Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 143: Best In Show

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 143: Best In Show

Having won the Luxury/Performance class at the Letaran Auto Convention with the 1974 Wolfram WLF-6 (which I later adapted into a production car, the 1984 Wolfhound), I have had my fingers crossed for days waiting to see if I would win the overall "Car of The Year" award, and I am pleased to tell you that I have done just that. It may not have had the most amazing design of all the cars submitted, but it was the most technologically advanced car on display, with multi-point EFI, a 3-way catalytic converter, a cassette tape player, and advanced 80s safety. It also had lower emissions figures compared to its competitors.

Also, I would like to mention that I had originally planned to submit an updated version of the Wolfhound (the 1989 3.6 GTS) for the next round of the Letaran History Challenge, but eventually decided to build and submit a completely different car instead after realizing that the next LHC would take place in the 1990s, even though it would also cover the second half of the preceding decade. I originally used a metallic silver exterior color for this trim, but replaced it with a more menacing solid gloss black, since I felt it more suitable for the car's overall shape.

The WLF-6 concept (left) that became Letara's 1974 Car of the Year generated a lot of hype for the 1984 Wolfhound production car (center) - the 1989 GTS took the same basic recipe and improved on it.

That's all for now. In the meantime, I will be gearing up to host the next Letaran Auto Convention, and with the current Letaran History Challenge concluding in 1984, I want the upcoming second Convention to take place somewhere between the late 1980s to the early/mid-1990s. In fact, I already have a draft of rule set, and will probably adapt it for use when the next LAC kicks off for real in a few days' time.

Update (12:50 am, March 5th, 2023): I have finally launched the sequel to the 1974 Letaran Auto Convention on the Discourse forums - set in 1984, this will tie in to the next round of the Letaran History Challenge, which will begin after results for the recently concluded one have been posted.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 142: A Personal Dedication

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 142: A Personal Dedication

A little over a month ago, I was shocked and devastated to find out that one of my fellow Automationeers had passed away in real life after a brief illness. I had grown to know him ever since I started playing the game back in 2015, especially since he was one of the most respected forum members at the time, and remained so even after the game was relaunched in 2017, whereupon the original version (based on the Kee engine) was slowly phased out and gradually replaced by the Unreal Engine 4-based one in use today. Then, some time in 2020, it all went quiet, as far as he was concerned - I heard nothing from him again. From then on until his death, I held out some hope that he would return, but that is now long gone.

Since then, I have wanted to honor his memory in the best way I can, by hosting a challenge inspired by one that he hosted a few years ago - and after accepting hosting duties for the next QFC, I gave it a premise and rule set reminiscent of those used for one of my late friend's challenges - specifically, CSR33, to be exact. That challenge was themed around mid-sized executive cars, and was quite well-received - so much so that I decided on a similar rule set for QFC19, albeit taking place four years earlier (1994 instead of 1998).

This QFC had a modest turnout, with only 14 entrants, of which three had to be disqualified for rule violations (although to be fair, their submissions had at least one glaring problem that would have removed them for consideration early on). Of the remaining 11 contenders, there were several that also had fatal flaws, but the rest had only minor issues at worst, and a few were good enough to remain in contention for the final part of judging, where the top three would be decided.

In the end, I chose the FMC Kingfisher 250 as the winner, after finding it to be the best all-around choice of all the entrants. However, two other entries - the Primus Merit 250 Elegance and Jager D300 - gave it strong competition. As it turned out, the former had too much brake fade (due to a lack of brake cooling and undersized brake discs) and staggered tires (the latter of which made servicing more expensive than anticipated), and the latter had a lot of overdrive in its gearbox, but with the individual gears stacked as closely as possible.

Above, from top: The three highest-placed entries from QFC19 in ascending order - the Primus Merit 250 Elegance, the Jager D300 and FMC Kingfisher 250. All credit goes to their respective creators.

And so another QFC has concluded, with a worthy winner being crowned at the end. Here's hoping that the next QFC (and every subsequent one thereafter) maintains this enviable standard.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 141: Restoring The Balance

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 141: Restoring The Balance

It is with great pleasure that I am here to tell you that I have finally recovered from my brief illness - my sense of balance has been mostly (entirely?) restored, and I no longer feel dizzy or faint when I attempt to stand up or sit down. This brings us to our next point: how to balance a tech pool distribution. Ever since tech pool was introduced to Automation's sandbox mode, the default tech pool distribution has been +5 in all car and engine categories; with 10 and 6 areas for the car and engine, respectively, this equates to 80 tech pool points in total. However, some challenges require you to use fewer (or more) tech pool points at most.

