BC's Quantum Mechanics

[BanzaiCat]

I've had so much fun with Car Mechanic Simulator 2015 that I thought I'd share a few things.

Thus far I've sunk way too many hours in this game (especially since I've been on vacation), and built up my experience and bank account to the point where I have just about all the upgrades (OBD scanner, compressor, dyno testing, repair bench at 50%, etc.). I just tonight added the Parking add-on, which lets you go to an auction house and bid against the AI on cars that you can refurbish and sell.



I also added a few DLC tonight. Notably, in the above picture, a Maserati (in the background, on the left-hand lift) and a DeLorean. :)



The Maserati was a piece of work; I had to take off the entire back end of the damn thing to replace its rear axle, not to mention repair a ton of other things wrong with it there, too.



But, that and the DeLorean got me over the 9000 XP I needed to buy the Parking addition to my garage, allowing me to store vehicles and purchase them at auction.

I was pretty stoked to get to the auction and check out how this works!



The environment is pretty neat; they roll in the cars like you might see in a regular auto auction. Though these cars apparently have poltergeists pushing them because they move by themselves. Magic!

Anyway, yeah, look at that POS. I think it went for over six grand. I didn't bid on it, because look at what number 4 is: a DeLorean SciFi.

I thought, "What the hell is a DeLorean SciFi?"

I'd have to wait a few more cars to find out...



Several more heaps passed through, most looking like they were on their way to a crusher.

Then out came "my" DeLorean!



It was pretty awesome...the Back to the Future theme played (the instrumental, not the Huey Lewis song) as it rolled out onto the carpet. I thought, "I HAVE to have this." But, after dropping 50 grand for the Parking expansion, I only had 22 thousand to play with. And I really didn't want to spend every penny on a car and have nothing to work with. I'd have to go back to the garage and fix a ton of vehicles and make some cash to refurbish whatever it is I ended up buying...but I thought this DeLorean would be a great reason to skirt the bankruptcy edge!

Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. The damnable AI kept out-bidding me, even when I'd wait for the timer clock to get near the end. Someone wanted it way worse than I did and had deeper pockets; it went for close to 28 grand. :(

Ah well. There will be others, I hope. I mean, it IS a time machine and all.

All was not entirely lost; I went home with a Salem Spectre Fastback. Basically, a frikkin' Mustang.



But she's pretty nice looking, even with missing body parts and an engine with more rust than a Jawa junkyard.

Though I can see potential in this junker, she has a LOT of problems. I did all the tests I could on her...



The lists just piled on what a money sink this thing is going to be...but oh well, part of the fun of this game is figuring things out. It'll be interesting to see if I can make this look perfect and sell it for a tidy sum later.

I did everything my garage was equipped to do to figure out what needed to be fixed on it.



Even eyeballed the engine. And boy, it's a mess.



As you can see, I spent just over 15K on it.

Well...okay, almost 16K.  :-[



I was down to just over six thousand in the bank after this little purchase.

First things, first. I did a little cosmetic work on her, putting body parts into places where she had no body parts (the trunk, the left door, and the right front fender).









It's a start. I'll need to put in more hours in the garage to earn some more money to every so often put more work into it.



I'll keep updating this thread as I make progress on it. And maybe I'll finally get lucky and get a DeLorean.  8)

[Barthheart]

Bastrud!  >:(

...shambles off to buy yet another game...

[Grim.Reaper]

Dumb question....I am horrible with cars and fixing them in real life...know really nothing about them except for putting gas in them and taking them into the shop for maintenance as needed:)

Is this purely a game or do you actually learn anything about cars as you play?  I wouldn't mind potentially getting this if I actually walked away with some knowledge, although I am certainly not thinking I could walk away and actually fix a car when done:)

[BanzaiCat]

Is this purely a game or do you actually learn anything about cars as you play?  I wouldn't mind potentially getting this if I actually walked away with some knowledge, although I am certainly not thinking I could walk away and actually fix a car when done:)

Not a dumb question at all...because I'm completely in the dark when it comes to working on cars, too. I've never been shown anything about them. So I had zero knowledge myself entering into this game.

CMS 2015 is a bit more challenging than 2014, because 2015's tutorial really isn't a tutorial at all. You won't have your hand held and be shown where everything is on a car. You WILL start off slowly with simple things needing to be done, so a LOT is left to you to learn how to poke around and find things on each vehicle. Initially simple fixes like brakes are given to you, and then you delve slowly but surely into more complex fixes (such as needing to take an engine completely apart, replace broken parts, and then put it all back together again).

It's very simple, though - there's a Disassemble Mode and an Assemble Mode. In Disassemble, you of course remove parts. If you want to remove a part but when you highlight it, other parts are highlighted in red, it means you need to remove those parts first. So it gives you a little 'path' of deduction to go through to find what you need to remove first to get to what you want to replace. Assemble mode puts 'ghost' images of parts into your view so you know what needs to go on next. This is very helpful when you're starting out, but it's still relatively easy to forget certain things (like spark plugs or belts) because the game doesn't tell you 'hey you can't put this on until you put that on," so you have to pay a bit of attention.

