Seperate Camshaft Lift and Duration sliders?

[paullyp707]

Maybe instead of just having a Cam Profile slider we could have a seperate slider for Lift, Duration, Overlap?

[Daffyflyer]

We have considered this, but its not really worth it, its harder to learn and in most situations you want more or less of all three anyway, so I'm not sure there is a huge point to it..

[Rzmudzior]

I would also love that, maybe at least optional - if someone doesn't want it, there should be a checkbox to tie the values together and use it in the fashion it is now

[shadow]

Yea an optional thing would be awesome for the more enthusiastic engine builder like maybe that's something for difficulty?

[Kubboz]

Nope. I don't want to have game postponed due to thing you'll just keep tied to make your engines quickly in multiplayer.

[Soop]

I would like it. Valve events are critical in fine tuning motors. If you don't understand it, fair enough don't use it. But for those of us that do. It is a tad bit jarring at times. As is the valve float scenarios, allot of the time I've built motors in real life that will turn harder than what Automation allows me simply by using the appropriate spring rates (which have been available for the better part of three decades). This isn't a major problem, but for those among us who have real world experiences with it (as I'm sure the dev's do to some degree) it is a little... weird if nothing else.

Let's face it, anyone interested in this game has more than a passing interest into automotive engineering. I don't think it's a massive step for most of us, and the learning curve may be entertaining to those of us who haven't as much experience.

[Killrob]

While I understand why some people might think this would be a good idea, it really isn't. It makes for poor, tedious gameplay, and doesn't serve much purpose in a parameterization like Automation (it's not a simulation!).

Also: "Let's face it, anyone interested in this game has more than a passing interest into automotive engineering." is a false statement IMO.
Automation is a game that should appeal to anyone who has an interest in any of the following things or a combination of them: cars, engines, technology, mastering complex systems, design, management, and finance.

The level of detail provided in each and every one of these aspects should be on about equal level to make for a well-rounded gameplay experience. Otherwise the game would have been called "Automation: The Engine Tuning Simulator" in the first place.

Would you think your time would be well spent hiring the toilet-cleaning personell for your company?
Would you think your time would be well spent optimizing your factory flow charts into the smallest detail?
Would you think your time would be well spent designing the looks of the gear lever?

Some people might answer yes on some of these kinds of questions, and that's fine, but should we more than double development time to cater to all those "optional" interests? Automation, finally released 10 years after development started! Yay... but sadly they had to ship without the amazing wiping-the-CEOs-ass simulation.

Also, please stop posting topics that have been discussed many times before.
End of topic, end of rant.

[PhillipM]

Would you think your time would be well spent designing the looks of the gear lever?

Ooooh, oooh, can I? Can I? Please, please please. YAY!

[HonoredShinobi]

Maybe you should create a FAQ of sorts that is a list of suggestions that have been talked to death. Like the Camshafts, driving sim and other annoying topics that seem to pop up every week.

I know I find it annoying to see these topics all the time so I can't imagine how annoying it is for the developers to answer the same questions time and time again.

[benceboc]

Actually the forum has a FAQ topic, which covers most of the returning questions.

[HonoredShinobi]

Yeah I realize that the forum has a FAQ. While the FAQ does cover "driving the cars" and "porting to consoles" questions, there are a lot of other suggestions/questions that aren't covered.
What I meant was a "sticky" of suggestions that have already been turned down and a simple explanation for why it was isn't going to be in the game.
Essentially a "DO NOT SUGGEST" or "Already been suggested" sticky.

Heck the list could also include suggestions that the devs actually liked and why so that people could have examples of good suggestions...if there have been any.
For example:

Separate Camshaft sliders: like killrob said it would just make the gameplay more tedious for no good reason.
Driving Sim: while interesting not the focus of the game and would probably require years of work and tons of cold hard cash.
Porting to consoles: Would cost millions and probably take years to port.
Valve sizing: frankly it's just too tedious for the average user to figure out and just creates a lot of work that really wouldn't help the game be more fun. like the separate camshaft sliders.
Making any of the above suggestions optional: spending more time and money on "optional" gameplay mechanics is just a waste especially for a game with such a limited budget and crew.
etc...

This would help alleviate the problem of people asking the same questions over and over again.

Frankly if the forum admins or the devs are too lazy or "busy" to create such a list then you can't expect people to not ask the same questions.

[Killrob]

Or to reword your last statement to reflect the other side of reality:
"Frankly, if the forum users are too lazy or "busy" to either use the search function, read the suggestion guidelines, or use their brains, even having such a list you can't expect people to not ask the same questions."

[Daffyflyer]

Frankly if the forum admins or the devs are too lazy or "busy" to create such a list then you can't expect people to not ask the same questions.

Sorry. We tend to be a bit "Busy" developing the game and all..

[HonoredShinobi]

I believe you took my last sentence out of context by taking it as an insult toward you guys.

Anyways you say that you reworded my statement to "reflect the other side of reality" but the reality is that people DO ask the same questions all the time and it was only advice, from a moderator on another forum, to help YOU guys out, instead of blaming the community you created for being ignorant and lazy, take the initiative to try and educate the community. I mean you're kinda expecting a lot from a community that STILL has people asking how to download the game when it's clearly on the main page.

Alleviate does not mean fix, rather simply reduce or lessen the amount of wasted time reading and replying to useless suggestions. (like this one)
Honestly probably the only way to completely get rid of the useless suggestions is to release the full game or take down the forums.

You could appoint some forum moderators to sift through the junk for you. I'm sure there are a ton of active forum members that understand your guidelines and your definition of good gameplay. (another useless suggestion from the peanut gallery)

Oh and the reason "busy" was put into quotes is because time is not an excuse when you clearly have enough of it to argue on the forum on a daily basis. (just an observation not an insult but take it how you want)

[Daffyflyer]

Sorry if we came off a bit defensive, crunch time on turbos has got us all going a bit strange in the head. I agree we do need to update that FAQ, I just haven't had time to properly sit down and think out all the questions and answers I ought to add to it now.