Using the tech pool limit for QFC19 (which I am currently hosting) as an example, the maximum tech pool allocations for the car and engine are 20 and 10 points, respectively, for a total of 30 points. However, this limit on its own is insufficient to deter techpool spam, in which one area is given a very large number of tech pool points (up to 15), sometimes at the expense of other areas, which receive few or no tech pool points each. So I decided to impose a limit on how many tech pool points can be invested in a particular area - in this case, I mandated a maximum of 5 tech pool points in any one category. Thus, you could theoretically allocate 5 points each to 4 different areas on the car and leave the other areas at 0 tech pool points each, while the engine could have 2 different areas with 5 tech pool points each, leaving other engine-related areas at 0 points each. With tech pool limits imposed not only on the whole car, but also on individual areas, you have to carefully decide which parts you want to unlock with a limited tech pool allocation.

An example of a tech pool distribution with 10 points allocated towards the engine and 20 points used on the car, for a total of 30 points. If, in addition to this, a maximum of 5 points can be assigned to any one area, then in theory, 4 different parts of the car (and 2 different parts of the engine) can receive 5 tech pool points each.

The result of not having tech pool limits for individual areas was shown quite clearly to me in CSR 152, which had a very generous tech pool allocation (55 and 35 points in total for the car and engine, respectively), but no limits on how many points could be assigned to any given area. Inevitably, this led to some entrants resorting to techpool spam, and predictably, their submissions were among the first to be eliminated for the sake of realism. On the other hand, a few other entrants used few or no tech pool points for their submissions, and as such were also eliminated early on due to being too close to (or even above) the budget cap.

You could avoid the problem of techpool spam by requiring all tech pool sliders to be set to 0, but this defeats the point of having sandbox techpool in the first place. The best use for this would be in old-school challenges designed to emulate the earlier builds of Automation, which did not have the tech pool feature. Even so, this setting also prevents you from unlocking parts sooner than usual (and in fact forces you to take longer to do so than with even a modest use of techpool in any area), as well as increasing the cost, production units, and engineering time for your build even further.

In short, working with an overall tech pool limit greater than zero forces you to choose your tech pool options wisely, especially if there is also a tech pool limit for individual areas - but in that case, don't leave behind any unused tech pool points. Deciding which parts you want to unlock (and use) with a limited tech pool allocation (budget permitting) can therefore make a huge difference.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 140: Road to Recovery

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 140: Road to Recovery

I won't lie, I haven't been feeling well lately. For the past week, I had a particularly severe stomach bug (which I assumed to be the result of Covid, but in fact wasn't, much to my relief) that screwed up my sense of balance. However, I was quick to realize that this illness was potentially debilitating and treated it as such, hence my decision to seek prompt and effective treatment this past Friday and Saturday. Combined with ample rest, it meant my ailments had been mostly (if not entirely) cured as of this morning, and so I feel a lot better compared to just 24 hours ago.

On a more positive note, I am pleased to report that the Wolfram WLF-6 I submitted in the Letaran Auto Convention placed first overall in that show's Sports/Luxury category, for being the most opulent car in its class, and one of the sportiest ones to boot. As such, it will be eligible for the overall "Car of the Year" prize at the '74 LAC. (Non-production concepts are not eligible for this award, and are instead placed in a separate category focused more on design than on engineering).

And in addition to this, I also made another trim of the 1984 Wolfhound that I developed from the WLF-6. This trim level is the 1989 GTS - it's very similar to the earlier GT trim, but with variable valve timing (which increases the engine's peak output to 320 horsepower compared to the GT's 300, itself an improvement on the WLF-6's 280 bhp), as well as wider tires and wheels front and rear to more easily harness the extra thrust.

The 1989 Wolfhound GTS adds variable valve timing and wider tires/wheels to what is already a formidable basic package.

Now that I've submitted an entry for both the LAC and the latest iteration of the LHC, I can now plan ahead for the next stage of the LHC, which I'm expecting to span the second half of the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s. In the meantime, I'll be judging QFC19 (and ranking the entrants, once the deadline has passed), so please wish me a speedy recovery.

Update (10:45 pm local time, February 19th, 2023): Here is the interior of the Wolfhound - I forgot to post this earlier. It's shared with the WLF-6, but has been recolored.

