First Look - First Thoughts

[geozero]

I saw this game through Automation many months ago and did not know there was a Beta... anyway saw it again yesterday and thought this would be a great game... I never owned Detroit or the other car games of the 1990's on PC. SO this was really cool idea.

I went to download the 584mb or so file. Excruciatingly slow even on my fast FIOS system it was a 2 hour ordeal. Then as soon as it finished it was deleted by my Norton 360. Ugh. Wish there had been a warning. So I gave up until this morning when I have another 2 hours to kill. This time I turned off Norton 360. The download somehow was faster this morning yet still well over 1 hour.

Played (or rather clicked away) one game. Didn't get too far. Started another game, started getting the hang of it. Decided to delete the games and start a fresh new one... there is no delete option though I have already read that is in the works for 1.11 - YAH. But I could not even find the save file in my hard drive which was really strange.

Okay I know it's BETA. I've actually beta tested lots and lots of games... no biggie.

A comment on crashes. They seem to be so random that there would be no way for me to recreate it or really tell you where it happens. It seems to me though that the game was crashing more during the first turns then later. I did learn fairly quickly to Save, Save, Save. Wish I could be more helpful on crash issues.

Viewing car designs by cities, I saw that some cities are just numbered... like Portland was 194 or 195. Weird.

The data on cars built and sold seems odd to me.

It lists Reserves - Produced - Sold.

It would make more sense if it read Produced - Sold - Reserves so that it is a simple A-B=C sort of thing. Anyway, that's how my mind works.

I saw the map suddenly change around the year 1911 0r 1912... cool.

I have a third game going and was down to around $600k in cash... I mean I kept losing money. Then I raised the prices of the cars. Drastically. I went into the black again. I have 4 car designs and the first one still out sells everything... that seems strange after over 10 years that little 1 cylinder buggy still outsells everything.

Placing wheels in the design is really hard. Really really hard.

I wish there was a way to change distribution throughout all the cities with one click. Maybe there is and I haven't found it. I had to go to each city one at a time and go to distribution. I wish there was a better way to know what the target range for pricing the car would be... maybe a way to tell what consumers are willing to spend. As it is I priced the first car at like $600... eventually raising the price by 1910 to something like $2500 for that buggy and it was selling great.

I am going to start game #4 to see if I can do better sooner in the game as far as money goes. I have a new idea... I will post results...

[Laurent Tommy Flanagann]

Hello there,

You can find your saved games through the start panel windows thing (Sorry, I am french, not sure how to call it), under the Gearcity beta folder, there, the data folder caan be found!

Fell free to look at other posts, as Eric is already working on many things for the 1.11 beta (as for the outsell of first models for example)

Also, about placing wheels, apparently, it would not be possible to re-arrange it unless the game sells well, as it costs a lot. That is, I developed a small technique: Drag your tire to the location (wheel axle), but it needs to be wrongly flipped... This way, you can be sure on the location you actually put it. Then, simply click on the flip button, and the wheel will arrange itself to the desired (and obviously required) position!

It works out well for me, hope I could help!

In my game, it is the same as for you, I do sell my cars much higher than competition, and it still sells very well, even after many years of production... Apparently, it is going to be balanced in the new version of the beta (that should be available soon)...

Try to have a look on my post (My very successful company) as I managed not to loose money from the start of the game.

That being said, I assume you checked the model demand in order not lo loose money and to sell cars earlier in the game! Try to start with London (best location in europe) or NYC (best in US)... Also, London is obviously more affected by WW1 than the US market, as a matter of facts.

[Arakash]

But I could not even find the save file in my hard drive which was really strange.

Im using Windows 7 and my save games, along with screenshots/logs etc are under C:/Users/(username)/Appdata/Roaming/Vent/Gearcity

Viewing car designs by cities, I saw that some cities are just numbered... like Portland was 194 or 195. Weird.

I would separate your bugs out into their own bug threads in the bug section of the forum. (following the guidelines there)
Im fairly sure ive already seen this bug in a thread there.

I wish there was a way to change distribution throughout all the cities with one click. Maybe there is and I haven't found it. I had to go to each city one at a time and go to distribution.

There is a few buttons on the mega menu ill mention.(You can find it under the globe on the office menu) There is:
- A few buttons related to changing vehicle prices across the world
- A button to sell vehicles to all locations or by region
- A button to stop selling vehicles.
- A bunch of other buttons unrelated to distribution that can save a lot of time.
This sounds like what your looking for.

I wish there was a better way to know what the target range for pricing the car would be... maybe a way to tell what consumers are willing to spend. As it is I priced the first car at like $600... eventually raising the price by 1910 to something like $2500 for that buggy and it was selling great.

It is very hard to figure out, i had a lot of trouble with it as a new player.
There are some guidelines you can follow, for example its been mentioned that the population follows real wealth distribution based on the per capita of the area.
Eric(one of the dev's) posted this graph in another thread to demonstrate:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...States.png
There is more information on the wiki page that graph is from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_i...ted_States

That said, personally i find it difficult to actually draw conclusions from this information.
I set my price based on the cost of getting my vehicle to the customer as well as my desired profit margin(which is usually a guess).

I am going to start game #4 to see if I can do better sooner in the game as far as money goes.

There are a bunch of threads on this, as well as AAR's as Laurent mentioned.
The simplest start to familiarize yourself with the game is probably any vehicle body on high demand(or above average), in either London or New York.
There is a bottomless pit of demand in these places(in the thousands) for high demand vehicles if you can produce them at a decent price. Even very very terrible vehicles.(ive made some real clunkers that sell because there is nothing else)

[geozero]

Thanks everyone for your comments and ideas.

I will in future separate what I believe to be bugs after searching herein... my intent with this first thread was just first impressions overall from a very potential consumer.

