Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 242: Reflecting on 2025 and Looking Ahead for 2026

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 242: Reflecting on 2025 and Looking Ahead in 2026

Happy New Year to my fellow Automationeers! 2025 turned out to be quite a challenging year for me - after several years of playing on the previous Ellisbury build, the Al-Rilma build went from an open alpha to an open beta, and eventually I was sufficiently convinced of its improvements to finally migrate to it. As time went on, it became the new stable release, and has since received three further patches. However, the changes introduced in this build were so comprehensive, that I decided to rework some of my Ellisbury-era builds to account for this - and others could follow, either out of necessity (due to the deprecation of their original body sets), or just for the fun of it. 

In addition, I created some new fully detailed builds completely from scratch using some of the new body sets introduced in the Al-Rilma era (such as the '86 Rosso and the '09 Jackal - other body sets, such as the '87 Bossa Nova, '88 Copy Cat, '93 Loser, '99 Slantnose, and '07 Temptress, among others could be next in line). Moreover, I discovered, and applied, a few new design techniques, such as creating custom panel seams (along with covering up the default seams), and placing and coloring custom light fixture covers - I'll explore these (and other car exterior design procedures) further in the future. In short, I'd delivered on some of my Automationeer's New Year's resolutions last year (including winning a Discourse challenge hosted on any UE4-based game build solely on merit for the first time ever) - and this year will be no different.

The first of my 2026 New Year's Automationeer resolutions is to conclude the challenge I am currently hosting, which you can find here. As of now, I have received a decent amount of entries (including several high-quality ones) and am writing down draft verdicts for all the valid ones as we speak -  a handy pre-emptive measure considering that the deadline is now just a few days away. Anything that isn't compatible with the rules by the deadline, however, will be ignored - although thankfully I haven't been left with too many unresolved rule violations. Also, I began work on, and later finished, a car that I felt could fill a gap between the KMA KX12 and its entry-level sibling, the KX4.

Thus, the 1992 KMA KX8A (whose "A" suffix refers to its aluminum chassis and bodywork, replacing the alloy-clad steel space frame of its predecessor) - which sat neatly between the two - was born. With its all-alloy 3-liter 32-valve flat-crank V8 delivering 325 naturally aspirated horsepower to the rear wheels via a 6-speed manual gearbox and helical limited-slip differential, it can reach 60 mph from a standstill in less than 4.5 seconds, on to a top speed of over 180 mph thanks to close gearing, a 1.2-ton curb weight (aided by its small footprint), and race-bred aerodynamics. Combined with track-focused yet supple suspension tuning, low-profile high-performance tires wrapped around 18-inch forged alloy wheels, and powerful ABS-assisted 4-wheel vented disc brakes, it was one of the most formidable performance cars of its time, offering most of its big brother's abilities at a lower, more accessible price point. However, it still came with a high-quality premium interior and CD/cassette stereo, so it wasn't totally bereft of creature comforts.

Above, from top: As the smaller sibling of the KMA KX12, and the larger senior counterpart to the KX4, the 1992 KX8 fulfills its mission of being the mid-range offering in the KX series of mid-engined performance cars more than adequately.

Theoretically, the other KX-series cars, being built on the now-deprecated predecessor to the Bossa Nova body sets, could also be remade on variants of the '86 Rosso on which the KX8A was based. That car used the 2.4m wheelbase variant in notchback configuration, so as a follow-on, the KX4 and KX12 could also utilize the Rosso (most likely with the 2.3m and 2.55m wheelbase variants, respectively, to better align with prior lore) - a body set which, since its introduction, may actually be more in keeping with their overall shape in the Ellisbury era.

In short, I am satisfied with having fulfilled my previous set of Automation New Year's resolutions from last year, and have also defined a new set for this year - the fact that I am about to accomplish one of them in a few days' time is icing on the cake.