Early Experimental Preview of Career Concept

I do not necessarily have a desire to play a simplified version of the career, but i do have a lack of time to grind for every specialised vehicle like Krallopian described to be a type 1 player.

Imo maybe a good middle ground would be a rental fee or something like that on missions where you don’t use your own vehicles.

 

no one forces you to buy and improve all types of vehicles, only the disciplines that interest you, and to ride all the vehicles you don’t need a career mode, individual missions that exist now, even in free mode, will be enough

 

You franky overlook the not small demographic of millenial gamers that have grown older and now tend to have far more responsibilities in their daily lives than back then when they were young teens. Those still enjoy long and complex gaming sessions but may especially under the work week be limited in their free time.




I share your wish that one should be capable of doing career mode with your own vehicle(s) but I dont see the huge deal in offering a provided vehicle. After all, you can fine tune the provided vehicle further down the line with things like "rental costs" and additional rewards for using your own vehicle:


Please also try to understand that a lot of people that will play BeamNG Career mode are very casual and have very little understanding about car physics and the game. If you are not holding their hand with the option of provided vehicles, those players will try to do some missions where their own vehicle is simple unsuitable for. That will make them fail the mission and they will be quick to cry on social media about how "bad and unplayable" this game is.

It is annoying, but you have to cater to the lowest common denominator if you want success. You have to make it reasonable idiot proof because mentioned idiots wont come to the forum asking for advise what they are doing wrong.... instead they will slander the game on social media, endangering the jobs of the developers.

There are also some balancing considerations to take into account: Using your own unregulated vehicle can significantly affect the difficulty of a given challenge. Using a race car in a battle with covets will be much easier but using a race car in an offroad challenge will be much harder.

And again, I am all for using your own vehicle, but in a game this complex and diverse, you at least will have to give players a warning that if they choose their own vehicle, all bets of fairness and difficulty are off.

And I really dont see what particular hurt it does, when players get the option of using a provided vehicle, as long as they can also use their own down the line.

 

I get your point but at the same time, people aren't that stupid. No one will get to a off road race in a super car and think "Yeah, this is the perfect car to bring to this event". Take a look at Forza for example, there isn't a single example of people complaining because they brought the wrong car to the event, because people aren't that stupid and (probably) have more than one brain cell. And Beamng is a full on simulator, players should expect difficulties and not an arcade and easy game (looking at you forza, for giving too much to the players). But a difficult game doesn't mean that it has no guidance, tips or help and so far, it already has everything. Career mode missions should require a vehicle for them, like you would need a T-Series to deliver something and so you would need to buy one or rent one and the same should apply for trailers, some current missions use trailers and for the player to be able to do said mission, he should buy the proper trailer for it. This is just my point of view, because at the moment the only reason you would need to have a car is to drive around and that's pretty much it

 

i'll add my two cents
while i completely understand having an option for people who dont own a vehicle suitable for an event i think that should be something that is switched on manually (Use Rented Vehicle etc) and only mandatory for events where the vehicle the player has turned up in physically doesnt have the required tow hitch or police lights to do the mission. i think using a rented vehicle should also come with a payout cut. players should be incentivised to use and upgrade their own vehicles but shouldnt be forced to play the mission a way they dont want to do first to unlock the ability to do it their way. i simply dont understand the decision

 

I whole heartedly agree. Oftentimes it makes no sense to have your upgraded car if the event will just foist one upon you.

I just want to race in my Impala and Pessima, and take down baddies in my Grand Marshal and Crown Vic man.

 

Another thing I wanna ask about is - will vehicles be region- or map-"locked" based upon where they would be sold? So, for instance, you could buy a Vivace in Italy or the ETK DEC, but you wouldn't be able to buy one in WCA or ECA?

I understand that for such a popular vehicle like the FCV, region-locking it might not be the best solution, but it might work for some more niche vehicles. Also, will "grey importing" be a thing in career mode?

 

Today a career for casual players, and tomorrow all content will be geared towards this new casual audience? I treat this game as a serious stimulant and have high hopes for it, but alas, in chasing this new audience that will come straight from Minecraft, we may lose what we started for.


This game was different from all the others from the beginning, and that's why it was appreciated, that's why it's returned to time and time again. If it turns into another "KREW" or "Forza" it will be very sad.
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Don't worry about it) you will be graciously provided with transportation for all your needs for free on any map, you are an influential person who is given tasks: police officers, firefighters, racers. All these organizations will entrust you with their personal transport for your mission

 

OK look.
Using vehicle you don’t own means not only that you can master different types of cars without buying them all, but also you don’t have to pay for repairs.
It’s a win-win

 

Hi, for the moment, I've tried the wip carrer mode since 4,5hours in total, and there is my point of view on what could be improved, or implemented.
So lets start:​

I- City & Carrer

•Mission point really need improvement on their placement. They could be placed on parking spot, or safe zone instead of middle of the road, highway or intersection, this could avoid some collisions with traffic

•Police patrol and speed cameras at some spots. And recieve some bill for infraction if we spotted by camera while speeding, or pay directly if we pulled by patrol.

