Automation + BeamNG: First Impression Car Reviews

I wouldn’t mind, as long as I can watch the streams after they’ve gone live. Sometimes I don’t necessarily notice a stream right away, and sometimes I just don’t have time to watch it live.

3 Likes

I’m all for it. Just an important note: test your stuff beforehand and test after any major mods / updates / changes.

I recently had problems with my own beam/automation stream and found it was due to a visual mod I had installed on beam.

I would like to see that happen, would be more authentic in terms of actual first impressions. as findRED19 said, test stuff before the actual streaming for bugs.

1 Like

can someone tell me how to PM so I can submit my car.

Click the Icon of the person you want to PM and a new window will open, select message.

Really like the reviews, reminds me of Topgear with less challenges, and more (dream) car reviews.

I present for your review the PMC Goleuni (“Lightning” in Welsh).

If you don’t want to go down the entire history, PMC fell out of the consumer market in the early 50s because BTAG (Big Three Automotive Group) make shiny new cars faster. PMC then focused on commercial vehicles until the mid to late 80s when the company entered rally and road racing. Several street cars have resulted from the racing image.

The car sent is their all new GT circuit car. There is a road legal version, but for you I have sent the absolutely not road legal racing version sporting a 1500HP 6.0L V12. The road legal version makes 1000HP in “GT” trim, or a mere 640HP in the RWD “base” version.
image
As a request in your review, I would like to see you drive the car one loop around the highway in “American Road.” The road basically follows the divided highway along the straight, across a mountain road (still highway), through a tunnel, and back to the straight. Best of luck to you. A fair warning, the car is capable of flight.

For the rest of the review this is a purpose built racing car and as such was never intended for normal driving, or indeed even to be sold to the general public (in this spec).

I have PMd a link to the ZIP file (can’t upload 22MB). The latest automation update kinda broke the car, and I havn’t fixed it yet.

Streaming Sounds Like a Go!


Due to the positive responses and complete absence of any negative feedback so far, I am going to start transitioning this into a streamed series with edited versions coming out on a lag for those who miss the broadcast. Reasons:

  • As previously established this is probably where the series should have started since the whole point is just getting the car reviewed quick and dirty; no second takes.

  • My schedule being what it is, setting aside a single day/night to stream and then being able to half ass the editing is going to be a lot more manageable than polishing a video to perfection (which again is sort of not what this was all about).

Also, I have an idea; coordinate with authors so they can see their car live and this will result in ACTUAL SCHEDULED PREMIERE DATES! Yeah how does that sounds :wink:!?

  • Yes I am aware of time zones. I am just going to play this one by ear. It might result in me streaming at some weird times (for me at least; US Eastern by the way). This is a big reason why I intend to deliver a post-stream version because we’re not all in each other’s time zones now are we? :stuck_out_tongue:

Testing 1-2-3


As people have rightly recommended, I will be conducting tests of my setup tonight and tomorrow morning:

Twitch TV @ kmblaine

18 May 2019, 23:00 Eastern Daylight Time

19 May 2019, 10:00 Eastern Daylight Time


I’ll probably just be doing my usual thing i.e. making 70s and 80s Malaise barges :slight_smile:

10 Likes

Will you still be recording/posting the reviews to view outside the stream?

NEGATIVE FEEDBACK! I hate the idea. It’s all bad. terrible proposition… wait, what am I objecting to?

Saturday, 1 June 2019, 21:00 US Eastern Daylight Time - Retro Age Motors Saint Vasia


Yeah this is finally happening!

I’ve been waiting for some shit storms in my life to die down :triumph: and on that front I just got some great news today! But more on that later.

So this coming Saturday I will be streaming the review Retro Age Motors Saint Vasia as a sort of personal celebration. Unfortunately the author @loflyh has informed me their schedule is non-cooperative. :cry:

That all being said for future refence on scheduling and such, I would like to know where my primary viewership will be coming from.

Simple question: What time zone are you in?

