Thanks for such a detailed response.
I completely see where you are going with the development. I could only imagine the amount of effort that goes into designing and programming a game like this.
as for the main concept of the game that you are going for i now understand the reasons on “why” you make the choices your do. And i have a feeling that the majority of those that start playing this game will be beginners when it comes to actual auto knowledge. So it is a great education piece as well.
Myself i am a performance enthusiast i guess you could say and i enjoy pushing my cars to their limits, and the things i suggested are purely the “little” things that we tend to change to try and squeeze every last performance out of the cars. So MAYBE these things could be incorporated into a added download or feature down the road for those that are little more technical when it comes to tuning and tweaking of the car. Ill explain a little of how i look at it.
[quote]Valve Size: This is the most interesting and potentially useful one, and probably actually would pass test B, its an interesting design compromise, but I think its unlikely to be worth how much work it is. Currently valve size DOES change, but its considered to always be at the largest possible size that can be fit in the engine for its bore and valve count, I’m not sure allowing smaller valves will help greatly.
Larger is usually better but you can usually tweak TQ numbers by having smaller exhaust valves vs intake. But once again this is super detailed for the common user.
Cam Lift and Duration: We orignially had this, but it turned out to be confusing to teach the player about, and there were so few reasons you’d ever want to change them independantly that we rolled it into the one slider that controls both.
yes this is confusing still to those that are enthusiast like myself. But would be a great learning piece for those that are trying to see how higher or lower lift can affect an engine performance like duration as well. But can be overwhelming for most
Injectors and Fuel Pumps: Fails on test B and C, its not an interesting design compromise, as the only thing that really matters about fuel pumps and injectors is that they can flow enough fuel for the power level you’re trying to generate, its not really a decision, you either have big enough injectors or… you don’t, and there is no reason you’d want injectors that were larger or smaller than you needed. As such its assumed that the injectors are automatically sized correctly by your engineers.
I can see how this would be hard to incorporate but realistically for any of us that are adding power to our cars, this is the most important aspect almost. i currently have almost doubled my HP of my 2010 camaro by twin turboing it. I have upgraded the injectors but are running on stock fuel pump. My fuel pressure drops at high RPM on the dyno so i know that i need upgrade my fuel pump. whenever i have my car on a dyno, the gauge that i am glued to is the AFR gauge to make sure i didnt run lean. Plus if you have too big of injectors then you have to go smaller. just creates a more interactive way to find the right combo for power.
Throttle Body Sizing: Again, not a hugely exciting design decision, if it was going to be in there I’d also say having a choice of different styles of intake manifold would be part of the choice (short runner ones, long runner ones etc.). One day I’d like to add intake manifold choices but its a hell of a lot of work in terms of art, hence it not being in there currently.
yes this is one of those little picky things that we do to try and squeeze every last HP out of our cars. I do like the idea of being able to add more options of intake manifolds though. And i took a couple years of 3D modeling and i know how hard and complicated making these models can be so i have mad respect for you you all.
Piston Head Design: Could bring up interesting design choices, but fails test C, doesn’t add enough value/awesomeness to the game for the amount of development effort needed.
This as well is for those that are looking to be able to tweak HP and TQ curves. A flat top responds different then a dished piston. Might only be a small impact but once again it gets everything out of the car.
Head Gasket Material: Just another part where more expensive = stronger. We’ve already got a lot of those with conrods etc. so adding another part where the compromise is just money vs durability isn’t that fun.[/quote]
so as you can see from the trend of my explanation, I think it would be good for maybe a “EXPERIENCED” user release down the road after the game is finished. But i agree what i am thinking is probably too much for the everyday user in terms of your audience.
