Frotz and Infinite Space: A Nod to Zork in Sector Prime

Frotz and Infinite Space: A Nod to Zork in Sector Prime

Older gamers will recognize that one of the possible randomly generated names for a blue main sequence star in the Infinite Space trilogy of sci-fi roguelikes is Frotz. This word is derived from a textual command of the same name from the Zork series of adventure games developed by Infocom, where typing it would cause an object to glow and emit light - an essential tool in dark spaces. In turn, Zork's FROTZ command was taken from a slang term used in MIT that meant with "to play with".

A fictional star system named after a text command from an old adventure game series, in which said command is in turn taken from a slang term at MIT... But why?

When you think about the origins of FROTZ, the reason why Digital Eel chose it as a possible name for a blue giant becomes clear. FROTZ causes objects to glow when used, and since blue stars have a higher absolute brightness value (i.e. their actual brightness) compared to most other stars, it makes perfect sense that the devs would name a blue giant star system after it. That said, not all randomly generated maps contain a system with the name FROTZ, but such systems do appear from time to time.

So the next time you wonder why the randomly generated star systems in the Infinite Space trilogy often have such weird names, consider this fact: many of them are pop culture references of some sort, and some of those are even references to other video games from many years ago.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 128: In the Bear's Claw

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 128: In the Bear's Claw

As promised in the previous post in this series, I decided to create the entire model line-up for the '80s muscle/pony car I worked on after a round of my CEL Challenge Remix. I called it the Bearclaw, so here it is:

Above: The full line-up for the Bearclaw - an 80s American muscle/pony car from a recent round of my CEL Challenge Remix.

There are a total of seven trims spanning the years 1980 to 1989. They are as follows:

• Back row, far left: 1980 5.0 GT (silver) - original version with 175-bhp carbureted 5.0L OHV V8, 4-speed manual and clutched LSD. Not the fastest, but a sound basis for what comes next.
• Back row, left: 1982 5.0 GT SFI (dark blue) - first minor update, introducing 200-bhp SFI (single-point EFI) version of the same V8, yielding a slight but noticeable performance boost.
• Back row, center: 1984 5.0 GT EFI (black) - a major facelift, removing the upper grille and moving the indicators above the bumper. Multi-point EFI becomes available for the first time; power increases to 225 bhp, and the differential is upgraded to a geared LSD, while a 5-speed gearbox is now standard.
• Back row, right: 1987 5.0 GT EFI Competition Pack (white) - similar to the above trim, but with a stiffer suspension tune and a revised engine, although output is unchanged. The Competition Pack is optional on the 5.0 GT EFI, but is not compatible with the Touring Pack (see below).
• Back row, far right: 1987 5.7 GT EFI Competition Pack (yellow) - identical to the above trim, but for the fitment of a 5.7-liter V8 developing 240 horsepower. The Competition Pack is standard with this engine.
• Front row, left: 1987 5.0 GT EFI Touring Pack (green) - a comfort-focused trim with a softer suspension tune and a detuned version of the 5.0L EFI V8 developing 200 horsepower. The Touring Pack is only available with this engine variant and is not compatible with the Competition Pack (see above).
• Front row, right: 1989 5.7 GT EFI Final Edition (red) - the final facelift of the Bearclaw, with new head- and taillights. The 225-bhp EFI V8 is now the base engine for the GT, but the Competition Pack is now optional, and even then only for the 5.7 GT, which receives 10 extra horsepower. The Touring Pack is dropped this year. Production of this generation continues until 1991, after which the Bearclaw receives a full redesign.

All trims of the Bearclaw GT have a premium interior and sound system (8-track at launch, cassette from 1984 onwards) either as standard or as an option, with a 2+2 (2 full-size seats up front and 2 smaller seats in the rear) seating configuration. Suspension is by McPherson struts in the front and a coil-sprung live axle at the rear. Brakes are vented discs at all four corners (except for the original 5.0 GT, which had solid discs at the rear), with ABS assistance being optional on the Final Edition. Wheels are cast-alloy items measuring 15 or 16 inches wrapped in medium compound or high-performance tires (depending on trim level and year). Although an automatic transmission is optional, and would have had 3 speeds at launch, then 4 speeds from 1984, I chose not to make any trims fitted with this feature.

Overall, I had a lot of fun creating the Bearclaw and fleshing out its evolution over time. In particular, I had a field day designing its interior using various 3D fixtures, something that I have become fond of for my most serious builds. See you again next time!

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 127: Applying the CEL Challenge Remix

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 127: Applying the CEL Challenge Remix

In the previous post, I described one of my spinner wheel sets based on the original CEL Challenge set, which I simply called the CEL Challenge Remix. This time, I will be showing a build resulting from a randomly generated combination I created. Here is the combination in full:

This sounds like a tempting combination, doesn't it?

