Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 110: A New Dawn

 Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 110: A New Dawn

A new build of Automation has been in the opt-in open alpha phase for the past few months, and in that time, the developers have done a lot to improve its stability, so here it is in a nutshell.

Version 4.2 of Automation not only brings with it reworked turbocharger setups, but also adds a whole host of additional engine and trim settings for a greater variety of options when building a car and its engine. In addition, many new bodies (in various sizes) have been added, along with advanced trim settings to adjust the visual size and shape of key components. Some of those bodies had previously been exclusive to beta testers, but they are now much more widely available for the general player base to use.

So why have I held off on switching to this build so far? For starters, it was notoriously buggy at launch, but thankfully most of these bugs have since been fixed. In fact, the current open alpha build (LCV 4.2.12) is the best it's ever been, but I would prefer to play it safe and wait for the next patch or two after that. Moreover, many mods from previous game builds have not yet been remade for the open alpha, although this situation is slowly improving. Finally, although there are now plenty of challenges running on the latest open alpha, I am not quite as eager to enter them as I once was, although this could change in the future, either due to a game update, the introduction of a new challenge with a particularly attractive rule set, or both.

On the other hand, LCV 4.2 will inevitably enter an open beta phase, by which time it will have been more fleshed out. By then, I will most likely have chosen to finally take the plunge and opt in to the new build, thereby providing myself with a clean slate. I could use this as an opportunity to revisit and rewrite the lore of whatever companies I have made in Automation, and remake some of my favorite designs in the process. Before any of that can happen, however, I'll examine all the new content so that I can understand it better, in the hopes of unlocking its full potential.