Manufacturer names for cars?

[Vain]

So in the skinning-thread of the FZ5/FZR there came up the idea to create manufacturers for the cars. That way we could create emblems for the cars to incorporate into skins, create advertisments for the tracks and make the game feel more real.

Obviously the FZ50 and FZ50 GTR were the first to get a manufacturer.
I wanted to give it a shot and suggested the imaginative netherlands-based manufacturer Ordsville-Varden, a small sports-car manufacturer with love to detail and quality. OV's brand-colors are red and white.
Then I fired up GIMP and played around a bit. The attachment is what I had in GIMP when I wanted to drink coffee and saved the file. It obiously needs some polish and someone who knows how to use his graphics-editor, but it already gives you an impression and it's a start to discuss about.

So what I opened this thread for:
Do we like imaginative manufacturers? Is it worth a try? Does anyone have suggestions?

Vain

[ColeusRattus]

As I said it before: I like it :D

Could you do the full name too in this design?

Let's see if I can come up with something too. But don't excpect too much ;)

[the_angry_angel]

Nice idea Vain, but you're entering a rather large quagmire of "lively discussion" with this idea :) I, for one, agree that now we'd got more vehicles and you cant use the prefix to identify the "manufacturer" anymore.

For those that dont know the history of this concept, check out RSC for the huge thread along these lines.

[Vain]

I updated the emblem in the originating post. This way ColeusRattus?

@the_angry_angel:
When I thought about the idea I didn't think of the recognizability of the cars. I wanted to make the cars more real. And show me a real car without a manufacturer...

Vain

[the_angry_angel]

Vain, I wasnt trying to say this is a crap idea - infact I'm all for it :) I'm just saying that it might be a little controversal :)

[Vain]

1. You will always find something that reminds you of something.
2. And what is that? :confused:

@the_angry_angel:
I'm not afraid of long discussions. :)

Vain

[marsden1002]

Im for it. I get confused with all the different names for the cars.

I would love manufactors names for every car, but what to call each one thats the problem!

[xaotik]

2. And what is that? :confused:

Free ticket for a holiday in cambodia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Kennedys)... :)

(btw, do you mean "passion" instead of "pation" in the OV logo?)

[Vain]

@Xaotik:
Yes, I meant "passion", just attached the wrong file. :)

Vain

[xaotik]

Well, in that case - here's a logo for an imaginary Italian car maker. The oldest of them all - started out with a small shed in Arpinum (now Arpino) building chariots for the Roman Empire...

[Shotglass]

Then I fired up GIMP and played around a bit. The attachment is what I had in GIMP when I wanted to drink coffee and saved the file. It obiously needs some polish and someone who knows how to use his graphics-editor, but it already gives you an impression and it's a start to discuss about.

looks like the make all nato officials drive :)

So what I opened this thread for:
Do we like imaginative manufacturers? Is it worth a try? Does anyone have suggestions?

i like the idea ... and while were at it ... less cryptic car names would be a nice idea too

[ColeusRattus]

i like the idea ... and while were at it ... less cryptic car names would be a nice idea too

Yupp. That would be great to, as only a few car manufacturers use cryptic combos exclusively :D

@Vain. I was more in terms of how the name of the brand would look like, if written to its full extend and also to be used as a larger "logo". like dodge: www.dodge.com

[ColeusRattus]

So here is my try:

Hog, an australian manufacturer for agricultural utility vehicles and military trucks since 1931, saw the need for a leightweight car with low fuel consumption during the oil crisis in the seventies. With a license from Cooper Hog developed and built the Hog UF1000 to fit this need. The car was a major success throughout the australian and south-east asian region, and is still built today.

The .rar contains the .pds with both logo and name in a resolution of 1280x1280

[hrtburnout]

Good one :nod:

[bo-kristiansen]

Good one :nod:

yep :thumb:

[ColeusRattus]

yep :thumb:

thx! I really like xaotiks too... looks classy

[bobvanvliet]

I really like the idea of creating car brands to go with the rather cryptic designations we have now, but I'd much rather see the Devs commission one or two artists for this (maybe after a competition of some sort).

