Much later than originally planned, welcome to the Direct Player Trading update! A release so big that I skipped from version 0.53 straight to 0.55!
Whilst on the face of it, it might seem relatively simple, the amount of work that has gone into this is huge. Possibly being the biggest update to the game so far. Hopefully, my investment of time into this is also part of the reason it does, hopefully, appear so simple...
As this has been such a large and complex release, please treat this as an initial "early-access" version of this feature. Whilst I have considered an awful lot of possibilities, I am only human and some things may slip through the net. Please submit any bug reports and give feedback via the Development forum in-game - thank you!
Please also note that this is a member-only feature. All, including free players, can still also trade their vehicles via the classifieds as normal.
Players can now send direct offers to another player when viewing their profile page, which can typically be accessed by tapping on a player's name and then the new "Offer Trade" button. This means that to trade vehicles directly to another player, you don't need to list it within the classifieds.
There are several stipulations before you can trade with another player:
As part of these changes, and as mentioned in the most recent member update, changes were planned for player-to-player classified sales to help avoid abuse, especially now that there is a better way of trading vehicles between players available.
Unfortunately, I haven't had time to implement this just yet, but still plan to do so when I can.
Something else I planned to implement is a “Reputation System” that will apply to all player-to-player actions where money / vehicles etc... may be transferred. This ultimately will grant more flexibility to those that are playing in expected ways and can inhibit those that might try to abuse the system.
Following the Direct Player Trading Update, my focus going forwards is preparing the game for a mobile app release. There is still a lot of work to do for this and I don't have any time scales, but this is where I need to be spending the bulk of my time now to help support the game in the longer term.
Unfortunately, because of the time taken to deliver the above, the next Members Choice Pack release has been delayed. It is still planned to go out before the end of the year, but please bear with me and apologies for any disappointment!
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Following on from Members Choice Pack changes, with the release of the ninth Gold Members Pack, it's time for changes to that too!
Four more vehicles as owned and submitted by the community!
2000 Mitsalithi Epsom 3.0 GT
Debuting in the US, this generation was a touch bigger and a little softer than its predecessor. With the V6, it a made for a sporty cruiser with still enough about it to make it fun.
1989 Settle Irigo 0.9 Special
Cheap, cheerful, often overlooked but endearing to those that owned one of these Italian styled, Spanish built superminis. Not the first word in refinement, but always eager to please.
1999 Dash Neuron 2.0 A-T
Featuring racing stripes, an eager engine and handling honed on the track, this car from the 'States was an interesting competitor to the Japanese alternatives, with some in Japan even calling it the "Japanese car killer"!
2000 BWL NC 3.2
Quad exhaust pipes, six cylinders and plenty of grunt under the bonnet mean that this turn-of-the-century driving machine is regarded as one of the best.
The following vehicles were also updated:
As usual, the above vehicles may be available new or secondhand in the classifieds, as appropriate, from time to time!
All players can access these vehicles. Please note, however, that two of these vehicles are initially reserved for their respective owners. They will be released for everyone when either the first one of each is purchased, or a a month passes following their release. Whichever is first.
A massive thank you to those that have contributed towards getting these in-game!
As the game has grown, so to have the demands on my time. Unfortunately, this means that I will be making changes to the "Own Vehicle Submission" Gold Member tier (& above) perk, including suspending it for new member at this tier (& above) going forwards.
The full changes, and a Q&A section, can be found in-game via the Support -> Own Vehicle Submission page.
In short:
This will hopefully free up some more time, ensuring I get bigger changes and other types of content delivered more quickly.
Unfortunately, as a sole developer, my time is very limited. Thank you for your patience as I continue to make effort into getting the game into the state I'd like it to be!
I have now increased the maximum game time you can have in your account across all membership tiers. Please see further below for what has changed!
If you are not familiar with what this is, this is basically how high your game time can build up to before hitting a ceiling or cap. The higher this cap, the more gameplay you can have in-game if you don’t login for a while. Perfect for when life gets busy!
This should help, especially now that the game speed has increased, with hours therefore building up that bit quicker!
Although I typically have introduced a price increase about this time of year, which affects new members and those switching membership tiers, I am pleased to say that I do not currently have any plans to increase the membership pricing at present.
Want to know more about the game and its development? Member’s get the inside track with exclusive member updates! Every contribution matters, with membership starting at just £2.50 a month! (when paid yearly)
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A few things to cover and they are all Members Choice Poll related! Kicking off we have...
