Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 154: The Quirks of the CEL Challenge

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 154: The Quirks of the CEL Challenge

After generating hundreds of different combinations through the original CEL Challenge spinner wheel set (and doing the same for my take on it, which I called the CEL Challenge Remix), I realized that the various options in the Lucky and Unlucky wheel are reminiscent of the Design Quirks from BattleTech. Put simply, a Design Quirk in BattleTech is an optional rule that affects a unit's performance. In the CEL Challenge, the Lucky and Unlucky options (which are linked to where the Luck spinner lands on) have a similar effect when applied to cars made in Automation. 

Whereas a Lucky option generally benefits a car (much like a positive Design Quirk in BattleTech improves a unit's effectiveness in combat), an Unlucky option usually hinders it, just as negative Design Quirks in BattleTech reduces a unit's abilities. For example, in the CEL Challenge, the "Unlimited Fixtures" option ensures that there is no limit to how many fixtures you can place on a car (both on the exterior and interior), whereas the "Lowest Fuel" option forces you to use low quality unleaded fuel (85 RON); similarly, in BattleTech, the "Ubiquitous" positive Design Quirk makes it easier to find spare parts for a given unit (by virtue of it having been in mass production or centuries and/or having a manufacturer dedicated to making spares for it readily available), whereas the "Bad Reputation" negative Design Quirk halves a unit's resale value (without affecting its operability or purchase price). 

Some of the Luck options in the CEL Challenge are incompatible with others, much like BattleTech has a set of invalid Design Quirk combinations. For example, in the former, the "Unlimited Budget" (no maximum price) and "12k Costs" (maximum approximate price of $12,000 AMU as shown in the Markets screen in the Overview tab) contradict (and hence cannot be combined with) each other, whereas in the latter, the "Poor Targeting" negative Design Quirk cannot be combined with any positive Quirks related to targeting. Additionally, the "+15 Quality" and "-15 Quality" options in the CEL Challenge are incompatible with each other, but override all other quality-related options ("-5 Quality" and "+5 Quality"). Finally, just as Design Quirks in BattleTech have a point value (a positive amount for positive quirks and a negative amount for negative quirks), the various Luck options in the CEL Challenge generally affect a car's price when applied (although there are some exceptions, such as the "Change Class" and "Change Location" options, which require you to spin the Class and Location spinners, respectively, once more, thus replacing the previous result for the corresponding spinners).

In short, Luck options in the CEL Challenge are a nice addition to the game, just as Design Quirks add extra variety to the various units of BattleTech. In both cases, they may be optional, but when used, they make the game more challenging and rewarding, especially for more experienced players.