Several questions

[Pomeranian]

I'm new to the game and I have quite some questions. It seems really fun and really immersive and I really want to learn the most about it.

1. In my first game I did quite well, my cheap 1HP phaeton was the most popular car in the world for many years, and I followed it with 1HP pickup, coupe, compact, which were quite popular too. Pickup eventually was 2nd most popular in the world. Is it plausible? I think that cars were a bit better in 1900s - mine was the most popular for many years. Is it the best strategy? It certainly seems so.
2. What's with locomotive and ship engines? I can never get steam engine to be that powerful. What's the catch?
3. The game starts to get quite hard in the 1920s. I've introduced several cars in 1919 and 1920, which were quickly the most popular in the world or at least North America, and I even managed to expand to Europe a bit. However, after about 2-3 years I have to sell my cars very closely to my costs and I'm now losing money, despite making 3 million profit just several months ago. Is it because I am pulling the production slider all the way towards quantity and never to quality except for expensive cars? Does it have any long term effect? I think my cars are still quite competitive in terms of price and quality but instead of 4.000 per month I am now selling 1.500. Also, do customers become more and more demanding over time, they certainly seem so now.
4. Is there any way to see how successful my marketing is? Sometimes after increasing marketing I can even double my sales and sometimes not.
5. Shouldn't there be more military contracts during the war? Currently there doesn't seem to be much more than usual and some by occupied country - like Danish Air Force or Danish Army. Also, Argentinian Air Force is ordering plane engines by the thousands in 1916, shouldn't British or Americans order them, not a 3rd world nation (at the time).
6. Is there any way to make car as successful as Model T? So far I could never get more cars sold than several hundred thousands.
7. I've read that 95% of car companies went bankrupt between 1900 and 1915, does the game model this, it didn't seem to, really.
8. I've tried to manufacture cars with steam and electric engines - both sell very poorly, why? Those were quite popular in 1900s and even early 1910s.
9. How does the transportation cost change over time? I tried to open a factory in Brazil, but the costs of delivering cars to USA were too large.
10. Are there any guides I could use? Or recent Let's Plays?
11. Also, how important things like fuel efficiency or quality are in the 1910s and 1920s? My very inefficient and low quality cars were a huge hit until the 1910s when I shifted to a bit better ones, but those didn't seem to be selling as well as some of the cheapest ones on the market. I think that 1km/l is much worse to use than 9km/l - why would anyone use the first one?

Also, on the side:
1. Are there any plans for 3d engine models? Or 3d interiors?
2. Are there any plans to make this game moddable?
3. Will we ever get options to customize the interior to some degree, like in Automation - by adding radio, or cassette player?

Also, reporting a bug - Stuttgart is not 25 km south of Berlin in real world ;-)
Also, also, is there any way to switch the car magazine to how it looked before? I really don't like its current look.

[Eric.B]

I'm new to the game and I have quite some questions. It seems really fun and really immersive and I really want to learn the most about it.

Welcome! Glad your enjoying the game.

1. In my first game I did quite well, my cheap 1HP phaeton was the most popular car in the world for many years, and I followed it with 1HP pickup, coupe, compact, which were quite popular too. Pickup eventually was 2nd most popular in the world. Is it plausible? I think that cars were a bit better in 1900s - mine was the most popular for many years. Is it the best strategy? It certainly seems so.

Depending on how many years it was, it would not be uncommon to find 1hp engines in a multitude of vehicles. One problem you might face in the game is lack of competition. How many AI were you playing against? How many markets did you have a monopoly in? If you're the only pickup truck for sale, then customers will have no choice but to buy your truck. Then it wouldn't matter if you're only selling a 1hp vehicle in 1903.

Eventually you're 1hp vehicles won't cut it even if you have a monopoly. Customers have a minimum top speed requirement and it goes up every year. With 1hp, you're pushing maybe 10? 15mph? Depending on weight and aerodrag.

