GearCity 1.18 Progress

[Eric.B]

Since the last update:
-Designing vehicle automatically takes you to body designer
-Cancel confirmation windows in RnD
-Build Name/Marque/Completion Date windows in RnD
-Removed Length/Width effect on Max/Min Bore/Stroke
-Implemented a direct bore/stroke input system. Just type the values you want.


I'll probably fix up two or three stats and ratings for the vehicle/engine designer. Then move on to the modification window stuff.

[SecretlyaFish]

Excited for the release!!! Very much looking forward to it!

Edit - I can't believe I've spent 108 hours on this game. But its just up my alley. Thanks for making such a cool game!!!

As a suggestion, is there any way we will be able to adjust the turbo's at some point? Nothing crazy just say boost or emphasizing where the turbo kicks in to either provide top end horsepower or low end torque. Just a thought that came to mind.

Also, I noticed there is something called a Hybrid Turbocharger, which atm in the 1.175 beta, is more powerful than the Quad Turbo. Any chance of a Quad Hybrid Turbo?!!!

[Eric.B]

Edit - I can't believe I've spent 108 hours on this game. But its just up my alley. Thanks for making such a cool game!!!

Thanks for the complements.

As a suggestion, is there any way we will be able to adjust the turbo's at some point? Nothing crazy just say boost or emphasizing where the turbo kicks in to either provide top end horsepower or low end torque. Just a thought that came to mind.

I doubt something like this will work its way into the game. That being said I have made some adjustments to the stats that should improve induction systems in the game.

Also, I noticed there is something called a Hybrid Turbocharger, which atm in the 1.175 beta, is more powerful than the Quad Turbo. Any chance of a Quad Hybrid Turbo?!!!

Officially no, but it wouldn't be too hard to add it into the game if you wanted to mod it in. I can't imagine the amount of air compressors and space you would need to run it though.

[halem111]

been playing the 1.175 beta last couple of days, played from the 80's on in both this and the 1.17

the 80's are so much harder now - i could easily get a 20 bil company in 1.17 but now its a struggle to make profit on cars.

it feels like they are more expensive to build and also the competition is more geared to competing with better cars and taking you out
which i like but god dam its hard haha

cant wait for 1.18 so i know exactly what cars need what features because the budget is so much tighter now that you cant afford to just make everything good and produce it at a low cost and compete.

is there any where that gives a clue to what features are preferred in each car eg cargo space etc?


and also because it was so much harder to play i almost turned it into a stock trading game and i think i found a cheat/hack

if i invest in a company that is growing and say put a couple hundred mil into them they will grow to several billion value

so 5-10 years in i can have no money in my bank account because its mostly in R and D / running company / stocks

so my value of my company is low say 50 million

but i have 5 billion in stocks

so i sell my 5 billion stocks
wait a turn
my company value goes from 50 mil to 5 billion
i sell my stocks for 5 bil
so i have 10 bil
then i reinvest in the stock market and now have 10 bil to buy stocks with
and then 6 months later when i am running in the red my company stock value goes down
so i buy back my stocks for say 100 mill
and then 5 or so years later i can do it again

there is a risk with it in that the computer some times buys your stocks

so technically i should do this but only go to 51% instead of the full 100%

my point being i think the company value should take into consideration the amount of stocks you have

cus a company value of 50 mil with 5 billion in stocks is not right

although right now it seems to be the best way for me to make money in 1.175 beta haha

anyway im counting down the days to the when its done date of 1.18

keep on motoring on dude

[Eric.B]

cant wait for 1.18 so i know exactly what cars need what features because the budget is so much tighter now that you cant afford to just make everything good and produce it at a low cost and compete.

Yea this should help quite a bit!

is there any where that gives a clue to what features are preferred in each car eg cargo space etc?

In 1.17.5 no, in 1.18 you have the star systems shown in the picture above. Things like Cargo Ratings are generated directly from the vehicle stats.

and also because it was so much harder to play i almost turned it into a stock trading game and i think i found a cheat/hack

There is an issue with cash influencing the market-cap of a company. This is slated to be fixed in 1.19 and 1.20.

there is a risk with it in that the computer some times buys your stocks

There is no risk of losing your CEO position. In the future we may have some adverse effects if you do not control the company.