As for realism, I don't know - like I said I don't know a lot about cars. But it's very much fun to play around with. If you enjoy building things you'll probably like this a lot. I imagine a Google search will show you if it's realistic or not (I keep meaning to do that myself but just don't think about it). Now I have my daughter giving me the evil eye because she wants donuts and I'm not moving, so I'll once again not get to it probably.

[Barthheart]

Downloaded the demo, which seems pretty full but maybe it doesn't let you advance.
Anyway, went through the repair of my first car. A little frustrating as it doesn't tell you how to do some things but a little work poking around and you can get stuff done.
So I'll now go back and buy the program and some of the DLC, but probably not the licenced cars... yet...

As for how real it is, it has the basic connections of things so you have to do things in sequence like you would on a real car, like you can't change brakes without removing the wheel first.
It's much easier than in real life because you always have the right tool in your hand to remove any nuts/bolts/bushings, ie you don't have to dig around in yer tool box trying to find the right socket.  :bd:
As the repair tasks get tougher to diagnose it would probably be good to have a basic knowledge of how different car systems work.

I think you could probably pick up some basic knowledge of the workings of your car from this.

Thanks again B_C. 

[BanzaiCat]

I was going to post a review to Steam somewhere along these lines:

Before Car Mechanic Simulator 2015:
Dafuq is an oil?

After Car Mechanic Simulator 2015:
Probably the flywheel and/or plate under the gear box. I gotta get the starter off through the engine bay before I hoist it up on the lifter and take the drive shaft off and then the gear box before I can poke around and be sure. Though the noise could be your inner tie rod; those things are weak as hell on these model cars.

Etc.

I enjoy figuring things out. I admit that my first two or three starts with this game were epic frustration because I couldn't possibly know where the hell everything is on a car. But, as Barth said, it gets easier the more you take things apart. This is DEFINITELY a game where you learn by doing, and I have tremendous appreciation for that.

The added car DLCs are awesome (I started with Pickups and SUVs, then last night added DeLorean, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Performance DLC (to get access to the Dyno room), Trader Pack (which adds a lot more cars), and Visual Tuning (which escapes me momentarily what that does). The Youngtimer DLC (which is that piece of shite Maluch) should be automatically added to your game once you buy the base. And through January 2, the DLC prices are very reasonable.

[Grim.Reaper]

Downloaded the demo, which seems pretty full but maybe it doesn't let you advance.
Anyway, went through the repair of my first car. A little frustrating as it doesn't tell you how to do some things but a little work poking around and you can get stuff done.
So I'll now go back and buy the program and some of the DLC, but probably not the licenced cars... yet...

As for how real it is, it has the basic connections of things so you have to do things in sequence like you would on a real car, like you can't change brakes without removing the wheel first.
It's much easier than in real life because you always have the right tool in your hand to remove any nuts/bolts/bushings, ie you don't have to dig around in yer tool box trying to find the right socket.  :bd:
As the repair tasks get tougher to diagnose it would probably be good to have a basic knowledge of how different car systems work.

I think you could probably pick up some basic knowledge of the workings of your car from this.

Thanks again B_C. 

Wasn't aware of the demo, will give that a try first...thanks.

[Jarhead0331]

I have very little interest in cars, or repairing/modifying them so I will most likely skip over this one.

However, this does remind me of Wold of Guns: Gun Disassembly, that i have found extremely useful as a refresher and educational supplement. I've also had a lot of fun with some of the game modes, ie. timed disassembly and reassembly, etc.

If you have even a passing interest in firearms, you may want to check this one out too...

http://store.steampowered.com/app/262410/

As an aside, there are other objects to explore and interact with, including cars and armored vehicles, and skeletons...

[mirth]

If you have even a passing interest in firearms, you may want to check this one out too...

http://store.steampowered.com/app/262410/

That looks damned cool.

[BanzaiCat]

I just finished refurbishing that Musta...err, I mean, Salem Spectre Fastback. ;)

It looked like this when I bought it:



I had to pump up my XP to over 12000 so I could unlock all of the Repair levels; the top Repair level lets you make the body of the car pristine. There are several parts you cannot replace unless you have this skill maxed out.

You can see what I mean in this image of the Fastback: note the rust spots all over the body.



My goal from the beginning of this was to replace EVERYTHING on the car - all parts, all pieces, break down the engine to the block and even replace that. Everything on this car that I could touch, I wanted it to be at 100% condition.

Once I got my repair skill maxed, I was able to fix her up right and finish everything.







I was able to sell the thing for a ridiculous amount of money.



I didn't bother to run it on the drag strip because I was too afraid I'd wreck the thing. I'll need to get something out there to experience that side of the game, though.

The end result was I had 97K in the bank!

So I did what any normal person would do and went right back to the auction.

Sure enough, there was 'another' DeLorean SciFi on the auction block. I felt more comfortable being able to buy it again. And it is still truly awesome to hear that BTTF music instrumental play when it's rolled out.



I ended up dropping just over 30K on it, but I'm cool with that.

