Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 168: A Year of Ups and Downs

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 168: A Year of Ups and Downs

Happy holidays everyone! I'd like to use this post to reflect on what turned out to be quite a crazy year. The past 12 months have been a rollercoaster ride of emotions, but through it all, I kept believing in myself, which makes me more optimistic for 2024.

This year started off like any other, as I continued to fulfill my duties as an Automationeer by experimenting with various build types and entering assorted forum competitions. However, sometime in March, I was faced with a few alarming (but thankfully short-lived) health scares - at one point I had brief (but unpleasant) bout of vertigo, which was cured in short order, much to my relief. Not long after this, I started suffering from insomnia - and once again I took the necessary action to deal with it. It did not take me long to return to full strength again, and I have generally been my usual self ever since, but I learned a key lesson from these ordeals: Sometimes, the most important life you can save is your own, because even though your life is finite, it's still long enough to be worth living to the fullest.

In addition to this, throughout August and September, I also went on vacation three times in total (first to Japan, then to Bali, and finally to South Korea) and hence away from my PC, but to be fair, my parents also had to attend several work-related events during this time, so I had no choice but to accompany them. During this time, I could not contribute as much to the Automation community as I had hoped for, but on the other hand, it gave me ample time to relax, unwind, and de-stress, before resuming work shortly after returning home.

That covers the low points of 2023, but what about the highs? Well, there was no shortage of them, and I remained as dedicated to Automation as I had been the previous year, if not more so. I kept experimenting with a multitude of trim, engine, and body combinations, to see what the game allowed me to do. I still entered forum challenges from time to time (although I did better in some of these than others), but eventually I became ever so slightly frustrated with the limitations of the 4.2 version that had been in use for over a year.

So it was with great anticipation that I downloaded the open beta of the 4.3 version of Automation in September, for although I would have to rework my previous builds to account for the changes that it brought, the update added a lot of new content and features, thereby improving the overall experience. It took eight patches, but finally it's become the new public release. In short, it's the best Christmas gift any Automationeer could ever receive!

Beyond Automation, I have also used this blog to explore the similarities the Infinite Space trilogy (especially the third game, Sea of Stars) has with BattleTech. The results were eye-opening, to say the least, and made me appreciate the subtleties of both games' movement rules, combat systems, equipment, and unit roles, among others. Moreover, I have also managed to dive deeper into the secrets of Hasbro's Game of Life, explaining further why some of the changes made to it over the years have not been as well-received by some players as they were by others.

Finally, I'll conclude this post on an optimistic note: the next blog post in this series will deal with an unexpected Christmas surprise gift in the form of new advice on tire types, and after that, I'll create another series of posts - one related to a game that's I haven't played at all until a few months, despite having been on sale for a few years now. Merry Christmas everyone, and a Happy New Year to all!