[sketch]

will we ever be able to tune up a car once the design is complete? Some sort of refining work you could do after the design is complete, like balancing the weight, searching for defects, and most importantly adjust the behaviour of the gearing system along the engine. The latter would be really cool!


2 more questions:
Is a new gui for sales being developed? As for now i find a bit tricky to understand how many cars are being produced in a factory and sold in the local branch, thus making hard to balance production in the factories.
Is there a way to delegate something to an assistant? like making someone head of the R&D rather than the production & selling, or the marketing... As for now once you start to have 3 or 4 factories and branches around the world, it's really hard to balance everything and not become bored by the excessive micromanagement...

[Eric.B]

will we ever be able to tune up a car once the design is complete? Some sort of refining work you could do after the design is complete, like balancing the weight, searching for defects, and most importantly adjust the behaviour of the gearing system along the engine. The latter would be really cool!

Not any more than what is already currently in the game under new trims and new model years. The component modification code it self is about to be rewritten, but it will not be to the extend you're asking about.

Is a new gui for sales being developed?

The only code being touched for 1.18 is the stuff in RnD and the code that uses RnD code (such as AI and end turn calculations.) So no. Currently I'm not touching any GUI outside of what is in RnD.

As for now i find a bit tricky to understand how many cars are being produced in a factory and sold in the local branch, thus making hard to balance production in the factories.

I don't see how this information can be hard to find? Anywhere you can adjust production it lists how many vehicles are being produced and how many are being sold within it's shipping radius. Look at the box on the right hand side.

For branches it shows how many are being sold at the location on any screen that you can assign vehicles to the branches. Again, on the right hand side of the window.

Plus there are at least a dozen reports that display this information in the sales book and custom report system.

If you mean detailed information about what car is specifically shipping where. No, that information is not displayed in the game. The vehicles are sold to the closest locations within the shipping range in the order of priority.

Is there a way to delegate something to an assistant? like making someone head of the R&D rather than the production & selling, or the marketing...

Currently, Hiring/Firing, Wages, and Production all have AI controllers. You can enable or disable these in the Mega Menu (Computer) under "Autotools." Auto Production is broken in 1.17 and will under produce vehicles a few turns a year in 1.17.5.

In RnD you have the assisted designers. These are meant to be your assistants. No further assistance will come to this system.

Furthermore no assitance will come to the assigning of vehicles to branches. An auto-marketing tool is in the roadmap.

As for now once you start to have 3 or 4 factories and branches around the world, it's really hard to balance everything and not become bored by the excessive micromanagement...

If you have problems micromanaging you will probably want to wait for Country/Districting Factory & Branch Grouping in 1.19.

[Eric.B]

Here's what has been taken care of since the last update.

-Induction systems rebalanced to not give RPMs, increased torque amounts.
-Reduction of vehicle weight in later game years.
-Reduced drag slightly
-Reformulated the acceleration numbers.
-Revised Power Rate.
-Fixed bug with chassis costs making them extremely expensive in very late game years.

Also fixed a few bugs in our new GUI system/tools. I've got one more thing to address in the Direct bore/stroke inputs. Work on the new modification system begins sometime tonight!

[Eric.B]

Revised Component Modification code is complete.

It now offers:
Redesigned GUI
Visible ratings changes gained via modification.
Three levels of modification (Low, Medium, High)
Ability to view selected component in the parts viewer.
The ability to redesign selected component in advance designer (Much like summary clone function, but you don't have to select the sub-components.)


I've got a few little things to clean up tonight. Such as balancing the costs and allow you to cancel researching project. Tomorrow I should start working on fixing up the Trim/New Model year stuff. Then we've got some changes coming to the Assisted Designer, Licensing system, and Research trees!

[Frankschtaldt]

sounds bloody ripper!

Is it too late to make suggestions for the licensing system? I'm thinking it'd be cool if you could make long term supply deals between companies. Kinda like Lotus and Toyota have.

[Eric.B]

sounds bloody ripper!

Is it too late to make suggestions for the licensing system? I'm thinking it'd be cool if you could make long term supply deals between companies. Kinda like Lotus and Toyota have.