This is the interior of the Wolfhound - aesthetically, it's a recolored version of the one found in the original WLF-6 concept.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 139: Concept to Reality

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 139: Concept to Reality

To tie in with the ongoing Letaran History Challenge on the Automation forums, another competition was introduced: the 1974 Letaran Auto Convention. It was here that I showed a car that would inspire my entry in the next round of the LHC proper. That car was the 1974Wolfram WLF-6. Powered by an all-alloy straight-six engine with multi-point EFI, dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder, and built on a corrosion-resistant steel chassis with aluminum bodywork, this sports car concept had a full-on luxury interior and cassette tape stereo, as befitting its role as a technological showcase that would predict the future.

The 1974 Wolfram WLF-6 concept (above) inspired the 1984 Wolfhound production car (below).

I was sufficiently satisfied by the original concept that I decided to adapt it for my actual entry for the latest round of LHC: the 1984 Wolfram Wolfhound. This effectively overwrote prior lore stating that it was a cheaper 2+2 coupe, but given how different the 4.2 build of Automation is now compared to what it was at the time I made the original Wolfhound, I could easily justify it. The engine had grown to 3.6 liters and 300 horsepower (compared to the concept's 3.5 liters and 280 horsepower), but to reduce costs, only some of the bodywork was made of aluminum, and the interior and stereo were downgraded to premium level. Even so, the car had transitioned to the production stage mostly as-is. The only other differences were the color scheme (originally red with a tan interior, then white with a red interior) and the badging on the rear.

Overall, this was quite an enjoyable experience for me, and one that every Automationeer should try at least once as a forum-goer.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 138: Wild Card Wonder

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 138: Wild Card Wonder

Every now and then, in various Automation challenges held on either the Discourse forums or the official Discord servers, someone submits an entry that doesn't seem too promising on paper, but sometimes performs better than expected in practice. Such an entry is often referred to as a wild card, and that's exactly what I entered for QFC 18. On that occasion, the brief was for a comfortable SUV from the mid-2000s with good off-road capabilities and reasonable running costs. With this in mind, I came up with the 2006 SVM Caracal - a mid-sized SUV with a 4x4 drivetrain, an off-road skid tray, and all-terrain tires as standard.

It may be a unibody SUV with no live axles, but the SVM Caracal can still cut the mustard in the rough stuff.

Built on a high-strength steel monocoque chassis, clad in treated steel bodywork, with fully independent suspension throughout (strut front/multilink rear), and powered by a torquey normally aspirated straight-six sending its power to the wheels via a six-speed advanced automatic transmission and a manually lockable differential, the Caracal was a proper off-roader that was more livable than most on tarmac, thanks to its unitized construction and premium interior with standard-fit sat-nav. All told, the Caracal had an estimated price of $21,200 AMU.

As it turned out, the Caracal was a great all-rounder. It may have ranked last in terms of offroad score (due mainly to it not having any live axles, although 50.5 isn't too bad for an all-independent setup), but it had the second-highest drivability score (67.2) and had the highest safety rating (66.3). Even so, it didn't seem like a recipe for a podium finisher, but the Caracal defied my expectations by finishing an impressive 3rd overall. And with neither of the top two entrants willing (or able) to host the next QFC, I .decided to take over hosting duties in their place. As for the next QFC, expect that to be the subject of a future post in this series.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 137: From City Slicker to Mountain Goat

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 137: From City Slicker to Mountain Goat

Having previously submitted an entry for the latest CEL Challenge on the Discord, everything seemed all fine and dandy until I realized that I hadn't configured the suspension for pure off-road duty, as a Discord post revealed. Upon seeing this, I decided to find out if I could improve on the suggested setup, which on paper seemed ideal due to its raised ride height, reduced spring and damper rates, thinner anti-roll bars, and softer brake pads, as well as a standard interior, safety suite, and stereo. However, it had adaptive dampers, which added price and complexity, so my challenge was to come up with a similar set-up without using them.

Adapted from my original CEL Challenge submission, the SVM Ibex - shown here in off-road Xtreme trim - is now better suited to venturing off the beaten track.

One of the more notable changes is a 20mm reduction in front and rear tire diameter, with the track widened by the same amount to compensate. In addition, the rear spring/damper rates were further reduced compared to the suggested setup, thus yielding more comfort even without adaptive dampers. Moreover, the brake pads were softened even further, providing a small increase in the comfort score.

