We are very happy to announce that we are partnering up with our friends at BeamNG.drive to run a BeamNG modding contest, in celebration of the really cool partnership they have just announced with Gambler 500!
Through this partnership, we hope to blur the boundaries between virtual and real-life creativity, and we’re inviting you all along for the ride. The BeamNG.drive team, along with the Modding for Dummies community, we’re bringing you the Gambler 500 Modding Contest, so everyone can show us what they’ve got!
We challenge you to unleash your imagination and bring the spirit of Gambler 500 to BeamNG! Make a map, vehicles, props, Automation vehicles or even missions - now is the time to strut your stuff.
Contest Details
Submissions are open from now until 30 June 2023
The following categories are accepted:
Vehicles/props, vehicle/prop modifications with accompanying configs
Automation creations
Maps
Gameplay (missions, scenarios)
Submission Criteria
Entries must be submitted through the BeamNG mod repository.
Each entry must be original and represent the theme of the contest.
The quality of the mod and the repo page should be as good as possible.
You cannot continue an older project for this challenge.
Competition Theme
To create a BeamNG mod or Automation export that is in the theme of the Gambler 500 event.
What is the Gambler 500?
In the Gambler 500, entrants build cheap, shitbox cars and go out into the wilderness for a weekend of navigational challenges, camping, clean-up and camaraderie. If you’re wondering what makes a Gambler car, it’s pretty simple!
The core tenet of the event is, to have fun, be kind to one another, and leave the place you’re enjoying in a cleaner, better condition than when you arrived - all very important things indeed, and also very important to this competition as well!
Prizes
The winners will be determined by a jury comprising the BeamNG Dev team, the Automation team, and the MFD team. We will announce the winners on 17 July 2023, and they will receive the following rewards:
1st place - $300, exclusive BeamNG x Gambler 500 poster, 3 game key packages 2nd place - $200, exclusive BeamNG x Gambler 500 poster, 2 game key packages 3rd place - $100, exclusive BeamNG x Gambler 500 poster , 1 game key package
Automation Export category winner - $100, exclusive BeamNG x Gambler 500 poster, 3 game key packages
A game key package consists of one BeamNG.drive key, one Automation key, plus one of each of Automation’s DLCs.
Team entries are permitted for this challenge.
For more information, please refer to the official BeamNG post here.
We can’t wait to see your submissions and wish everyone the best of luck!
It’s mostly going to be aesthetics, but bear in mind that all entries need to be uploaded to the Beam Mod Repository to be entered into the contest, so you’ll want to pay attention to how it drives.
Finally, some results! Each of the valid entries in the Automation category of the contest was evaluated on the following points scale:
Overall Appearance (10 points): Does the entry look good overall? Is the design cohesive and believable? We will be looking over all of the entries in Beam to see how your design turned out!
Attention to detail (10 points): This both ties in with appearance, as well as the technical aspect of the design; did the designer take all the little details you would find in a car into consideration, or did they just focus on the basics and call it a day? Are fixtures, paint, etc. tidy and coherent, or sloppy and messy, and did they make the export from Automation properly?
Performance: (10 points) How does the design behave in Beam? Does it work as well as you would think, based on the appearance and presentation?
Presentation (5 points): How did you present your mod in the BeamNG Mod Repository? Is there a cool backstory to it? Did you make some really awesome pictures or videos to help showcase your design?
Originality and Creativity (5 points): Are you doing something really fun and off the wall? You’ll get high marks here!
Spirit of the Challenge (10 points): How close is your design in keeping with the spirit of the Gambler 500?
The performance test was done on a custom-made route on BeamNG.drive’s Johnson Canyon map that took approximately 20-25 minutes to complete, on average. This route took in pretty much all surfaces, from gravel and sand to tarmac, and was a true test of an entrant’s off-roading ability.
Now without further ado, the results! These will be listed by names given on the BeamNG Mod Showcase; if I didn’t tag you or use your Automation forums name, apologies.
This car is absolutely terrible and awful, in a hilarious way…I LOVE THIS THING. It drives really quite nicely too! With just a little jbeam editing to get the wheels working properly in the back, this would be the perfect Gambler 500 mod.
Not many entries took the core of the Gambler 500 seriously, but this one does…it’s all about collecting trash! Nicely detailed throughout, with great touches pretty much everywhere you look.
Great attention to the technical details here, but the aesthetics are a bit lacking, to say the least, especially in the base car. Drives reasonably well, but some of the limitations and choices made in the custom jbeam kind of detract from the experience - the animated rear suspension and the way it moves in particular is odd.
