Hi,
I have a quick suggestion for sandbox mode.
On previous versions of the game you could choose what name to save your car/engine as but in the new version 150328 it seems that you can not choose a name for the car/engine. Also there should be an option to turn the autosave on or off in sandbox.
You can choose the name at the top of the screen. There are 4 text boxes, and they are, from left to right, “Car Model”, “Car Trim”, “Engine Family”, and “Engine Variant”.
The game now autosaves, so if you rename one of those boxes it will overwrite with the new name you have given it. The only way to avoid the overwrite is to duplicate the trim or variant and work from that copy. The same is true of any changes you make to the trim/variant. Keep in mind duplicating a trim/variant locks a few things about the model/family from being changed again.
Also keep in mind the “autosave” feature isnt foolproof, I have quite a few builds that dont always save correctly the first time, takes quite a few random changes to get them to save the new settings/names etc. Basically “save” your car, exit and double check to see if it is still the same car as when you saved.
Okay thank you I didn’t even notice.
Yes, I would like to see them bring back a manual save and a way to disable the “autosave” feature, as it isn’t as predictable as I would like it to be right now. At the very least, it should autosave on exit no matter what, since I can’t tell it to do so. Preferrably, however, I would like to control the save feature myself. Sometimes I make changes to see what will happen, and don’t like the results. I know the hold/revert feature is there, but when I’m in the middle of testing things, I don’t always remember to use it. In sandbox mode, I should have complete control!
I’ve had that trouble as well… Especially when I build SOHC engines for some weird reason 
I also agree with Cobaltgirl; the auto save is too unreliable and it interferes with experimentation. I have no idea how to fix it except to say that, sometimes, less is actually more! 
I also agree with CobaltGirl. It would be nice to have the option to be in control of when to save (like it was earlier). Sometimes I just don’t want to save when I open a “old” engine/car.
I agree wiht CobaltGirl as well.Autosave keeps not saving grills if it’s the only fixture you put on the car.I hate constantly having to place grills and set cooling on my quickbuilds if I haven’t finished every trim I wanted to make in 1 go or if I just want to compare some more advanced stats
Is there anyone at all who prefers autosave in sandbox? Devs, please give us full control over saveing…
The simple answer is: No. Not yet. 
The reasoning behind it is: Saving is currently buggy and partially broken, hence everyone is complaining about the new system, where it actually isn’t the new system’s fault which is both more flexible and convenient when it is working (which it isn’t right now).
[quote=“Killrob”]The simple answer is: No. Not yet.
The reasoning behind it is: Saving is currently buggy and partially broken, hence everyone is complaining about the new system, where it actually isn’t the new system’s fault which is both more flexible and convenient when it is working (which it isn’t right now).[/quote] The far more important thing would be a save function for the current session. If I stuck at a task, the only way to not loose progress when taking a break is pausing the game. 
[quote=“Killrob”]The simple answer is: No. Not yet.
The reasoning behind it is: Saving is currently buggy and partially broken, hence everyone is complaining about the new system, where it actually isn’t the new system’s fault which is both more flexible and convenient when it is working (which it isn’t right now).[/quote]
The thing is, I never minded the old system.
I like the ability to switch between models and swap engines in the new system, but more often than not, it autosaves a change I would rather not save. I guess for me, I’d like to have the four boxes across the top, but just have the option of saving manually, if that’s not sacrilege. Then I could switch between them, fiddle, and decide for myself if I want to save.
I agree 100% with this!
“Not minding” the old system is not a good argument though; of course you don’t mind it, you got so used to it (seeing both the above have been with us for more than a few months 
) and that’s not a bad thing of course.
First we fix the saving bugs (inconsistent saving) that lead people to dislike the new system even though it is not to blame. Then we let you have a go at it and see if you can’t get used to the new system too, it does take getting used to and I am sure you don’t enjoy getting used to something broken (which it is right now).
So chill guys, this is a frustrating situation for both the players and the devs.
[quote=“Killrob”]“Not minding” the old system is not a good argument though; of course you don’t mind it, you got so used to it (seeing both the above have been with us for more than a few months 
) and that’s not a bad thing of course.
[/quote]
Meh, I wasn’t using “not minding” as an argument to go back to the old system. I said it to indicate that I believe the new system was a solution to a problem that didn’t exist. If it had been a quick and simple thing to implement that would have been fine, but that definitely was not the case.
I’m chillin’. I’m not upset or anything like that. Along for the ride, seeing how it goes, voicing thoughts along the way.
I have to say, my biggest issue with the new saving system is…
Comparing a car side by side is next to impossible now. I used to be able to save a revision (or even an entirely new name!), make changes, and then test back to back for comparison. Now, if I want to change things I either have to completely start over, or I cannot make changes to certain things. I know I could simply delete any additional trims, but this completely defeats the purpose of this testing method, and it has immense limitations since I can only make certain changes once a second trim/variant is included. Renaming outside of the game does nothing (except break things on regular occasion), so that is not a viable option for testing.
