This game has a major quality of life flaw.

[ferrata_vi]

I enjoy playing on expert and I like having to hunt for faulty parts, but the system fails when you have to replace exactly the right component in order to fulfill a repair order.

Let's say I need to replace one camshaft cap and and a crankshaft on a v8. In order to replace the latter, I have to remove all of the camshaft caps on the engine. This means that when I go back to reinstall the caps, I have to tediously step through each of the cap sockets to figure out which one will fulfill the order conditions.

That means screwing in a cap, checking the victory conditions, unscrewing the cap, screwing in the cap, checking the victory conditions, unscrewing the cap... ad nauseam, sometimes until I've stepped through every possible option.

The order condition should be fulfilled by having no camshaft caps under x%, rather than having "specific cam shaft cap" be over x%. Or at least be able to flag the specific part for highlight once it has been positively ID'd.

I recall in the old game this was an issue with story orders, but I could swear it was fixed.

[El Susco]

In the car details, where you have the list of things to do there is the minimum percentage of healty pieces near the car's name if i recall correcly. Then you can click on the star near the broken piece and it will be highlighted.

[astrofelix59]

Originally posted by El Susco:

In the car details, where you have the list of things to do there is the minimum percentage of healty pieces near the car's name if i recall correcly. Then you can click on the star near the broken piece and it will be highlighted.

Yeah, that's not available in Expert Mode.

[astrofelix59]

I found it best to always disassemble/rebuild in the same order, then it's a matter of remembering a number not a place.
Having a pencil and paper handy to jot down a few numbers helps at first and after a while you start remembering with out having to jot them down.
The alternative is to give good old fashion service and just replace all the cheap things like, caps, rings, plugs and bushes, losing 5-10% of net profit but you'll get done faster so make more per hour.

[Mardoin69]

Or, (other than astrofelix59's excellent advice) you can install the 'QoL' mod. It will enable a feature that remembers the parts order taken off the vehicle and default to the original part when putting them back on. It's not always 100% accurate in certain conditions but, it's pretty reliable. Then you don't need to be scrolling through the list of parts to grab the exact one cuz game already does it. It's one of THE best features of that mod as far as 'quality of life' goes... imo.

Edit: Just to point out...
that mod is on Nexus and you'll need to install 'MelonLoader' but, you want to uncheck the box for it to just install latest version (default) and instead pick version 0.5.7...
There were some other recommendations of installing other mods listed in the QoL's mod page but, those aren't necessary. Anyway, be sure to read through all the instructions for both 'melonLoader' and 'Qol" mod.

[ferrata_vi]

I appreciate the guidance given by both of you.

However, I don't think this is something that should be fixed by a mod or by pen and paper. This is just simply poor game design and I would rather it be fixed by the devs.

I just took apart a v8 hemi. It had bad piston rings, bad spark plugs, bad push rods, bad ignition coils.... the tedium of having to install parts in the sockets for these, one by one, then check the status, then uninstall them has frankly turned me off of the game.

I was considering purchasing a bout $100 worth of missing DLC. But I won't be doing that until this problem is fixed.

[ferrata_vi]

Originally posted by astrofelix59:

I found it best to always disassemble/rebuild in the same order, then it's a matter of remembering a number not a place.
Having a pencil and paper handy to jot down a few numbers helps at first and after a while you start remembering with out having to jot them down.
The alternative is to give good old fashion service and just replace all the cheap things like, caps, rings, plugs and bushes, losing 5-10% of net profit but you'll get done faster so make more per hour.

Although I will admit that I'd considered just replacing all of those cheap items. If it's 5-10% I could deal with that, and then use the spares to build out some cheap flip cars.

Maybe that's the way

[Mardoin69]

Yes, that QoL fix should be part of the base game... in mine, yours, and others opinions. But, since it isn't... that QoL mod really is nice to have. It actually makes several tweaks for QoL improvement of the game. Now that I've been using the mod, I would not play without it honestly. Kind of got spoiled by it, lol.

That suggestion of keeping used parts for flips is actually something I did... for a while... just to save some dough. Gets to be tedium though by the time you have a Million in the bank. I just sell them off for scrap price anymore. Anything worth only a dollar gets salvaged for Blue Creds.

[ferrata_vi]

Originally posted by Mardoin69:

Yes, that QoL fix should be part of the base game... in mine, yours, and others opinions. But, since it isn't... that QoL mod really is nice to have. It actually makes several tweaks for QoL improvement of the game. Now that I've been using the mod, I would not play without it honestly. Kind of got spoiled by it, lol.

That suggestion of keeping used parts for flips is actually something I did... for a while... just to save some dough. Gets to be tedium though by the time you have a Million in the bank. I just sell them off for scrap price anymore. Anything worth only a dollar gets salvaged for Blue Creds.

Thanks man. I'll look up that mod.

[astrofelix59]

In mechanical or general manufacture there is no magic that tells us what goes where, routines and doing steps in specific order is the only way to avoid costly mistakes.

For the game the help you are requesting, to highlight the correct spot to replace is available, so it's not "poor game design" it's just turned off in EXPERT mode.
The pencil and paper is a lot faster than replacing one by one and checking job list progress.

IRL things like rings, push rods etc. would/should be all replaced to avoid unbalanced wear.
By the 5th story mission profit is enough to not worry about penny pinching, and once you start doing junkyard builds money starts rolling in.

[random smile]

Originally posted by astrofelix59:

In mechanical or general manufacture there is no magic that tells us what goes where, routines and doing steps in specific order is the only way to avoid costly mistakes.

