Quick Look: Car Mechanic Simulator 2018

I did not expect actual licensed cars.

Thanks Abbyyyyyyy

Oh wow, this should be good!

VFastVFurious

Nice.

e: Jeez, did not expect this to be an hour. Got some time to kill waiting for Night Trap to download so this is perfect :D

Needs more Finnish curses.

Please go to pussy, Satan.

Alex sounds like Dr Rockzo the Rock & Roll Clown

This seems to be better than that other Swedish (?) car fixing game that Drew looked at.

Wish I could sit in on this Quick Look to answer all your car questions lol Been working on cars for the last 15 years or so.

I will say, if you find these games interesting, check out Gearhead Garage (17 years later the site is still up!), which as far as I know was the original mechanic style game. Pretty much plays the same way as this. Gearhead Garage is what I played growing up.

In terms of accuracy and detail of the Car Mechanic Sim games, they are just a rough approximation. There is no way they could model a car down to every nut and bolt, unless they took one model and spent years and years making it. These games will teach you the basics of part names and where they are generally located. Excellent learning tool if you are say 10-20 years old and curious about working on cars. Real basic, surface level stuff.

I'm finding it really hard to explain why these games are the way they are. They are very simplified, because they need to be. Automobiles can be incredibly complex. The best way to learn working on cars is to actually go and do it. Just start taking your car apart. Obviously, do not do it if you aren't mechanically inclined and have someone to help you if you mess up etc.

I did buy this game, played it for a couple hours and have not returned. A lot of jank and bugs at launch, which they seem to be fixing as fast as they can.

I remember watching Polygon looking at the 2015 version, I find it somewhat hilarious that these games are named and come out like sports games.

I would love to be able to watch this video but that music that happens not long in is driving me mad sadly.

Well, it's a different kind of game really, that one is all about you building and upgrading the one car you have, also it's ridiculously complicated, like you have to actually assemble the entire freaking engine piece by piece, plus there's this whole weird "survival" aspect to it in which you need to eat and bathe or somethin'

This one is just like a straightforward mechanic game

I feel like these type of games should always have a (crappy) narrative to go along with the fixing-things-up stuff. City Bus Simulator and World of Subways 4 spoiled me on that.

Quick Look: Eurobeatz House

I'd be into this QL but this music is bad

I have been excited for this quick look since I saw it on the upcoming section. I have put like 50 hours into this game.

@notnert427: They've had licensed cars since Car Mechanic Simulator 2015

"...you know what I mean...?"

The whole idea that a car could have a whole front subframe that needs to be replaced is totally ridiculous. I've seen a bent control arm or two, but damaged subframe? lol.

Also new calipers that don't come with cylinders? Nah. Haha.

Not a bad surface level intro to see how all the parts fit together, but beyond that, not really useful.

I had no clue this would end up being a loot-based game.

I really wish there was a demo for this game, as a career automotive technician i would to get hands on with it a bi before buying.

Please for future QL: If you have a station playing just turn down the music, it is competing with the voice overs and for those of us that don't like the "jams" it makes it a bit hard to watch/listen. I'm guessing it was not as loud in their headsets.

@dukeofthebump said:

Yeah, when Vinny and Abby kept talking about how they'd really rather just fix a junker or build a car from the ground up, I was thinking "There's a game for you!"

Plus you get to brew moonshine and run your car into a tree and die.

@sravingmad: You can fix a junker in this game. They didn't get to that quick look though.

I didn't expect Vinny to open a door to reveal a dynamometer!

This should be vr with oculus touch motion controls... Or at least let people use motion controls for using/rotating all those elements

I was scared pressing the play button to hear Dan in on this Quick Look and thousand of his trademarked "playing it dumber than necessary" questions, but... :D I got lucky, Dan's not in.

Nothing against Dan though. Just... this certain game might have sent his persona in a bad overdrive.

I ONLY want to be attacked by drum and bass.

Aww, I really wanted this to be good, but I guess My Summer Car level of detail was too much to hope for. I can't help but feel the simulator part of the name is a bit of an oversell.

This game series has never been about being exactly like a real car it's more like a general things of a real car in video game form.

@vinny Hey Vinny, I've spent a little bit more time than you with this - Level 10 or so - this was a fun watch.