But yes, being super cheap is a good strategy. Especially for early game years. Think about it, nearly every luxury and successful supercar company in the world are owned by mass producing companies. There is a reason for this.

In any event, some things are planned in v1.22 that should prevent the issue you were having. We'll be having older companies already established in the game world (thus no more monopolies in large markets.) Some optional smaller game maps (Thus more AI getting into your markets.) And some improvements to AI vehicle designs.

2. What's with locomotive and ship engines? I can never get steam engine to be that powerful. What's the catch?

You probably do not have enough design skills. It's also much easier to do with diesel. 1903 is when diesel engines started overtaking steam boiler engines in both ship and locomotive engines. Combine that fuel type with whatever largest amount of cylinder banks you can produce and you'll probably be able to hit some of those contract numbers.

Note contracting is going to be redesigned in v1.23.

3. The game starts to get quite hard in the 1920s. I've introduced several cars in 1919 and 1920, which were quickly the most popular in the world or at least North America, and I even managed to expand to Europe a bit. However, after about 2-3 years I have to sell my cars very closely to my costs and I'm now losing money, despite making 3 million profit just several months ago. Is it because I am pulling the production slider all the way towards quantity and never to quality except for expensive cars? Does it have any long term effect? I think my cars are still quite competitive in terms of price and quality but instead of 4.000 per month I am now selling 1.500. Also, do customers become more and more demanding over time, they certainly seem so now.

Quality rating will certainly effect sales if it keeps going down (on the right hand side you see the effect of the slider on the vehicle's quality rating.) But there is also other factors at play. For starters, is $4,000 per vehicle within the 5x per capita range? If not, you're limiting your customer base to only the most wealthy of customers. If you are on testing build, you can click the graph button next to your vehicle sale price to see how many customers can afford your vehicle each month.

Do you have more competition now than before? You're coming off of WW1, so many European companies have been idle for the last few years. By 1920 they're starting to roll out new models. Where as if you're a US based company, you never had to shutdown due to the war effort. Also note, early 20s is a slight dip in the market, it should pick up toward the late 20s and crash in the 30s.

4. Is there any way to see how successful my marketing is? Sometimes after increasing marketing I can even double my sales and sometimes not.

Check the reports. If you're on Testing builds, it's under Reports 1, Marketing Efficiency. Default build, I don't quite remember where, but it should be something similar, reports, marketing efficiency.

Marketing works more against taking sales from AI companies than it does generating new customers out of the air. Which may explain why it works great sometimes, but not others.

5. Shouldn't there be more military contracts during the war? Currently there doesn't seem to be much more than usual and some by occupied country - like Danish Air Force or Danish Army. Also, Argentinian Air Force is ordering plane engines by the thousands in 1916, shouldn't British or Americans order them, not a 3rd world nation (at the time).

Your nation needs to be in "Total War" for them to generate military contracts. When that occurs they order from companies in their nation and not internationally. If you are at peace or limit conflict, then you will still see other peace/limited nation's military contracts. So it sounds like your HQ is in a limited or peaceful nation during WW1. So many military contracts weren't generated for you. You can check war status by going to the world map, clicking maps, then clicking conflicts.

6. Is there any way to make car as successful as Model T? So far I could never get more cars sold than several hundred thousands.

Sure can. Most of the early game is built around two vehicles. Oldsmobile Curved Dash and Ford Model T. You should be able to match Model T's sales numbers. But it takes some skills.

7. I've read that 95% of car companies went bankrupt between 1900 and 1915, does the game model this, it didn't seem to, really.

Roughly 2000 car companies went bankrupt between 1900-1920 in the US alone. The game only has 300 of the more successful companies A-H right now. So the amount of competition in the early game years isn't anywhere near what it should be. This will improve when people start releasing AI mods, and I tweak the maps somewhat. As of right now. If you ran a non-player interactive simulation of the game. About 75% of the in game companies go out of business or are merged into larger companies.

8. I've tried to manufacture cars with steam and electric engines - both sell very poorly, why? Those were quite popular in 1900s and even early 1910s.

