disappearing auto brands

[kurmolke]

When starting a new game, I usually have the intention of owning several auto brands, so that my company can cover different segments with different car brands; similar to Volkswagen IRL. Eric said that this subdivision would make sense (link). So I eye a couple of competing companies from early on and hope that they go public soon.

My problem is that many of the brands I`d like to own never seem to go public. Still, they somehow can merge with or be bought by other companies (who often also decided against an IPO). They turn into mega-companies, who often go bancrupt after a couple of years.

If they go bancrupt, there are two scenarios:

a) the newspaper usually says that e.g. "Lancia" has spun off "BMW" following it´s chapter 11 bancruptcy". A different article states that the same company was sold. It says that Parent company "Lancia" has sold off ther maque "BMW" to the "BMW"'s management. Any auto brand that is sold and spun off this way will never be seen again. Which is a pitty.

b) The alternative is that these huge companies simply go bancrupt and all brands, they owned, vanish.

In any case, I can`t own any of the brands I desire.

Am I right with my observation? Have you experienced similar developements? Do you have some advice for me?

[Eric.B]

Which version of the game are you playing?

From the sounds of the marque names, you're playing a mod?

a) the newspaper usually says that e.g. "Lancia" has spun off "BMW" following it´s chapter 11 bancruptcy". A different article states that the same company was sold. It says that Parent company "Lancia" has sold off ther maque "BMW" to the "BMW"'s management. Any auto brand that is sold and spun off this way will never be seen again. Which is a pitty.

A spin off doesn't necessarily mean some other company is getting it. Spin offs can result in independent companies, which might not have the funding to survive. Nor actually selling a marque means that it'll be sold to someone who will use the brand. It can be sold to other auto companies or banks or just sold and killed off.


When a company goes out of business or they decide to sell of a marque, they sometimes allow for other companies to bid, including yours. You have enable this however, Mega Menu -> Auto Commands -> Bid on Bankrupt Companies. And you have to have enough money. If you and other companies do not have enough money, or no one is interested, then it'll be up to banks/investors or the company will vanish.

b) The alternative is that these huge companies simply go bancrupt and all brands, they owned, vanish.

That's life. There well over 6000 documented automobile marques in the world, but only a couple hundred active ones. Many of those 5800+ just vanished, others are just held by companies both in and out of the automobile industry and are completely unused.


That being said, in v1.25 I have plans on dynamically created AI marques as the world monopolizes. But if you're playing with 10 or 25 AI, that's part of the problem.

[kurmolke]

Which version of the game are you playing?

From the sounds of the marque names, you're playing a mod?

I am on 1.21 and use a mod. But since it only affects logos and company names, I thought it was not worth mentioning (or: self-explaining). You can find the mod here. Since it only works with AI 10 and AI 25, I usually go for the latter to have a little variety. The limited number of companies add to my problem, as you said.

When a company goes out of business or they decide to sell of a marque, they sometimes allow for other companies to bid, including yours. You have enable this however, Mega Menu -> Auto Commands -> Bid on Bankrupt Companies. And you have to have enough money. If you and other companies do not have enough money, or no one is interested, then it'll be up to banks/investors or the company will vanish.

This feature is enabled, since I always hoped it would work the way you explained it. I also know how to make a profit; so money is not the problem. I hoped I would at least get ONE offer. But I never did - in more than 280 hours of game-playing.

(...) in v1.25 I have plans on dynamically created AI marques as the world monopolizes. But if you're playing with 10 or 25 AI, that's part of the problem.

Interesting! That makes me want 1.25 even more. I tried it on steam, but my real-life companies and their logos were gone. Since I don't know if that mod works on 1.25, I thought it might be a better idea to keep the current version with the changes I already made. It´s not about the effort - I would but am bad at changing files. There are many people out there who would be better modder than I am. Since modding will be included in one of the future versions, I simply wait and hope. Even changing fonts and sizes was (and still is) a problem for me. But I learn something new each time I ask a question here on the forum and you and the other help me. Thank you.

I was really glad to be able to change the names and logos, since I looooove cars. It might just be a random name, but Alfa-Romeo means something to me. You should have seen the smile on my face when I was able to buy them for the first time.

[Eric.B]

[quote='Eric.B' pid='8372' dateline='1490294834']
Which version of the game are you playing?

From the sounds of the marque names, you're playing a mod?

I am on 1.21 and use a mod. But since it only affects logos and company names, I thought it was not worth mentioning (or: self-explaining). You can find the mod here. Since it only works with AI 10 and AI 25, I usually go for the latter to have a little variety. The limited number of companies add to my problem, as you said.

I understand which mod you're using. I am pointing out for legal and technical reasons, that you modified the game files and that these companies/files are not distributed with GearCity, are not in the game, nor are you confusing in game companies with real companies.

Plus, you should always point out if you're not using the standard files in the game, as I have no control over those files.

This feature is enabled, since I always hoped it would work the way you explained it. I also know how to make a profit; so money is not the problem. I hoped I would at least get ONE offer. But I never did - in more than 280 hours of game-playing.

And how often are you playing against more than a handful of competitors? If I enable it, and have enough money to buy companies out, I get an offer every couple of years using 300AI.

(...) in v1.25 I have plans on dynamically created AI marques as the world monopolizes. But if you're playing with 10 or 25 AI, that's part of the problem.

Interesting! That makes me want 1.25 even more. I tried it on steam, but my real-life companies and their logos were gone. Since I don't know if that mod works on 1.25, I thought it might be a better idea to keep the current version with the changes I already made.

v1.25 isn't for at least another year give or take. We're currently on v1.21.3....

Since modding will be included in one of the future versions, I simply wait and hope.

Modding has already been implemented as of v1.21.2.

[Pop Alexandra]

This is not the case for the official version, but some mods are still being impacted.
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Alexandra from Studio Azura Agency