Hey. New to the game, I’m figuring things out as I play. I got some questions though:
How would you sumarize your research strategy? Do you research every slot before researching features or improvements in production efficiency? Are there any researches you ALWAYS unlock in the very first moments of the game?
When and in what kind of vehicles do you begin implementing which features? Do you do it according to what the competition researches? Are there features more important in some body types than others?
How do you price your vehicles? In the early game every feature is very rare for every segment, does that mean you could (and hence should) price your first (few) vehicle as $$$ regardless its (lack of) features? Is there a way to know what features the competition is implementing (and not just researched)? Or should I assume the competition will immediately implement every feature they research?
Do slot upgrades consume power when they’re not being used at all? As in I upgrade my Fit Windows slot to Electric Windows, but I’m not actually producing any vehicle with such feature yet; would this upgrade consume power every time a vehicle goes through this slot?
Do you try to produce every price segment of a body type before begin producing another body type? How exactly do you classify each segment? In other words, what exactly does differentiate your $ Sedan from your $$ and your $$$? Do you implement every feature as soon as you unlock them?
Start with power generators - kinda optimal startup build - 1-2 chassis, 3-5 body, 3-5 paint, 2-3 engine, 1-2 accesories, and one each for rest - it can peak at 19k USD/hour. Investing in power generators can cut those expenses heavily. Generators will cost you ~600k, which will pay for itself in about a day.
1.1 - then, I go all in towards specializations - even one basic specialised line (1 each of everything, +2 extra driers for both steps in paint) will cut energy draw by ~50%, shorten production cycle from ~7 mins/car to ~4 minutes; and make your main factory line prepared for any features.
1.2. then, I usually try to catch up with any feature that’s under 1000 research points
when I’ll research at least 3-4 new features, I’ll put it in new car.
did not tested pricing featureless car at $$$ so far, so no ideal. And you won’t know what competition is working on, but as a rule of thumb, just look at research costs - A.I goes from cheapest ones.
I havent noticed it - but If you’d already made power generators, it’s a moot point.
I differentiate segments by ~6+ features, keeping in mind how each feature is “valued” - if you’ll hover over feature in Car Designs, there you have Market value (though I don’t thing it shows “premiums” from being rare here). On the top you have total Market Value of whole car - there, “premiums” are included. If you’ll increase price enough to get to higher segment, you’ll notice that Market value drops, due to many features becoming more common. As a rule of thumb, I try to keep sale price at 140-170% of market value - it worked nice so far. I tried setting it higher, but at least for $ $$ and $$$ it didn’t work so well. So, basically if you’ll check enough features to get i.e. 25k USD market value, selling the car for 40k USD shouldn’t be an issue.
Ok thanks for your answers. Some of them I’ve figured out over the last days, others will come in handy, especially regarding price segments etc.
Do you have any idea whether the game considers some features more important for some body type than others? I’m struggling a lot to sell my compacts, usually I equip all body types more or less with the same features (when possible), and while with the other ones it’s just a matter of adjusting a bit their price when they begin to pile up in the showroom, with the compact (in all price segments) I end up just halting its production because no matter how much I lower its price, I can hardly sell them.
The issue with compacts might be just Value - bigger cars have higher value when having same features than smaller ones due to featureless value ratio. With sedan without features as baseline, compact without features will be valued at 20% less (so 0.8 multiplier), pickup and SUV 20% more (1.2 multiplier) and sports car 40% more (1.4 multiplier). Features keep their full value, ignoring “body type” multiplier, at least in my calculations. This means the more features, the lower the difference will be between i.e. Luxury sedan (46k value) and Luxury sportscar (52k value). //Data from save game I checked for answer// Clearly base 1.4 multiplier became a measly 1.13 one when comparing featureless sports to sedan to full-featured (at least in save I used).
So, maybe keep in mind dropping the price by… 10-20% for compacts, upping 10-20% for SUVs, 10-40% for Sports, etc., depending on ballpark count of features (or just base it of value you see; ~1.5 value is often optimal car price).
BTW. I guess you’ve figured it out, but 1-2x polished paintwork for one Fit Power Train station and checking Polished paintwork for all models brings their value by 2-3 grand(depending on current market leanings) - without import hassle, just labour (250-300USD per station). If you can keep station busy and flowing nicely, it’s rarely over 20USD in labour cost per car and 140USD/hour for energy (if somehow 200 units(watts? kW?) isn’t covered by generators)
Oh, and you don’t get an unlimited stream of customers going through the doors - if you get only… 5 customers an hour looking at mid-range compact, at best you’ll sell only 5 of those. That’s why you get Market tab - to check whether you’re not manufacturing too much of the same car type, and if the market is currently saturated (Market Analysis).
Truth be told, this game in some parts might require, or even entice, sitting with a piece of paper and a pen, or Excel spreadsheet to get optimal results and ratios. Yet somehow it’s fun for many
EDIT: I’ve just started new factory; setup 2:5:5:3:2:1:1:1 +3 R&D - energy usage peaked at 40k units, 29k USD/hour; components cost - 59k USD/hour ^^
Thanks again. TBH my price policy isn’t very sophisticated: starting with my very first sedan, I set a high price, and then I adjust it over and over as I’m unlocking and implementing new features and bodies, so I always have some units of each model in my showroom, but not too many of them. And sooner or later I always find myself selling every other body type with more or less tweakings to their price, while compacts, no matter their price range, sell at a ridiculously slow pace, until I have to lower their price to a point where I’d get losses, and then I stop their production (btw, I find rather confusing the ‘capital cost’; it might make you think some price it’s too low while it actually isn’t).
But again, maybe what I should take care of is my policy on releasing new models: I must admit I just pile up one feature after the other on one single model for each price range and body, and probably I should release new models whenever I have a few new features available, and then archive the older ones. The reason why I don’t usually do this is because there are points in the early game where I can’t sell my vehicles unless I lower their prices A LOT, and I guess it’s because the competition just has more features, since in the early game I’m focusing my tech on unlocking slots and on production efficiency and administration.
