Car Designer: bodies organization

[Razyx]

The extra prestige should not come from age, but from cars becoming classics - those shapes could become more prestigious if any.

I think that a classic car is an aged one, especially with a good starting design and very good sales for a long period.
Anyway the classic term can be ambiguous at times.

I don't think building cheap shit cars on one shape then should lead to it getting a prestige bonus in later years

I mean, we are in a emerging country X, and e.g. we know Mercedes is great thanks to magazines, tv, a friend..., but it's irrelevant cos 96% of population can't acquire one.
You start looking in low cost market and your options are a Renault 4 and V.Beetle... those models mean that you can own a car!! cos they are cheap.., and even almost never crack..., so hurra! for Renault and Volkswagen.
The owner of those models surely will look first what his beloved and reliable brand can offer, before look into a new one....(prestige earned by those brands).

I think this classic/aged stuff is interesting but, Killrob, are you considering anything like this? (in any way) .

[Killrob]

We'll definitely make an attempt at creating such a system, yes. It is very challenging though, such a thing should not give any best-possible course of action ever, it needs to remain open to choice and compromise. Balancing that can be quite a challenge.

[WizzyThaMan]

Certain goals before a car can be classic, should be a bit like this:

- Over 10 million sales
- Good reputation over 5 years
- Good Safety, Quality, prestige (what were those 5 key factor?) for its time
- Selling over 1 million in the first 3 years, each year

[OCAdam]

Maybe...

+0.1*Prestige/(# produced/1000)% chance of being called classic for each year the car was produced UNMODIFIED in the years after the production run of that car body stopped.

So... for a car that had 40 Prestige and only 500 produced: each year after production ended (and that body not produced anymore), there's an 8% chance of it being considered a classic and therefore gain a sales bonus to that car body for a few years. Also, the higher the classic chance, the shorter a sales bonus. Maybe the same % chance of it being a classic should also be used to check if the sales bonus should end? So someone who made a car of 40 P and 50 made, 80% chance to classic post-production year, but 80% chance to end classic the year after it just went classic.

[Razyx]

Let say it could be something 'secondary', cos could be tricky to find a balance between becoming a classic in a normal way and the low cost junk in an emerging market...

Well, here is the idea about organizing bodyworks.

We have the main filter by bodywork types and another one by number of doors.
The result content would be sorted by years (pic 1).


Pic 1

Due that the number of bodies will increase I think that a pop up window would do the trick to see them in better way (pic 2).

Pic 2

I've dropped the last model to see the filter bar...

That's all

[WizzyThaMan]

Good idea, though I would want to filter by enginebay size for example. I think best thing to do is to work with a dropdown menu, where you can select what filter to apply?
Enginebay size, Bodytype, carlength, amount of doors(asc. dsc.) etc.?

The expending body selector is quite awesome though. Would really like that!

[maffc]

Would filter by type fit the intentions of the devs?
last I heard was that each shell would have variants based on them in their sub menus, e.g. the Skoda Fabia inspired shell has both a hatch and estate when selected.
Also there was talk at one time of a quick swap function make a variant the same platform.
I do think some sort of size filter would be useful.

[Razyx]

Good idea, though I would want to filter by enginebay size for example.

I know that that filter could be interesting but you really are building a car for some needs, not an engine for some needs...

I think best thing to do is to work with a dropdown menu, where you can select what filter to apply?
Enginebay size, Bodytype, carlength, amount of doors(asc. dsc.) etc.?

The expending body selector is quite awesome though. Would really like that!

Dunno if i'm reading correctly but the filtering process in that example would be click on button body type and next click on any checkbox if needed.
After filters being applied you can expand the bodywork window to get a better view of bodies.

Would filter by type fit the intentions of the devs?

That's the trick about this, what filter would be needed and useful. A UI full of useless filters is just plain awful.

Kat I heard was that each shell would have variants based on them in their sub menus, e.g. the Skoda Fabia inspired shell has both a hatch and estate when selected.
Also there was talk at one time of a quick swap function make a variant the same platform.
I do think some sort of size filter would be useful.

I think adding more bodywork type buttons would not be a problem. Really that's the easy one.


ED: Anyway it's easy, post what filters you would like or think could be useful.
It's only an example

[autofrank]

It would be nice to have some more molding ability with a pinch or lock feature. mold something one way, lock or pinch it there, and then mold some more... i'm not sure if you get my meaning.

