Rating, less Engine Reliability Rating and categories not counted (as mentioned below). Engine reliability calculations will be made based upon the following; -Bottom End Quality Points; -Top End Quality Points; -Induction Quality Points (turbocharged engines only, additional weighting); -Fuel Preparation Quality Points (additonal weighting); and -Exhaust Quality Points (additional weighting). Exhaust Quality Points shall count for engine accessories not covered in other categories. Quality Points in the following areas do not count towards reliability calculations or overall totals: -Exterior fixtures; -Interior; -Entertainment/Driver Assists; and -Safety. Additionally, negative Quality Points in an category will not count as credit towards your overall total. Breakdown Simulation Time to repair failures is calculated based on track position, speed penalty (if applicable), system affected and failure severity. Tire Life Simulation Tire life shall be calculated from a baseline durability, adjusted for Wheel and Tires Quality Points, weight distribution and all-up vehicle weight above the minimum empty class weight. Pit Stop Simulation Pit stop simulations will be calculated based as follows: -Refueling - 6 liters per second; -Tire Change - additional 60 seconds to Fuel Only stop; and -Driver Change - additional 20 seconds to Fuel Only stop, no additional time to Fuel and Tires Stop. Driver changes will be at the pit stop closest to the end of a two-hour stint. In/Out lap times will be adjusted based on track data. Race Season The race season will be as follows: Round 1 - Daytona Road Course, 24 hours; Round 2 - Watkins Glen, 12 hours; Round 3 - Road America, 6 hours; TT 1 - Pikes Peak Hillclimb (2 runs) Round 4 - Silverstone Circuit, 6 hours; Round 5 - Brands Hatch GP, 6 hours; Round 6 - Zolder, 6 hours; Special Round - BRC Rally (9 stages); Round 7 - Spa-Francorchamps, 12 hours; Round 8 - Le Mans, 24 hours; Round 9 - Pau Circuit, 6 hours TT 2 - Freiburg-Shauinsland Hillclimb (2 runs) Round 10 - Nordschleife, 24 hours; Round 11 - Estoril, 6 hours; Round 12 - Monza, 6 hours; TT 3 - Trento-Bondone Hillclimb; Round 13 - Hermanos Rodriguez, 6 hours Round 14 - Mount Panorama, 12 hours; Round 15 - Fuji Speedway, 6 hours; and Round 16 - Targa Florio, 24 hours. Teams A team shall consist of two cars of the same type. A constructor’s championship will be awarded to the team that acquires the largest number of points through the season. At the discretion of the Organiser, no entrant is allowed to enter more than one team. Each participant will be allowed to enter a team in no more than two classes. Scoring Points will be awarded to entrants by class as follows: pre:Position 6 Hour Race 12 Hour Race 24 Hour Race 1st 50 points 100 points 200 points 2nd 40 points 80 points 160 points 3rd 35 points 70 points 140 points 4th 32 points 64 points 128 points 5th 30 points 60 points 120 points 6th 28 points 56 points 112 points 7th 26 points 52 points 104 points 8th 24 points 48 points 96 points 9th 22 points 44 points 88 points 10th 20 points 40 points 80 points 11th 19 points 38 points 76 points 12th 18 points 36 points 72 points 13th 17 points 34 points 68 points 14th 16 points 32 points 64 points 15th 15 points 30 points 60 points 16th 14 points 28 points 56 points 17th 13 points 26 points 52 points 18th 12 points 24 points 48 points 19th 11 points 22 points 44 points 20th 10 points 20 points 40 points 21st 9 points 18 points 36 points 22nd 8 points 16 points 32 points 23rd 7 points 14 points 28 points 24th 6 points 12 points 24 points 25th + 5 points 10 points 20 points pre:Rally Stage Winners Position Points 1st 5 2nd 4 3rd 3 4th 2 5th 1 MrChips fucked around with this message at 10:04 on Feb 1, 2016 |
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Dec 26, 2015 04:45
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Current Entry and Revision Status: Final Results (Click for big) 
MrChips fucked around with this message at 03:11 on Feb 29, 2016 |
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Dec 26, 2015 04:46
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I've been following this game on Steam despite it not being at all my type of game, maybe I'll actually buy it and see if I can figure out what any of these numbers you're throwing out mean. Also, your submission guidelines shots are way too small to make out the details of what you're actually asking for. e: Unfortunately, I don't have the system to run it, so I'll just watch what other kind of bricks people submit. Dareon fucked around with this message at 06:17 on Dec 26, 2015 |
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Dec 26, 2015 06:07
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Is it possible to make this in the game:
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Dec 26, 2015 07:59
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I picked up this game on Steam a while back. No idea what I'm doing with it, but I might try making a vaguely car-shaped lump of scrap or two.
