A few suggestions (Campaign mode only)

Hi guys! Recently I stumbled upon this game and I have to say, that this game looks like a diamond in the rough. I’ve been a programmer and playing video games for over 30 years now and I rarely get so excited about a game. Thats why I felt compelled to register and write this post. The dedication of the dev team is clearly reflected attention to detail and quality. Wirklich tolle Arbeit, Glückwunsch!
This is more a brainstorm than a good usecase description and it reflects what I personally value in this game, thisI am aware of. If some things are unclear or ambigious, tell me and I’ll elaborate

Research

  • Bonus modifiers for car techs from staff, race prototypes, event chains
  • Market segmentation and corresponding desires (project per segment) e.g
    – inital: Utility // Passenger Car // Sport // Luxury
    – intermediate: Offroad, Utility, Delivery // Commuter, Family, City // Light Sport, Sport, Super // Convertible, Premium, Luxury
    – final: Status quo
  • New chassis types (project per chassis)
  • Market transparency (funded ongoing)
  • Competition activities (funded ongoing)

Staff (with stats/lvls)

  • designers/engineers
  • marketing/sales
  • research
  • test drivers
  • factory race team

Factory racing dept.

  • different competitions (offroad, tour, track)
  • build prototypes, homologation models
  • (test) drivers
  • races can be calculated / simulated 2d

AI Company Profiles

  • Reputation
  • Prestige
  • Size
  • Adaptability
  • Target market
  • Competence

Atmosphere

  • Newsticker (events, articles, tech available, famous designer for hire, economy trends)
  • Automotive journals / reporters with whacky names
  • AI companies have famous representatives (Fredinand Borschi, Hossi Lupez, Kenzo Fureri) that have funny interactions with player
  • Company Museum for cancelled cars/engines

Replay value

  • AI difficulty levels
  • fixed campaigns starts
  • viability of wide (Toyota) vs. tall (Ferrari) strategy for markets/eras
  • events/dilemmas that fit with player behaviour
  • a bit of RNG

Last but not least a little bit about a feature I really would like to see.

Contracts (bidding / prototype)

Task: Design (and produce) car that fulfils certain criteria

Criteria:

  • power/weight ratio
  • fuel consumption
  • track time
  • driveability, sportiness, utility etc.
  • reliability
  • must-have-features

Scenario A: Bidding for government contract (offroad, utility, premium, …)

  • criteria focused on reliability and running costs
  • player bids against AI for lowest price (per car) with margin factored in
  • success in bid also factors in current reputation (reputable manufacturer has a slight advantage and vice versa)
  • reward:
    – reputation gain
    – government will buy fixed production quota at fixed car price
  • risk:
    – losing the bid will incur slight reputation decrease

Scenario B: Develop competition prototype (track, muscle, GT, …)

  • criteria focused on performance
  • fixed price
  • player bids against AI for lowest track time (?other success factors?) or
  • player bids against AI for highest sportiness/acceleration/top speed for certain power/weight
  • success in bid also factors in current prestige (prestigious manufacturer has a slight advantage and vice versa)
  • brands with very low prestige might still get in if they work for free
  • reward:
    – prestige gain if design fulfils or even exceeds expectations (wins competition)
    – designer attracted
    – use design to produce street legal variant with exceptionally high desirability
  • risk:
    – lose prestige and time spent if design doesn’t live up to expectations
    – designer might leave

Key decisions

  • Participate or not
  • New design & no factory vs. (suboptimal) variant of existing design & existing factory

Thats all I can think of for now. Wish you all the best!

p.s The music is great and captures the flair of the eras.