Update Speculation thread

Jungle Rock Island is Hawaii and East Coast is Maine. Otherwise, cool idea.
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Whoops, this just loaded.

 

Oh, I'm not denying that there is lots of potential in the US still, I am just bored of other places globally not really getting any proposed attention. The world is bigger than the united states, vast as it may be.

 

How Europeans view America:

 

I didn’t place ECUSA and Jungle Rock over Maine and Hawaii because those areas weren’t visible in my source image.

It’s a fictional map anyway, it’s not even at 1:1 scale and it doesn't have to be based on actual USA.

 

Burnouts as well, we do burnouts far better than Americans, but we need better smoke in game to do that. A track like my beloved Mallala would be amazing, and it could have some off-road trails nearby as well.

 

i have a feeling this image is going to become an emoji on r/okbuddybeamng

 

tf is r/okbuddybeamng
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Update: I have been enlightened.

 

if we were to get an Australia map it would be so weird to not have any Australian cars, so I think Australian car then map.

 

It's Tuesday again. I hope we'll get a teaser tonight.

 

TONIGHT
the speculators are desperate
the devs forget to give a teaser
and users yap about maps

 

A mighty AU Falcon would be fucking beautiful

 

If we were to receive a Falcon-esque vehicle, I feel like it'd be more along the lines of the '60s and '70s models. We don't really have something in weight and size between the Barstow and Miramar for the pre-1980 cars (the Miramar's ~1,070kg and ~4.5m long, the Barstow starts at 1,530kg and is 4.9m long). The Falcon XY, for instance, is ~4.7m long, and its weight (for the sedan) goes from 1,360kg for the base straight-six to 1,540kg for the top-line V8. It'd be the lightest Gavril vehicle by a fair margin.

I could see that happening, as it'd be an easy way to re-use assets from the Barstow and Bluebuck (especially the Barstow, given it and the XY are around the same width), while giving us a car from a new nation (and with a new body style). I don't know if that'd be more likely than a DS/CX-esque car or a '60s GT, though. I also feel like the devs would probably remaster the Moonhawk and give that a ute, instead of building a whole new car for a single body style.

 

If they did a Moonhawk Ute and made it Australian I would cry. A Holden and a whole new brand would be good though, but whenever I rack my brain for a lore friendly Holden name I can never think of a good one. I can only hope that we see an AU Falcon, and if no-one makes one soon my plan is to make my own... Although that's a lot of work and learning lol.

 

4 door moon-hawk, Add RHD, And a wagon/ute BAMM Kingswood, However as someone who had 2 XF falcons IRL and 2 BA ( one was a fairmont ghia ) YES, 100% yes,

I guess Bastion is kinda like a Commodore/FG falcon.


Anyway OT I wonder if we will get a teaser? or not. 50/50
may get a delay post like last year, update maybe AUG/SEP? if they skip this one

 

if they were going to do an australian family car of that era, they'd likely do a USDM version as well, considering the XR-XY falcons and ZA-ZD fairlanes were based on the '66-'70 US falcon/fairlane, and the VE/VF/VG chrysler valiants were based on the '67-'73 Plymouth valiant.
such a car could have the potential to become a variety monster, between possible sedan/coupe//LWB sedan/ute/panel van bodystyles, and all the AUDM and USDM trim parts, so it depends on whether they want to make another vehicle like the Nine or D-series.

If they were planning on making an australian car, it'd make sense for them to make something that couldn't just have any other country's brand slapped onto it.
A coupe utility is an obvious choice there, but it would feel incomplete if such a car was made without the more "normal" sedan bodystyle.
Looking for other unique attributes:

a 40s or 50s midsize australian car isn't that different from a large european car of the time, for example the ford zephyr was effectively the same as the UKDM model.
the only difference is that the UK these cars were typically only available in fancy executive car trim, where in australia more basic trim levels were available.
there were also quite a few american family cars around as heavy duty or upmarket options, such as the ford mainline and chevrolet styleline; they could always make an AUDM adaptation of the burnside.

in the 60s, as previously mentioned, the family cars were typically adapted from the new US "compact" cars, but typically got a wider range of 6-cylinder engine options and trim levels.