In this case, it's a 1980s American muscle/pony car. However, although the Location spinner originally landed on "Canada", I spun it again due to the Luck spinner landing on "Lucky" and the Lucky spinner landing on "Change Location", with the Location spinner landing on "US" for the second spin. With all the attributes now set, I took a screenshot of the wheels' final positions, then set to work on the car that met the requirements of my own personal CEL Challenge Remix.

Engineering wise, the build was typical 1980s pony car fare: a big normally aspirated overhead-valve V8 up front driving the rear wheels via a manual gearbox and limited-slip differential, with independent suspension up front and a  (coil-sprung) live axle in the rear. This time, I considered making a whole range of trims over time, and ultimately went through with the idea. To that end, I deliberately made the earliest trims more primitive than the later ones; as such, while the oldest trim had a carbureted engine and a 4-speed gearbox, newer trims would have a fuel-injected engine and a 5-speed gearbox, among other changes. And all of this would be built on the 1980 E90-esque body set, using the 2-door Super coupe body style, with a 2.47m wheelbase. To differentiate the trims further, the first one would have a softer set-up in general, whereas later trims would be more aggressively configured to reflect their more overtly sporting nature.

Here is the original 1980 pre-facelift trim powered by a carbureted V8:

The first version of a 1980s pony car I made using the CEL Challenge Remix spinner wheel set. Sleek and purposeful, but a bit short on power.

And here is the 1984 facelift, now powered by a fuel-injected version of the same engine:

A facelifted version of the car shown above, with a sleeker appearance and, most importantly, more power under that long hood.

This was quite a fun build to create, test and revise - I was quite happy with how this one turned out. Stay tuned for further updates - I may create additional trims of this car if I feel like it.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 126: CEL Challenge Remix

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 126: CEL Challenge Remix

In recent months, I've had so much fun with the CEL Challenge spinner wheel set (which I have described earlier) in this series that I've decided to make my own spin on it. Here it is, complete with an example of a result I obtained from it:

Above and below: An example of a randomly generated result from my CEL Challenge Remix spinner wheel set, along with the positions of each wheel after the spin that created it.

On this occasion, I ended up with a 1970s British sports car - but with the Luck spinner landing on Neither, I could ignore the effects of the Lucky and Unlucky spinners.

On the subject of spinners, all of them have been revised for my CEL Challenge Remix, with every spinner (except for Luck) having more options compared to the original, with some existing options being clarified further. The changes are as follows:

• Class spinner: "Sedan" has been particularized into two options (mid-sized/D-segment and full-sized/E-segment or larger). Wagon now covers all practical size classes and has been renamed accordingly, to "Wagon/estate (any segment)". "Truck" is now "Truck/Ute", "SUV is now "SUV/4x4", "Muscle" is now "Muscle/Pony", "Supercar" is now "Supercar/Hypercar", "Concept Cars" is now simply "Concept", and the "shitbox" (US motoring slang for a cheap, substandard car) option has been removed, in place of two options: "Race/Rally Car" and "Custom/Tuned Car", with the latter requiring you to spin again for a specific class. The "MPV/Van" option is also new to this version.
• Era spinner: A new option (2010s) has been added, spanning the years 2010 to 2019 inclusive.
• Location spinner: Several new options have been added, such as "Sweden", "South Korea", and "Africa". In addition, the option "Europe (other countries)" refers to most countries in Europe other than the UK, Italy, Germany, France or Sweden; the option "Asia (other countries)" refers to most countries in Asia other than China, Japan or South Korea. The options "South America" and Oceania" have been renamed to "Central/South America" and "Australia/New Zealand", respectively.
• Luck spinner: The second "Unlucky" option has been removed; therefore, all four options ("Neither", "Unlucky", "Lucky", and Both") have an equal chance of being chosen.
• Unlucky spinner: The "Everything" option has been renamed "All". In addition to this, all other options carried over from the original CEL Challenge set have also been renamed, thereby making them more or less self-explanatory: "Lowest Fuel" is now "85 RON Unleaded", "DAOHC" is expanded to "Direct-acting OHC", "Automatic" is now "Standard Automatic (maximum 3 speeds)", "Cross-ply" is now "Cross-ply Tires (any)", "20 Fixtures" is now "Maximum 20 Fixtures (exterior only)", "FWD" is now "FWD (any)" (to account for the fact that a transverse FWD configuration is only available from 1961, assuming 0 points for chassis tech pool), "2 way cats" has been expanded into "2-way Catalytic Converters", "OIL CRISIS" now reads "Oil Crisis (replaces current Era)", "Single Eco Carb" is now "1x Single Barrel Eco Carb", "-15 Quality" is now "-15 Quality (all sliders)", "-5 Quality" is now "Maximum -5 Quality (all sliders), and "12k Costs" is now "Maximum Cost $12k AMU". A few new options have been introduced in this version: "Drum Brakes Only (front/rear)" (fit only drum brakes to the front and rear axles), "0 Tech Pool (all sliders)" (set all tech pool sliders to 0), and "2valves/cylinder (any)" (maximum of 2 valves per cylinder, in any configuration).
• Lucky spinner: As with the Unlucky spinner, most options are either new or renamed: "Everything" is now "All", "Unlimited Fuel" is now "Unlimited Fuel Octane", "+5 Quality" is now "Minimum +5 Quality (all sliders)", "+15 Quality" is now "+15 Quality (all sliders)", "Semi-Slicks" is now "Semi-Slick Tires", "AWD" is now "AWD (not 4x4)" (reflecting the fact that AWD and 4x4 are not one and the same), and "Unlimited Fixtures" now applies to both exterior and interior. Two new options, "Change Era" and "Unlimited Tech Pool" have been added; the former requires you to spin the Era spinner again, while the latter allows you to adjust the tech pool any way you want, all the way to +15 for each and every slider.