I'd be up for it :nod:

[ColeusRattus]

I really like the idea of creating car brands to go with the rather cryptic designations we have now, but I'd much rather see the Devs commission one or two artists for this (maybe after a competition of some sort).

I'd be up for it :nod:

I think, that was one of the thoughts of this thread. We create brands with a car suggestion, but it's up to the devs if and which ones they pick (and assign to which car)...

[bo-kristiansen]

HOG UF1000 deluxe :razz:

[ColeusRattus]

As I seem to have a creative phase right now, here's Brand number 2:

Spitfire:

Two British World War II Fighter pilots founded this little exclusive car manufacturer in 1948. Their first car "Spitfire Mark I" was basically a carframe built around an engine of the famous Spitfire fighter. Just a few years later they were amongst the most exclusive sportscar manufacturers in the United Kingdom, producing only a dozen cars per year for the créme-de-la-créme. In the year 1973 however, they dropped out of business after they refused to sell the brand to a multinational enterprise.

25 years later, at the 50 anniversary of the brand, a british billionaire and fan of Spitfire brought the brand back to life. Since 1998 Spitfire managed to reclaim their former fame as Englands most exclusive forge of pure sportscars.

the .rar contains the .pds for further use

[the_angry_angel]

Just for a little history, check out;
http://forum.rscnet.org/showthread.php?t=192860
http://forum.rscnet.org/showthread.php?t=179635

[ColeusRattus]

Just for a little history, check out;
http://forum.rscnet.org/showthread.php?t=192860
http://forum.rscnet.org/showthread.php?t=179635

Quite interesting, but these discussions lead nowhere... and they had more like brain-storming character, whereas in here, the suggestions have a little bit more thought put into ;)

[vrooom]

I thought i was on rFactor fourm for a moment :smash3d: :eek: :Eyecrazy:

[Fonnybone]

Not only has this been suggested many times, but it's been settled and burried
in the woods. Ahaha Scawen, you thought it was burried deep enough, didn't
you ?

Don't you guys think it's a bit late to start changing such things 3 years
after the game was released ?! While alpha-numeric isn't exactly artistic,
it's often much more logical then some fictional name. We could call one
of them the Banana, i really don't see much of a difference except that it
says nothing about the car. Most people know the cars as they are named
now and it's not the best idea to start changing old details that don't NEED
changing. There are much more important things to work on imo.

Nothing is keeping anyone from making fictional skins, but don't expect LFS
to have different car names.

[Vain]

The cars keep their alpha-numeric names. They just get manufacturers and emblems so people can create more athmospheric skins and fitting advertisments for the tracks. We're not changing anything. We're adding.

Vain

[Fonnybone]

Yes, i understood. Scawen explained this once. For example, in XR GT,
XR is the manufacturer and GT is the model. Something like that.

[ColeusRattus]

Well, with fictional brands (the XR seems to mee more like the model and the GT like the spec) would not only create a lot more immersion and atmosphere, but help new players to identify the cars more easily. If we are honest, the letterd+numberd combinations have nothing remarkable. just compare the emotion transportet: F575M or Ferrari F575M Maranello.

We all agree that the devs should concentrate on the more important base of the program, but this is an issue which can easily be solved by this very creative community. The involvement of the devs would be minimal: picking the most fitting brands and put the name and logos to the car selection (not even on the skins, as they are edited by most recares anyways...) and on the homepage.