This modified off-road sedan looks the business. An absolute delight to drive, and fast too. The only knock here is, maybe not the most original design ever? There have been a lot of vintage sedans converted into off-roaders in this challenge…
Gambler 500 participant? No. Gambler 500 Search & Rascue vehicle? You bet! That actually makes this one a bit unique in the field. It’s not the greatest design by any measure, but it is detailed. Unstoppable off-road, but you’d expect that.
This one has some great little details; love the dents, the door hinges and the broken tail light! Not too sure about some of the technical choices here (leaf-spring front suspension???), but it’s competent off-road.
This thing is hilarious - LeMons meets Gambler. Perhaps not a great trash hauler or a great off-roader, but it’s good for a laugh. Absolute chaos to drive; needs a ton of jbeam editing to make this usable.
WITNESS ME BLOODBAG! This thing would be perfect on The Fury Road…well, except for the inability to see out of the windscreen in cockpit view. Looks good otherwise. Performance is challenging; it’s decent on hard surfaces and gravel, but on sand it’s very tough to drive quickly, and the suspension tune is not great.
An OK-ish exterior with a wonderfully-done interior, very nice there! A bit more attention to the base car would have been nice though. Drives pretty nicely, but the rear suspension setup is a bit wonky.
A total shitbox, with some fun details on it, but aching for more. This build is very much a Gambler 500 car, adheres perfectly to the spirit of the challenge! It’s a bit ponderous off-road, but in line with the appearance.
The converted, lifted cop car makes for a cheap shitbox rally car; perfect for an event like this! Fun details in the conversion, but the base car is a bit lacking overall. The suspension is a bit underdamped, but otherwise you can really lay into this thing off-road!
Lots of choices with this mod, which is nice; just wish there were a few more pics on the mod page. The base car is…OK, and the conversion to an off-roader is decent overall, with some nice custom touches. Performance is not great; it’s fast, but this needs a bit more attention to the suspension especially.
A cheap shitbox that’s well-presented generally, but the big engine and all the spares inside the car? That’s where the trash you pick up is supposed to go! (assuming those spares aren’t trash…)
A proper shitbox, with a proper shitbox engine to go in it! Some nice details in places but a bit inconsistent. Not very competent off-road, but extremely easy and joyful to drive!
Now this one is fun; a little compact car with the roof sawn off and lifted! Good detailing generally and mostly well thought-out! The presentation in the mod repository is a bit sparse, and it’s a bit unpleasant to drive though, very squirrelly overall…
Big. Brutish. Asymmetrical. This is a cool design, just not really what you’d see in the Gambler necessarily. Some odd engineering choices (why is nearly silent?) here too. Frankly ludicrous off-road performance, hurt only because it’s so big and ponderous.
Wacky and off-beat, where this colourful wagon lacks in design and detail, it makes up for in having a good sense of humour. Drives alright off-road (the CVT isn’t great in this), but my ears will never stop ringing after this…
This thing is huge; definitely a vehicle for pulling other vehicles out of the bush rather than a participant car! Nicely designed with good detailing overall. For something this huge, it does surprisingly well off-road too. Some more pics in the mod showcase would be nice…
A replica of a late C4 Corvette; not really the car you’d see at a Gambler, but it’s a competent, if sparing, replica. Very, very fast offroad; too fast, in fact…the car outdrives its suspension easily, but at more managable speeds it’s good.
Another converted classic car; this one has some nice details, but something went wrong with the materials and it looks like a glistening slice of ham instead of a rusty car. Nice interior though! Unfortunately, it really does not drive nicely at all.
A decent and convincing little design, that with a bit more work in places could be absolutely excellent. Some nice little details, like the faded paint effect on the hood, it just needs more of that. Unfortunately that’s where the praise stops - this build is not great off-road; too floaty and too much power to use.
22nd - nukespiders78 (29.5 pts)
Overall Appearance (10 pts)
Attention to detail (10 pts)
Performance (10 pts)
Presentation (5 pts)
Originality (5 pts)
Spirit of the Competition (10 pts)
6
6.5
6.5
1.5
3
6
Not a bad design overall, just lacking the polish of a great design! Some really wtf engineering choices - front-wheel drive, with a leaf spring live axle? Runs out of ground clearance a lot because of this. Really needs a better presentation in the mod showcase too.
Not the most detailed build, but the performance is off the charts here. Gambler cars are supposed to be 500 bucks…this one might have lost some zeroes off its price tag on the way to the event…
Not a lot going on with the design here; the basic shape is right, but few of the small but crucial details that make the car it’s based on made it in. Allegedly has a working instrument cluster and steering wheel, but can’t tell because the camera positions are all wrong. Drives pretty good off-road though!