1998 Crystal M3C 3.5 :
Whilst this American luxo-barge never made it officially to the UK, it won US accolades in 1999 & was designed to compete against Europe's best.
1991 Roamer B16 1.6 GTi 16V Twin Cam:
The ludicrously long trim designation reflects the British and Japanese engineering that encompasses this smart looking, if somewhat forgettable hatchback.
1984 Auby Quadrat 2.1 Sport:
As the competition heated up in the World Rally Championship, a special version dubbed Sport was created with a shorter body to give a better weight distribution and to allow the 4WD system to be used to its fullest. This is the homologation version.
1970 Portsmouth Superwing 7.0 426:
Whilst the 1980s are known for its excess both in cars and in culture, the huge wing and nose cone proves that such excess was nothing new. Proving itself the aerodynamic King in American Stock Car racing, this road version is never going to fail to turn heads.
1997 Roamer B00 1.8 VVT / BRG:
(Double Bonus) Two very similar cars, both acting as a precursor for more sporting versions, they give quite different attitudes from the outside. The former looking quite benign in its potential and the latter shouting from the rooftops with its bright orange grille!
The following vehicles were also updated:
As usual, the above vehicles may be available new or secondhand in the classifieds, as appropriate, from time to time! All players can access these vehicles.
A massive thank you to those that have contributed towards getting these in-game!
Members have chosen the following vehicles to inspire the vehicles of the next Members Choice vehicle pack!
And the bonus ball results...
The following vehicles are recognised as being nominated on several unsuccessful occasions and one of these was randomly selected to be added as part of this car pack:
And finally the bonus ball result is (one of, if more than one defined):
Thanks to everyone that participated in this poll!
The next poll will go live shortly and will be found in the General section of the in-game forums! https://motornation.net/game/forum/board/1
Vehicles from this poll are planned to release before the next poll ends!
As per the most recent Member's update, after 25 Members Choice Polls, totalling 135 vehicles* (including the above vehicles yet to come) it is now time to make some changes to how the polls work.
If you are not familiar with how the polls have worked to date, then they are held within the forums and members can vote for vehicles that they would like to see in the game. The top four vehicles are then picked with a bonus ball vehicle being selected from previous submissions that failed to make the cut on multiple occasions.
There have been a number of revisions to how the process works over the years, typically on the number of vehicles and timings of each poll. However, the packs are increasingly becoming home to vehicles which don’t necessarily represent the variety of vehicles to best fit within the vision of the game. One solution would be to replace them with purely my own choices, with an eye on community feedback. However, I want to continue giving members a direct voice if possible, so after contemplating various options and for the time being, the following changes are planned:
Whilst the vehicle packs will still typically consist of five vehicles, 3 will be chosen by Members, 1 will be a "MotorNation's choice" where it will fit some sort of need or "hole" within the game and finally the Bonus Ball will continue with a new stipulation:
The bonus ball, whilst still randomly picked, will be the first selection that is sufficiently different from the other vehicles chosen in the pack.
Going from typically five members' choice packs a year to four. This will give me more opportunity to deliver the features and other varied content that players can enjoy now that the game has nearly reached 500 vehicles in total.
If a UK domestic model is available, then that will typically be used in preference. This is because the game is currently set in the UK and domestic models fit in more easily within the rest of the game. This may change when the planned regions are added to the game and it will continue to be judged on a case-by-case basis.
As usual, the selection of vehicles chosen for the pack will be discretionary. As an automotive enthusiast myself, I appreciate all nominations and I hope you can understand that as MotorNation is a different game to most and I would also like the vehicle roster to reflect that too!
* This doesn’t include Gold Members Packs and similar own vehicle submissions!
Want to know more about the game and its development? Member’s get the inside track with exclusive member updates! Every contribution matters, with membership starting at just £2.50 a month! (when paid yearly)
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Well, not all, but many of them at least! Whilst I am champing at the bit to work on the mobile app, the game has reached a level of maturity where some existing game mechanics need a figurative lick of paint!
The vast majority of jobs in-game now offer vehicle mileage, or rather fuel, allowance. This means that most temporary classified jobs now effectively pay more, with large increases especially for the takeaway delivery jobs.
This will overall help new players, those that enjoy the jobs and those that don’t want to resort to selling ice-creams for their in-game side hustle!
I've also reduced the maximum farm jobs available to 3 (from 4) due to a lack of demand. However, as the allowances for these jobs are more generous I do wonder if the potential of these hasn't been fully realised yet.