in the 70s the old american underpinnings stuck around but they all grew in size, to about halfway between a US "compact" and midsize. they also all looked very "american" in this era, outside of the occasional use of square headlights.
V8s also became more common, chrysler had the abnormally large and powerful 265ci Hemi-6 engine, the HQ holden went from a unibody desgin on the HG to a semi-unibody, body-on-perimeter frame, or body-on-ladder frame depending on the bodystyle.
this was also the era of the cool, sporty panel van packages, something wholly unique to australian cars of this era (a chevy G10 custom van just isn't quite the same).
the big four also all had a go at taking a european D-segment sedan and shoehorning in a 6-cylinder engine (the Vauxhall Viva>Holden Torana, Ford Cortina, Hillman Avenger>Chrysler Centura, and Morris Marina>Leyland Marina) none of these ever got a ute variant, but there were design studies done; it wouldn't be too far fetched to add a torana-esque ute to the game.

In the 80s the kingswood and valiant were replaced by the opel-based Commodore (too close to the I-series) and the Mitsubishi Sigma (too close to the pessimas).
The XD falcon continued on the old 60s-derived platform, now gaining a more european appearance than any US cars from the era, but still with the old 4.1L carbureted I6 engines.
there were some performance variants unlike anything the US got at the timein this era, such as the HDT VH SS, and Falcon XE ESP, but otherwise these aren't particularly noteworthy or highly regarded cars.
the XD-XH falcon was also probably the last sedan-based panel vans in the world, with the XH falcon van ending production in 1999.
most cars in the game are either mechanically unique, or culturally significant (or both), the 80s is probably the weakest choice for australian cars with these attributes.

and finally, in the '90s, '00s, the commodore and falcon became a lot more technologically advanced, but maintained the big dumb V8, RWD drivetrain which the americans had neglected in all but their giant BoF boats at this point.
the closest comparison to an australian car of this era is probably a BMW/Mercedes executive car (or maybe japanese stuff like the Crown/Cedric?), but they're another level of sophistication and overengineering.
I wouldn't expect an analogue to the ford territory, it's never caught on as an icon, and a similar car could be made by raiding the ETK asset bin.

but by the 2010s we have the bruckell bastion, which is only marginally longer than the VE commodore or FG Falcon, I wouldn't expect another V8 RWD fullsize sedan from this era.

TL;DR In my opinion the 70s or the 90s would be the best era for an Australian family-sized car.

 

I would honestly be offended if they chose to make an AUDM vehicle that they also gave a USDM version. I think that not everything has to do with the yanks.

Calling a ute a 'Coupe Utility' really hurts my brain, I am way to simple to call a ute anything other than a ute lol. I think Australia needs something unique, as a pose to something with strong European/American genes mixed in. A HQ would be really good, as you could have plenty of different variants including a Sandman.

I personally don't think a 80's Commodore is too close to a I-Series, and the Sigmas are so fundamentally different to the Pessimas as they have a longitudinally-mounted engine and rear wheel drive as a pose to a transversely-mounted front wheel drive. Now there is one extremely important car from the eighties that you somehow forgot to mention, and that is the VL Commodore, particularly the RB30-powered VL Turbo variant which is an absolute staple of the Australian automotive scene. This is a good candidate, despite it not ever coming with a ute version.

Calling V8 and RWD 'big and dumb' really hurt me, because what kind of fandangle car person doesn't at least acknowledge the beauty of a RWD car with a big V8... I don't mean to offend you but FWD and a transversely-mounted I4 never really gets me as much as a V8 or I6, but it's fine if you prefer four-bangers.

The AU Falcon is what I would chose, as it has a luxury version (Fairlane), ute, wagon, sedan, and two good engine options, with that being the mighty Intechs and the decent Windsor. It is a legendary car and would be a really good option with a growing amount of love for it.

The Territory wouldn't actually be a horrible option, as there was not only the shitty base models but also a powerhouse AWD Turbo Barra variant, which can make insane sleepers when you think of the sheer aftermarket of the Barra. Also raiding the ETK asset bin to make one is not the greatest idea imo, I think it needs some unique stuff to make sense.

