Previous Cool Wall challenges
yet another cool wall challenge
Cool Wall Six (Final round done)
CW7: Golden Age Memories (Completed - Results and Winner Announced!)
Cool Wall explained
This car building challenge has several features:
- The scoring is much more systematic and transparent than normal. Most criteria (below) are raw stats, though others may be subjective evaluations.
- The most important criterion - coolness (looks) - is given guidance by a Cool Wall, separated into six categories:
- During the wall building phase, entrants may submit (publically) up to five cars for the wall. These submissions must be good clear photos with a caption in the format (year) (make) (model) (any additional identifiers). The format is important for my workflow, and submissions that don’t follow it won’t be included.
- Unlike in previous Cool Walls, fictional cars, including Automation builds, are also allowed, as are interiors. Car colors will be of lesser importance.
- Entrants may ask, either publically or privately, “up to three” (ish) questions for clarification of any car’s placement. Unless you request otherwise, I will post these in a Q&A section in this opening post.
- This challenge allows both new and used cars. Used cars may be of any era and may be stock or restomodded.
- Results will be by scoring criteria (below), in order of importance. That is, we start with the 2-point categories and end with coolness.
The Brief
Early Summer 2020, Ost-Altgau, Hetvesia
Des Winters is a nonbinary 40-something who dabbles in a great variety of pursuits - musician, masseuse, and mechanic, to name just a few - making a living primarily on the royalties from a patented invention. This lifestyle allows them to travel whenever they want, by far the most preferred method of which is roadtrips. Most of these travels were with the car that got them into cars in the first place: the BMW E34, specifically the Touring estate/wagon.
Comfortable, great to drive, practical, able to take quite potent engines, reliable, and exceptionally good-looking inside and out, Des had no intention of replacing it. But their eyes weren’t the only ones this car drew… One night Des left a concert near the Fruinian border to find, where the Touring had been parked just a couple of hours prior, nothing but a small pile of broken glass.
Police reports were filed, border patrol was alerted, body shops were queried, feelers were put out, even a hefty reward was offered… but after a few months without result, hope finally ran out. Finding another one in remotely comparable condition was proving fruitless, and meanwhile there was a growing itch to get back on the road. Between those sticks, and the carrot of a solid insurance payout, it was time to find something else.
But not just anything. It’s not that Des lacked transportation - they had a city car and a couple of trucks - but nothing that was close to being the E34’s equal for roadtrips. That’s what Des is now after - that car’s successor as a driving machine, as a transportation appliance, and as a work of art.
Another wagon/estate is the obvious choice, but Des allows for the possibility that a sedan might have a big enough trunk to minimally meet cargo space needs, while being so exceptional elsewhere that it prevails over a more practical but otherwise lesser wagon. Four side doors are best, but the right two-door could work. Des disprefers a high seating position, so minivans and SUV aren’t favorites but not impossible. Even a truck or cargo van, heavily modified in the back… ok, we’re getting silly with edge cases. The only body style that gets a hard veto is a convertible; Des is, shall we say, a creature of the night, not at all fond of the Day Star.
The Wall
This represents only how good the car looks from the angle provided. As the 2007 BMW M5 exemplifies, a car can look much better from some directions than others. Engineering, function, history, brand, and colors are disregarded as much as consciously possible.
For interiors, colors matter a bit more, functional considerations such as equipment and ergonomics are still disregarded, and materials quality (to the eye) also matters.
Q&A
Question: First placement question. Or actually, since this involves two cars, I am not sure if you count it as one or two questions, but I want to ask it anyway. What are the main reasons that the Keinath Opel Senator and the Ford Granada estate, in concept cars not THAT unlike each other, is at almost the opposite ends at the wall?
Answer: I’ll treat that as one question, not that I’m strict about the limit anyway. Two major differences strike me:
- The Ford’s face is very square and expressionless, at least from this angle. The Opel, on the other hand, has much nicer eyes and a modest, tasteful smile, with the whole front end a very elegant balance between curves and straight lines. That to me is a beautiful face.
- The Opel’s window line flows much better from the front two to the rear side. The Granada has a cute little upturn at the C pillar, but I prefer the Opel’s continuity.
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Question: whys the city in swamp ass? is it just not the thing for this or just really goofy looking
Answer: On further inspection, that was too harsh a grade. The Swamp Ass category is so called because there’s nothing cool at all about swamp ass, and the cars so labeled just plain don’t look good to me for any purpose and any context. The City shown, however, looks like it might have a half-decent face (hard to see), and the sides do show some design cohesion, so it’s not completely irredeemable esthetically. But it is definitely not the thing for this. Note in particular the proportions of cars closer to the left and right ends of the spectrum. The pattern is hopefully easy to see.
The Rules
General
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Techpool: $50.0M combined, distribution unrestricted.
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$35K soft cap, as determined by the calculator.
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Quality unrestricted, but excessive negative quality may be called out and incur lost points.
Body
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Body year: any
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Body type: Des prefers wagons, disprefers tall or very low cars, and absolutely refuses convertibles. However, there is a distinction made between the official bodystyle in Automation, and what it’s actually modeled to be; ATS and fixtures MAY be used to make the car into something else, though I advise having a good reason for doing so (mostly unavailability of a particular body in its family), and reserve the right to override stat scores as I see fit. Any official body type is allowed, and the finished product is what gets evaluated against preferences.
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Hatchbacks, wagons, SUV, and vans (official types) get free weight distribution slider.
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Model year: any that is plausible for the rest of the car. Restomods keep their original model years.
