B170527 (Hotfix 1) Released! See details below.
Some Background: Why Port?
After a long wait since the last big update, it is time to give you a peek into the new Unreal Engine 4 version of Automation. Work on the port started about two years ago, shortly after the game released on Steam Early Access. Work on the port was done in parallel to updates to the Kee Engine version of Automation.
The past 6 months for the first time our whole team has been focussing on the UE4 version, and what we release today is a rebuilt version of Automation - more or less from scratch - in the new game engine. Still very much incomplete, buggy, and with limited content, but ready to be tried out by those brave, curious, or foolish enough to opt into the open beta. While nowhere near the level of polish we’re aiming for, it hopefully already now is apparent that this port will be more than just a port. Actually, it is a necessity.
Not only does the port to UE4 give us the opportunity to significantly improve the UI and UI feedback delivered by the game, it also allowed us to fundamentally change how the game works beneath the surface. Poor data-level code design decisions from the ancient past were remedied in this process, which allows for better game performance on one hand, but more importantly for us to even be able to continue development towards the grand campaign without constantly fighting these old flaws and making the coming complex calculations take ages. Our old engine sure did not age well graphically either, so this should be a much needed facelift.
All graphical assets in this version are either completely new or significantly reworked, including but not limited to a new dyno room, car room, engine art, and car bodies. The variety of the latter is rather limited in this first open beta release, but we will add more completed content as we move through this open beta phase until all previously available car bodies once again are in the game.
What is in This Update?
Currently only the car and engine designer tools are available to be tried out, i.e. the classic core of the game. For a rundown of what is available, still broken, or just incomplete, please take a look at the info video going over the first open beta release version.
https://youtu.be/NIAPTYu_l8U
Due to the limitations of these first versions, and the fundamental incompatibility of savegames between old and new Automation, we provide a launcher selection of what version to play:
a) The clunky old one with campaign, workshop mods, etc.
b) The shiny new one with all its incompleteness and... bugs
During the open beta phase, there will be 1-2 bugfix and polishing updates each week. Once we’ve reached a point where only minor issues and some polishing remains to be done, the open beta ends and the update is put on the main public branch. The launcher will continue to feature both old and new Automation until the new version has all the features of the old one at least, probably for longer.
How To Get The Update?
For now this update is available to everyone who owns the game and opts into the open beta. To do so you need to:
1) Right-click Automation in your Steam Library. Select Properties.
2) Navigate to the “Betas” tab on top, then select “openbeta -”. No password needed.
3) Let Steam update the game, then launch with the launcher option.
4) In the lower right of the launcher you see the “Play Open Beta” button.
In these early stages of the open beta where there still are so many obvious bugs around, we’re mainly interested in general feedback from you the players. There probably are around 200+ reasonably easy to spot bugs in this version still, out of which a big portion sits on our ToDo list already. This means for the first few updates to come we don’t need much help finding bugs, they are all over us anyway. On the other hand, if you experience hard crashes, that’s a different story and you should definitely write about that in the dedicated bug posting thread, here:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/293760/discussions/2/1290691308575013417/
Anyway, we hope you’ll enjoy this first glimpse into the open beta, as rough as it still is.
Cheers!
B170527 (Hotfix 1):
- Fixed instance of game not loading (black screen forever), due to non-standard characters in usernames. Please try launching the game again.
- Fixed instance of crash related to fixture placement, rendering texture out of range.