i'm also curious as to whether they'll have some sort of mild early pre-facelift,with rear wheel skirts and some sort of more aerodynamic grille.
i don't think the HX trim being gone means anything, considered the poverty spec bolide 320 was removed and nothing big really happened
The poverty-spec Bolide 320 may have been removed but the 3.2 V8 and the "320" nameplate remained and made something completely different! You're probably talking about something like the grilleless '92 Crown Vic. Yeah, that would indeed be interesting. But rear wheel skirts would be a better fit to a previous gen Grand Marshal, with angles, chrome details, digital instruments and wire hubcaps (but then again, having wire hubcaps, plus a Landau Top, means that it's a more luxurious Burnside model based on the Grand Marshal, and that's also a niche to be filled).
The thing that really grabs my attention about the HX trim's absence from the '96 Pessima is that on the '88 Pessima it's the high-efficiency trim, specifically targeting fuel economy with its aero grille and low-rolling resistance tires. The late nineties was around the time when the first hybrid cars started rolling out of Japanese plants - the first Prius in 1997, and the Honda Insight in 1999. I could maybe see Ibishu, the in-game manufacturer that generally follows the example of the larger Japanese car companies releasing a hybrid around that time, though I'm not sure if they would do so under the Pessima nameplate or in an entirely different model. Now, I'm well aware of developer statements on why hybrid cars (and really any vehicle with more than one motor) is a nightmare to implement properly under the current drivetrain system. But a part of me wonders if they're keeping the HX trim in their back pocket just in case of a breakthrough. As for the hill climb parts, I'm wondering if maybe there are a few more racing components that weren't ready in time for the remaster that they're still waiting for before an official configuration is implemented. I'm not expecting a full second remaster, but I do think there might be a minor content bump where a few extra bits, pieces, and configurations are added to the '96 Pessima in the next 18 months or so.
qa latest has been getting updated so something is happening i guess last update on qa latest was 3 hrs ago
The HX Pessima also has the Ibishu Straked Hubcaps and a High-Efficiency 5-Speed Manual Transmission with longer ratios than the standard 5-Speed Manual one. Combined with the Aero Grille and Low Rolling Resistance Tires, these are the 4 key parts forming the Pessima HX. The '96 Pessima can also have an HX variant with all these 4 aforementioned components because it is better in aerodynamics (or at least looks like it is better). All three boxes of its Sedan shape are more rounded and the shape, in general, has fewer creases than that of the '88 Pessima. Hybrids are another matter right now but as soon as a way is found for the simulation mechanics and algorithms to be properly simulated and implemented in BeamNG, Hybrid niches will be filled too, no doubt about it. As for the race components, I hope sometime they find their way into proper implementation on the '96 Pessima because the 2.7 V6 has a lot to offer when Twin-Turbocharged plus a certain Twin-Turbocharged Sports Sedan niche is also in need of filling. Especially when/if AWD-equipped.
It means there's actual activity. I mentioned this a few weeks ago - when development was slow, there was hardly more than 1 or 2 updates to the 'automated' latest branch for multiple days in a row during work weeks. Just because it's automated, a developer still has to do their part and push a update for that build to do anything. Fact that it's updating more frequently, is certainly a good sign. That doesn't mean the update is near, it just means shit is getting done
its...automated. the human race could literally end this moment and that branch would still update. i don't understand why some people think that it is insignificant. sure, it doesn't really mean anything, but it does mean they are doing something.
me when the devs finally track me down for repeatedly referencing the concept stage list in the update speculation forum
Why break doors if you can just shoot a node at speed high enough to phase through the wall coltris, or even better, you can also go into freecam with shift+C and teleport yourself through the walls with f7, even less effort. Or just switch maps and let everything else despawn! ahhh the glorious world of video games....