LfS is an outstanding racing game as it is now, concerning physics and drivability. Graphicwise it may not be state-of-the-art, but still, the looks are gorgeous. The presentation of the game though, is very basic. It lacks in the love for detail (that all the devs obviously possess) to impress the audience.
I can't describe it any other way than there is no adequate framework around the races. It does leave beginners quite alone in it's vast multitude of options and does not manage to induce the "I am a racedriver" feeling, you do not "smell the gasoline and oil".
The driving school is a step into the right direction IMHO. The background in the menu looks good, and, contradicting the whole GUI from the game, is not too abstract. If it would include awards at certain milestones (like advancing to the next class of cars), it would be even better.

Adding car brands would just be another logical step to suck the player into Live for Speed...

If anyone was touched by my "speech", I can mail you handkerchief-templates to print out ;)

[Hallen]

Spitfire:

Their first car "Spitfire Mark I" was basically a carframe built around an engine of the infamous Spitfire fighter.
Whether it was famous or infamous depends on what end of it's 20mm cannon you were on. For marketing copy, you generally stay away from the negative.
For the logo, the destinctive feature of the Spitfire was it's rounded wing tips. If I were doing a logo, I would want to show that. It is unmistakeable. Plus, I think that Supermarine, or whoever holds the rights, might get a little upset about the whole thing. Cool idea though :)

[Cue-Ball]

I actually like the fact that the car manufacturers are ambiguous. That way you can make a car out to be whatever you want it to be. Think the GTT is a Starion? Okay, it's a Starion. Think it acts more like a 240SX? Alright, it's a 240SX. But maybe that's just me. :shrug:

[ColeusRattus]

Whether it was famous or infamous depends on what end of it's 20mm cannon you were on. For marketing copy, you generally stay away from the negative.
For the logo, the destinctive feature of the Spitfire was it's rounded wing tips. If I were doing a logo, I would want to show that. It is unmistakeable. Plus, I think that Supermarine, or whoever holds the rights, might get a little upset about the whole thing. Cool idea though :)

Corrected that, thx ;)
A top-down view of the plane would just not look like a logo. Tried that. Sure, this one could be mistaken with lot's of prop-planes, but I guess it's abstracted enough to be on a car's hood, even from afar, and yet resembles enough of a plane to be recognised. Also, Spitfire is the most "catchy" name I encountered in Il2, which is still not as brute as "Warhawk", as dull as "Hurricane" and as overused as "Mustang" ;)

[Tinytacohead]

Well, with fictional brands (the XR seems to mee more like the model and the GT like the spec) would not only create a lot more immersion and atmosphere, but help new players to identify the cars more easily. If we are honest, the letterd+numberd combinations have nothing remarkable. just compare the emotion transportet: F575M or Ferrari F575M Maranello.

We all agree that the devs should concentrate on the more important base of the program, but this is an issue which can easily be solved by this very creative community. The involvement of the devs would be minimal: picking the most fitting brands and put the name and logos to the car selection (not even on the skins, as they are edited by most recares anyways...) and on the homepage.

LfS is an outstanding racing game as it is now, concerning physics and drivability. Graphicwise it may not be state-of-the-art, but still, the looks are gorgeous. The presentation of the game though, is very basic. It lacks in the love for detail (that all the devs obviously possess) to impress the audience.
I can't describe it any other way than there is no adequate framework around the races. It does leave beginners quite alone in it's vast multitude of options and does not manage to induce the "I am a racedriver" feeling, you do not "smell the gasoline and oil".
The driving school is a step into the right direction IMHO. The background in the menu looks good, and, contradicting the whole GUI from the game, is not too abstract. If it would include awards at certain milestones (like advancing to the next class of cars), it would be even better.

Adding car brands would just be another logical step to suck the player into Live for Speed...

