Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 134: Revisiting and Expanding the CEL Challenge Remix

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 134: Revisiting the CEL Challenge Remix

With another round of the original CEL Challenge having recently been announced, I decided to give my own version of it (the CEL Challenge Remix) a once-over. For starters, unless any tech pool-related modifiers are in effect, the default tech pool values (+5 for all areas) are now the absolute maximum allowed - in other words, a total of 80 points (30 for the engine and 50 for the trim), with a maximum of 5 per area. In addition, in place of a generic 2v/cylinder Unlucky modifier, there is now a Cast Headers Only modifier, and the Cross-ply tires Unlucky modifier now requires the use of medium compound tires or less, while on the other hand, the Semi-slick Tires Lucky modifier requires the use of radial tires. This makes the latter two modifiers completely incompatible with each other.

The changes above make a lot more sense now, given that the 2v/cylinder modifier turned out to be redundant, and on top of that, I should have been more specific regarding the two tire type modifiers. After all, semi-slick cross-ply tires were, and still are, highly unrealistic. In addition, I now have the option to enforce the following rules regarding historical accuracy, assuming the use of default tech pool values:

• 2-way catalytic converters are only legal in the 1960s and 1970s; they are not legal in any other era.
• Cross-ply tires of any kind are illegal in any and every era from the 1970s onward; conversely, semi-slick radial tires are only legal from the 1950s.
• AWD is only legal in the 1970s or later.
• 1x Single Barrel Eco Carb is illegal in any and every era from the 2000s onward.
• If the class generated requires a respin for a specific class, and the same is true of the next Class spin, continue spinning until it generates a Class that does not require a respin.
• Std. Automatic (max. 3 speeds) is only available from the 1950s through to the 1980s.
• Drum Brakes Only (front and rear) is no longer available from the 2000s onward.

If any of these rules are in place, and at least one of them is violated, then the entire CEL combination is invalid, and a new one must be generated. In addition to this, if the era generated is Oil Crisis (1973-75), then unleaded fuel (with a maximum octane rating of 91 RON) must be used.

In addition to the above changes, I am also considering adding two additional (but optional) wheels: a Trim Year spinner, for determining the specific trim/variant year from the generated Era (with 10 options: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, each of which denotes the last digit of the trim year), and another (called Free Year Choice) to determine whether or not to take into account the effect of the Trim Year Spinner (with two options: Yes and No, the former of which allows free choice of any trim year within the generated Era, thereby ignoring the effect of the Trim Year spinner). If I ever do so, I would need to introduce additional options for the Lucky wheel that are related to the new spinner wheels, such as "Change Year", which involves spinning the Trim Year wheel one more time, unless the Free Year Choice spinner landed on Yes.

Other suggestions for Lucky modifiers include "Race Parts Allowed" (allow for the use of race parts of any kind on the engine - a huge boon if the Class generated is Race/Rally Car) and "Change CEL" (respin the Class, Era and Location wheels together, instead of only one of them). Note that the effects of the Trim Year and Ignore Trim Year wheels (and all modifiers related to them) are automatically ignored if the generated Era is Oil Crisis (1973-1975), which limits the trim years to a range from 1973 to 1975 inclusive. Finally, I could introduce a "Change Luck" modifier for the Lucky wheel, which allows for one respin of the Luck wheel (something that is not otherwise possible); however, no matter where it lands, no further respins of the Lucky or Unlucky wheels will be allowed.

It should be noted that the changes listed in the two paragraphs above are merely suggestions, and I do not feel obligated to implement any (let alone all) of them, given that the newly revised CEL Challenge Remix is already good enough as it is in its latest form. Moreover, if I still want to implement a system for determining a specific trim year, I could rely on the exact location the Era spinner lands on. For any option other than Oil Crisis (1973-1975), the closer to the trailing edge of the slice the spinner lands on, the earlier the year; the closer to the leading edge of the slice the spinner lands on, the later the year. Again, however, this is entirely optional.

So, after much deliberation, I have finally decided to add the Change CEL, Change Luck and Race Parts Allowed modifiers to the Lucky spinner wheel in the CEL Challenge Remix set, along with a fourth new option: Unlimited Quality and Tech Pool, which allows the use of as many tech pool and quality points as you like across any and all areas. The CEL Challenge Remix now looks like this:

The revised and updated CEL Challenge Remix spinner wheel set, with some existing options renamed or described in more detail, and a few new ones added to the Lucky wheel (bottom right).

That concludes our description of the updated CEL Challenge Remix. In the next post in this series, I'll describe my entry in the latest round of the original CEL Challenge.

Update (February 3rd 2023): The Change Luck option has been removed after I realized that I didn't need it as much as I thought. The Race Parts Allowed modifier has been shifted around to take its place, and its original slot is now occupied by a new option: Race Parts + Semi-Slick Tires; if the spinner lands here, both the Race Parts Allowed and Semi-Slick Tires modifiers are in effect. The changes are reflected in the screenshot below.