Glad you used the Test Path on video - I had almost the same reaction. Forgetting all the keys despite just using the Test Track, and not being able to get out at the end.

I recommend clicking the Star button on the Job Summary, it highlights the part in question in a blue haze like the Yellow Highlights when you're looking at parts through each other.

The "Add to List" function is pretty useless. I did end up using a notepad.

Story Cars always require 100% Quality parts, you can check what is acceptable in the bottom left of the Job Summary.

You can also use the Condition Overview when looking at a car without clicking into a sub-component - basically wherever you can access the Job Summary.

Overall, I like this thing. It's probably at the right price point, if they can address the performance concerns. The UI is poor but workable, but I dont expect them to rectify that.

Edit: You should be able to access the Barn Finds, they appear in random places on the Map at the garage door. I've not reached the Auctions yet either, but I think they're to sell restored Barn Finds etc

Rubber bushing? I hardly know.. her...?

I feel like this is the kinda thing VR should be for. Imagine being able to learn applicable real world skills like auto repair or I dunno, surgery. Anything that would require practice, but the resources to practice on would be difficult or expensive to get. Although it would probably take a tremendous amount of time and money to develop these things to be real-world accurate for a fairly niche market. Video games should be utilized for more than just murdering shit.

Extremely tempted to get this as a time sink game. I'm on the same boat as many here about wanting to get a old junker at some point just to be able to rebuild the thing in order to learn. So far the dream has eluded me as I don't have a garage.

Also now I want to watch Mark Evans' series A Car Is Born and A Car Is reborn again (highly recommend these).

gotta install lug nuts in a star pattern Vinny

It's not for me but this seems like a really great game!

What is up with all the rust? Why are the brake rotors all covered in rust on a car that presumably drove to the shop under its own power? Why are the alloy wheels on that same car rusty? Why is there rust on an aluminum engine block? I'm not sure that people who made this actually know much about cars.

It's just supposed to be an easy to develop and easy to understand by the player way to indicate the condition level of parts. Best not to think about it too deeply as these games aren't meant to be super realistic.

Thank you SO SO SO much for not having Dan on this QL! Just like every video he is in it would have devolved to him asking a bunch of questions showing how little he knows or cares about something. While this gimmick is fun in moderation, it has been way over done in recent videos.

...all the bolts turn the wrong direction.

No real tech would ever play this game. The interesting part of working on cars is diag, not R&R. They also seem to have done more work on a single cars interior/body than every combination of mechanical bits. It's possible you'd understand how to do your own brakes after this but other than that, which is basic maintenance, you'll still probably need the internet, a manual, and a friend who thinks they know what they're doing. Even doing your oil would be a stretch after playing this. So typical sim game problems, they don't simulate much of the real life thing.

Not a mechanic, but i work in HVAC and i just cant get past how gamey this kind of stuff is. I realize they cant emulate it in a game really but the part that is fun about this stuff is troubleshooting, this may as well be a fancy 3d puzzle.

Also, something this rusty you would still be stuck on getting the first few bolts out and hoping to god you dont have to drill and tap it. And you would be bleeding from trying to get your damn hand in there.

This game doesn't strike me as a Goat Simulator type of "simulator" so I don't think it is unreasonable to expect a certain level of realism. Especially when it is as basic as not putting terrible looking rust textures on things that shouldn't or simply cannot rust. It just seems really bizarre to me.

Leveling up also seems odd. I can understand leveling up your garage as you progress but why would I need to "level up" to buy a tire tread depth gauge? A basic one is only a couple bucks at Autozone.

As a mechanic, in reality, if they really wanted to play up the simulator aspect- that fucking phone would be ringing constantly and people wouldn't leave you alone to ask when their car would be ready. lol

Vinny's sister-in-laws dad is a mechanic? So his father in-law? What?

Nope, his wife's dad is his father in law. A sister in law is someone who's married to your sibling.

@ketchupp: He could be talking about his brother's wife's dad. Which would not be his father-in-law.

I'm weirdly intrigued by this. I've always been a car guy but haven't even done an oil change on a car in a good 15 years.

Has anyone played any of the earlier Car Mechanic Simulator games? I see that the 2014 edition is £4.99 on Steam.