If anyone was touched by my "speech", I can mail you handkerchief-templates to print out ;)

I agree. (not complaining about the game here at all, just noting some thoughts I had comming in as a new player, only about 2 weeks ago..) After downloading the demo I was extreemely impressed by the physics, and by how smoothly the whole game ran on my rather dated system, with graphics cranked to the max. (I hang between 30-40fps, which in my mind is right where it needs to be - preferrably starting at 32..) After a few days of goofing off with the demo though, I started thinking, hmm.. no money to win/use, no parts to buy, and for a very short stint, I started to lose a little interest. Of course, that didn't last long because of how awesome the game is, and I decided why not go ahead and buy S1 and see how I like it/upgrade to S2 when my holiday budget allows. Now I had a few more cars to expierience and this was neat, though I was still a little bored with the fact that you could pick and tweak every aspect of any car, at any time - no unlocking of anything, no overall challenge.. not that this is a bad thing, just it's what we've all been made accustomed to/somthing that helps hold people to a game, clearly layed out goals. (and also, not that the game needs to conform to the strategy of every other game on the market, I understand and appreciate how LFS is a unique simulation expierience etc) Anyways though, I got involved in this BB and grew a great appreciation for what these 3 guys were doing, and decided screw it, I'll go ahead and upgraded to S2, even if I can't afford it quite yet, haha. Again, I had more cars to play around with and this was fun, though again I started thinking, hmm, nothing to win, nothing to unlock. It was probably a few days later that I started to get into online driving, (I'd been holding off, since I really feel you need a wheel to play the game), and finally realized, the game wasn't about unlocking cars/buying parts etc, it was about simulated, online racing, and the fun to be had was definetely with the masses online, and that the fact that every car was mechanically identical was actually a very cool thing, and competitive feature. All that said though, I think some form of unlocking/winning things could suck more people into the game, and keep them playing offline when they aren't able to connect to the internet. Even somthing as simple as awards given within the driving school, as ColeusRattus suggested. Onto the actual topic of conversation though, emblems, haha. (and sorry for the long post, that's a self known downfall of my typing/explaining my thoughts ;) )

Emblems... I was sitting here looking at the XFGti repaint on my desktop, silently trying to figure out what to do about my crappy looking little emblem on the nose. The resolution just isn't high enough to make what I have look any good at such a small size, and I was thinking, I could do better.. Then I started wondering if anybody else thought the cars looked a little bare, and would want a uniform LFS emblem? I'm not even talking as complicated as multiple emblems/manufacturers for each car, I just mean a simple emblem that could be used on every car, showing that they are all manufactured by "LFS", and filling the bare spots where we are all so used to seeing a symbol. (so I decided to search, and found this thread..) First I tried to put a Mazda emblem on the nose of my XF, but as stated, it just didn't work, so then I stole an emblem off a different repaint, but decided I didn't quite like it either. After thinking it over for a little while I decided to just make somthing that looked like a general emblem, to fill the bare spot, but that it was kind of silly to try and call it any specific brand of car. It's not, it's an LFS car, it's unique, and to me, seeing one with a Mazda emblem on it sitting next one with say, a Mitsubitchie emblem in the same spot, just seems kind of odd to me. Anyways, what I'm getting at is just that I'm interested in one, uniform, LFS emblem, to be used on each and every car. (though removeable/repaintable for anywho desire to totally customize their car) Definitely not an important feature/change to the game, but somthing that I believe would make the cars seem a little more realistic in appearance.. and I'm not bashing on anybody who likes the ability to make their car a "240sx" while the next person makes it a "Starion", that's actually really neat, but I think a uniform emblem/badging would be a good thing to have just the same, at least at the start. IMO, the cars just look too bare without emblems and badges, as found on real cars. (badges.. like the XFGti could have a little "ti" symbol somewhere, maybe replacing the stock location of XF on the lower right) Ok, I'm done, sorry again for the horrendously long post. :shy: :razz: Anybody with me on the emblem/badging thing though?

