Auto Modellista

Overview

Auto Modellista (Italian for "car designer") is a racing "simulator" published by Capcom and developed internally at Capcom's Production Studio 1. Its cel-shaded graphics helped separate the game from the rest of the racing genre competition, though it suffered from its ambitiousness. It released in Japan on the PlayStation 2 on August 22nd, 2002 and arrived in PAL territories on December 6th, 2002. Upon its release in Europe and Japan, the game was heavily criticized for featuring poor driving mechanics. It consequentially sold considerably under expectations.

March 2003 saw the release of Auto Modellista in North America, dubbed internally as the "US Tuned" version. This version saw Capcom add a host of American car manufacturers and fix some of the game's core aspects from the JP/EU version. Unfortunately, the sub-par driving physics remained present and was released in North America to critical and commercial failure. The US Tuned version would be ported as a GameCube and Xbox game, with the latter due for release in Europe on April 2004, but distributors eventually decided not to honour, predicting sales of the game were going to be poor.

Gameplay

Auto Modellista is, according to Capcom, a racing simulator. While they originally promised to use "real world physics" to accurately simulate each car's handling, the end result is a poorly conceived driving engine that will throw the car into oversteer at the slightest steering adjustment regardless of the selected car. Although players can use these physics to exploit longer corners, it causes cars to become incredibly unstable at high speeds and would frequently cause the player to spin out 180º in any tight corner. Getting back on track then becomes a problem of its own, as the sensitive physics causes the car to spin out when re-starting from a neutral position. The car will spin in endless 360º circles unless they completely let go of the accelerator, which has the chance to re-start the spin-outs once again. With no retry option in the pause menu, the many handling issues made the game far more frustrating than it could have been.

The limited amount of tracks, lack of variety in car selection, and unbearably complicated online matchmaking system were also noticeable faults.

One of the game's few redeeming qualities, however, is the complete lack of currency. Upon starting a new game, the player can pick any car in the list (opponent vehicles will match the user's car class) and you can instantly equip any available upgrades to a car as soon as they unlock. Certain cars and parts were locked as unlockables for completing events. This made experimenting with different car classes and setups a lot easier than any other racing simulator.

A large aspect of the game was its online mode, with online races supporting up to 8 players and a chat room available between races. This functionality (and many of the game modes relating to it) were removed from the original US and European releases, but was added back into the US Tuned editions of the game. The online mode of Auto Modellista has been terminated, and cannot be used in any versions of the game.

Game Modes

Garage Life

This is the main gameplay mode in Auto Modellista. It is shaped like a career mode, though is devoid of any story or ultimate goal. Players start out by naming their garage and selecting a car. From there, the player names the car and types in a license plate. The game then presents the game's main menu, presented as follows:

• Change Cars

Where you'll go to switch cars at any time. The game uses a "Sub Garage" system, which acts as slots for your different cars. Since there is no currency or class restrictions in the game, you're free to race with whichever automobile you wish.

• Tune Car

Where you can upgrade your currently selected car. Any upgrades unlocked can instantly be equipped without need of purchasing them like in other racing titles. There are host of options in the Tune Car menu:

• Easy Tune-Up: This is a "beginner's" way of tuning their car. The game asks you a series of questions to decide which tuning setup would be best suitable for you. It will ask which track you will be racing on, if you want a higher focus on acceleration or maximum speed, and if you would like your steering to handle more tightly or loosely.
• Tune-Up: This is the more advanced option to upgrade your car. This option will allow you to change your tires, brakes, suspension, turbo, exhaust, CPU, engine, and transmission settings. Each option can be fine tuned. When selecting an option other than the default option.
• Dress-Up: Here is where you can upgrade your car's appearance. You can change its body design (generally gives the option of racing stripes or not), parts like the car's hood, mirrors, front and back bumper, side skirts, spoiler, rims and headlights, it's paintjob, decals, and license plate.
• Test Run: This allows you to test your car's current setup on any of the game's tracks.

• Garage Design

Where you can change the appearance of the garage. In the Garage Life menu, the background is displayed as the inside of a garage housing your car. The garage itself is fully customizable with a wide variety of objects and posters that can be unlocked in races. For a complete list of Garage Design unlocks, refer to the list at the far-bottom of the page. In the Garage Design menu, you can rename your garage, change the type (Between a regular garage, concrete-walled garage and a log cabin garage) and change the layout of items within the garage.

• Sub Garage

Here is where you can manage cars stored in your sub garages. You are given the option to delete them, copy them to other slots or store them in the current slot you're using.

• Race

This is the game's main mode. You'll be dropped into a menu where you select from different tier-like "Levels" to race in. Levels will have playlists of tracks to compete in with each event having it's own reward, difficulty rating, and style. Certain races will be Technical stages (tight corners, narrow roads, and focusing heavily on racing lines) while others will be High Speed stages (long stretches of road, wide and long corners). You'll race in a variety of environments and track styles. Certain tracks will be closed circuit tracks like the famous Suzuka Circuit in Japan, others will be uphill/downhill races (otherwise known as 'touge' races) or highway circuits.

• Status

A menu to view statistics and progress of your current game.