I played another new game last night and was able to do well. I even took over two companies and expanded the marketing distribution, car lines, and factories. I also doubled my money after buying them out... hmm. OK.

Distribution increased from 3 cities to 12, factories from 1 to 4, and active car lines from 2 to 7. All car lines were different, thus rounding out my company and all were profitable.

For the most part I set my prices around $1300-$2500. The best I could tell was if the price seemed to high there would be decreased sales for 3 month or so... then I would adjust price. Seems that consumers were willing to pay average of around $1600 for a car (up until around 1910 when I stopped playing). Just need to make cars for less than $600 to make a whopping $1000 profit for each. Then its a matter of expanding market distribution. I was very quickly making $750k or more per month. With the two company takeovers I also had new engines, gear boxes, etc. to experiment, and I bought a few for a few hundred dollars (looking for ones that were better rated than mine). This allowed me to create the most versatile car line while keeping costs as low as possible.

The game is fun.

[Arakash]

Thanks everyone for your comments and ideas.

I will in future separate what I believe to be bugs after searching herein... my intent with this first thread was just first impressions overall from a very potential consumer.

I played another new game last night and was able to do well. I even took over two companies and expanded the marketing distribution, car lines, and factories. I also doubled my money after buying them out... hmm. OK.

Distribution increased from 3 cities to 12, factories from 1 to 4, and active car lines from 2 to 7. All car lines were different, thus rounding out my company and all were profitable.

For the most part I set my prices around $1300-$2500. The best I could tell was if the price seemed to high there would be decreased sales for 3 month or so... then I would adjust price. Seems that consumers were willing to pay average of around $1600 for a car (up until around 1910 when I stopped playing). Just need to make cars for less than $600 to make a whopping $1000 profit for each. Then its a matter of expanding market distribution. I was very quickly making $750k or more per month. With the two company takeovers I also had new engines, gear boxes, etc. to experiment, and I bought a few for a few hundred dollars (looking for ones that were better rated than mine). This allowed me to create the most versatile car line while keeping costs as low as possible.

The game is fun.

Again on the pricing.
One thing i do know is that the per capita shown on the world map represents the average income of people in that area, though it follows the graph i showed.

From my experience, your price depends on what type of vehicle you are selling.
For example, again around 1910, ive been able to make a compact and microcar(i made a thread in the General discussions about it) for the middle class that i sell for ~450 for marginal profit, or around 500-600 for decent profit.
At least in my mind, putting it around the per capita mark makes it accessible to 40-50% of the population, rather than the 20-30% that having it at 2 or 3x capita would.
But that's just a guess on my part.

I agree that 1200-1500 seems to be a realistic and decent figure in the US/UK.

Glad to hear your enjoying the game btw, ive had a lot of fun with it myself, im looking forward to seeing where it goes.

[geozero]

Thanks everyone for your comments and ideas.

I will in future separate what I believe to be bugs after searching herein... my intent with this first thread was just first impressions overall from a very potential consumer.

I played another new game last night and was able to do well. I even took over two companies and expanded the marketing distribution, car lines, and factories. I also doubled my money after buying them out... hmm. OK.

Distribution increased from 3 cities to 12, factories from 1 to 4, and active car lines from 2 to 7. All car lines were different, thus rounding out my company and all were profitable.

For the most part I set my prices around $1300-$2500. The best I could tell was if the price seemed to high there would be decreased sales for 3 month or so... then I would adjust price. Seems that consumers were willing to pay average of around $1600 for a car (up until around 1910 when I stopped playing). Just need to make cars for less than $600 to make a whopping $1000 profit for each. Then its a matter of expanding market distribution. I was very quickly making $750k or more per month. With the two company takeovers I also had new engines, gear boxes, etc. to experiment, and I bought a few for a few hundred dollars (looking for ones that were better rated than mine). This allowed me to create the most versatile car line while keeping costs as low as possible.

The game is fun.

Again on the pricing.
One thing i do know is that the per capita shown on the world map represents the average income of people in that area, though it follows the graph i showed.

From my experience, your price depends on what type of vehicle you are selling.
For example, again around 1910, ive been able to make a compact and microcar(i made a thread in the General discussions about it) for the middle class that i sell for ~450 for marginal profit, or around 500-600 for decent profit.
At least in my mind, putting it around the per capita mark makes it accessible to 40-50% of the population, rather than the 20-30% that having it at 2 or 3x capita would.
But that's just a guess on my part.

I agree that 1200-1500 seems to be a realistic and decent figure in the US/UK.

Glad to hear your enjoying the game btw, ive had a lot of fun with it myself, im looking forward to seeing where it goes.

I need to explore more of the charts and other data in the game for sure. I am sure that they will give clues as to best pricing strategy.

I am going to start Game 6 in some little far away place, maybe SE Asia or Cuba. Going to see how that works.

[Arakash]

I need to explore more of the charts and other data in the game for sure. I am sure that they will give clues as to best pricing strategy.

I am going to start Game 6 in some little far away place, maybe SE Asia or Cuba. Going to see how that works.

I played a game in Japan not long ago and found it damn hard to remain profitable.
The problem is the Per Capita is so low.
For comparison in the US/UK, selling at $1500 is
Based on UK at start 4x capita
Based on UK in 1906 3.4x capita
Based on US at start 4.5x capita
Based on US at 1906 3.7x capita
In an East Asian country, like Japan, selling at 1500 is
Based on Japan at start 16x capita
Based on Japan at 1906 9x capita

If you wanted to reach the same level of pricing 3-5x capita, your looking at
Based on Japan at start 270-450
Based on Japan at 1906 495-825

Staying profitable with such low pricing is possible, but much harder.
Its definitely an enjoyable challenge.