First Patch B181222
- Fixed "Corrupt Data" startup issue
- Fixed issue where engine didn't calculate at all
- Activated manual save function (disk icon in top right)
- Hooked up tutorial video on campaign startup notice
Unless some crazy issue pops up, this will be it with patches until January 4th as noted in the timeline below. Cheers!
Original Release Notes
We just released the first, somewhat playable version of the Lite Campaign V3 (LC V3). Most features planned for the LC V3 have been implemented, but despite working on it flat out for the last few months, there is still a lot left to do before we consider it done and good enough for a full public release of this update. To put it into perspective, at the point of writing this there are 238 yet unsolved items on the ToDo list for just the LC V3. The new version contains only the first beta version of the LC V3 and neither the sandbox mode, nor the exporter - both are coming back to this new UE4.21.0 based version of the game along with fixes and improvements in mid January.
Little Dev Update about today’s release:
https://youtu.be/RSulwrrFWg4
LC V3 Update Features
A first rough version of the LC V3, including engineering, factories, marketing, selling your cars, etc.
- Facelifting existing car trims and engine variants
- Reusing old engines, sharing engines between different models
- More car bodies, body fixes, and new variants
- Many more rear- and mid-engine compatible bodies
- More fixtures of various types
- Modelled factories & add-ons
- Improved game mechanics and realism in car and engine designers
- Various car and engine designer bugfixes
- Improved and fixed UI, and UI feedback
Game Engine Switch from 4.17.2 to 4.21.0
The engine switch from Unreal Engine 4.17.2 to 4.21.0 was necessary due to the so-called “garbage collection bug” that was plaguing a lot of our players with seemingly random crashes. While we cannot confirm the issue is gone as we never were able to properly recreate the issue on any of our machines in the office, we can say that the part of the code the crashes stemmed from no longer even exists after a major rewrite by Epic. So here is hoping for the best! Among other benefits of the new engine version, a big one for us is that the build time for the game is down from 90 to 20 minutes, making “let’s just try that real quick” tests more feasible.
The engine switch means that mods won’t be working in this opt-in version until they have been updated by their creators to be based on UE4.21., we’ll add the updated mod tools once we launch the normal open beta phase in mid January.
Playing the LC V3
Due to how rough and unpolished it still is, we give you access to this version not via the main branch of the game but via opting into the lcv3_test branch via the Properties - Betas selection (right-click the game in your Steam Library). We do not recommend to the average player to try this version yet because of how difficult it is to navigate with so much of the much needed UI feedback still missing. If, on the other hand, you are a curious and hardened Automation player with a good grasp of the game mechanics, give it a go and see if you can figure it out with our little video tutorial. Having played the LC V2 in the old game engine certainly will prove helpful as well.
Note: The first opt-in beta version of the LC V3 has not been properly tested nor balanced. There will be plenty of bugs and most likely it will play strangely due to issues with the overall balance and issues with the AI generated competitor cars.
Here is a tutorial video on how to try out (and play) the LC V3 in its current state. Note: currently the link to the video in game doesn't work yet.
https://youtu.be/xUbrFhQFcVU
Development Timeline for the LC V3
View a full-size version of the development timeline here.
Release is on December 21st. The goal is to have a rough but “playable-if-you-know-how-to” version with rudimentary UI implementation and all kinds of rough edges. If necessary, we are going to get a patch out on the December 22nd to address any major game breaking issues that pop up.
We’ll be out of office over the Christmas holidays until January 2nd. On January 4th we’ll get the first patch out for this big update based on your feedback and our highest priority ToDo list items. After that you can expect one big patch each week as we are adding or polishing up UI, fixing bugs, as well as balance the campaign. On January 18th we are going to add back in the Sandbox and the new BeamNG Exporter version with some new features and fixes.
We’ll continue updating that version with 1-2 patches each week until it is ready to be put onto the main branch in its proper release version in Mid February. Thereafter we’ll patch it as necessary and start working on implementing the LC V4 features in a new (shorter) development cycle. The LC V4 will come with (among other things) the new proper sales model and engineers / staff.
Beyond LC V3
We are delighted to have reached a point in the development of the campaign where the fundamentals are in and smaller features, polish, and fixes can be added rather quickly. We too prefer more frequent updates to the game, but unfortunately that was just not possible in the past few months due to the game-breaking nature of the new features and the game engine switch.
From here the campaign will take shape at a good pace and we are much looking forward to finishing LC V3, getting to V4, V5 and then the grand campaign, the forced induction revamp with superchargers and non-80s turbo tech, and ultimately epic multiplayer company battles.
This was quite the year for Automation. Especially the BeamNG exporter update proved very successful and has given us the additional financial backing to see this all the way to the end as planned and promised. Big thanks to the awesome BeamNG devs too, of course, they have been great to work with!
Thank you all for your continued support and for coming along on this long journey.
Merry Christmas!