In tycoon mode, I get the “no looking back” ideology, but in sandbox, it should be completely open for experimentation. I don’t hate the new system (aside from the sometimes very frustrating bugs which hinder it from working as desired), but I would like a chance to save a model and create a new one based on it in sandbox mode. I’m trying to give this a chance, but it is very frustrating. Not all of us are experts in tuning suspensions or engines, and we need a playground to learn on without the current limitations, or at least a way to work around it. This is even more true for new users who have not had a chance to play yet.
“Save” and/or “Save As” are wonderful things, IMHO. Timed auto-saves can also make sense, if there is some form of user control on how it operates. Right now it’s make a change and it overwrites what you had on its own, without permission. In the real world, this is all data for future use. In Automation, we now have to recreate from memory or screenshots. It is overly complicated, to be honest. Like I said, I get this for Tycoon Mode, but not for Sandbox mode. With the old method, we could actually skip the revisions and just rename the files as we pleased to get copies to test on even. We no longer even have that option.
Blind auto-saves are counter-productive in learning environments. It isn’t a matter of getting used to the new system. It’s just the new system doesn’t do what I need it to do. If any or all of this will be fixed after finding all of the bugs, then I will not say another word about saving and wait patiently. I really enjoy this game, and it is much needed as is probably quite obvious there are those who share in the vision or they would not have bought the game. We keep hearing “once all of the bugs are worked out you’ll see it’s much better this way”, but nobody says how it will be better. We, the users, have lost control of our projects.
Ahh, that is interesting. Correct me if I am wrong, but that doesn’t sound like you have problems with the saving per se, but more with the fact that you cannot work on models once you have several trims. That has nothing to do with saving but a core solution to the “changing your grandfather’s genes” problem. We introduced it in order to make possible the upcoming factory system, which will be very intuitive to use (at least it was designed with that in mind).
We plan on looking into implementing a “clone model” function if that is not insanely difficult to do, where you would be able to clone all existing trims under a model and change the chassis configuration then applied to all trims. That does require a new tool though due to how things are set up now.
I don’t quite understand what you mean with it being impossible to compare cars side by side though. This has not been possible before and is possible now pretty easily? When you want to compare for instance one suspension setup to another you haven’t made yet there are two options:
While I see your frustration with “the new system”, I just as much don’t understand your frustration with it :s and I mean that in an honest “I really don’t see where the problem is and I wish I would” way. I think what would REALLY help is watching people who have issues with this play the game, see what they are doing - because obviously we are doing things differently.
[quote=“Killrob”]
2) Press the “Hold” button and start making changes. It now directly compares the two trim’s stats, the current one with the one you hold in memory. If you are satisfied with your changes, press hold again, if not, press revert to go back to the original setup.[/quote]
Perhaps the hold button could be re labeled as “release” or “unhold”, while the game is in this mode.
Might make it’s operation a bit clearer?
Definitely, maffc, that would be a reasonable thing to do.
Thank you, Killrob, for understanding I have some problems. Yes, it isn’t directly involved with the save system, per se, as you stated. It is indirectly related. I know the hold/revert buttons are there for me to use, however, I don’t always (read almost never) remember them, as they are new and I am not used to them (yet?). Yes, I am struggling. Before, I could click Rev1 on a new model and have two completely separate copies to work on. I have not really worked the “new system” into my methodology yet, and that is where I get frustrated. I also never understood how to release the hold. maffc made a wonderful suggestion, now that I know the same button does the release for new saving. So, perhaps this new knowledge will help me to use this feature more, but I tried that before and didn’t know if it was saving anything or not? It wasn’t clear to me until now.
I did understand completely this new system was implemented to be utilized further in Tycoon mode later on. This was not new information (I do watch the dev videos!!! see note below hahaha) I just don’t fully understand how to use it to set/meet my goals yet. If there will be a clone model implemented in the future, that would be fantastic and solve my problem completely. Especially if it clones families too (like for new model years etc?) I also understand there is a lot coming down the pipe in the near/far future. My frustration revolves around the darkness and lack of understanding of the new system. I’m old, so, you know, old dogs take longer to learn new tricks. I still love the game. I have a lot of fun tinkering. I just don’t feel as effective in my tinkering as I used to feel. This is boosted by me not fully understanding all of the graphs yet, despite them being in the game for quite some time. It’s a lot to take in, and I’m still old.
To summarize: I am used to the old way of doing things and having difficulty adopting the new way of doing things. I still want to save/copy when I want to save/copy in sandbox. This is something I can hopefully overcome with time, but so far I’m just stuck in my old ways. I do, however, still think sandbox should be wide open for experimentation. Oh, and I also REALLY need to watch those damn tutorial videos again…cuz you know…I’m old!
[size=50]I have to say, sometimes I get lost watching the videos because I think killrob’s voice is rather sexy with the accent and what-not…so I occasionally have to suffer through them multiple times evil grin Australian accents are even worse for me and I have no idea why I like German and Aussie accents so damn much. 
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