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Dec 26, 2015 11:12
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Dareon posted:I've been following this game on Steam despite it not being at all my type of game, maybe I'll actually buy it and see if I can figure out what any of these numbers you're throwing out mean. Fixed. Also, I guess I should explain some of the stuff in the rules a little better; most of it will make a lot more sense once contestants start getting into the game and building cars. Quality Points...What's Up With Them Anyway?  In Automation, there is a slider in each section of the car designer function, labelled "Quality", basically, this represents the amount of R&D money and man-hours invested in this aspect of the car, as well as material quality and whatnot. In each section, it has a slightly different effect; in engine sections, for example, it will maybe represent better designs for crankshafts and higher-quality bearings, which allow you to make a more powerful, responsive and reliable engine. It could represent a better quality fuel system, which means more reliability and maybe better efficiency. In the chassis section, it could represent lighter suspension components and better-tuned bushings...it goes on and on, really. Fortunately, the developers saw this wasn't exactly transparent, and have thus provided tooltips that explain how and what these functions, and in fact for everything in the designer, do, in great detail. It therefore becomes necessary, for the sake of game balance (and to throw you all a bit of a curveball) to limit both the overall number of Quality Points your design can use, representing a limit on the cash and manpower allotted for your race car program, as well as the maximum number allowed in each section, strictly for game balancing reasons. Of course, there are other limits in play too; in the lower class cars, Touring and Sportsman, you also have an overall cost limit to contend with; for every Quality Point you use, not only does it improve your car's performance, but it also increases the overall cost of your entry as well - so use them carefully!
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Dec 26, 2015 23:11
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Sweet. These challenges have been a good bit of fun. I'm in for this as well!
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Dec 27, 2015 20:40
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gently caress my rear end, the touring class is harder to design for than I thought. Everything I designed was anemic as gently caress, so gently caress it I submitted this thing for sportsman class.
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Dec 28, 2015 01:26
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Excellent, our first If I may offer a bit of advice, you might have left a fair bit of performance on the table; I am anticipating some seriously quick entries, and I would hate to see you be left behind with your otherwise fantastic looking car.
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Dec 28, 2015 23:15
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MrChips posted:Excellent, our first In order to finish first, you must first finish  And submitted, time to see how slow the Rallimestari will be on most tracks. Triple A fucked around with this message at 09:06 on Dec 29, 2015 |
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Dec 29, 2015 04:03
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MrChips posted:Excellent, our first Oh god dammit, I read the min weight as the max weight. I was still in the process of waking up when I made it, I can fix this.
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Dec 29, 2015 19:12
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What's the best way to add weight to car? I'm under a hundred pounds short and I don't want to waste QP on entertainment just to get weight.
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Dec 29, 2015 20:24
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Eskaton posted:What's the best way to add weight to car? I'm under a hundred pounds short and I don't want to waste QP on entertainment just to get weight. Safety, using heavier components to facilitate reliability and using lazy big engines with lean mixtures for developing power.
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Dec 29, 2015 20:33
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Triple A posted:Safety, using heavier components to facilitate reliability and using lazy big engines with lean mixtures for developing power. I ended up going with a steel body for the touring class. EDIT: Uh, duh, it's required. Eskaton fucked around with this message at 21:30 on Dec 29, 2015 |
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Dec 29, 2015 21:28
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Eskaton posted:What's the best way to add weight to car? I'm under a hundred pounds short and I don't want to waste QP on entertainment just to get weight. Safety is the way to go, but there are other ways too. MrChips posted:
I made these categories exempt from Quality Point totals so that your car's weight and overall safety rating could be fine-tuned freely.
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Dec 29, 2015 21:36
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aww, you fucker. I just noticed i've got everything down pat, except i weigh in at 1065kg.
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Dec 29, 2015 21:44
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I'm now picturing a giant subwoofer being included for its traction benefits.