For the game the help you are requesting, to highlight the correct spot to replace is available, so it's not "poor game design" it's just turned off in EXPERT mode.
The pencil and paper is a lot faster than replacing one by one and checking job list progress.

IRL things like rings, push rods etc. would/should be all replaced to avoid unbalanced wear.
By the 5th story mission profit is enough to not worry about penny pinching, and once you start doing junkyard builds money starts rolling in.

Games are meant to be fun though .. not like real life.. if this game becomes too realistic, you can kiss goodbye a large % of the players.. I reckon most people playing this game are into cars and want to fix them up, but either can't afford to or don't have the time or skills or equipment to do so in real life.. I feel like as long as you replace the parts to a minimum % then it shouldn't matter what order they go back.. as long as all parts are above that minimum % it shouldn't matter if you mix up spark plug 3 with spark plug 1 as long as the damaged spark plug gets replaced by a spark plug of minimum required % or higher.

[astrofelix59]

Originally posted by random smile:

Games are meant to be fun though .. not like real life.. if this game becomes too realistic, you can kiss goodbye a large % of the players.. I reckon most people playing this game are into cars and want to fix them up, but either can't afford to or don't have the time or skills or equipment to do so in real life.. I feel like as long as you replace the parts to a minimum % then it shouldn't matter what order they go back.. as long as all parts are above that minimum % it shouldn't matter if you mix up spark plug 3 with spark plug 1 as long as the damaged spark plug gets replaced by a spark plug of minimum required % or higher.

I think you will find the repair minimum % only applies to repairable parts, the consumables need to be new in job orders.
You can use lower health parts in your own builds, however car won't be counted in "cars sold" stat they need to be 100% across the board. (they will be counted in "money made")
The game hardly has any money sinks, it's pretty simple and nothing like any real manufacturing job.

[Grimmslayer73]

Originally posted by random smile:

as you replace the parts to a minimum % then it shouldn't matter what order they go back.. as long as all parts are above that minimum % it shouldn't matter if you mix up spark plug 3 with spark plug 1 as long as the damaged spark plug gets replaced by a spark plug of minimum required % or higher.

As a real life mechanic I can tell you that if you're going to put an engine back together with the original parts, it's important to put everything back exactly where it was. Putting a piston in a different cylinder, mixing up rod caps (specifically the bearing that goes with it that the game doesn't have), matching a push rod to the wrong rocker, these are a good way to ruin an engine. You have to keep up with what goes where and label parts as you tear it down.

From a gamer's perspective I think that is what the game is trying to simulate, it just doesn't simulate it very well. If the game wants a 100% part in that slot, that is all that will work.

[ferrata_vi]

Originally posted by Grimmslayer73:

Originally posted by random smile:

as you replace the parts to a minimum % then it shouldn't matter what order they go back.. as long as all parts are above that minimum % it shouldn't matter if you mix up spark plug 3 with spark plug 1 as long as the damaged spark plug gets replaced by a spark plug of minimum required % or higher.

As a real life mechanic I can tell you that if you're going to put an engine back together with the original parts, it's important to put everything back exactly where it was. Putting a piston in a different cylinder, mixing up rod caps (specifically the bearing that goes with it that the game doesn't have), matching a push rod to the wrong rocker, these are a good way to ruin an engine. You have to keep up with what goes where and label parts as you tear it down.

From a gamer's perspective I think that is what the game is trying to simulate, it just doesn't simulate it very well. If the game wants a 100% part in that slot, that is all that will work.

Very interesting perspective, and it makes a lot of sense. Thanks.

That's why I don't mind putting the part back exactly where it goes, as long as it isn't tedious to do so.

That's why I would like for faulty parts to be highlighted once you have visually/physically inspected them.

[random smile]

Originally posted by Grimmslayer73:

Originally posted by random smile:

as you replace the parts to a minimum % then it shouldn't matter what order they go back.. as long as all parts are above that minimum % it shouldn't matter if you mix up spark plug 3 with spark plug 1 as long as the damaged spark plug gets replaced by a spark plug of minimum required % or higher.

As a real life mechanic I can tell you that if you're going to put an engine back together with the original parts, it's important to put everything back exactly where it was. Putting a piston in a different cylinder, mixing up rod caps (specifically the bearing that goes with it that the game doesn't have), matching a push rod to the wrong rocker, these are a good way to ruin an engine. You have to keep up with what goes where and label parts as you tear it down.

From a gamer's perspective I think that is what the game is trying to simulate, it just doesn't simulate it very well. If the game wants a 100% part in that slot, that is all that will work.

that is both interesting and terrifying.. good thing this game isn't 100% realistic.. lotta cars be blowing up that i work on. I don't know much about cars but i like them.. and this game for me is the closest thing to the real thing I'll ever get.. if it gets any more realistic then it is at the moment, i doubt I'd ever play it.. its like if trying to change breaks were realistic .. ive seen enough youtube videos to know that isn't a simple job .. nor a fun one.. but its a hard line to draw.. fun vs realism.. and its different for everyone.

[Grimmslayer73]

Originally posted by random smile:

if it gets any more realistic then it is at the moment, i doubt I'd ever play it.. its like if trying to change breaks were realistic .. ive seen enough youtube videos to know that isn't a simple job .. nor a fun one.. but its a hard line to draw.. fun vs realism.. and its different for everyone.

Exactly. They have to find a balance... too real and no one would play. Too simple and no one would play. I have played long enough that I can do a full restoration in about 20 minutes. If it took hours I doubt I would play. Id rather do the real thing at that point.