In this update we have some fixes to deeper underlying calculations of the cars' center of gravity (CG) that were the issue at the heart of rear engine cars not working properly. Quite fun actually, they broke the calculations because they did wheelies in some cases! Also, what didn't help roll angles and cornering in general is that the entertainment and interior portion of the car's weight was calculated top-down. In the old Kee Engine the up / down coordinates were running the other way round.



This took a little longer to get out as we were fighting some UE4 build issues, so there will be only one major patch this week, i.e. this one. Apart from some of these calculation problems being fixed, we have a comprehensive list of things down there that were fixed, many of which were in the "often mentioned" category. Have a look at the change log and the new updated version of the UE4 open beta!

B170615 Improvements

• Improved all kinds of car weight calculations for more realism
  
• Improved performance when moving fixtures
  
• Added turbo flow info to engine flowbench
  
• Added grid / list mode switching in engine / car manager
  
• Added failure prompts for changing trim / family / variant years
  
• Added 0-100 time in gearing graph and roll angle stat to bump test graph
  
• Added confirmation prompt for deleting paints

B170615 Fixes

• Fixed issues with rear engined cars, speed, CG, etc.
  
• Fixed many bugs in the CG cals of the car, added parts to calc
  
• Fixed several issues with car's weight calculations and part contributions
  
• Fixed market minimum safety requirements always being 2017 standards
  
• Fixed gauge and test track issues when choosing mph as unit for speed
  
• Fixed tachometer (RPM) on testtrack not having redline indicator
  
• Fixed issues with detailed stats page calcs, added missing factors
  
• Fixed bug in entertainment quality calculation
  
• Fixed power steering option effects on stats (tooltip not done yet)
  
• Fixed various fixture placement related issues
  
• Fixed display power distribution next to its slider
  
• Fixed inline engine's last cylinder valve animation issue
  
• Fixed engine year not defaulting to car year
  
• Fixed slider input getting out of bounds
  
• Fixed issue with suspension presets not functioning in some cases
  
• Fixed issue with camber slider step size, going from -3.0 to -1.0
  
• Fixed problem with deleting a car model
  
• Fixed player being allowed to modify model / family with 2+ trims / variants
  
• Fixed various issues with brake vs grip graph (not quite done yet)
  
• Fixed various graph formatting issues

On a side note, we've now started to add more car bodies back into the game and a bunch of them should be ready for the next patch.
Cheers!

In this update we have some fixes to deeper underlying calculations of the cars' center of gravity (CG) that were the issue at the heart of rear engine cars not working properly. Quite fun actually, they broke the calculations because they did wheelies in some cases! Also, what didn't help roll angles and cornering in general is that the entertainment and interior portion of the car's weight was calculated top-down. In the old Kee Engine the up / down coordinates were running the other way round.



This took a little longer to get out as we were fighting some UE4 build issues, so there will be only one major patch this week, i.e. this one. Apart from some of these calculation problems being fixed, we have a comprehensive list of things down there that were fixed, many of which were in the "often mentioned" category. Have a look at the change log and the new updated version of the UE4 open beta!

B170615 Improvements

• Improved all kinds of car weight calculations for more realism
  
• Improved performance when moving fixtures
  
• Added turbo flow info to engine flowbench
  
• Added grid / list mode switching in engine / car manager
  
• Added failure prompts for changing trim / family / variant years
  
• Added 0-100 time in gearing graph and roll angle stat to bump test graph
  
• Added confirmation prompt for deleting paints

B170615 Fixes

• Fixed issues with rear engined cars, speed, CG, etc.
  
• Fixed many bugs in the CG cals of the car, added parts to calc
  
• Fixed several issues with car's weight calculations and part contributions
  
• Fixed market minimum safety requirements always being 2017 standards
  
• Fixed gauge and test track issues when choosing mph as unit for speed
  
• Fixed tachometer (RPM) on testtrack not having redline indicator
  
• Fixed issues with detailed stats page calcs, added missing factors
  
• Fixed bug in entertainment quality calculation
  
• Fixed power steering option effects on stats (tooltip not done yet)
  
• Fixed various fixture placement related issues
  
• Fixed display power distribution next to its slider
  
• Fixed inline engine's last cylinder valve animation issue
  
• Fixed engine year not defaulting to car year
  
• Fixed slider input getting out of bounds
  
• Fixed issue with suspension presets not functioning in some cases
  
• Fixed issue with camber slider step size, going from -3.0 to -1.0
  
• Fixed problem with deleting a car model
  
• Fixed player being allowed to modify model / family with 2+ trims / variants
  
• Fixed various issues with brake vs grip graph (not quite done yet)
  
• Fixed various graph formatting issues

On a side note, we've now started to add more car bodies back into the game and a bunch of them should be ready for the next patch.
Cheers!