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Trim year: any that is plausible for the rest of the car. Restomods may be updated to a later trim year. Actually using any equipment unlocked by doing so, or styling to look like the newer year, are also optional; a 1946 car with a 1996 trim year may use a CD player, semi-slicks, and modern rims, but can keep any or all of its original equipment and simply enjoy the various benefits and penalties.
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Legacy bodies are allowed but use carefully. If it loads with graphics glitches, it will be reviewed accordingly. If I determine it gives unfair stat advantages, it will be variously penalized, mocked, or binned.
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Open-wheel bodies are banned.
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Dimensions not formally restricted, but if it can’t fit in a parking stall or under bridges, we have a problem. Wheelbase recommended to be high 2.something to low 3.something meters.
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Body materials and other Model configurations: any
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ATS generally allowed. Wheel Width, Wheel Diameter, Camber, and Tire Diameter banned. Exceptions may be granted.
Engine
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Family and variant years: any
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Emissions: must meet or exceed Hetvesian emissions standards for the Trim or Variant year, whichever is newer.
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Fuel: unleaded 95RON
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Race parts are allowed but use carefully.
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Superchargers add $400 SVC.
Interior
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Four seats minimum. Five or six in two rows give a small bonus, though not as much as a well-modeled center console with passenger amenities. Don’t bother with third rows.
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This car will see extensive roadtrip use, during which, the interior is the part Des will see and interact with the most. Low-detail, basic, general shapes and colors/textures are required, and the visual result will factor into Coolness. More detail will earn some bonus points.
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I understand that not everyone knows how to put together an interior. As a concession, I will offer one-on-one help (via Discord or forum DM) to anyone who asks for it, to show you the basics of how to get an interior off the ground. If you take me up on this, I will factor in to final scoring your abilities before and after, as well as the effort made, as best as I can evaluate them.
TLDR: “What? Interiors not only required, but graded? I can’t do interiors, won’t bother with this shit!” Nah, don’t worry about your skill as such. Show me you tried and I’ll take that into account.
Other
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Transmission: stick-n-clutch manual only.
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Tires: any. Tires may end in 0; this will be interepreted as caster, pressure, control arm angle, or other tweaks not present in the game.
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Suspension: Non-steering solid axles must have 0 toe and 0 camber.
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Safety: any that gives a safety score greater or equal to Standard at 0 quality for the model year’s decade. For example, if your 1983 car gets 45.5 Safety when equipped with Standard 80s at 0 quality, you may use any safety package, of any decade, at any quality that gets Safety to 45.5.
Scoring system explanation
A car’s “coolness” will be ranked on a scale of -20 to +20, with 20 being the coolest possible, and -20 being as uncool as possible. For the purposes of CW9, coolness is looks, nothing more. Cars may be deemed cool even if they’re otherwise unsuitable. The car’s placement will be determined solely by the photo provided.
All other categories except final modifiers are worth either 0-10, 0-5 points or 0-2 points. For each category, the best car will be assigned the highest value, the worst car gets the lowest value, and every other car’s value being assigned in relation (rounded to the nearest tenth). Here’s an example with real-life cars (repurposed from the previous cool wall rounds. Note that this round doesn’t actually use the Practicality stat):
The Transsport has the best practicality, so it gets a score of 10 in that segment. The Seville has the worst practicality, so it gets a score of 0. And the Astra? Its practicality is 1/3rd the difference between the best and worst cars, so it gets a score of 3.7.
Now let’s add a 4th competitor:
Since the Eclipse now has the worst practicality, it gets a score of 0. And since the bar is now been set lower, the Seville gets a score of 4.4 (2/5 the difference), and the Astra a score of 6.6 (3/5 the difference). The Transsport, still the best, still gets a score of 10.
A car’s final score is its sum of category points, with final modifiers and any overrides applied.
Scoring Categories
- Coolness (looks) +/- 20 pts
Build quality 10 pts
There’s some ability to squint and overlook things like clipping, tearing, misalignment, overly chunky segmentation, reflection mismatch, and general fixture jankiness, but it’s limited. Greenhouse pillars with no thickness or curvature (unless actually meant to be flat), and rear windows that can’t open more than halfway will also lose points. Clean is more important than Fancy for this criterion. The more it actually looks like a car, the better.
Comfort 10 pts
Based on the stat but evaluated holistically. Modifiers for Torque, Number of Gears, Gearbox, and Responsiveness will be removed.
Space and ergonomics 10 pts
Passenger and cargo room will be measured and/or eyeballed, as well as its usefulness of shape and ease of access. The stats will be mostly ignored. Too high or too low a seating position will lose points; Des wants neither a GT40 nor a Hummer.
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Driveability 5 pts
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Fuel economy 5 pts
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Reliability 5 pts
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Sum of cylinder count, throttle body count, and exhaust quality. Des is an internal combustion audiophile. 5 pts
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Sportiness 2 pts
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Offroad 2 pts
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Service costs 2 pts
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Upfront cost 2 pts
Final Modifiers
- Calculated prices above $35000 receive a multiplier penalty of (35000/(calculated cost)) on each stat.
Protocol and miscellaneous
- Rules deliberation until 48 hours after the last meaningful question or comment. Unless anyone objects, the Cool Wall can begin construction immediately, and last 14 days.
- Then, submissions will open for 30 days.
- Send .cars to me via either Discord or forum DM.
- Car model and engine family name shall be “CW9 - your username”. Car trim and engine variant names free.
- Post in this thread an advert comprising, at minimum, one photo of your car’s exterior, one interior, year, make, and model.
- Resubmissions generally allowed, but do not abuse.
- Your car may be repainted, reupholstered, given different wheels, or different window tint.
- I reserve the right to ignore, bin, lampoon, set fire to, or otherwise have my way with entries.