Above, from top: Softer brake pads, high-riding suspension with reduced spring/damper rates, and narrower tires mounted on a wider track make the Ibex Xtreme a true off-road beast.

The suggested setup had an offroad score of 64.1, but I exceeded that by 0.3. Equally important was that the equipment downgrades boosted the reliability score to 80.3. In addition, I was able to achieve minor improvements in utility without too many sacrifices in drivability or comfort, with the latter two now reduced to 50 and 20 respectively. Most crucially of all, however, the estimated price had decreased from $17,900 AMU to $16,800 AMU - $1,100 AMU less than before.

In short, the Ibex Xtreme may not be as comfortable as its Deluxe sibling, but as a more affordable rough-and-ready 4x4 pickup truck, it definitely cuts the mustard.

Update (February 11, 2023, 7:20 pm): I also created a cheaper version of the Ibex Xtreme, powered by a 4.0L overhead-valve straight-six developing 160 horsepower, and with a slightly higher ride height. Here it is:

The exterior (above) and interior (below) of the Ibex Xtreme 4.0, powered by a smaller straight-six engine.

This trim has an approximate cost of just $15,000 AMU and provides improved reliability and off-road capability compared to the V8 version that was the subject of this post.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 136: A Personal CEL Challenge

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 136: A Personal CEL Challenge

Having already created a build based on the results of a random combination generated by my CEL Challenge Remix spinner wheel set (and created several trims of it for good measure), I decided to revisit the original CEL Challenge set, with a twist: I would apply the regality rules from my CEL Challenge Remix. With this in mind, I generated a random combination of options and quirks, and after a few seconds, the CEL Challenge spinner ended up with this:

To my surprise and amazement, the CEL Challenge spinner wheel set suggested a 1980s Italian supercar - and this time there would be no Lucky or Unlucky quirks, thus giving me free rein to develop the build if I went through with it. With the criteria set, I started work on the build. Within an hour, I ended up with this:

This is what I built based on the suggestion from the CEL Challenge above. In its current form, it does not have a detailed interior, but I consider its exterior design to be mostly sorted out.

Engineering-wise, this is a purebred performance car, powered by a 4000cc all-aluminum V12 with dual overhead camshafts per bank and four valves per cylinder. With multi-point EFI (electronic fuel injection), fully forged internals, individual throttle bodies for each cylinder, a high-RPM performance intake, and long tubular exhaust headers feeding high-flow three-way catalytic converters (plus two reverse-flow mufflers), this small but light powerhouse delivers 400 horsepower at 7500 rpm (just 300 rpm before the rev limiter, which I set at 7800 rpm) and 283 foot-pounds of torque (at 7200 rpm) on 95 RON premium unleaded - a sizable amount for its variant year of 1982. All this thrust goes to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual gearbox and a geared limited-slip differential.

400 horsepower from 4.0 liters in 1982 is an amazing figure, especially with natural aspiration.

Given that I was building a high-performance mid-engined car, I needed genuine sports compound tires and a large amount of tire stagger - the rear tires, surrounding 16-inch forged magnesium wheels, are 285mm wide, whereas the front tires are 225mm wide. Braking is by large vented disc brakes (measuring 325mm wide front and rear) with 3-piston calipers. No undertray was fitted, but I installed a lip fixture at both the front and rear (the latter taking the form of a diffuser), as well as a rear wing to keep the tires planted. The interior is of the lightweight sports variety with a premium stereo and cassette tape player, and it incorporates advanced safety systems (for the 1980s), although no driving aids were fitted.

Steering is by an unassisted (manual) rack-and-pinion set-up to save weight and increase sportiness. The suspension is a dual-wishbone set up front and rear, configured primarily for razor-sharp handling through stiffened gas-mono-tube dampers and standard (i.e. non-progressive) springs. To avoid excess oversteer, I mounted the engine as far forward as possible (a necessity due to mid- and rear-engined cars having their mass too far aft in the 4.2 release of Automation). In addition, I set the weight slider to its lightest setting (which worked wonders given my choice of body set and use of aluminum panels over a corrosion-resistant steel chassis - the lightest materials available in 1982 with the tech pool allocation I used), thereby increasing sportiness even further - I managed a figure of over 60 with this build.

Surprisingly, I used only 30 fixtures to make the exterior, and yet the result turned out rather well. However, I have not created a fully detailed interior for this build, although I wasn't obliged to do so. If I choose to create a detailed interior after all,  I could do so using only 20 fixtures at most. The result would, in theory, have no more than 50 fixtures in total - defying the belief that more fixtures is always better.