In short, the CEL Challenge Remix spinner set allows you to generate a more diverse set of combinations compared to the original. Note that, due to the absence of an option to have negative tech pool values, the Unlucky spinner does not have an option that, if selected, requires the use of any negative tech pool points.

Here is another pair of examples of a combination I got from the new spinner wheel set:

Above and below: Another pair of examples of a randomly generated combination from my CEL Challenge Remix spinner wheel set. In the former,  the "Unlimited Budget" option is in effect; thus, there is no maximum price, to the point that such a build could venture into supercar territory. The latter is a very similar combination, but this time the class is now "Supercar/Hypercar" and the "Unlimited Fixtures (exterior/interior)" option is in effect instead.

Thus ends this quick tour of my new and (at least in my view) improved CEL Challenge Remix spinner wheel set. Here's to many more spins and random combinations!

Update (11/28/22): I have revised the set so that the "Coupe" space on the Class spinner is now "Coupe/Convertible", after realizing that a key omission from the original CEL Challenge had to be fixed in my adaptation of it. Also, not all convertibles are dedicated sports cars, so I decided to lump them in with coupes this time around. Here is what the set now looks like:

The revised CEL Challenge Remix spinner wheel set, with the "Coupe" space renamed to "Coupe/Convertible" to address an omission in the original.

Update (January 6th 2023): After checking the Discord, it turns out that the -5 Quality and +5 Quality options in the Unlucky and Lucky spinners, respectively, from the original CEL challenge, both refer to applying that exact setting (no more, no less) to only one slider, not all of them. Here's another screenshot, this time with the updated set:

A screenshot of the recently updated CEL Challenge Remix spinner wheel set, where the "-5 Quality" and "+5 Quality" options in the Unlucky and Lucky spinners, respectively, now refer to applying the stated values only to one slider, instead of all of them. The revised text is too long to fit on those wheels, but clicking on the Edit tab underneath them will show it in full.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 125: David and Goliath

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 125: David and Goliath

I recently took some time to remake or reimagine some of my old builds from previous versions of Automation, and after sinking several hours into each one, here are the results:

A pair of genuine modern classic performance cars I made in Automation for true-blue enthusiasts - take your pick.

Both of the cars shown above are 2-seat sports cars powered by naturally aspirated engines, and are built on a glued aluminum chassis and aluminum alloy bodywork, in addition to sending their power to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox and a geared limited-slip differential, but that's where the similarities end. The car on the left (with a model/trim year of 1995) is as much of a grand tourer as it is a sports car. to that end, it is powered by a relatively under-stressed all-alloy, dual-overhead-cam, 32-valve V8 up front displacing 5.0 liters and developing 400 horsepower, and has a full luxury interior/CD player combination. Even with its weight-saving aluminum construction, its luxury trimmings bump up its weight to 1,300 kg, but at least that weight is distributed evenly across both the front and rear. The result is something that's as usable as it is fast, but nowhere near as raw as the next car shown here.

In complete contrast, the car on the right (with a model/trim year of 2000) is a track-ready roadster powered by a mid-mounted 2.0-liter straight-four (again, with dual overhead cams per bank and 4 valves per cylinder) developing only 220 horsepower, and comes with a pared-back sports interior and a standard mid-range CD player. Thanks to an extreme weight reduction strategy (where the weight optimization slider is set to its lightest), it only weighs 875 kilograms, but much of this was accomplished by omitting all driver aids and the power steering system. The result is a far purer driving experience, with little thought given to everyday usability - but for purists, that may be enough.