It’s a shitbox, alright…but even shitboxes need details on them. This one is just too plain and lacks a lot of what makes a car, a car. Drives decently enough though.
A decent start, but lacking a lot of the polish that really sets apart the best. Looks like a pretty serious bit of off-road kit, but it is very stiffly spung and underdamped, so it doesn’t feel terribly happy off-road. Some more info in the mod showcase would have been nice, along with some better pics!
The design is a bit…awkward, especially in the back, and it’s got a few pet peeves in here (resized license plates and interior bits for ants!) It’s reasonably good off-road, surprisingly enough.
Drives great, especially off-road! The design is on the basic side, it could really use some more detailing. And while it’s great off-road, it’s maybe a bit too hardcore off-roader and not enough shitbox.
This design is a good start, but not much more than that apart from the functional interior. So much unrealised potential here! Drives well enough, but really has way too much power to be great off-road.
Is…that a child crash test dummy in the driver’s seat? This mod presents very differently in-game vs in the Repository. It’s decently detailed, but it doesn’t drive particularly nicely on or off road.
A big old van, with an off-road air about it. Some really weird choices in the design that don’t really work that well, and not very coherent, either the underlying design or the modifications made to make it an off-roader. It is an absolute menace to drive off-road too, yikes!
Very basic, not a lot of detailing other than the the most major of appearance features; it’s definitely a shitbox in keeping with the challenge though, and it’s alright to drive off-road all in all.
An off-road supercar? Sure, why not! It’s the big thing these days. Is it in keeping with Gambler? Perhaps not. Is it a particularly handsome or detailed design? Not really. Is it good to drive? Well, it’s got like 1200 horsepower, so what do you think?
This wrecker is ENORMOUS. I’m not really sure it’s fitting with the challenge, even as a support vehicle, but here it is I guess. Not a particularly detailed design either. Drives like an ocean liner and has way too much power.
Can’t quite pin down what this car is trying to be from its appearance alone, apart from a very expensive, purpose-built off-road racer? Maybe not what we’re looking for in this challenge. Very detail-challenged too. For all of its racy looks and bellowing turbocharged inline-5, it’s really not that fast, nor nice to drive.
Something went wrong with this entry; clearly the entrant sent in the wrong car, but we tested it anyway! It’s good-looking, but more at home on a coastal highway on a summer’s evening than on a grueling off-road course. And yet, with no modifications to make it suitable for the task, it still outperformed many of the others here.
A neat idea (but not terribly well-executed), and with some neat details (but not nearly enough of them), but this thing is just unruly everywhere it goes. Great fun if you like to drift but not so great off-road.
Well it’s original, I’ll give it that, and this thing will definitely haul the most trash, but it’s very basic in design and detail. Performance? No, not really.
This is more of a hardcore offroad/Dakar racer than a 500-dollar shitbox made out of old road signs, cardboard and irrational optimism. The basic design of this one is definitely not a favourite, and it doesn’t get much better with the conversion. Gets a move on, but needs way more ground clearance.
It’s a very basic design overall, which is too bad because it could be very cool with a bit more effort, and some engineering choices that actually make sense (transverse turbo 4-cylinder with this drivetrain?!). It’s unique though, not many van entries in this. It drives pretty poorly; it’s fast but incredibly pondrous.
It looks more like just a generic muscle car, hastily thrown on some really big tires. It drives reasonably well but just isn’t really at home off-road.
It’s a pretty basic off-road design; could really use a lot more attention to detail around the rear especially. Way too much power and violent boost spool makes this almost totally undrivable.
This isn’t much of an off-road car, is it? Or even a converted shitbox…doesn’t really fit here very well. Not a lot going on design or presentation-wise. Strange engineering choices in abundance too, no matter how you approach this car. Fast, but way out of its element off-road.
47th - Trippalessa (14 pts)
Overall Appearance (10 pts)
Attention to detail (10 pts)
Performance (10 pts)
Presentation (5 pts)
Originality (5 pts)
Spirit of the Competition (10 pts)
3
2
2
1
2
4
There really isn’t anything here that resembles its namesake much, it’s basically a totally new car. Very basic design, and more of some kind of wild off-road hotrod than anything usable, based on appearances. Has a million horsepower and is made out of literal jello, so yes it’s terrifying.
Well, it’s present, that’s about all that can be said here. Not much makes me think “Gambler 500” here, or even “effort”. A car like this could and should be a ton of fun for a challenge like this! Somehow, this car finished the course…
Drives like an ocean liner but not too bad off-road; perhaps a bit underpowered. But what is going on with the design here? Is this a car designed to be driven standing up?