Sorry I had to bunch these up a little because the poll only allows 20 options

  • UTC -12, -11
  • UTC -10, -9
  • UTC -8, -7
  • UTC -6, -5
  • UTC -4, -3 (This is me - US Eastern Daylight)
  • UTC -2, -1
  • UTC 0
  • UTC +1, +2
  • UTC +3, +4
  • UTC +5, +6
  • UTC +7, +8
  • UTC +9, +10
  • UTC +11, +12

0 voters

Also I am assuming most people have relatively normal schedules i.e. at work, school, etc somewhere in the 7:00 to 19:00 range. But I could be wrong?

Are your normal work, school, etc hours about 7:00 to 19:00?

  • Yes
  • No

0 voters

Trying to get back into contributing stuff after I had a “Retreat From Life” episode for a minute or two. I’ll have to see what I’ve got to tweak and send in for review.

Saturday, 8 June 2019, 21:00 US Eastern Daylight Time - Kasai Yama YMMX Turbo


By @goblin95

In regards to schedule:

I see a few more people have chimed in on the survey and those results will be added. But basics so far are that most people are in UTC -4 or UTC +2 / + 3 which makes a lot of sense. That correlates to east coasts of US and Canada and central Europe :slightly_smiling_face: . And between 2/3 and 3/4 of you are on relatively typical schedules.

As we can see from this graphic I put together, scheduling for between 0:00 and 2:00 UTC 0 (so between 20:00 and 22:00 for me) puts most people viewing during golden hours and a few of you perhaps a little past bedtime. Sorry to the Australia New Zealand folk though. Ironically, at the time this was compiled your were somewhat of a minority. Optimal time for everyone else means your work / school day is just getting started :cry: .

Will update as appropriate but this was what was driving my decision for this week.

Working on the edited version of last week’s stream. Hope to have that up by Friday, this week.

6 Likes

Retro Age Motors Saint Vasia


Stream edit is live

Also because streamed, format is a bit different. We’ll see how this plays out.

8 Likes

One quick little pointer: I believe all (or almost all) automation engines get race intakes visually when exported to Beam. Just something I’ve noticed in your vids.

2 Likes

Retro Age always making strange yet awesome cars.

2 Likes

You are correct sir! Good catch. My apologies to anyone who may have suffered that criticism, in particular @loflyh

Relevant frame grabs:

As we can see a performance intake actually gets rendered as a race intake in beam.

3 Likes

Pretty sure every intake gets rendered as a race intake in Beam (and possibly in the engine bays in Automation as well) but IDK

They’re rendered as their correct model in Automation, I’ve had quite a few poke out of engine bays before

As a way of saying thank you for the review and more importantly …to commend you for persisting with your project(s) despite or because of the hardships in your personal life.

I present to you Sir kmBlaine, the 2018 Vasia - kmBlaine Edition.
This vehicle is redone according to some of your suggestion and some of your (hardly disguised …hahaha!) disapprovals.

You Sir kmBlaine shall be the only person, other then myself to have this vehicle, please enjoy.




Saint - A division of Retro Age Motors
Enjoy the Experience

3 Likes

Alright, its about high time I explained what the fuck is going on here.


And amazingly, it manages to be something very different this time, believe it or not.

image

I broke a wrist on 8 July 2019 and shortly after I became the official the legal owner of my Grandma’s 1967 Pontiac.


Jeez! How did you break your wrist? Also, uhhh… why did you take on that responsibility right after a major debilitating injury?

Good questions.

image

I was out riding my bike Monday after American Independence Day and a car made an illegal turn across my path. I couldn’t stop in in time and went S P L A T on the side. Broke my left wrist. As for my Grandma’s old car, plans were already in place at the point :stuck_out_tongue:. The plan was to get it to my residence in Michigan in time for Roadkill Nights 2019 which it did. And I went with the car!

Me about two weeks after the accident:

Not to worry. Me now! (9 Sep 2019)

Wrist is still stiff and recovering but at least I can use both hands again!

And this thing manages to look even better when its sitting in MY PARKING SPACE :heart_eyes:


Still have questions about… all of it. Can you tell us more?