Overall, I felt satisfied with the final results of both builds, especially in terms of design and engineering, and would like to make still more fully detailed cars in Automation, regardless of the era and type of vehicle.

Doll Maker's Return, Part 1: Into the Firestorm

Doll Maker's Return, Part 1: Into the Firestorm

After realizing that the real-life world has generally taken a turn for the worse despite the promises of some of its leaders, I felt that now would be a good time to revisit my collection of X-Girl artworks. There is, however, one crucial difference: they will be placed in a completely different timeline that overwrites the previous one, and although I can still use the existing character designs, I will have to give them different names and backstories (or at least reassign them). Thus, the original CRASH/STAR timeline will henceforth no longer be canonical.

The new backstory is as follows: STORM (an acronym for Special Tactical Operations Response Mercenaries), a covert elite mercenary unit, was established in the aftermath of the Second World War in an attempt to prevent an armed conflict of that scale (or, worse yet, an even more destructive one) from ever happening again. For decades, they have succeeded in doing exactly that, but in that time they have since come to the conclusion that their forces cannot be everywhere in the world all at once, forcing them to decide who and what deserves their aid the most. Nevertheless, they maintain an idealistic outlook for the world as a whole. After the end of the Cold War, their operations were largely scaled back, but they continued operating in the shadows, unknown to much of the world.

Years later, after a long period of relative dormancy, STORM was forced to re-arm, this time to face a new threat: FIRE (an acronym for Free Independent Radical Extremists), another shadowy (but far more evil) organization, has been wreaking havoc across the globe, and even the best efforts of various nations have struggled to contain them. This time, the situation is so dire that, for the first time ever, STORM has received backing from many of the world's governments, in contrast to FIRE, which acts independently from governments (and often against them). To raise the stakes further, FIRE hired several disaffected ex-STORM personnel to bolster their capabilities, thus making them even more of a threat than before. To reinforce the contrast between FIRE and STORM, the former has a mostly cynical stance, unlike the latter's more idealistic approach; however, after several further years of operations, FIRE was defeated once and for all, leading to STORM losing its purpose and ultimately being disbanded soon after, with its personnel, materiel and technology transferred to a newly established independent organization called HOPE (Humanitarian Organization for Peacekeeping Enforcement), just in time to counter the actions of FEAR (Federation of Eurasian Authoritarian Regimes). Realizing that the future of the world is at stake once again, HOPE mobilizes once again to combat this new menace. This is the setting of Into the Firestorm: Reignited.

The original CRASH/STAR timeline cannot coexist with the new one, and this is why: although STORM and HOPE's top scientists conducted research into genetic enhancements for their agents, all of their experiments were unsuccessful, leading to the abandonment of the project. This was followed by the signing of the GEO (Genetically Engineered Organism) Treaty, which prohibited genetic modifications on humans and severely restricted their development and use on other lifeforms. Thus, HOPE agents are all ordinary human beings, albeit those who have been trained to be among the best in the world. And they need to be, considering how dangerous FEAR has become recently. Among HOPE's ranks are a specialist unit known as the Guardian Angels - an all-female squad trained in various forms of combat and intelligence, often deployed in situations too dangerous and/or difficult for HOPE's regular forces. They will be the subject of the next post in this series.

Note: HOPE received its name from the home planet (orbiting the Glory system) of the Terrans in the Infinite Space trilogy of sci-fi roguelikes. Similarly, FEAR was named as such because it represents the opposite of what HOPE stands for.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 124: Indicators of Success

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 124: Indicators of Success

One of the recently added body sets in Automation has quickly become a favorite of mine. Called the Indicator, it is available from 1988 onwards, and comes in four sizes: small, medium, large and extra-large, with wheelbases of 2.55, 2.70, 2.85, and 3.00 meters respectively. Each of them comes in 14(!) different body styles (2- and 4-door soft-top convertibles, 2-door and 4-door sedans, 2-door and 4-door coupes, SUV, minivan/MPV, pickup truck/ute, 3-door and 5-door hatchbacks, 5-door wagons/estates, plus 3-door and 5-door liftbacks for the two smallest sizes), opening up a very wide range of possibilities from the late '80s through to the whole of the '90s and even the early 2000s.

The new Indicator body sets are among the most diverse and useful in Automation as of LCV4.2.32.