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Dec 29, 2015 21:44
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Dareon posted:I'm now picturing a giant subwoofer being included for its traction benefits. Gotta get that 50/50 weight distribution.
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Dec 30, 2015 02:12
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No new entries since my last post; I have put table in the third post detailing who has entered into which classes, and what their entry's status is in terms of rules compliance. A couple of things: -First, entrants can choose the numbers for their cars; they must be two consecutive numbers for the system to work. Otherwise, I will choose them for you. -Second, all entrants are allowed two entries into two different classes of your choice, which means each player can have a total of four cars in two classes if they wish. As for me, I will be entering into the competition myself, provided there isn't too much objection. If you're thinking that might be a conflict of interest, bear in mind that the rules and the simulation are complex enough that I can assure you there is really no good way for me to game the system in my favour. And besides, cheating at one's own game is pretty damned low.
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Dec 31, 2015 23:01
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I've sent in my attempt at a Touring class car. I really have no clue what I'm doing so not entirely sure if this is valid; in particular I can't for the life of me find where the fuel tank size is listed in game. Everything else as far as I can tell is (barely) within the limits. Maybe I'm just bad but it seems really hard to actually get a working car that fits within the criteria for Touring class.
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Dec 31, 2015 23:23
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Robhol posted:I've sent in my attempt at a Touring class car. I really have no clue what I'm doing so not entirely sure if this is valid; in particular I can't for the life of me find where the fuel tank size is listed in game. Everything else as far as I can tell is (barely) within the limits. Maybe I'm just bad but it seems really hard to actually get a working car that fits within the criteria for Touring class. Fuel tank size is determined by the difference between your car's empty weight and the maximum permitted weight for your class, or the maximum value as published in the rules; unless you tell me otherwise, it's something I determine on my end. MrChips fucked around with this message at 23:36 on Dec 31, 2015 |
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Dec 31, 2015 23:33
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OK, I see. I guess my car's going to have a really small fuel tank then, because IIRC it's only just below the max weight as it is.
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Dec 31, 2015 23:36
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Hey Mr. Chips, is there a way to run the track simulation faster? I'm trying to tune the cars but I don't want to spend Real Time waiting for the results.
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Jan 1, 2016 04:34
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Wrar posted:Hey Mr. Chips, is there a way to run the track simulation faster? I'm trying to tune the cars but I don't want to spend Real Time waiting for the results. Just wing it. Don't fuss about the results as long as you get the right index of effluency.
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Jan 1, 2016 19:56
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Wrar posted:Hey Mr. Chips, is there a way to run the track simulation faster? I'm trying to tune the cars but I don't want to spend Real Time waiting for the results. You really only need to wait until the lap simulation starts, then you can flip to the lap time page.
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Jan 1, 2016 22:28
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Double posting, but I have updated the entry list, which is once again found in the submission guidelines posts. Meanwhile, I have been working away at my entries; I am still on the fence on which categories I'm going to enter, because I have a car in each class that I would really like to see run, but I have to play by the same rules as everyone else. Here's what I have for my Touring class, as an example: The CMW M1500 is a lightweight, front-engine, rear-wheel drive compact sports coupe, with a 1500 cc V6 producing over 180 horsepower at 8500 RPM. It can lap the Nurburgring in the low 8:50s and, I hope, will be reliable enough that it shouldn't be a complete disaster on the track.
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Jan 2, 2016 06:06
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"Emissions: inf" doesn't sound very environmentally sound.
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Jan 2, 2016 11:00
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 For comparison, here's the LATOY Rallimies TKM which is my secondary entry. Unlike CMW, We actually plan to sell these vehicles to the public and thus, we haven't tuned the engine to use leaded racing fuel. The only real modifications that have been done to it are installing an advanced roll cage, fuel cell, lowering the car and removal of the catalytic converter. While the engine is a thirsty 1.5 liter Inline 4 that produces 100 horsepowers, it's more focused on good handling and especially exploiting the short wheelbase it has. The suspension is designed to be adjustable so go ahead and see what works best for you! You too, can buy these vehicles at the MSRP of 12,500 US Dollars at your local LATOY dealer. Triple A fucked around with this message at 13:24 on Jan 2, 2016 |
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Jan 2, 2016 12:13
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 The 'Natural One' was concocted when the engineers were all fired and replaced by a dice-rolling table. The CEO remarked that he was surprised to roll so many ones but was happy when he saw the price point of just under $6400. This 1500cc V6-powered beast revs all the way up to 8300RPM, with special emphasis on having a safe race - after all, if you die how will you get to reroll for a better car? If I don't end up in last it'll be a miracle. I'll post my second car in a while.