•Buses routes and working taxis. It would be nice to travel Belasco in back of a taxi, or in city bus! (and useful sometimes)

•Buyable driving licence. to unlock towing missions, trucking, etc..

•Better remuneration for using his own vehicle. Because higher crash risk, and no car location to do the job, you may have a better price (like in ETS2, you have better remuneration with your own truck than a rented one)

•Difficulty system. Only based and how much you gain for each missions (easy= actual values hard=real life values)

•Health, system? On hard crash, you can go to hospital (not very sure about this one)

•Food system Need to restore you sometimes, at burger king for example

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​

II- Insurance system

This feature has a huge potential. here is an example of how i see the insurance system at his final state.

•Several level of insurance, with a price that varies depending of car value, power and mileage.

•Have to choose an insurance for each of your cars (or choose to ride uninsured)

•Damage size evaluation system, to distinguish minimal from big damages

•If repair cost are higher than car value the car become totalled, and could be destroyed, depending of insurance level chosen

•Towing to garage could be paid under certain conditions

•Various repair time depending of damage and insurance level

•Loan car during vehicle repair

•Here is an example of different level of insurance (keep in mind that value are here for example only, like placeholders)

Spoiler: Insurance levels

•Level 1 [All vehicles accepted]
-Price: 20$/month
-Only minimal and medium damages are covered
-If repair cost is higher than car value, then they will refound you 75% of car value
-Towing deductible: 50$
-Minimal damage deductible and repair time: 190$, 5min
-Medium damage deductible and repair time: 950$, 25min
-Big damage deductible and repair time: not covered, on client fee in external garage
-Engine deductible and repair time: not covered, on client fee in external garage
-Refund totaled car deductibles: 1800$

-Level 2 [All vehicles accepted]
-Price: 45$/month
-Cover minimal, medium and engine damages.
-If repair cost is higher than car value, then they will refound you 75% of car value
-Towing deductible: 10$
-Loan car: 70$
-Minimal damage deductible and repair time: 140$, 5min
-Medium damage deductible and repair time: 750$, 20min
-Big damage deductible and repair time: not covered, on client fee in external garage
-Engine deductible and repair time: 990$, 30min
-Refund totaled car deductibles: 1350$

-Level 3 [ vehicles under 25 years old only]
-Price: 70$/month
-Cover all types of damages
-If repair cost is higher than car value, then they will refound you 90% of car value
-Towing deductible: free
-Loan car: 50$
-Minimal damage deductible and repair time: 90$, 5min
-Medium damage deductible and repair time: 400$, 20min
-Big damage deductible and repair time: 1350$, 60min
-Engine deductible and repair time: 650$, 30min
-Refund totaled car deductibles: 1200$

-Level 4 [Vehicles under 20 y.o and 200.000 kms or 120k miles]
-Price: 120$/month
-Cover all types of damages
-If repair cost is higher than car value, then they will refound you 100% of car value
-Towing deductible: free
-Loan car: free
-Minimal damage deductible and repair time: 45$, 5min
-Medium damage deductible and repair time: 220$, 15min
-Big damage deductible and repair time: 800$, 50min
-Engine deductible and repair time: 390$, 25min
-Refund totaled car deductibles: 1150$

-Level 5 [Vehicles under 15 y.o and 200.000 kms or 120k miles]
-Price: 20$/month
-Cover all types of damage
-Cover repair cost higher than car value
-Towing deductible: free
-Loan car: free
-Minimal damage deductible and repair time: free, 3min
-Medium damage deductible and repair time: 99$, 25min
-Big damage deductible and repair time: 450$, 45min
-Engine deductible and repair time: 315$, 20min
-Repair totaled car deductibles: 1275$, 90min

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III- Garage

Suggestions for the main garage, but for others types of garages around Belasco city

•Dyno, roll test in the garage to have the real power of our cars, according to their mileage, and aftermarker tuning (like DSC mods, for reference)

•Paint shop (in a garage near motel, why not) to paint our cars

•Licence plate editing system

•Common services (like tire/oil change or belt and sparkle remplacement)

•Redo Parts menu. At this state, is currently impossible to find same wheel on front and rear, because they aren't indexed alphabetical order.. and find each category in this loooong list is very time consuming. A classification by part type with several indexes for the inventory would be needed.

•Websites for buy pieces. With some specialized on aftermarket pieces, others in exhaust/turbo, other in bodykits, etc.. (like in Street legal racing, for the reference). and also an "ebaylike" place to find used stock pieces

•Towing mission. Help peoples with broken down cars in middle of the road, and recover them to the garage!