It's my understanding that if you take this version of the car to the drag strip and get it up to 88 mph, something "interesting" happens. :)

I'm sure I could find it on YouTube somewhere, but I'd rather be surprised, so I'll see it when I get there.

I was so cool with dropping 30 grand on a DeLorean (pretty cheap, actually, considering most of them go for 50K these days, as is) that I went ahead and bid on, and won, a Maserati Sebring.



It's definitely a piece of shit, but it's a Maserati piece of shit, so it should fix up very nicely.







I might work on the Maserati first and then the DeLorean. I have plenty more cash on hand now than I did with that Fastback, so I might be able to fix it up completely. It would be cool if I could get this to being self-sustaining and ONLY work on refurbishing busted-up junk traps to brand new, pristine condition and sell 'em.

[BanzaiCat]

I should mention, I recommend that you play music through Windows Media Player, or Spotify, or SiriusXM online, or however you want to do it, and shut off the Euro-trash dance club music. Unless you like it, in which case more power to you, but it repeats pretty quickly and gets boring really fast. I'll listen to Opie and Jimmy through SiriusXM online while I 'work,' heh.

[Barthheart]

I'm not seeing how my experience increases except when you finish a job you get 100 XP... but it does seem to creep up as you work on a car... is that right? I only just got to 2500 or so and it seems to take fer ever.

I also just learned that you need to drail oil properly or you get charged $100 for the clean up (which seems to be imaginary as I've never seen oil on the floor)

9000 XP to get to the parking lot so I can then buy cars at auction seems like a long way away....  :(

[BanzaiCat]

I'm not seeing how my experience increases except when you finish a job you get 100 XP... but it does seem to creep up as you work on a car... is that right? I only just got to 2500 or so and it seems to take fer ever.

Yep, you get bits and pieces while you do stuff. Always try to pick the vehicle that has the most things going on with it...not only will it mean more XP and cash, but it will also give you more real in-game experience as you learn the different cars.

I also just learned that you need to drail oil properly or you get charged $100 for the clean up (which seems to be imaginary as I've never seen oil on the floor)

LOL. Yeah, that's a bitch. I had to look it up online; it's something that drove me nuts about the 2014 version of the game (which I didn't get much into, maybe 2 hours total compared to 33 hours total on 2015 thus far.

9000 XP to get to the parking lot so I can then buy cars at auction seems like a long way away....  :(

It is a while away, but think of it this way - you'll learn more about these vehicles so when you're going to refurbish 'em, you'll have a good idea of how to move around them and how to fix them.

The percentage thing can be a bit tricky, too...where it says something about fixing everything above a certain percentage level. The lower that percentage level, the less you can eyeball the parts and tell what needs to be fixed...you'll have to rely more on your meters and test paths and other things. Or, just do it the old fashioned way...take the damn thing apart and when you do, the part's condition will be displayed.

Parts that need to be replaced are always a LOT lower in percentage condition than the percent level the game fixes for the car. So, if the percentage is at, say, 54%, your damaged parts that need replacing will be 20% or less most likely.

Taking the car to the abandoned warehouse track is always a quick way of telling what the condition of the brakes and suspension is...at least, most of it. Careful, though...it can be a bitch to control some of those cars. I've not yet crashed but I've come awfully close, especially in those damnable Maluchs. (I won't work on those anymore, I immediately decline those jobs.)

By the way, there's no penalty for declining jobs. At this stage you'll get a few that say they're not available until you reach a certain amount of XP, but they'll be in your phone queue. Feel free to decline those jobs if you want stuff you can work on.

I never had more than one car in my garage at a time, with maybe one exception - I put two in there, one on one lifter and one on the other, though I can't remember why. I'd rather just focus on one car at a time.

[Barthheart]

LOL! I've only worked on one Maluch... never again... what a convoluted junk heap. :P

Still not sure if the $100 penalty is enough to make me change oil eh proper way... just taking the oil pan off is soooo much faster.  L:-)

Did you know that someone has worked out the real names for the cars in the game and you can easily edit a text file to change them... probably going to do this.... Salem Spectre Fastback just doesn't cut it fer me. 

[BanzaiCat]

LOL! I've only worked on one Maluch... never again... what a convoluted junk heap. :P

Still not sure if the $100 penalty is enough to make me change oil eh proper way... just taking the oil pan off is soooo much faster.  L:-)

Did you know that someone has worked out the real names for the cars in the game and you can easily edit a text file to change them... probably going to do this.... Salem Spectre Fastback just doesn't cut it fer me. 

Really? If you do, let me know where your source info is/how to do it. I'd love to change those names too. Though the names on the cars themselves won't change, except for the name-brand DLC stuff (like the Maserati and Mercedes).

I don't know if there's some Euro influence in this game but it feels like it. I think the oil drain thing is part of it. Did you figure out how to do it? Basically you put it up on a lift, then take the oil drainage Tom Servo looking thing and drag it under the engine. Move your view all the way up just before you go under the car, then walk under it and have your little center reticule (the white dot) lined up with the oil pan drain plug. Move a bit more past it and hit Esc. Voila, you should always be good, there. I've not had an accident yet doing it that way.