Update Speculation thread

What do u suggest about Pigeon? New contents, ideas....

 

In terms of content:

Honestly I always thought the Pigeon could get a meter maid config and a Piaggio Ape racing superbuild and that would be it for content, but a few days ago when I made this list of counterparts (plus Zoll had another to add to the list) I realized there's actually a significant amount of content that thing could get.

Both the Piaggio Ape and Cushman Truckster had massive model year ranges (1948-present and 1952-2002 respectively). Of course the earliest versions don't have much in common with the later ones, but it is sufficient grounds to expand the Pigeon's model years and add at least one major facelift, the thing's current model years only spans 7 years after all.

The Go-4 has an EV variation, so we could see that. Our first non-modern EV would be nice. (Side note, I've always wanted an older EV in game. Alternate fuels overall are kinda lacking in game with a fair number of cars not even having a diesel engine option when they ought to).

As for sister/cousin vehicles, a 4 wheeled version is definitely an option. Both the Ape and Truckster had such variations. The Ape had a version that could haul semi-style trailers, which would be adorably cute and quirky. An HD and/or LWB variation is an option. As much as I'd love to see something like that huge Mazda T1500, that would be a ground up new vehicle, which we really don't need in game. But something generally beefier than the standard trim would be cool.

Spoiler: Large Mazdas

Mazda T1500, look at how big that thing is!

Mazda T 2000. Very, very long

 

That ''while ago'' is now a almost year at this point.

 

I never knew the pigeon’s whole body is plastic. Or is it supposed to be a fiberglass body, which would make more sense and actually be street legal unlike regular plastic.

 

I know people joke about the pigeon remaster, but I would personally love to see that. Everyone’s favorite 3-wheeler needs some love

 

bc it’s plastic/fiberglass I think a faded paint job would be good for a beater config. Also I’m not sure if the bed is also fiberglass or only the cab but either way, I think a cracked fiberglass version should be considered. Same thing for the hood of the T-series which I think may be fiberglass as well, since irl most American trucks’ hoods are.

 

the pigeon is really just a waste of space at the moment

its only real uses are:
1) people who just got the game to look at it and go "look, strange car"
2) being crashed into by big things but the damage due to the body being plastic is just underwhelming
3) occasional experiments

i really think the pigeon needs some sort of small remaster, with at the minimum a reliant robin style body, better deformation, the quality of current beam vehicles and some more customisation. id love to be able to use it as it's fun to try and drive a 3 wheeled vehicle but it just doesnt fit in anywhere
also it's a kei truck that literally doesnt fit within kei size regulations lmao

 

But thankfully, it's so small that it doesn't waste too much space

 

Not always. IIRC, the International Eagle 9300 (the truck that most closely parallels the T-series) was available with both steel and fiberglass hoods over its production run.

 

speaking of the semi, i find it surprising they restrict it to only one decade, when such a platform could easily be extended from the mid 50s to today.
to backdate it to the 50s, all you really need is a different front clip with a butterfly hood, and probably a narrower grille/round headlights, and on the mechanical side, non-air suspension, and some sort of more basic engine, perhaps a 2-stroke V8.

to bring it forward would be a bit more extensive, it would most likely need some sort of subtle facelift (akin to a preterbilt 389), it would need a whole new interior, (though these assets could be taken from the smaller gavril triplets), and at very least more modern top-end engine parts, and various driving aids.

 

preterbilt

 

Seems like most major vehicle remasters in BeamNG have involved at least 1 new body style somewhat. So what could we expect for the Bolide? Targa maybe? but then that doesn't make too much sense as this game doesn't support convertibles properly. I know 1970's parts would make sense due to the lack of 1970's European cars, and most 80's entry level super cars originated in the 1970's.

But yeah the H Series still needs a lot of work as well as the Grand Marshall (wagon body style would be nice due to the lack of full size wagons), obviously the devs need to start on the Covet, 90's Pessima,Moonhawk, Sunburst, and the 200BX. Oh yeah no one seems to talk about the T series much either.

 

going off how long it seems to have taken, and the interesting banner on the italy car dealer, i'd think it's more likely it's had a case of scope drift, what started out as just a mechanical/jbeam rework may have turned into a full from-the-ground-up redesign, more extensive than any vehicle remaster so far.

Spoiler: ramble about the bolide's wheelbase

one thing I hope they change is the awkwardly long rear of the bolide.
it seems that in 2012 gabe's neglect for technical accuracy, the bolide was given a longitudinal engine layout, where most similar V8 supercars of the era had their engines mounted transversely. (not that that is necessarily awful on its own). the problem is that to emulate the general appearance of cars of that era, it was also given a substantial rear overhang.
for an example of what should happen, when ferrari replaced the 328 with the 348, (transverse to longitudinal) the overall length of the car from the driver's compartment to the tail remained effectively unchanged, but to accommodate the longer new drivetrain layout, the rear wheels were slid back, effectively shortening the rear overhang.

so the devs would either have to completely redesign the mechanical layout to be transverse mounted, (but likely retain the longitudinal layout for racing versions), or they have to just shorten the tail a bit.

either that or they just ignore complaints about this.
like they do with the sealed beam headlight shapes, stoat please respond to me, i've already sent you 5 messenger pigeons!

 

I never realized how much we need a postal Pigeon... "Messenger Pigeon" has to be a config name, I officially declare it

 

I think you might be putting too much stock in the banner; it likely was done in twenty or so minutes without too much thought to the source material. Sure, its profile is slightly different from the current Bolide, but I feel like that was done from a combination of rushing through it to an extent and for aesthetic purposes. You might be right about a more significant remaster, but I don't think that's the window into it.

I'm also not quite sure the Bolide is exactly compatible with a 70s redesign. These are some 70s supercars:



And this is the Bolide:


If you compare it to the images above, it would seem that it would take much more work to make it a 70s car. Aesthetically, the sides of the car are much too smooth and plain – refer to the 512's intakes and the Bora(?)'s more sculpted shape. Secondly, the front of the car dips down at much to severe an angle and doesn't try to "pull" the overall aesthetic upwards. The back end of the car could be easily retrofitted, but the roofline isn't quite where it needs to be for the decade. Lastly, the car's bizarre body-on-frame fiberglass(?) construction wouldn't be the best fit for the 70s either, because I believe both the Maserati and Ferrari were alloy and steel. Lastly, the engine and interior models would likely need to be changed, because EFI for a small carmaker in the 70s would be out of place. An injection system would likely be mechanical at that time or not included at all.

Simply put, the 70s change would likely introduce more effort for the devs to finish the remaster itself, all for a category that not all that many people care about. The 80s, rather than the 70s, are considered to be the peak of supercar design, involvement, and drama, and I don't think converting it to a 70s car would be particularly productive, interesting, or desired outside of a select few of us nutcases.

Tl;dr: The remaster will likely keep the Bolide as an 80s car.

IF we get another vintage supercar, it would probably be a 60s front engined grand tourer, because that is the other "peak" decade in the eyes of many. However, given the limited contribution this would make to career mode, it probably wouldn't be developed.