These body sets were introduced as a replacement for a similar-looking body set (available from 1990 onwards) that debuted as a Steam Workshop mod. Over time, it became popular enough to be added to the list of vanilla (default) body sets. Originally, it came in one wheelbase (~2.7m) and three body styles (4-door sedan, as well as a 2-door coupe or convertible, the latter with a soft top just like its successor). However, this was a very limited choice compared to some other similarly sized contemporary body sets, and over time, this and its other limitations (such as a lack of morphing zones in certain areas) became apparent.

It should therefore come as no surprise that I find its replacement to be vastly superior in nearly all aspects. Along with their sheer diversity of body styles and morphing zones across all sizes, the Indicator body sets can now accommodate wider tires and wheels on both axles than their predecessors (or equivalents, for sizes other than the default 2.7m wheelbase). In fact, one of my few complaints about them is that each one has a narrower engine bay than they should have. Also, their body roll is generally higher than it should be for comfort-oriented builds. Nevertheless, I expect them to be highly popular - potentially even more so than other similar contemporary body sets - and would happily use any of the bodies in this set to flesh out a company's lore.

The Indicator body set is not the only one in Automation that has proven to be a worthwhile replacement for its predecessor. For example, the rounded 1985 coupe body set, introduced back in the Kee era with two wheelbases (2.52m and 2.72m) has since been remade with a smoother appearance, revised morphing zones, and a greater number of body styles, plus two additional wheelbases (2.42m and 2.62m) and a more appropriate unlock year of 1988. The 1995 Egg body set (another holdover from the Kee era) has also been reworked, and now comes in multiple wheelbases (from 1.9m to 2.6m), with all but the smallest of these being available as 3- or 5-door hatchbacks (the 1.9m wheelbase variant only comes with three doors - no more, no less). Finally, in place of a pair of much-used but slightly bugged mid-engined body sets with an unlock year of 2000, there are four new similar-looking body sets (called Mako) with an unlock year of 2009 - and modders have even created versions of them with larger engine compartments, among other changes.

Do any of these Automation body sets look familiar to you? If so, that's because they're superior remakes of existing body sets that were introduced in previous game builds.

In short, the Automation community's program of remaking car body sets that date back to long-obsolete builds is mostly a win-win - we might have to remake any cars built on those bodies, but the results will look and feel far better than they used to.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 123: CEL Paint Color Generator

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 123: CEL Paint Color Generator

As an addendum to the spinner wheels used for the CEL Challenge and its associated random engine generator, both of which I have discussed previously in this series, I have chosen to create another set of spinner wheels. This one, however, is different from those two in that instead of a car, or an engine, it can be used to generate a paint color that can be applied to any car in Automation, specifically, for all (or most) of its exterior panels. Here it is:

Above: An overview of the CEL Paint Color Generator.

The functions of the wheels above are as follows:

• Base Hue: The basic color of the paint material. If this lands on Black, Gray/Silver or White, ignore the effect of the next two spinners.
• Base Saturation: The amount of saturation the base color has.
• Base Value: The amount of brightness the base color has.
• Flake/Shine: The amount of flake and gloss the paint material has. This must be spun twice: first for shine, then again for flake (although the order can be reversed if desired).
• Pearl Strength: This determines the strength of the paint color's pearl effect - if it lands on None, the results of the next three spinners can be ignored.
• Pearl Hue: The color the pearl effect will impart. If this lands on Black, Gray/Silver or White, ignore the effect of the next two spinners.
• Pearl Saturation: The amount of saturation for the color provided by the pearl effect.
• Pearl Value: The amount of saturation for the color provided by the pearl effect.

For all spinners other than Base Hue and Pearl Hue, the values (as shown in the materials tab) that the options refer to are as follows:

• None (Flake/Shine and Pearl Strength only): 0.00
• Very Low: 0.01 to 0.19
• Low: 0.2 to 0.39
• Medium: 0.4 to 0.59
• High: 0.6 to 0.79
• Very High: At least 0.8
• Full: 1.0

Here is an example of a randomly generated set of paint color attributes using the above set of spinner wheels:

An example of a randomly generated set of paint color attributes using the CEL Paint Color Generator spinner wheels. The color generated here is a kind of yellow/gold with full saturation and value, full shine but no flake (due to the the Flake/Shine wheel landing on Full on its first spin, leading to a 1.00 value for shine, and the second such spin of the same wheel yielding a result of None, leading to a 0.00 value for flake), and no pearl effect.

The results of the CEL Paint Color Generator can also be applied to a randomly generated car from the main CEL Challenge spinner wheel. If you wish, try generating a random color that would be a realistic option for the car created from the CEL Challenge. Have fun exploring the possibilities!