An even more modern falcon also wouldn't be horrible, as it would still be fundamentally different from the Bastion as it's smaller and isn't just V8 powered.

 

honestly any car that gets added to vanilla is greatly slotted into the lore, id personally like some more late 1900s eurocars and maybe 2000s, since there isnt a thing ingane that really fits this bracket

 

They really like their USDM cars, and it makes sense considering most of the maps are US-centric.
plus, it would be a bit silly if they had a car that was 99% a '68 US falcon (a very american car at its core), but didn't bother making LHD versions

I use the traditional long form "coupe utility" to specify a good old fashioned car-based ute, as opposed to the common filth of the "dual cab ute"
I agree on the HQ being a good choice. As I alluded to, a HQ with a hemi-6 would be perfection, and you could stretch some configs into the 80s like the WB holden or CL chrysler.

>German based E-segment sedan with a big turbo 3.0L I6 and a ridiculous boxy bodykit available
>German based E-segment sedan with a big turbo 3.0L I6 and a ridiculous boxy bodykit available
sorry, I still think the 1st gen commodores, including the VL, are too close to the I-series for them to justify making one.
and as much as I love sigmas and magnas, one of those cars would have a much wider fanbase if it was directed more to the JDM market (look at what KLJP does with the pessima zenith, for example).
and other than simply saying "it's made in australia", there's not much quintessentially australian about the design/engineering/layout of the mitsubishis.

I should have said big, dumb... and fun
Chevrolet was smart sticking a cheap nasty FWD V6 in the impala in the 90s, it saved them so much money on production costs and emissions credits... no fun though

If they're going to make a 2000s unibody Longitudinal AWD softroader SUV thing, there aren't that many people around the world who even know what a territory is, let alone like it.
they'd be better off making something like a BMW X5 or Volvo XC90, some of those came with V8s that can make a lot of power.

the FG falcon is 4960L x 1870W and has a wheelbase of 2840mm,
the bastion is 5100L x 1900W and has a wheelbase of 3060mm,
so it's about 300mm longer overall and no wider (basically the size of a WM statesman). the bastion also already has V6s which you can turbo or supercharge, and both have similar double wishbone front suspension and multilink rear suspension.
again like the VL, i don't think it'd be worth it.

I agree; tons of variety, nothing else in the world really like it, and configs ranging from grandpa wagons to googly-eyed V8 weapons.

 

I think that AU Falcon is the way they should go, and if they want something older then the HQ Holdens. I still think a VL Turbo would be insane though, I love those things.

Also sorry for the big mis-understanding on my part when I thought you were saying that V8s and RWD shouldn't have came in the late 90's-early 00's Falcons/Commodores... I was very wrong and once again I'm sorry about that.

 

As far as potential utes go... We already have 3 cars in game from my count that could/should get a ute in their remaster. The Moonhawk is the most obvious since the only Ranchero and El Camino were basically the only post-war domestic utes in the US. The Miramar could also get one, and being of JDM origin it stands out more from anything else that's been discussed here. Then there's the Burnside, which would require the most work since we'd need a volume USDM version to base the AUDM ute on. The Burnside is also the least appropriate of these 3 platforms, but it could mirror the Ford Mainline/Customline.

As far as what a ground up vehicle to fill the niche could look like... Personally I like the idea of basing it on a USDM compact since we don't actually have any American compacts in game. A vehicle based on a modern Holden Ute would also be really cool, but unfortunately not so unique as anything else we could get for it would be covered by the Bastion already, with the major difference only being styling, a few hundred pounds, and a marginal difference in size. That gap shrinks even more if we ever get a pre-facelift or prior gen (mentioning that one since the LD and LX Charger weren't the biggest generational difference). That being said, if we got a few years back we come to a more unique choice. The 2000's remains fairly empty in game with only some facelifted 90's cars (Wendover, GM, Roamer, D-Series, H-Series) and the Sunburst. Then there's also British based utes, which would give us 2 new countries at once but the British heritage would probably take the spotlight with that one.