Because I haven't entered the manual fuel popularity adjustments into the turnevents.xml file. This will come after v1.22 mod tools. That being said, Steam sales should be in line with what they were historically. The fuel popularity is dynamic, so the more of a fuel type you build, the more popular it should become.

9. How does the transportation cost change over time? I tried to open a factory in Brazil, but the costs of delivering cars to USA were too large.

It's based on the fuel price rate and a modifier based on distance. As well as the two city's ratings. It will increase over time, but less so than inflation.

10. Are there any guides I could use? Or recent Let's Plays?

Check youtube (sort by date.) I saw someone with a hard level playthrough on v1.20.3 (or .4) some time ago.

11. Also, how important things like fuel efficiency or quality are in the 1910s and 1920s? My very inefficient and low quality cars were a huge hit until the 1910s when I shifted to a bit better ones, but those didn't seem to be selling as well as some of the cheapest ones on the market. I think that 1km/l is much worse to use than 9km/l - why would anyone use the first one?

Remember, you are compared to your competition, not to your idea of what is a good car. What is the competition selling?
Also in 1910, the average household is making $400. 80% of the population is making less than $800. At $2,000 only 1% of the population can afford it.
If there are 100 people buying a car. And there are only 2 cars available, Model A being $400, and Model B being $2000. Model A will have 50 potential customers where as Model B will have 1 potential customer.

Of those 50 people able to buy Model A, 49 would be unable to afford Model B, so they don't even think about buying it. They can't afford it. So they won't care about comparing the fuel economy of the two. It's not a factor.

That's a gross simplification of what's going on. But that's why your cheap 1km/l model is outselling your 9km/l model. Also you have to consider the type of vehicle it is. If you're in the advance designer, it should show you how important each rating is for the car type.

1. Are there any plans for 3d engine models? Or 3d interiors?

For the former, not unless we're able to raise about $500,000 post release.
For the later, no.

2. Are there any plans to make this game moddable?

The game is already moddable via xml files. v1.22 is focused on mod tools and mod loading.

3. Will we ever get options to customize the interior to some degree, like in Automation - by adding radio, or cassette player?

I am completely against adding hundreds of checkboxes for optional equipment in vehicles that become common place in every vehicle 5-10 years after they're introduced.
So no. These are abstracted in various design sliders for vehicles.

Also, reporting a bug - Stuttgart is not 25 km south of Berlin in real world ;-)

Map redesign is coming in v1.22, it will fix various little bugs in the map system.

Also, also, is there any way to switch the car magazine to how it looked before? I really don't like its current look.

Assuming you're on Testing Build, no. The magazine is going to be browser based from here on out. Is there anything specific you dislike?

[Pomeranian]

Thanks for your answers!

Although, I have a few more.

1. From what you said I get that when I pulled the slider fully towards the quantity and kept it so for two years straight, the quality of my cars dropped so much over time that nobody wanted them anymore? How to remedy this? By introducing new model or a new generation? Would a new trim help? Also, when I am producing a very cheap car, I need to mass produce it like that to stay competitive.
2. I meant 5.000 units in my post. My sales dropped by so much in a month. Is it because the rating dropped due to mass producing the cars? Competition doesn't have anything that great to justify the difference.
3. Can I produce a car as succesful as Model T with all competitors set? They're producing quite good cars too and even if I am the most popular, they surely are too.
4. You mentioned minimum speed limits for cars - what are those in 1920, 1930, 1940 and 1950? If you can tell of course.
5. I noticed that in the 1910s and early 20s I am getting one red star for power with around 20-25 HP. Shouldn't that actually be quite good at the time?
6. As to the magazine - it's difficult to slide it, I preferred to have it all on one page and then click links to different pages.

[Eric.B]

1. From what you said I get that when I pulled the slider fully towards the quantity and kept it so for two years straight, the quality of my cars dropped so much over time that nobody wanted them anymore?