For most of MotorNation’s history, running a clapped out banger of a car could weirdly make it more competitive in races. Why? Basically, vehicle handling was often a favoured attribute and running a worn engine and / or drivetrain would allow you to use an excellent handling vehicle with a lower class than you might normally expect. Whilst there are far more changes planned, including vehicle reliability, I have made the following changes relating to vehicle wear:
To provide a more accessible and sensible form of vehicle tuning, restrictor plates have been added. This allows you to limit your engine’s output between 10-30%. This provides much of the benefits as wear previously did, minus the grinding for wear and the embarrassment of the oil stains left behind your clapped out banger of a car.
I'd still like to offer more granular tuning, but this will have to come later.
As has been long requested, upcoming races are now visible from the in-game diary. This will make it easier to keep tabs on what races you have upcoming, allowing you to plan your schedule and your in-game resources!
Because of the far-reaching changes above, it will be necessary to create a new “period” for the best times. This is basically a reset of the best times, but as usual the old ones will be preserved and can still be viewed.
In addition, a bug relating to vehicles recording a top time and then dropping class has now been fixed. If you had, for example, an A9 class car previously and it broke mid race to B9, it would have run a lap as an A9 car but then recorded it as B9 on the best times. This was incorrect.
Want to know more about the game and its development? Member’s get the inside track with exclusive member updates! Every contribution matters, with membership starting at just £2.50 a month! (when paid yearly)
Don't miss out on the full experience!
Or rather, 11.4%... faster. As has been on the top of the Member Wish List for some time, the game has now been accelerated to work at a speed of 8 game days to 1 real day from the previous 7 days per real day. I’m testing out a small increase for now to see how it works out and will keep any future increases in review. This also sets some of the groundwork for the planned Turbo, round-based, game mode.
To most people, this basically means more gameplay per real-life day. This applies to both free players and members alike.
This accelerated game speed affects a number of things, such as:
Some things won't change:
Member Updates are now more directly incorporated in-game through a new tab on the News page in-game. This helps set the stage for two things:
It also addresses an issue that came to light a little while ago, where annual Ko-fi members lost access to supporter posts after a certain length of time. This was never my intention, and whilst member updates were always available in the forum - albeit with less formatting, I nevertheless apologise for any inconvenience or disappointment caused!
In addition to the benefits mentioned above due to the game speed increase, classifieds have also been improved in the following ways:
Please note that there is much more planned for this, but as always, changes have to be balanced with the many, many, others.
In the meantime, if you’d like to see more cars in the classifieds, then one of the best ways to help is to get more common UK market models through the Members Choice Polls. These help pad out the classifieds, reduce duplicates and make them more realistic.
Whilst there are far bigger plans for this, I've now added a Contribute section in-game to give some guidelines for vehicle photo and statistic submissions for those that wish to do so.
Hopefully, this will shed some light as to what will and won’t likely get included in the game - thank you!
Want to know more about the game and its development? Member’s get the inside track with exclusive member updates! Every contribution matters, with membership starting at just £2.50 a month! (when paid yearly)
Don't miss out on the full experience!
Like buses, two vehicle packs are coming out at once this time around! The 8th Gold Member Pack and the 23rd Members Choice Pack. These packs feature vehicles belonging to and those that have been chosen by members of the community, respectively.
2000 BWL E30 2.9d SE:
Putting a diesel engine in a refined executive saloon may have been seen as sacrilegious only a decade prior. But by the turn of the century, the engines were getting more refined. With plenty of torque and improved MPG, they continued to win fans for years to come.
1994 Jeppi Chalakee 4.0 Sport 4x4:
This generation was more compact than its predecessor but offered improvements in many areas. The chunky American styling will be a tempting prospect for those looking for something a bit different.
1983 Prosher Typ 92 2.0 Lux:
Created originally as part of a joint project between two major German marques, this model made an affordable entry into the illustrious brand at a fraction of the cost.
1999 Nesson Slither 2.0 R Aero:
Whilst only sold new in Japan, previous domestic models assured there was plenty of demand back in the UK. The R Aero version furthered its sporting credentials as it fully embraced the now maturing JDM scene.
The following vehicles were also updated:
2000 Crystal PG Carousel 2.4:
Another Y2K era, retro throwback. This time, more unusually, the styling is adorning a practical family 'wagon. Loved and derided in equal measure, it is nonetheless pretty unique and unlike many other controversial designs, its retro looks haven't dated beyond the obvious.
1999 Prosher Typ 91 3.6 CG3:
Preparing for the 21st century, the classic design was sharpened up for the new millennium. This one is one of the lightweight variants, but don't worry, the fried-egg headlights survived.