[Tinytacohead]

Well, if anybody actually read that extreeeeemely long winded reply above, I went ahead and made up my own "LFS" emblem. It's not somthing big and detailed, just a tiny, low-res little thing, to do exactly what I said above.. fill the hole where a car should have an emblem, (and didn't come with one) I took the 3 colors of LFS, yellow, grey and blue, and stuck them in a small, shield shaped thingie, lol. The colors obviously represent LFS, and the shield, uhh..it's whatever you want it to be. :razz: Simple, but serves its purpose - represents LFS as the car manufacturer, and adds small detail to overall appearance. Unless I figure a way to improve on it, I'll likely use it on all my skins.. Oh, the original idea was to actually make it an LFS inside the shield, like in the game's Icon, but I couldn't get the F to do anything visually attractive with such a small area to work with, hence the 3 blocks. :thumb:

[Vain]

Looks good to me. *thumbs up*

Vain

[bbman]

Looks like a Buick's... :D

[Jakg]

Whether it was famous or infamous depends on what end of it's 20mm cannon you were on. For marketing copy, you generally stay away from the negative.
For the logo, the destinctive feature of the Spitfire was it's rounded wing tips. If I were doing a logo, I would want to show that. It is unmistakeable. Plus, I think that Supermarine, or whoever holds the rights, might get a little upset about the whole thing. Cool idea though :)you could just have a picture of a generic plane and call it a spitfyre, or we could just think of less controversial names (if VW can get away with "Peoples car" we can get away with something pretty lame!) and use our combined intelligence and creativity to come p with something (like the name of animals, seas, mountains etc)

[Jakg]

Well, if anybody actually read that extreeeeemely long winded reply above, I went ahead and made up my own "LFS" emblem. It's not somthing big and detailed, just a tiny, low-res little thing, to do exactly what I said above.. fill the hole where a car should have an emblem, (and didn't come with one) I took the 3 colors of LFS, yellow, grey and blue, and stuck them in a small, shield shaped thingie, lol. The colors obviously represent LFS, and the shield, uhh..it's whatever you want it to be. :razz: Simple, but serves its purpose - represents LFS as the car manufacturer, and adds small detail to overall appearance. Unless I figure a way to improve on it, I'll likely use it on all my skins.. Oh, the original idea was to actually make it an LFS inside the shield, like in the game's Icon, but I couldn't get the F to do anything visually attractive with such a small area to work with, hence the 3 blocks. :thumb:like it, bit to rovery, bet the chinese cars seem to be copies of everything else so they shouldnt mind! could there be a different way of using red in the gti logo? vw may find it similar to certain golfs...

[Tinytacohead]

I "was inspired" to make the GTI after looking at Golfs, (IE-edited out the background and then skewed it to be italic, ;) ). I don't see that one as much of a problem, red's not a new accent color for letters in that type of badge, and VW's isn't italic. I thought of, and may, just make all 3 letters grey though. As for the LFS emblem, I guess you're right, a tad Buick'y, haha. Didn't notice that, guess I don't look at Buick's too much, lol. I may try and do up somthing else somtime soon, but for now I'll just stick with that one. (unless anybody has any specific design suggestions) Thanks for the constructive criticism. :thumb:

[Racer Y]

All this is fine and good. But what y'all really need to do is make fake car commercials too :)

[Tinytacohead]

:tilt:

[bbman]

All this is fine and good. But what y'all really need to do is make fake car commercials too :)
kraniwani, you heard this? :D

[jdpkeeper]

So came up with a simple yet new manufacture for the XF GTi & XF GTR

Bokkusu(Japanese for 'Box') Racing was founded in the late 80's early 90's when a small car company saw an oppurtunity to get into the street tuner/street racing market, that was booming in the US. First, looked down upown in Japan for being a cheap knock off of the Honda Civic, H/R proved it's worth by winning the D1 GP US, in 95. From that point on H/R has conintually proven itself as a real competitor in the D1 races, and as a cheap but reliable car for day to day driving as well.

[thisnameistaken]

I think "Kevrolet" would be a good name for pretty much all of them.

I also think they should rename the FXO the "Kevalier".