No quite. There are over 80 different variables when it comes to consumers picking a vehicle. Not to mention outside factors such as what the AI is selling, war, the economy, etc.

At full quantity, you would only lose 0.5 quality points per factory over two years. Not enough to tank your sales. There are other factors that are causing your sales to drop. What the AI is doing? What was the time period? During WW1? During the depression? How old are the components you're using? Etc.

How to remedy this? By introducing new model or a new generation? Would a new trim help? Also, when I am producing a very cheap car, I need to mass produce it like that to stay competitive.
2. I meant 5.000 units in my post. My sales dropped by so much in a month. Is it because the rating dropped due to mass producing the cars? Competition doesn't have anything that great to justify the difference.

You should be creating a new generation every 5-7 years. Creating new components every 10 years or so. Remember, there are fluctuations in the global economy, so we really need to point out what years this is happening to you in.

Also, at the low end of the spectrum, you're competing against used vehicles as well. Just to keep that in mind.

3. Can I produce a car as succesful as Model T with all competitors set? They're producing quite good cars too and even if I am the most popular, they surely are too.

Yes you can, As I mentioned before you have to be extremely good and aggressive. You have an 8 year advantage over Mr. Ford as well. But the world sales numbers do support a Ford Model T on Normal mode.

4. You mentioned minimum speed limits for cars - what are those in 1920, 1930, 1940 and 1950? If you can tell of course.

The base is around 35mph, more for higher performance cars.
Between 1900-1920 it's much lower though.

5. I noticed that in the 1910s and early 20s I am getting one red star for power with around 20-25 HP. Shouldn't that actually be quite good at the time?

Horse power is not used as the measurement of power. Torque is. So while you might have a moderate horse powered engine, it could be just because it has high RPMs. It's not necessarily powerful.

The power rating is calculated something like this:
(your torque / (100ft/lbs * 1.007^year-1899 * (#number of cylinders / 2.2) ) * 100.

Which means in 1920, to get 100 rating or higher with a 4 cylinder engine, you need 210ft/lbs of torque.

To give a real world example, the 1909 Blitzen-Benz is 200HP @ 1600RPM, inline 4. That's 61 Ft/lbs at peak HP (Note, not peak torque.)

The 1911 Fiat S76 had around 2000ft/lbs of torque at peak rpm's out of their 4-cylinder.

So yes, while 25hp is good in a normal car. You weren't designing it for torque. You designed it for RPMs. Thus the power rating isn't high.

6. As to the magazine - it's difficult to slide it, I preferred to have it all on one page and then click links to different pages.

Well even the old magazine you had to click to have it go to each page.

I have removed the page flipping stuff, you have all the page links up at the top of the magazine now. It's also been sped up quite a bit.

These changes will come in v1.21 (About 2 weeks.)

[Pomeranian]

Sorry to bother you, but got some more:

1. You mean I'm losing points per factory? I have 9 of 'em to lower my distribution costs. 4,5 is a lot. What's the reasoning behind this? More factories doesn't mean lower quality. Best-quality windows in my country are produced by a company that has 4 factories.
2. Every generation every 5 years doesnt sound good, at least not for the 1920s - new cars with new technologies are entering markets too often, I' trying a new gen every 3 years.
3. Does 'manufacturing methods' (or something similar) from the design menu affect my production rate? Those make it possible for me to save a lot per unit.
4. If I have 2 vans - one that is larger and one that is smaller, can those co-exist on the market, sharing it? I mean there are some people who want a larger van and those who want a smaller one - those are two different markets.
5. How does investing in vehicle RnD help me? Faster vehicle designing? Better quality?
6. How does torque work here? In Automation, you have a graph showing torque at different levels - is torque here the peak torque?
7. Is a car with a newer body more attractive to customers than an older one? Do bodies from the same time differ in attractiveness?
8. How about servicing cars? If I'm not mistaken, there is no such thing here - you can make a very unreliable car and there are no service costs. Are those planned to be included in the future?
9. Is it possible to sell cars in the Soviet Union as a western nation? How is Soviet Block depicted? Do they have their own brands?
10. Let's say I'm an Israeli car manufacturer, is it possible for me to sell cars in Syria or other Arab nations with embargo?