In this second big patch for the UE4 Open Beta, there are plenty of fixes that should further improve the game's stability. Thanks a lot for continuing to report the crashbugs with the error reporting tool, they DO reach our inbox and help us see what and where the most pressing issues are.



While there's a lot more to do, among many other things fixing rear-engined car issues, turbo sounds, MFI, etc., we think progress over the past two weeks has been good. Soon we'll be able to continue our march towards the Lite Campaign V3 being implemented, while giving what we have right now more polish and make a public release to the main branch. One patch at a time! Here is the comprehensive change log.

B170608 Improvements

• Added checks and fixes on startup for database corruption issues
  
• Added important graph stats feedback (bottom out and brake fade)
  
• Added more info in cooling slider tooltip (not done yet)
  
• Added fixture delete button, updated fixture gizmo
  
• Paint Color Creator UI revamped
  
• Wings and Lips are now functional aero fixtures again

B170608 Fixes

• Fixed several fixture related crashes
  
• Fixed power distribution slider for AWD
  
• Fixed cars not bottoming out
  
• Fixed slider step size for turbo sliders
  
• Fixed saving of compressor size, AR ratio, and boost limit
  
• Fixed engine variant not having stats after cloning
  
• Fixed issue with deleting trims in car manager
  
• Fixed issue with car body bones after year year change
  
• Fixed various stats display problems on final testing page
  
• Fixed tire width not updating on flaring wheel arches
  
• Fixed wheel name / stats display
  
• Fixed car footprint size not showing in some cases
  
• Fixed a bunch of graph issues (not all fixed yet)
  
• Fixed power graph breaking for timing 100 with cam 100
  
• Fixed some formatting issues on market page (not done yet)
  
• Fixed exhaust slider / size issues in engine designer
  
• Fixed issue with exhaust headers not updating on engine mount switch
  
• Fixed various issues with fixture placement
  
• Fixed an issue with fixture placement in the photo scene
  
• Fixed billet steel crank having wrong texture
  
• Fixed wrong reflection map being used outside of car design room

https://youtu.be/qel15jaIlno
More fixes and improvements are coming!
Cheers!

In this second big patch for the UE4 Open Beta, there are plenty of fixes that should further improve the game's stability. Thanks a lot for continuing to report the crashbugs with the error reporting tool, they DO reach our inbox and help us see what and where the most pressing issues are.



While there's a lot more to do, among many other things fixing rear-engined car issues, turbo sounds, MFI, etc., we think progress over the past two weeks has been good. Soon we'll be able to continue our march towards the Lite Campaign V3 being implemented, while giving what we have right now more polish and make a public release to the main branch. One patch at a time! Here is the comprehensive change log.

B170608 Improvements

• Added checks and fixes on startup for database corruption issues
  
• Added important graph stats feedback (bottom out and brake fade)
  
• Added more info in cooling slider tooltip (not done yet)
  
• Added fixture delete button, updated fixture gizmo
  
• Paint Color Creator UI revamped
  
• Wings and Lips are now functional aero fixtures again

B170608 Fixes

• Fixed several fixture related crashes
  
• Fixed power distribution slider for AWD
  
• Fixed cars not bottoming out
  
• Fixed slider step size for turbo sliders
  
• Fixed saving of compressor size, AR ratio, and boost limit
  
• Fixed engine variant not having stats after cloning
  
• Fixed issue with deleting trims in car manager
  
• Fixed issue with car body bones after year year change
  
• Fixed various stats display problems on final testing page
  
• Fixed tire width not updating on flaring wheel arches
  
• Fixed wheel name / stats display
  
• Fixed car footprint size not showing in some cases
  
• Fixed a bunch of graph issues (not all fixed yet)
  
• Fixed power graph breaking for timing 100 with cam 100
  
• Fixed some formatting issues on market page (not done yet)
  
• Fixed exhaust slider / size issues in engine designer
  
• Fixed issue with exhaust headers not updating on engine mount switch
  
• Fixed various issues with fixture placement
  
• Fixed an issue with fixture placement in the photo scene
  
• Fixed billet steel crank having wrong texture
  
• Fixed wrong reflection map being used outside of car design room

https://youtu.be/qel15jaIlno
More fixes and improvements are coming!
Cheers!