[Razyx]

It would be nice to have some more molding ability with a pinch or lock feature. mold something one way, lock or pinch it there, and then mold some more... i'm not sure if you get my meaning.

No not really.., It looks like you are talking about a design process but...

[07CobaltGirl]

It would be nice to have some more molding ability with a pinch or lock feature. mold something one way, lock or pinch it there, and then mold some more... i'm not sure if you get my meaning.

I like the idea of a bit more control over shaping. But that doesn't really belong in this thread.

Back on topic, though, I like the filtering idea by type, decade, and even engine bay volume. As for the "retro" effects being discussed...it's going on today with the rebirth of the late 60's muscle cars and even to some extent the Chyrsler 300 as a throwback retro styling. Using a 1
60's body (or even a 40's body ie PT Cruiser, HHR, SST, and probably many others I am not thinking of right now) should not have any real penalty. They may focus on a smaller target market, but they are hardly a safety or prestige issue. Unless I misunderstood the conversation.

IMHO, the BMW 1, 3, and 5 series has maintained a "shape" over the last 40 years. It has smoothed out quite a lot (for aerodynamics, efficiency, and performance), and is far less boxy, but they are essentially the same overall shape as they were in the 60's-70's. You can certainly tell a 2014 from a 1975:


from a 1987:


from a 1995:


from a 2008:


but you can certainly identify a BMW by it's iconic characteristics which are shared by nearly all of their cars. They definitely do not suffer from serious safety issues, nor do they have a lack of prestige for holding the line on said characteristics. Just my two cents.

[WizzyThaMan]

Well you are talking about interioror non-visible things.
I agree with your story. But the most iconic on BMWs is that front grill, with the 2 grills (or in automation: vents) that make it look like a BMW.

I think we should be able to filter on quite some things, as I explained before.
Era, enginebay size, wheelsbase, modeltype (hatch, station etc.) and some others are things to seriously consider.

[Razyx]

Good idea, though I would want to filter by enginebay size for example. I think best thing to do is to work with a dropdown menu, where you can select what filter to apply?
Enginebay size, Bodytype, carlength, amount of doors(asc. dsc.) etc.?

The expending body selector is quite awesome though. Would really like that!

What did I read there?!?!, Sorry Wizzy a stupid misunderstood. As I've answered maffc before, agree that we need filters, but 'useful' ones (work for the devs)

[...]
I think we should be able to filter on quite some things, as I explained before.
Era, enginebay size, wheelsbase, modeltype (hatch, station etc.) and some others are things to seriously consider.

I think that we need some filters and a sorting system.
The problem I see with (e.g.) engine bay size and wheelbase is that they can be so diverse..., the devs should implement a droplist (or something alike) with predetermined values.., and what would happen if a mod is out of those values?, even after an update it would require a review (if everything is in place - a boredom-). I think these ones would be in the sorting sys side.

[...] As for the "retro" effects being discussed...it's going on today with the rebirth of the late 60's muscle cars and even to some extent the Chyrsler 300 as a throwback retro styling. Using a 1 60's body (or even a 40's body ie PT Cruiser, HHR, SST, and probably many others I am not thinking of right now) should not have any real penalty. They may focus on a smaller target market, but they are hardly a safety or prestige issue. Unless I misunderstood the conversation.[...]

You 'said' rebirth, and thats the key between an old model and a new one with resemblances of the past. The old model would get a penalization/bonus (due its long life in the market) and the revamped model, nothing at all. Good examples were the Beetle, Mini, 911... as have been said previously, and could go along with becoming a classic car...

PS: and sorry guys if sometimes I may sound a bit rude.., I'm trying my best english

[WizzyThaMan]

No problemo Senor. We understand what you are trying to say.

Yes Enginebay size might look a bit dull and boring, but if you implement a bodytype filter, an enginebay filter is just as easy to add. Not really that much work.
Usefulness however, is another thing. Yes Enginebays may not be the main thing you want to filter out, at least, when playing campaign, but when I got 200 models in there playing sandbox, I might want to get a car that can fit my 8 liter V8 twin turbo charger, so I want to sort them on enginebay sizes.

[Razyx]

No problemo Senor. We understand what you are trying to say.
Ok Wizzy, ty.

[...]but when I got 200 models in there playing sandbox, I might want to get a car that can fit my 8 liter V8 twin turbo charger, so I want to sort them on enginebay sizes.

You're right.., I was only focusing in campaign scenario.