[Eric.B]

Sorry to bother you, but got some more:

No worries, it's no bother.

1. You mean I'm losing points per factory? I have 9 of 'em to lower my distribution costs. 4,5 is a lot. What's the reasoning behind this? More factories doesn't mean lower quality. Best-quality windows in my country are produced by a company that has 4 factories.

I'm not sure what you mean by "points." Are you talking about vehicle quality? If so, this is tied specifically to quality/quantity sliders, and not the number of factories or the total production numbers.

If you're talking about company image, this is based upon vehicle quality ratings, and not the number of factories you have or the total production numbers.

2. Every generation every 5 years doesnt sound good, at least not for the 1920s - new cars with new technologies are entering markets too often, I' trying a new gen every 3 years.

It's just a rule of thumb you can of course make a new generation every year, or wait every 50 years. It's up to you. However at 5 years you start getting some very little design age related penalties.

While you may be able to point out companies such as Peugeot who replaced new model years every 3 years. I can equally point to companies like Ford who used Model T for 18 years, and Model TT for 10.

3. Does 'manufacturing methods' (or something similar) from the design menu affect my production rate? Those make it possible for me to save a lot per unit.

These are automatically assumed in the game when build/rebuild
factories and designing new vehicles. When you build/rebuild a factory, the production numbers will automatically produce more per production line (at the same slider level.) And when you design a new vehicle, it takes into account the new techniques and cost saves.

As for picking specific manufacturing practices, that dives a bit too deep into production.

4. If I have 2 vans - one that is larger and one that is smaller, can those co-exist on the market, sharing it? I mean there are some people who want a larger van and those who want a smaller one - those are two different markets.

Yes and No. Yes, the two vans can exist in co-exist in the market, and focus on two different demographics. However they will still cannibalize each other sales.

If there are 100 people looking for a van. And the only option is a large van, then 80 of the 100 people will buy that large van. Because they need a van.

Now let's say you introduce a small van. So now you have a large van and a small van. There are still 100 people looking for a van. That doesn't change. But the large van might sell 45, and the small van will sell 45. So now 90 vans have been sold to the 100 customers, but your large van sales fell 44%.

With that in mind, you should keep a monopoly of one model for as long as possible. When competition enters the market, that is when you want to diversify your offering.

5. How does investing in vehicle RnD help me? Faster vehicle designing? Better quality?

6. How does torque work here? In Automation, you have a graph showing torque at different levels - is torque here the peak torque?

Everything shown is peak. So yes, you are shown peak torque.

7. Is a car with a newer body more attractive to customers than an older one? Do bodies from the same time differ in attractiveness?

No, car bodies only influence aerodynamic drag and related ratings/specs and physical dimensions and related ratings and specs.

We don't enforce a body/sales restriction in case someone wants to make retro cars (via the new generation system) like Cobras or Morgans.

8. How about servicing cars? If I'm not mistaken, there is no such thing here - you can make a very unreliable car and there are no service costs. Are those planned to be included in the future?

Warranties and parts revenues are included in the game. Check the revenues/expense reports.

However servicing costs are not, because the majority of dealerships are franchise. IE separate companies not owned or operated by your company.

9. Is it possible to sell cars in the Soviet Union as a western nation? How is Soviet Block depicted? Do they have their own brands?
10. Let's say I'm an Israeli car manufacturer, is it possible for me to sell cars in Syria or other Arab nations with embargo?

Currently trade restrictions are not implemented and will probably not be implemented unless we make an expansion or have extended development on the game. The main issue is the sheer amount of data and changes to trade laws and restrictions between the many countries. It was a bit too much data to research and implemented at the time I wrote the city code.

There is a ticket however in the v1.25 branch to look into some way to restrict sales in the Eastern Bloc. Most likely through limited conflict tags.