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Jan 3, 2016 01:17
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Can we form teams? I really want to work in conjunction with someone rather than on my own. I would love that.
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Jan 4, 2016 19:19
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Entry list updated as of yesterday afternoon's entries. Keep them coming in, folks!Top Hats Monthly posted:Can we form teams? I really want to work in conjunction with someone rather than on my own. I would love that. As fun as that might be, I'm going to have to partially say no to that for now. The issue is that the system I have for entry control basically only allows for one or two cars per entrant. Now having said that, if the rest of you are OK with it, then I think I can relax the rules a little bit. Also on the topic of relaxing the rules, I've messed around with the Touring class a fair bit more with this new version of Automation (the rules were made for an earlier challenge in the previous version), and I am thinking of relaxing the class maximum weight, from 800 kg to 850 kg, while keeping the minimum weight at 700 kg. Any objections? And finally, I have decided to compete in Sportsman and Open classes myself; I am doing something...a little different. Instead of two completely different car designs, I am taking the ambitious step of doing one design, but with two different trim levels that comply with their respective rule sets. I'm not quite ready to post the car just yet - the variants both need another couple rounds of suspension and drivetrain tuning, but I can say they are a little unorthodox to say the least, and draw on a very famous car of the era for inspiration...
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Jan 4, 2016 23:20
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MrChips posted:draw on a very famous car of the era for inspiration... The Morris Marina, finally getting the respect it deserves.
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Jan 4, 2016 23:31
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I kinda wan't to participate but I haven't played automation in years. Tried making a touring class thingy, started with the engine and then put it in a body and went over the weight limit a lot. And the engine was made out of the most expensive, lightweight parts. Maybe one evening i'll hone in something that works
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Jan 5, 2016 05:41
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MrChips posted:Also on the topic of relaxing the rules, I've messed around with the Touring class a fair bit more with this new version of Automation (the rules were made for an earlier challenge in the previous version), and I am thinking of relaxing the class maximum weight, from 800 kg to 850 kg, while keeping the minimum weight at 700 kg. Any objections? I don't see why not. It would give more car types a chance to be useful rather than everyone needing to be a small hatchback/coupe. If I had to suggest a weight myself, 865 KG. Triple A fucked around with this message at 14:34 on Jan 5, 2016 |
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Jan 5, 2016 14:31
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Do all entries have to be based on the same body shell? E: And are the 2 entries per class identical, or can they be 2 variants of the same car?
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Jan 7, 2016 01:38
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Enourmo posted:Do all entries have to be based on the same body shell? Nope, you can (and likely will) have two completely different designs for your entries; for each entry, you get two identical cars, for a total of four cars. The "two classes with one car" is just an arbitrary challenge I set for myself. In fact, I'm also leaning towards variants of one engine as well at the moment. MrChips fucked around with this message at 03:03 on Jan 7, 2016 |
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Jan 7, 2016 02:58
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 The President and CEO of Absolute Failure is an unobservant man. When told that spending money on building the Natural One was a bigger waste of cash than burning it in a pit, he replied, 'That sounds like a great car name. Let me break out my dice again...' After being physically restrained, he finally hired engineers to build a car. Unfortunately they are all being paid their wages in peanuts because they are elephants. The end result is a monstrous 4695cc V12 engine, revving to 8200 RPM and shockingly well suited for the Super and Hyper car markets. But can it go fast?
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Jan 7, 2016 03:09
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AdventFalls posted:
It goes thru fuel fast, does that count?
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Jan 7, 2016 13:59
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Yessss. I love this game so hard but I'm so bad at it. I've sent my first entry in for scrutineering. Fukushima Motors, Japan's seventh-safest motor company from 1972-1974 sends its latest hot hatch to join the contestants for the Touring category.  The Dandy GTi, a tuned version of the two door hatch/sedan that took the Japanese market like a slightly damp afternoon this year, sporting an all-aluminium 1.5L I4 DOHC 16V engine making 179hp @ 7800rpm, and better-than-lukewarm performance.
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Jan 7, 2016 14:31
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