Sure!

image

About the accident:

The moral of this story is please PLEASE PLEASE do not make make blind left turns through gaps in stopped traffic!

I was out biking on the Monday following American Independence Day (8 July) and was approaching a traffic signal at about 17:45. My direction’s signal was red so there was a large line of stopped cars leading up to the signal. I was in the dedicated bicycle lane on the right so I was still cruising up to the stop line, probably going 20-25 km/hr.

Now coming up soon, there is a driveway to the Dairy Queen. And as I approach this driveway, I am now behind a city BUS. So there is no seeing whats on the other side for me or anyone to the left of it. Also there was another cyclist in front of me probably about 15 meters in front going about the same speed. He passed in front of the driveway - nothing happened. So I kept going.

Right when about the driveway was halfway between him and me though, suddenly. WILD CAR APPEARS! Someone from the oncoming traffic had the brilliant idea to turn left in front of the stopped bus trying to get into the DQ, somehow not seeing the cyclist before me and taking precautions as a result.

Yeah do the math. There was no stopping. I slammed into their front left quarter hard. Proceeded to bounce of onto the sidewalk and get a nasty roadrash on my right knee. Once I caught my breath, I thought everything was okay besides a bloody knee and some broken sun glasses.

And then I saw my left wrist. If you care to know, go look up what “Colle’s Fracture” is; however, YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!

Soooo, then I spent three weeks in a full arm cast, three more weeks in short cast. And now I just have an orthotic splint I am suppose to use when doing things like running. But one of the things they don’t tell you when you get a cast is that you won’t just lose some of your mobility; YOU WILL LOOSE ALL OF IT!

Consequently I am now seeing a physical therapist twice a week.

About the car

In case any of you don’t know the story, the short version is that it was my Grandma’s car and when she died, it got willed to my dad. Well my dad really doesn’t have the time for it but he wants it to stay in our family so he gave it to me.

And that bit about my dad not having the time for it – yeah, it shows. I mean my Grandma stopped driving it around 2002 or so but its still basically just sat since we first revived it in 2016. So once I got out of the full arm cast, I’ve been dedicating virtually all of my free time to unfucking thiscar!

I swear every time I drive it, I find something else wrong. Granted its mostly little stuff like the turn signals and taillights not working. Or the muffler rusting out and now its dragging tail. Or this full fucking #BecauseRoadkill moment two weeks ago

It ruptured one of the feed lines to the heater core while I was out driving one day (observe the HUGE environmental hazard underneath :smile:), so I ended up marooned in a parking lot for a couple hours doing roadside repairs. As luck would have it though, there was an O’Reilly’s only a block away.

Fixed!


(was just burping the cooling system at this point since it lost a LOT of coolant)

The unfuckening of the rear taillights.


(Oh and the OEM socket design was garbage so this is seriously an improvement even if the wiring isn’t fantastic looking)

The unfuckening of the front indicators.


Did the final fitment test just before posting this actually :smiley: . Needs only minor dimensional adjustments.

The unfuckening of the muffler will happening probably this Wednesday night.

Other unfuckenings that still need to happen:

  • Fuel tank rheostat is dead. Gauge works but without that rheostat, I have to keep track of my milage else I run out of gas! :grimacing:
  • Paint work. Don’t know for sure what I am doing about this yet, whether repaint or hopefully just touch up if I can find something close enough to 1967 GM Red code WA3595.
  • All fluids, especially the coolant which is now probably 80% water after that incident.
  • And a bunch more I am forgetting and doubtless have yet to find.

And now finally this begs the question: Will I be resuming regular reviews?

I hope the background is clear now. For most of July, I was literally incapable of using a computer or doing much of anything effectively. But now when I am getting closer to right again, I have another serious priority that is killing my free time.

As for an answer, I don’t really want to give one if that makes sense. I believe the ultimate answer is “yes”. But now is just not a good time :cry: and that is what I mean by “I don’t want to give one”.

Enough time has passed now that especially due to the game / engine changes, we might just need to go full reset too! Clean slate!

14 Likes