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IV- Scrapyard

•Buy wrecked car and bodyshell for some hundred bucks

•Sell used body/engine parts to clean your inventory and recover some money

•Buy used parts, cheaper than brand new ones

•Sell your old cars, with too many miles to be selled at auto dealers

•Take some mission for the scrapyard by driving his tow truck to bring all abandoned beaters cars around the city to the scrapyard

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I know the carrer mode is still very WIP, and a lot of feature are already planned, but i really want to share my experience/ideas and help you to improve this masterpiece.

On other side, I really enjoyed these some hours at starting my carrer, and I really want to see more in the future!
Keep it up your amazing work! ​

 

Exactly that. 99% of the games out there are too easy and there is no actual progression, which means that you don't ever feel awarded or accomplished with the countless hours you spend on that game. Beamng can be everything we ever wanted, so just let them do it. We have already have tons of "casual" games, let us have a game that actually feels rewarding and challenging. If you are too casual, play free roam or just move on to another game.

 

Ok so I have observed the sales of the dealerships, and here’s what I’m getting:
The dealership only sells vehicles that are branded with vanilla brands. So something like KLJP which includes the Pessima Zenith will show up, as it’s Ibishu, so it’s a vanilla brand. But, say, an Autron Petitron won’t ever appear due to it being a non-vanilla brand.

So here is what I propose:
In a certain file of a car, like info.json for example, there’s a line of code that reads (as example): „careerDealership”: [bool]
And the [bool] is either true or false. If it’s true, then the vehicle (at least all of its factory configurations) can appear at a dealership. And if it’s set to false, then the vehicle cannot be purchased through dealerships.
Kind of an idea, since some vanilla vehicles like the Aurata don’t show up, even though they are from vanilla brands, so this kind of non brand-specific selection of whether the car is purchasable that is independent from the base game files would be cool to see.

 

A potential improvement to this idea would be to use the careerDealership: [bool] line on a per config basis and convert it from boolean to a decimal value from 0-1 or maybe a range of integers to suggest likelihood that said configuration will appear in a dealership.

 

that's right, I will only use a rented car in that case!))) why would I build my own? And even better I'll go on a free run and make up my own mission) than to play such a career, call it whatever you want, for example: "game run" "quick and easy" but not "career".

 

That is not true (in my case, at least), because I get modded vehicles that are from non-vanilla brand. Like the Ford CrownVic or the BMW E36 and they appear as Ford and BMW respectively

 

Huh.
Well then I have no clue as to how that works I guess.

 

I think you are vastly blowing this out of proportion. You don’t have to rent cars if you don’t want to. There is nobody with a gun to your head saying “Ooh play the game with only rental cars oooh”. The appeal for players wanting to build their own cars for challenges still exists with extra rewards, and the extra feeling of accomplishment. Perhaps it could become a whole style of play through similar to how the Pokémon community has done with Nuzelock etc. What I would suggest is that the various difficulty options have something to do with this. So for example the first traditional 3 levels of easy, medium, hard would all allow rentals like normal with damage, ai, costs/prizes, etc all getting higher as you go on but also a 4th or 5th “Hardcore” mode that’s only allows user cars (except rare cases where it makes sense for the scenario) and has perma damage that has to be fixed by “repairing” parts or buying new ones and insurance would only cover part of costs. Plus having the option to total a car if damage is too high. That seems to me it would give players the best way to play the game how they want.

Love the ideas here. In particular the license stuff. It makes sense that you would need to get certified etc for Busses,Taxis,Police,EMS,stunt driver etc as well as CDLs and Racing licenses. I feel like it would help the feeling of progression a lot. Maybe tie the upgrade of levels in branches to license tests similar to gran Turismo? I also love the idea of scrapyard parts and cars, particularly if there is the possibility of rare stuff in there. You could also have used car lots and or stuff like Copart where there is salvage or totaled cars for really cheap but they need to be built up and repaired. Perhaps barn finds could also be a part of that although I feel with our current map size and scale barn finds would probably be too easy. However if this is the path career mode takes I’m excited to see how it will play out.

 

I've been seeing some modded vehicles at dealerships, hence how I own a Crown Vic and continually seeing Procyon Centauris (tho really how am I supposed to buy an 110,000 dollar car)

 

The most important thing is to give options to the players depending on how hard or how time-consuming they want the career mode to be. What is cool, immersive or hardcore in one mans eyes will be a load of grind, filler and faff in the eyes of another.
Options such as price difficulty (i.e. very easy = 50%, very hard 200% prices, etc), fast travel leniency (what you need to do to unlock fast travel to a certain place), what you need or don't need to bring to a mission (do you have to buy your own trailer or do you just need to bring a car that can tow it? Very easy = you always get a provided vehicle), and so on.
Tuning and modifying is of course in the spirit of BeamNG, so giving options to "tune" your career mode intuitively makes sense.