B170602 (Hotfix 2) Released! See details below.

With the first big patch for the open beta now live, we'd like to invite you all to give the new update another go. Indeed, much has changed!



In the past days we've been sending some mixed messages regarding hardware compatibility for the UE4 version of the game, apologies for that! Here is what we know so far.

With this update the game should be able to run on old DX10 graphics cards that support Shader Model 4.0. We've worked hard to optimize the game for weaker systems since Release 1 and have seen up to a ~30-40% performance increase on the now more optimized low to medium setting. We hope this allows those of you who have been experiencing poor performance to better play the game, and those that got the "uncooked build" error message on startup the opportunity to play the new version for the first time. Just make sure to check the options menu for the graphics settings.

The UE4 version is 64-bit only at the moment, but that is probably something we're going to look into soon, too. A 32-bit version should be possible, although in the long run (i.e. grand campaign!), we can't guarantee right now that it still will be possible with the more intense RAM usage then.

Anyway, here is the full changelog. More patches are of course to come.
Cheers!

General Improvements in B170531

• Shader adjustments to support SM4 (DirectX10) graphics cards
  
• Major performance optimizations for low / medium graphics settings
  
• Improved performance when adjusting fixtures
  
• Improved graphics options, fix to loading / saving of settings
  
• Improved photo scene UI
  
• Added graphics option presets

Fixes in B170531

• Fixed various fixture adjustment and body morphing related crashes
  
• Fixed overly sensitive input for fixture adjustments
  
• Fixed fixture rotation not saving/loading
  
• Fixed headlights popping out of the car
  
• Fixed issue with changing fixture variant
  
• Fixed rare crash related to loading a body
  
• Fixed screenshots not saving in Documents\My Games\Automation
  
• Fixed photoscene using too high resolutions, now set to 2k resolution
  
• Fixed (partially) issues with car placement in phtoscene
  
• Fixed issue with engine thumbnail generation
  
• Fixed how top bar year changer affects models / trims, etc.
  
• Fixed being able to select to select gearbox when engine doesn't fit
  
• Fixed engine too large warning showing before even making an engine
  
• Fixed weight balance being the wrong way around in calculations
  
• Fixed engine designer side panel not coloring right in during car design
  
• Fixed drop-down grid clone-functionality for trims
  
• Fixed smoothness factor for V8 FP cranks
  
• Fixed 90 degree V6 smoothness, tweaked various smoothness ratings
  
• Fixed time acceleration functions on test track, limited to 5x
  
• Fixed two test track crashes related to brakes and low powered cars
  
• Fixed unfinished bodies loading despite not being usable / visible
  
• Fixed warning indicator to now flash for severe issues
  
• Fixed wheels not attaching to torsion beam rear suspension
  
• Fixed various tooltips

B170602 (Hotfix 2) Chages

• On first ever start, game sets approximate graphics settings
  
• Fixed issue where car bodies and fixtures would not show
  
• Fixed engine manager displaying a white box instead of a list
  
• Fixed 5-valve per cylinder engines not loading pistons
  
• Fixed left exhaust not spawning on turbo V engines
  
• Fixed all exhaust placements on transverse engine headers
  
• Fixed some car bodies calculating a 10cm tall engine bay
  
• Fixed Focus Length resetting to 2.6m all the time
  
• Photo scene widget can now be hidden

B170602 (Hotfix 2) Released! See details below.

With the first big patch for the open beta now live, we'd like to invite you all to give the new update another go. Indeed, much has changed!



In the past days we've been sending some mixed messages regarding hardware compatibility for the UE4 version of the game, apologies for that! Here is what we know so far.

With this update the game should be able to run on old DX10 graphics cards that support Shader Model 4.0. We've worked hard to optimize the game for weaker systems since Release 1 and have seen up to a ~30-40% performance increase on the now more optimized low to medium setting. We hope this allows those of you who have been experiencing poor performance to better play the game, and those that got the "uncooked build" error message on startup the opportunity to play the new version for the first time. Just make sure to check the options menu for the graphics settings.

The UE4 version is 64-bit only at the moment, but that is probably something we're going to look into soon, too. A 32-bit version should be possible, although in the long run (i.e. grand campaign!), we can't guarantee right now that it still will be possible with the more intense RAM usage then.