1982 Lancrossi OCG 2.0 Stradale:
Somehow looking even more bonkers than its sport car like predecessor, and just before the 4WD revolution, the rally version of this car became the final rear wheel drive car to win the World Rally Championship.
1961 Jacquard Mark-E 3.8 OTS:
Regarded by some as one of the most beautiful cars ever made, this car certainly made waves when it launched in the early 1960s and it didn't stop there. It remained relevant past its replacement and even found a new cultural purpose in the late 90s. Shagadelic baby, yeah!
1980 Fitalia ABF 0.65 De Ville:
(Bonus) Created by the Italians as a replacement for its 1950s predecessor and then lovingly adopted as a people's car in Poland where it earnt the nickname "Maluch". It stayed in production for an impressive 28 years.
Following feedback, the shop has now been updated to help lay out membership options and merchandise in a clearer manner!
Following the recent Discord moderator recruitment round, which made use of a new “Vacancies” area on the website, I’d like to welcome two new Discord moderators: jm930 & leond__!
Many thanks to everyone who applied. There were far more applicants than I expected and I am very grateful to everyone who offered - thank you!
I would also like to extend a big thank you to outrun1986, for their efforts in moderating the server and all their many other efforts to date.
Previously provided as part of a Member Update.
To aid transparency, and to show how much work is planned and indeed logged, I now plan to periodically update an outstanding task count on the development roadmap page:
This also gives an incredibly simplified metric to show whether the work coming in is greater than the work going out. “Spoiler alert” – it is, with it currently sitting at about 650 tasks.
Previously provided as part of a Member Update.
Want to know more about the game and its development? Member’s get the inside track with exclusive member updates! Every contribution matters, with membership starting at just £2.50 a month! (when paid yearly)
Don't miss out on the full experience!
Plenty to cover in this big release, so let's get started!
New Express Courier Job with a new mileage rate paying perk! This job is for large panel vans only and covers more mileage than the other van jobs!
Other Changes:
Following feedback from the community, I have updated a variety of the vehicles in-game. There are still many to do, and it will take time, but thank you to those that submitted these!
A new section of the website has been created to allow me to advertise vacant positions, such as those for new Discord moderators!
Added a section for covering when the next bigger release is approximately scheduled.
I'm pleased to report that the game now appears to be consistently meeting the 3rd income goal! Whilst this feels like a very long time coming now, it is a big relief to finally start to get some of my financial freedom back. Thank you to all current and past members for making this happen!
I will keep working hard to maintain this and to try and make the 4th income goal a reality as the game increasingly approaches sustainability!
I cover this in more detail in the recent member update!
Added the ability to apply membership boosts. More will be announced about this in the future!
A revised set of terms & conditions and privacy policy are also being released today. These are designed to be easier to read, give more clarity, remove some ambiguities and help pave the way for the future. As usual, the minimum amount of data is used to run the game and associated services.
If you'd like to know more about the game and its development, then please consider becoming a member and getting the inside track on what's coming up in the future! It all makes a difference and costs from as little as £2.50 a month! (when paid yearly)
Don't miss out on the full experience!
Welcome to 2024! Just a small update this time round, and I also wanted to share some festive artwork created on the community Discord server during the festive break!
For players who have accounts less than 28 days old the following player challenge wager limits will now apply:
These changes have been made as part of the ongoing anti-cheat measures. This will also help protect newer players from unwittingly losing too much money in unfair challenges.
Credit to one of our Discord moderators, outrun1986, for holding an impromptu event over the festive holidays! With the basic premise being:
"In this event you can submit fan-made work of anything MotorNation related, such as your garage, cars going racing, the signature Ford Capri, heck - maybe even put Wrenchy in there."
Thanks also to Discord user shaditoes for also submitting the amusing piece called "Wrenchy gets a dui in an au falcon"! Unfortunately, I've not heard back about posting it here, but why not take a look in the Discord thread!
Following on from the member update last year, the main priority for the time being will be getting the mobile app ready. There is continued strong demand for this (the game is still playable via mobile web browsers too!) and I absolutely need to make the game sustainable. This will be a major milestone in achieving this!
On the subject of member updates, the next one will likely go out in the next couple of weeks. This will give more details; what changes I am making for 2024 and likely (since I often get carried away) much more!
With new membership perks being regularly added, there has never been a better time to join! It all makes a difference and costs from as little as £2.50 a month! (when paid yearly)
Don't miss out on the full experience!
