hello, i know,i know that this question has been posted a couple of times in the past before the unreal version but know the things could be changed.
After the game released , the flathead design is planned for the game as a DLC or an update ? It would be a cool addition for 40’s and 50’s car like Cadillax,Buick,Studebaker etc…
Increase the maximum bore & stroke will be a good addition to do badass engine like 9 Liters that we can find in the 40’s ?
Thanks
Sorry mate i asked this before and the answer was…nope…as it is a technology that was not widely used thru put the years…ohv on the other hand is still used…put this in the rotory/vr6 etc catagory…and how many 9L engines are out there in production vehicles?(excluding diesel)
You can already make 9 litre engines if they have 8 or more cylinders.
Flatheads would require a very large amount of art assets. Not only would it need new heads, and therefore new intake and exhaust piping… it would also need new engine blocks… so that basically means that they need to design every engine in the game over again to add flatheads; that are already outdated by the time the game starts (1946).
While it would be amusing to have them, it is just too much work for it to be worth it. For example, adding Diesels to the game could actually require less all-new art assets because the blocks could stay the same, and the Pushrod and OHC heads are close enough visually to be re-purposed by changing out their spark plugs for injectors. Something like Diesel engines would have much greater use in the game compared to flat-heads.
I just put flatheads in the game for you. You’re welcome.
This.
As they were outdated in 1946 it really makes no sense to add them.
But what about an “early years” DLC starting in 1910 or 1920 with flathead engines and other old tech? That would be nice, large and low compression engines that can work with the low quality fuel there was in the early years. And also cars and light trucks for the military in the first and second world wars.
It could look something like that:
It can be fun to begin with magnetos and develop the engine starter, begin with gravity fed fuel systems and then develop fuel pumps and so on.
I love the idea of an Early Years DLC pack (and the future one as well!)
I think games like Cities: Skylines do DLC really well - basically when they release DLC, they do a free update that has some of the features of the DLC but not the main assets (so the SnowFall DLC came with trams and snowy props, Christmas lights etc. - but even for those who didn’t buy it there was also a revamped weather system with rain and wet road textures, and some extra building tools).
I think this is a great way of keeping your players happy without leaving them feeling ripped off (as some DLC in other games is just unlocking content they already have on the game!) but that the good will of the player base means they usually buy the DLC to thank the developer and get the extra assets etc.
How about adding a two stroke engine with a different sound and a more two stroke line torque curve and fuel consumption.
How about adding 9 cylinders? or monocylinder? or maybe 11?
That’s because that’s not common on cars, only few cars in the history were 2 strokes, there is no really interest in adding them.
Two strokes would certainly be fun butt, like other engine options not offered, they’re both marginal in postwar production (early Saabs, some minicars in western Europe, the Trabis, some early Kei cars…) and a major rehaul - graphically and in the whole calculation system that’s behind it.
I certainly hope for that, one day, around Automation 6.0 I guess, since I have a taste for quirky engines, but there are many engine options that are either easier to implement and/or more significant in engine history before them.
If the devs ever branch out of Otto Cycle, Diesel has a much larger place in automotive history, Wankel would be much more of a fan service, and Atkinson+Hybridation would serve the modern era better.
I guess you could still tune your engine as “two-strokey” :
I found that my “Quasi Diesel” engines, while sadly not sounding like Diesels, fit the purpose well. Efficient, low-reving, torquey, reliable, but large and heavy engines are possible…
As en European, I’d be tempted to say than any american engine from the malaise era basically behaves like an european diesel engine - minus the efficiency 
Also, bear in mind that offering more options would also deter from the game accessibility and balancing.
Sure, twin sparks, variable V angles (Ferrari has 65° and 180° V, VW 15°, the old Lancia were also very narrow, etc…), air-cooling, CVT, hybridation, flat-twins, the list is close to being endless, but there is already so much to explore with what we have…
single or 2 cylinders would be interesting, as in the past very cheap cars like GDR cars used them
How about adding a choice between a timing BELT, a timing CHAIN, or a timing GEAR.
Maybe between a mechanical distributor or an ECU controlled ignition setup?
it would be relatively easy, most of it would be adding a cost/reliability modifier.
Sure, it might be “simple”, but it would add almost nothing to the game, while adding complexity for the players.
I find that most specifics of the engine are just abstractions through the sliders, and that is fine as it. I’m not sure having to handle the number of bearing on a crankshaft, or setting up counterweighs for them, or designing crossflow vs hemi vs reverse flow cylinder heads, or 6 vs 12 volts, etc…
Quality sliders cover those, and you can enrich that with lore if you roleplay.
Not to mean I wouldn’t like them, but there are tons of elements that, though not needed, make more sense in terms of history or real design/performance changes before the timing belts…
edit : ignition system would indeed bring somewhat more to the game, but even then it’s more or less just improving tech that completely supersedes the older ones quite fast, not really two different design philosophies that could coexist as pushrod vs OHC are
Feature creep. The game will never get finished if the devs keep adding small things that don’t really contribute anything. The game is a simplified designer and many things have been cut/combined for better gameplay and streamlining.
I would be satisfied even if they only add a visual change depending what year it is in game.
And that’s still a lot of work for the devs that isn’t going to contribute anything. They’re spending their time working on things that actually impact gameplay, like boxer engines and the campaign.
Modding support would make it easier tom add things like that to the game. Just like in my summer car.
Repurposing the game to support that kind of mods would probably be hard and time intensive. It’s just pointless really.