Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 174: Revising, Reusing, and Remaking Redux

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 174: Revising, Reusing, and Remaking Redux

After over a decade of constant updates to Automation (including a move to Unreal Engine 4 in 2017, followed by the 4.2 update in early 2022), I have learned that one of the key principles in designing cars and engines is to revise, reuse, and remake them depending on the requirements of the challenge it is to be submitted for (if applicable), and whether or not it is incompatible with (or at least requires significant revision for) the latest game build. The KMA K650 V12 5.0 shown below is a classic example.

Above: The front fascia of the KMA K650 5.0 in its current form.

The basic design dates to before the Ellisbury Update to Automation, but I wasn't too proud of it, so I cloned the whole car to create a new version for a different (and more recent) challenge.

The side profile of the K650 is very similar to what it was before, but the lower ride height makes it look far more menacing.

Among other changes, I set the engine family and variant years to 1980, and did the same thing for the car model and trim, but reduced the techpool allocation and quality level to remain within budget.

This is what most motorists will see as the K650 overtakes them.

Wider wheels and tires, a retuned (but still sufficiently powerful) engine, and sportier suspension, combined with bigger brakes, make this a more sporting coupe than it once was, without sacrificing too much comfort in the process.

For comparison, here's what the original design (with all years set to 1978) looked like:

The pre-Ellisbury version of the K650 didn't look too bad on paper, but it was a bit too futuristic for something that came out in 1978.

At least I didn't have to remake the whole car from scratch, given that the original design was made in the 4.2 build of Automation, on a body set that wasn't removed in an update.

In short, reusing or revising previous builds can be a boon if you are short of time, although it may still be better to take the extra time and effort to create a new one from scratch if you are certain that such an approach will yield better results, especially when submitting something for a challenge. In fact, there's one old build in particular that deserves special mention - and one that I remade as the subject of the next post in this series.