Yes, these are the features inspired by Motorsport Manager, which might make the campaign mode more interesting. Will they become part of the campaign mode?
I see what you are getting at, but I doubt we’ll have it similar to MM, as it is a very different setting. We have worked out the basics of what is required, but the implementation details remain to be worked out.
1 Like
Instead of meaningless multiple choice interviews and people management, I’d love if the press coverage was just reviews of your cars with articles generated according to a simple formula, and referencing your competitors’ cars as well - and a few auto generated pictures of the car how they might appear.
For instance it might say “Family buyers value practicality, and the Vista Aitomotive Model 88 boasts 3200 litres of luggage space - that’s 311 litres more than its closest rival, the Ford Focus, which…” etc.
Those articles are so formulaic they might as well be algorithmically generated anyway!
I will have to disagree with you on that one. I have played several tycoon games that did try algorithmically generated reviews, and it always felt artificial, especially after you’ve played the game for a while and realised that “wait, it’s the same sentences with data changed”.
This is why the reviews and articles surrounding one’s company should be, in my opinion, left to player’s imagination. Imagination is so powerful that, sometimes, letting the player fill in the blanks is better than filling those blanks for them, but not doing so well enough.
10 Likes
I agree, I play a lot of Motorsport Manager and the press articles in that about what the qualifying times are etc. is really bad…
But I think it could incorporate some interesting elements of the game. For instance, you might wait and see whether one of your models is in the front page, which might communicate that it was the best car released that year…
It would also be a nice way to see your competitors, in a table of competitors at the end of the article… With some pluses and minuses in different categories.
I think the best solution to such a system would be to steal the one from Endless Space 2. Have a handful of scenarios (Safety flaw discovered, non-safety flaw discovered, opportunity to cheat emissions, sponsorship opportunity, etc), and give a few different pre-selected choices, one of which might have a “potential problem” later on (Ignore flaw and flaw maybe gets discovered, cheat and cheat maybe gets discovered, chosen sponsorship potentially backfires). Such choices - especially in the automotive these days - would feel appropriate.
That same logic would also extend to press reviews. Instead of having the system try and “guess” why your car is better than the competition, just have a few generic headers (Your car wins FakeNews Car of the Year, Your car gets good review, your car gets mediocre review, your car gets negative review) with a little fake magazine cover, and then a couple algorithmic snippets why (It’s more sporty than the competition, or it doesn’t have enough trunk space to compete, etc). Such a system would feel less obviously “fake” than a full algorithmic system.
1 Like
I like the last idea - instead of lots of text nobody will read, just a few pictures and one quote on a magazine cover with a review in % or 4/5 or something would work.
1 Like