Anyway, here is the full changelog. More patches are of course to come.
Cheers!

General Improvements in B170531

• Shader adjustments to support SM4 (DirectX10) graphics cards
  
• Major performance optimizations for low / medium graphics settings
  
• Improved performance when adjusting fixtures
  
• Improved graphics options, fix to loading / saving of settings
  
• Improved photo scene UI
  
• Added graphics option presets

Fixes in B170531

• Fixed various fixture adjustment and body morphing related crashes
  
• Fixed overly sensitive input for fixture adjustments
  
• Fixed fixture rotation not saving/loading
  
• Fixed headlights popping out of the car
  
• Fixed issue with changing fixture variant
  
• Fixed rare crash related to loading a body
  
• Fixed screenshots not saving in Documents\My Games\Automation
  
• Fixed photoscene using too high resolutions, now set to 2k resolution
  
• Fixed (partially) issues with car placement in phtoscene
  
• Fixed issue with engine thumbnail generation
  
• Fixed how top bar year changer affects models / trims, etc.
  
• Fixed being able to select to select gearbox when engine doesn't fit
  
• Fixed engine too large warning showing before even making an engine
  
• Fixed weight balance being the wrong way around in calculations
  
• Fixed engine designer side panel not coloring right in during car design
  
• Fixed drop-down grid clone-functionality for trims
  
• Fixed smoothness factor for V8 FP cranks
  
• Fixed 90 degree V6 smoothness, tweaked various smoothness ratings
  
• Fixed time acceleration functions on test track, limited to 5x
  
• Fixed two test track crashes related to brakes and low powered cars
  
• Fixed unfinished bodies loading despite not being usable / visible
  
• Fixed warning indicator to now flash for severe issues
  
• Fixed wheels not attaching to torsion beam rear suspension
  
• Fixed various tooltips

B170602 (Hotfix 2) Chages

• On first ever start, game sets approximate graphics settings
  
• Fixed issue where car bodies and fixtures would not show
  
• Fixed engine manager displaying a white box instead of a list
  
• Fixed 5-valve per cylinder engines not loading pistons
  
• Fixed left exhaust not spawning on turbo V engines
  
• Fixed all exhaust placements on transverse engine headers
  
• Fixed some car bodies calculating a 10cm tall engine bay
  
• Fixed Focus Length resetting to 2.6m all the time
  
• Photo scene widget can now be hidden

B170527 (Hotfix 1) Released! See details below.

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.

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.

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.

B170527 (Hotfix 1) Released! See details below.

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.

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.

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.

We're now getting very close to the target May 26th release of the first open beta version of the UE4 port. While we did say that something major could throw sticks into our spokes, which unfortunately happened, we're sticking to the date.



There is a lot more polishing and bugfixing to be done, but we think that this build will be playable enough for those daring individuals willing to opt into the open beta to try out the new shiny game engine.

During the open beta phase, there will be 1-2 bugfix and polishing updates each week, also adding to the limited pool of car bodies available to start with. More info on how we will proceed through this open beta phase to the main release will of course follow. Check out the current Little Dev Update video to see what the dev-only version looks like at the moment:

https://youtu.be/wpRfLOWHwqg
Also, there will be more information coming on how to join the open beta once it goes live. An overview video on what is in this very first release will come with the initial release, including info on what still is broken or incomplete, and what we're going to fix next.

Thank you all for your patience during this longer-than-usual development cycle for this update.
Cheers!

We're now getting very close to the target May 26th release of the first open beta version of the UE4 port. While we did say that something major could throw sticks into our spokes, which unfortunately happened, we're sticking to the date.



There is a lot more polishing and bugfixing to be done, but we think that this build will be playable enough for those daring individuals willing to opt into the open beta to try out the new shiny game engine.

During the open beta phase, there will be 1-2 bugfix and polishing updates each week, also adding to the limited pool of car bodies available to start with. More info on how we will proceed through this open beta phase to the main release will of course follow. Check out the current Little Dev Update video to see what the dev-only version looks like at the moment:

https://youtu.be/wpRfLOWHwqg
Also, there will be more information coming on how to join the open beta once it goes live. An overview video on what is in this very first release will come with the initial release, including info on what still is broken or incomplete, and what we're going to fix next.

Thank you all for your patience during this longer-than-usual development cycle for this update.
Cheers!