If a total walloper like Ian Tesla can run a car company, I’m sure we’ll all do just fine in Production Line, which left early access today. The latest from Positech Games will has us designing cars, researching advancements, and meticulously designing and optimising factory layouts to churn out cars and turn a profit. It’s very much the fine-tuning sort of manage-o-tycoon ’em up, a game for people who’ll agonise over which type of brakes to put in their new coup as much as a bottleneck meaning frames wait an extra seven seconds to have doors put on. Fun bonus: there are no legal consequences to posting tosh on Twitter while playing Production Line.

(more…)

Every week we send Brendan to inspect the factory floor of early access and scribble angry notes about the development carousel. This time, the conveyor belts of Production Line [official site].

Hello, discerning motorist. Set your eyes on the epitome of motorway luxury: the Safe Family Car Xtreme. It is our debut vehicle and comes complete with an engine and wing mirrors. You might think our car company is behind the competition because there is no air conditioning, no cruise control, and no means of listening to music while driving. But don t worry, we have 16 of our best scientists working round the clock to come up with a CD player right now. There is no reason to be alarmed. No, I mean that literally. The Family Car Xtreme has no car alarm. … [visit site to read more]

Where do cars come from? That century-old question is answered in Production Line [official site], a car-building factory management sim from Gratuitious Space Battles dev Positech, which has now hit early access. We all know cars live in symbiotic relationships with humans, letting us ride in their cheek pouches in exchange for food. And many of us know that a car nearing death will make one final journey to a local park to be set ablaze by teenagers in a mating frenzy. But their beginnings? The truth might surprise you. … [visit site to read more]

The upcoming tycoonist car factory game Production Line [official site] has been travelling along the development assembly line since its announcement in September last year, getting bits and pieces welded on by creator Positech. Now it’s ready for the next phase. The giant machine-like claws of Steam early access are waiting to tear it asunder and put it back together again from May 18. This also signifies that I think the game is good enough at its current state to be considered an Early Access title, says developer Cliffski, who in this metaphor is, like, a foreman with a high-vis jacket or something. Here’s a wee trailer. … [visit site to read more]