I seem to remember hearing something in one of the Dev Updates about possibly being able to export cars to another game to drive them (although I might be wrong and just be talking out of my butt). One candidate I think would be interesting is Assetto Corsa, because it looks like it will be an awesome sim when it’s done, and also:
I’m not a programmer, but it seems to me that if they’re going to have a modding thing in-game, it wouldn’t be hard to make a file converter to convert from a Automation save to whatever format they’re using.
Well, you cant just make a file be any file. You cant make a .exe file be a .jpg. Also, I don’t think it will be possible as the carmodels will be built different like the way that game probably does.
In the end, driving your car just isn’t an option as of yet. Maybe later.
The devs say that driving cars will be out of the picture unless the game is a huge success. It would take years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to make a driving sim.
The idea was when (or if) ‘maybe later’ happens, this might be an idea
The whole point of exporting would be that they wouldn’t need to make a driving sim, just tweak an existing one, which is why Assetto Corsa would work well I think, because it’s an amazing game, but still in-dev so it would be easier to do.
I think that adding a driving simulator on to this game would really push it into a much more “successful” (finacially) game with a much wider customer base…not to mention driving simulators appeal to more poeple than a tycoon game I would think. Waiting for the game to be successful to add such a huge feature would probably be detrimental and they would likely have much better success and pre-order numbers if it was bonified planned feature. Not to mention it would make it like the ultimate driving sim…pretty badass to be able to design your own vehicles and then drive them.
At the very least…I do like the idea of an exporter which would likely be much easier to pull off than a full blown simulator.
I’m pretty sure that they have that in petrolhead heaven.
While making a driving sim would be nearly impossible, exporting the cars into an existing sim would still be extremely hard. If the game generates enough success, the devs have said that they will consider a sim.
You must remember, the developers of this game are perfectionists (in a good way), and if they make a sim, it would be of the highest quality.
We know it would be very popular, but we’ve gotta at least finish the base game as planned first, the last thing we need at this point is more features! If once the game is mostly done we feel we can do something of good enough quality we will look into exporters etc.
I realize that all this talk is almost pointless since we’re not at that point yet, but I must say I think I have an idea for the whole vehicle simulator thing. Rigs of Rods and BeamNG both do an overall good job of a vehicle simulator with modded, self made vehicles that deform, drive, and look pretty good. My point is if they can do a decent job with those game engines, I feel that you guys could do one better with the same engine.?
I do understand that we probably shouldn’t even discuss this until Automation 1.0 is finished because it’ll probably overwhelm you guys and slow progress. I guess we all believe in you guys so much, we’re already planning simulators and DLCs out!
Off Topic: Is there a donating option anywhere on this site? If not, I’ll find somewhere to get an ad out for you guys.
Heh, yeah, it’s pretty pointless to talk about anything but an exporter to another driving sim. Having a drive-your-own-car mode in Automation would actually make the core gameplay WORSE and not better. Motor City had the option to drive your own car, even to participate in races. Guess what: it was fun for a few minutes and then never used again because it just doesn’t fit into the rest of the gameplay and makes no sense in the scheme of things. The game as a whole would have to be designed differently for that to make any sense.
Also, there are plenty of REALLY good driving simulators out there, but how many really good car tycoon games have you seen in the, say, past 10 years? As an indie dev, is it better to focus on your strengths or your weaknesses?
Why focus on a driving simulator as this game is a tycoon game? You cant really have both in one game without losing gameplay interest in the other.
Either people will play the tycoon game, not caring about driving
People will keep on driving cars and not playing the tycoon game
A smaller group will do both tycoon and driving game
People tend to forget that this game is about being a tycoon game. Its not like in GameDevTcoon, you can play the games you designed, right? So why drive your cars in this game?
Sure fun if we can export it to lets say BeamNG or something, but the models would need to be completely remade, without destroying the miorphing bit and make them have crashcollision physics.
No, I’d vote for the tycoon part first. Like KillRob said, too many drivesims etc. already, but no decent cartycoon!
I don’t think anyone is suggesting that they make the tycoon part less of a focus in any way…we are obviously all here for the building simulation and tycoon game we have thrown money at. I think that people just like the notion of being able to actually do something meaningful with the creations they come up with and see how they perform…its obviously DLC/expansion stuff…nothing any time soon and certainly not at the detriment of the core game.
Yep, folks just need to understand that if anything related to driving cars happens it’ll be years away, not part of the development process of the main game
As a matter of fact, it’s mainly a financial issue.
Camshaft Software is a small team, living on the success of preorders.
But as it’s fairly evolved, maybe the automotive industry would be interested in the in-game designers, right ?
If it could be sold to design schools or car makes, it would probably allow for a bigger team with bigger objectives, like a closer release date or bigger content.
I bought the game to create cars, but that doesn’t mean I won’t give the tycoon a try.
I’m pretty sure I’ll stay in sandbox all day though.
Of course I’d love to see those guys make a sim, because I know it would bury any other one.
Still, sims like rFactor or BeamNG Drive are very interesting, because it would be a cheaper way to realize the major dream of a player : drive their cars.
Anyway, let’s just finish our cars before thinking about driving them, right ?
EDIT : I just thought of something.
When we will be able to convert our cars for a racing sim, let’s make Automation championships and race on the sim servers with a selection of the best Automation cars !
I mean, we could make a “70-75 T/A” with the best looking/most fitting cars seen on the forums, and race 'em. Who’s with me ?
Why would the automotive industry be interested in the in-game designers? The engine designer is just a parametrization (not a simulation) and the car simulations have mostly been done by a student (me) in his spare time and simplify a lot of things. Car manufacturers use a lot more advanced simulation tools (self-made or bought from specialists, for example IPG CarMaker for full-vehicle simulations). I would be scared if someone built real cars based on the in-game calculations. They are not totally off but I know the simplifications.
Of course, it’s not meant for this. But for a quick preview before full calculation, it could be interesting.
And for design schools, that makes an easy training.
it could be interesting for a carcompany to invest in the game and have their badges in the game to put on cars. Also carbodies and fixtures could look like cars and parts from that particular carmanufacturer, thus getting a ‘good feel’ created from the game, to be connected to parts or even the total brand of that particular manufacturer. Interesting thought, as they would pay for this probably, but I’m totally not sure if they would ever do such thing. Besides from the financial aspect, I’m not even sure if I would want this if I developed the game or as a player.
The main problematic in what you said is licensing. It would be really difficult for them to control the use of their identity. Remember that these design are copy-protected.
In fact, I’m wondering how do you guys cope up with it ?
Anyway, about my EDIT idea, who raises hand ?