• Auto Modellista Shop

This option is locked from the beginning of the game. Once you progress further into the game, you gain access to the Auto Modellista shop. This allows you to replace the engine of one car with another from within the same manufacturer. i.e.: Transposing a Toyota Supra RZ engine into a Trueno GT APEX, giving the Trueno a 276HP engine.

• Mail

Where you get to read all of the absolutely useless e-mail that is sent to you throughout the course of the game. Anything explained through these e-mails can be found within the game manual. "Driving tips" are given here but, due to the game's handling physics, are basically purposeless.

• Save

Arcade Mode

This is where players can go for a quick race. You're able to race in a single race mode against computer opponents, split-screen against a friend or in Time Attack mode against the clock.

V.J. Theatre

Where players can go to view saved replays or "Remix" their own replays. You can use the game's built-in video editor to splice in footage, building a music video of sorts.

Network

This is the game's multiplayer component. Auto Modellista can be played online (on the PS2 or Xbox) through Xbox Live or, on PS2, the S.N.A.P. application. The SNAP interface acted as a fake web-browser, requiring registration and other inconveniences to access online play.

Options

Here is where you can change the control scheme for the game, set different options for audio and display settings as well as view your high scores.

Save/Load

You are given the privilege to save and load your game here.

Track List

Car List (*cars found only in US-Tuned)

Garage Life garage customization unlocks

Posters

• Gulf Oil Poster
• Snap-on Poster
• TOMY Poster
• elf Poster
• Bridgestone Poster B
• DUNLOP Poster
• ADVAN Poster
• ENKEI Poster
• OZ Poster
• WORK Poster
• SSR Poster
• Watanabe Poster
• RAYS Poster
• RECARO Poster
• FALKEN Poster
• TAMIYA Poster
• Steering Wheel A
• Steering Wheel B
• Steering Wheel C
• Castrol Retro Poster A
• Castrol Retro Poster B
• Castrol Retro Sign
• Michelin Retro Poster A
• Michelin Retro Poster B
• Michelin Retro Poster C
• Michelin Retro Poster D
• Michelin Retro Poster E
• Michelin Retro Poster F
• Michelin Retro Poster G
• Michelin Retro Poster H
• Michelin Retro Poster I
• Michelin Retro Sign A
• Michelin Retro Sign B
• Michelin Retro Sign C
• Auto Modellista Poster B
• Auto Modellista Poster C
• Auto Modellista Poster D
• Auto Modellista Sign
• ALPINE Poster
• Snap-on Metal Sign A
• Snap-on Metal Sign B
• Snap-on Metal Sign C
• Snap-on Metal Sign D
• Snap-on Metal Sign E
• Snap-on Small Frisbee
• Dunlop Retro Poster A
• Dunlop Retro Poster B
• Dunlop Retro Poster C
• Dunlop Retro Sign A
• Dunlop Retro Sign B
• Dunlop Retro Sign C

Floor Items

• Triple Shelf
• Battery
• Gas Tank
• Snap-on Hydraulic Jack
• Triple Shelf - Small
• Horizontal Tire Stand
• Snap-on Top Chest A
• Drum Can
• Mountain Bike A
• Mountain Bike B
• RECARO Seat
• Radio
• Stereo
• Surfboard
• Director's Chair
• Dolly
• Weight Training Set
• Snap-on Seat Creeper
• Portable Air Compressor
• Tool Roll Cab B
• Snap-on Battery Charger
• Steel Cart
• Parts Washer
• Snap-on Blast Cabinet
• Air Compressor
• Snap-on Roll Cart
• Snap-on Parts Washer
• Snap-on Modular Workbench
• Snap-on Top Chest B
• Snap-on Top Chest C
• Snap-on Roll Cab B
• Snap-on Adjustable Creeper
• Snap-on Metal Box
• Snap-on Waste Oil Drain
• Bibendum Figure S
• Bibendum Figure L
• Servbot Figure A
• Servbot Figure B
• Full-face Helmet
• Rally Helmet
• Racing Gloves
• Wooden Triple Shelf
• Wooden Triple Box Shelf
• Low Board
• Castrol Retro Oil Tank L
• Castrol Retro Oil Tank M
• Castrol Retro Oil Tank S
• Castrol Retro Oil Can A
• Castrol Retro Oil Can B
• Castrol Retro Oil Can C
• Castrol Retro Oil Can D
• Castrol Retro Oil Can E
• Castrol Handy Oil Can
• Pennzoil Oil Can B
• Pennzoil Oil Can C
• Gulf Oil Can B
• Gulf Oil Can C
• elf Oil Can B
• elf Oil Can C
• elf Oil Can D
• Dunlop Retro Oil Can
• Large Championship Plaque
• Small Championship Plaque
• Gorgeous Trophy
• Large Trophy
• Small Trophy
• Large Championship Cup
• Small Championship Cup
• Special Championship Plaque
• Special Trophy
• Special Championship Cup

Trivia

• In the PAL and American version, although the cars are the same as found in the original Japanese version (aside from the cars added to the US-Tuned version), the names of certain car models were change to their respective names as sold in the European/American market.

• In Garage Life, the player is given the ability to add stickers to their cars. Several of these stickers feature famous capcom characters and game series, such as Street Fighter and Devil May Cry.