Here is what the interior for the car shown above could consist of if I were to abide by the 20-fixture limit for that part of its design:

• 7 fixtures for the basic interior structure (1 fixture each for the roof, front firewall, rear firewall, A-pillar, C-pillar, door cards, and floor pans, the last four of which are mirrored on both sides)
• 2 fixtures for seats and pedals (one of each)
• 2 fixtures for the center console (one each for the console itself and the gear shift lever)
• 4 fixtures for the dashboard (one for the main body of the dashboard, plus one each for a dash filler, an instrument panel, and a cassette tape player)
• 3 fixtures for the steering wheel and the wiper/indicator stalks attached to it
• 2 fixtures for the door handles and speakers (1 of each, both of which are mirrored on both sides)

Keeping these requirements in mind, a detailed interior requiring a low fixture count would be doable with the right fixture choices.

In short, this personal CEL Challenge (based on the original rules) proved quite enjoyable for me, and yielded a decent starting point for a fully detailed build if I were to go through with it.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 135: A CEL Challenge Debutant

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 135: A CEL Challenge Debutant

It's taken a while, but I finally mustered the will to enter a round of the original CEL Challenge. This one was themed around 1980s American trucks, with the rule set (as shown here) being as follows:

• Body style: SUV/Truck
• Maximum wheelbase: 4.5m/177in
• Tech pool: default settings (+5 for all areas)
• Aspiration: natural only
• No race parts (headers/intakes) allowed
• Maximum fuel octane: 91 RON/87 AKI regular unleaded
• Normal (not high-flow) 3-way catalytic converter required
• Any type of cast-iron (not tubular) headers allowed
• Maximum engine loudness of 50
• Maximum engine service costs of $600
• 4x4 drivetrain required
• Manual transmission (at least 4 speeds) required
  
• Chunky off-road or all-terrain tires required (maximum width 300mm)
• Minimum of 2 full-sized seats
• Safety must be Standard 80s or better
• Springs must be Standard or Progressive
• Minimum drivability of 25
• Minimum comfort of 20
• Minimum safety of 40
• Minimum offroad of 50
• Minimum reliability of 60
• Maximum price of $18,000 AMU (as shown in markets tab)
• Aesthetics must be easily recognizable as an offroader

With this in mind, I immediately started building a candidate for an entry, and after some deliberation, decided to submit what I called the SVM Ibex 5.7 Deluxe - a high-end trim of a rugged single-cab truck from 1989 (the newest year the rules will allow), loaded with all the bells and whistles. I was planning on fitting a leaf-sprung live axle at the front and rear, but quickly realized that the resulting vehicle would be too specialized (and too uncomfortable to be eligible), and so I chose an independent dual-wishbone front suspension instead.

If you want to haul stuff without sacrificing too many creature comforts, the SVM Ibex Deluxe is for you.

For this round, most of the requirements were very easy to exceed, let alone meet. However, due to a manual transmission being mandatory (presumably for reliability's sake), I could not even get close to the minimum comfort rating of 20 without fitting a premium interior and stereo (which incorporated a cassette tape player, in keeping with the trends of the era); that said, by doing so, I was able to achieve a comfort score of exactly 25. Combined with the use of a corrosion-resistant steel ladder-frame chassis (for maximum environmental resistance - a key priority for off-road vehicles), treated steel bodywork, and advanced 80s safety kit, this pushed the price extremely close towards the $18k ceiling, but I felt it was worth it.

For this truck, I chose an overhead-valve 90-degree V8 displacing 5,700 cc, with a cast-iron block and aluminum head. In keeping with the Ibex's role as a utility-focused vehicle, I tuned the engine for more torque at low RPM, hence my decision to fit a single throttle body with a standard low-RPM intake and low-RPM cast-iron headers. I originally considered a compact intake and header combination, but realized that I would lose too much output without a sufficient reduction in loudness or service costs in return. Combined with a close-ratio 5-speed manual gearbox (for utility), the engine is an ideal partner for the Ibex's load-hauling mission, even when towing, with a maximum capacity in excess of a metric ton.

I was actually very happy at how well this truck build turned out, especially considering that this was the very first time I had entered a round of the original CEL Challenge. Here's to many more entertaining rounds in the future - I'll enter at least one of those if and when I have the chance.