I've got the system thought up in my mind, but I have not implemented it yet. So no, it's not too late for suggestions on the licensing system. I'm all ears... or eyes.

Please note in the future we'll also have contracting system working with AI companies as well. They're different things.

[Frankschtaldt]

sounds bloody ripper!

Is it too late to make suggestions for the licensing system? I'm thinking it'd be cool if you could make long term supply deals between companies. Kinda like Lotus and Toyota have.

I've got the system thought up in my mind, but I have not implemented it yet. So no, it's not too late for suggestions on the licensing system. I'm all ears... or eyes.

Please note in the future we'll also have contracting system working with AI companies as well. They're different things.

Any chance you can give us some hints about what you have planned? sounds like you might already be going to do what I'm thinking (and yes, what I'm thinking is probably more contracts than licences).

[Eric.B]

Licensing is just what it is. You licenses the right to manufacture a component or vehicle. Mainly the code needs to be cleaned up, royalties need to be drastically reduced and there needs to be more of a lump sum payment.


Contracting is the opposite. You have someone else manufacture the component/vehicle for you OR you manufacture a component for someone else. The later would occur in the current contracting system. The former I have not fully thought out the best way to handle this. It won't be for 1.18 however. So no rush.

[cobrryse]

I am super excited for 1.1.8! Do you have an idea of how much longer until its out?

[Eric.B]

I am super excited for 1.1.8! Do you have an idea of how much longer until its out?

My goal was to get 1.18 out by the end of the month, but a few things have slowed down its progress again. That being said, we'll get a 1.17.8 build out to "Testing" Branch by the end of the month which will have all the changes up to that date.

[Eric.B]

Finished a redesign of the New Model Year and Trim system. The GUI is slightly different. The main feature is costs have now been greatly reduced. If you replace no vehicle components a new model year or trim will costs you 15% of development costs. Changing the chassis will result in 100% of development costs, Changing the engine is 25%, and just changing the gearbox is 20%. This also effect development time.

I do have a list of 7 minor things to clean up with the new modification system and then I should be done with it and moving on to the redesign of the Assisted designer system.

-New Model Year and Trim Cost and Time reduction.
-New Vehicle Modification GUI.

[cobrryse]

Finished a redesign of the New Model Year and Trim system. The GUI is slightly different. The main feature is costs have now been greatly reduced. If you replace no vehicle components a new model year or trim will costs you 15% of development costs. Changing the chassis will result in 100% of development costs, Changing the engine is 25%, and just changing the gearbox is 20%. This also effect development time.

I do have a list of 7 minor things to clean up with the new modification system and then I should be done with it and moving on to the redesign of the Assisted designer system.

-New Model Year and Trim Cost and Time reduction.
-New Vehicle Modification GUI.

Sounds Great! I love having a whole bunch of trims for my vehicles, so this is right up my alley!

[Eric.B]

I had to take a couple days off, but here is what I've gotten done:
When building a vehicle, you are given a check box to create additional trims for the vehicle.
Implemented OpenAL Software drivers and have made them default on all windows machines. (Hopefully this will fix multiple sound card crashing)
Cleaned up the last few remaining bugs I have marked down for the trims.

I have just started on the Assisted Designer redesign. Once I have completed that I'll probably make the announcement for 1.17.8, and start cleaning up the game getting ready for that release to testing.

[Eric.B]

Halem111 I moved your post to its own thread: http://www.ventdev.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=2621

[Eric.B]

Redesign of the Assisted Component system is complete.
In addition to the redesigned GUI you can now
-Select and override subcomponents for your design.
-Select a chassis to make sure your assisted engine design fits. (The game will try to make your engine fit in the chassis. If it is unable to do so, it will warn you.)
-Select an engine to design your assisted chassis around. ( Game will try to design your chassis where it can fit the selected engine in it. It will warn you if unable to.)
-Select an engine to design a gearbox to. (Game will warn you if Max Torque Input rating is lower than Engine Torque.)

I still have to do the Assisted Vehicle designer. And 5 smaller tickets before I make the announcement and do some playthroughs to make sure everything is good for a 1.17.8 release to testing branch...