History YMMV / Automation

* DevelopmentHell: The game's first demo was released in April 2012. It's now mid-'''2023''' and the game is ''still'' in Early Access, having switched to an entirely new engine in the process. Downplayed in that progress has been constant and steady, even if slow, and justified in that the dev team can literally be counted with one's fingers.

* WhatMeasureIsANonBadass: The value of certain classes of cars is subjective; for instance, Japanese [[TheNineties 90s]] sedans are regarded by some as top-tier tuners, and by others as just [[SoOkayItsAverage cars that exist]], while pre-[[TheSeventies oil crisis]] American landyachts are either perceived as kings of the road (essentially low-slung {{Hummer Dinger}}s) or stupidly [[BiggerIsBetter excessive]] and [[MightyGlacier heavy]] cars with single-digit MPG ratings.

* DevelopmentHell: The game's first demo was released in April 2012. It's now early '''2023''' and the game is ''still'' in Early Access, having switched to an entirely new engine in the process. Downplayed in that progress has been constant and steady, even if slow, and justified in that the dev team can literally be counted with one's fingers.

* DevelopmentHell: The game's first demo was released in April 2012. It's now early ''2023'' and the game is ''still'' in Early Access, having switched to an entirely new engine in the process. Downplayed in that progress has been constant and steady, even if slow, and justified in that the dev team can literally be counted with one's fingers.

* DevelopmentHell: The game's first demo was released in April 2012. It's now early 2022 and the game is ''still'' in Early Access, having switched to an entirely new engine in the process. Downplayed in that progress has been constant and steady, even if slow, and justified in that the dev team can literally be counted with one's fingers.

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven: Despite ''Automation'' advertising itself as being a tycoon game first and foremost, there's a surprising amount of creative freedom on the vehicle creation side. A fibreglass 80s hot hatch with a massive [=V8=] and BBS turbofan wheels? A mid-engined carbon-fibre sports car with a tiny turbocharged inline-five, barebones interior, and flame-spitting top-exit exhaust? Why not?

* QuicksandBox: What to expect if you don't have any experience with engineering cars.

* GameplayDerailment: Because [[DeadpanSnarker of course]] the devs intended for players to build spacecraft, {{mecha}}, or anything else without wheels in the Car Designer. Thankfully, this seems to have been embraced to some extent, especially with the addition of Beam-compatible aesthetics settings that let you hide parts of a car or give it monster truck wheels.

* DevelopmentHell: The game's first demo was released in April 2012. It's now early 2021 and the game is ''still'' in Early Access, having switched to an entirely new engine in the process. Downplayed in that progress has been constant and steady, even if slow, and justified in that the dev team can literally be counted with one's fingers.

* DevelopmentHell: The game's first demo was released in April 2012. It's now 2020 and the game is ''still'' in Early Access, having switched to an entirely new engine in the process. Downplayed in that progress has been constant and steady, even if slow, and justified in that the dev team can literally be counted with one's fingers.

* GoodBadBugs: Exiting a photo scene via the pause menu doesn't properly unload the scene, resulting in it coexisting with the design room. The most common example of this happens with the Wet [[DownLADrain Industrial Canal]] scene, where the water makes the design room look flooded.

* WhatMeasureIsANonBadass: The value of certain classes of cars is subjective; for instance, Japanese [[TheNineties 90s]] sedans are regarded by some as top-tier tuners, and by others as just [[SoOkayItsAverage cars that exist]], while pre-[[TheSeventies oil crisis]] American landyachts are either perceived as kings of the road (essentially low-slung HummerDingers) or stupidly [[BiggerIsBetter excessive]] and [[MightyGlacier heavy]] cars with single-digit MPG ratings.

* UnconventionalLearningExperience: The primary purpose of the game is to be, as one Steam reviewer described it, the Videogame/KerbalSpaceProgram of car tycoon games. A side effect of this is that the in-game tutorials are effectively educational videos about automotive design--how torque converters work, what ignition timing does, why higher compression ratios require higher-octane fuel, etc.--and, as it happens, very good ones.

* DevelopmentHell: The game's first demo was released in April 2012. It's now 2020 and the game is ''still'' in Early Access, having switched to an entirely new engine in the process. Downplayed in that progress has been constant and steady, even if slow, and justified in that the dev team can literally be counted on the fingers of two hands.
* UnconventionalLearningExperience: The primary purpose of the game is to be, as one Steam reviewer described it, the Videogame/KerbalSpaceProgram of car tycoon games. A side effect of this is that the in-game tutorials are effectively educational videos about automotive design -- how torque converters work, what ignition timing does, why higher compression ratios require higher-octane fuel, etc., etc., etc. -- and, as it happens, very good ones.