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[Mullet Master]

It's a cold fall day in 1910. Five men are gathered around the twisted remains of one of the country's first automobiles, picking through the twisted shards of wood and metal in a poor attempt at trying to find out what went wrong.

There's a faint drizzle coming through the pine trees around you, so the rusty steel axle you just picked up is not only cold, but now slimy to the touch thanks to the rain. You just toss it to your feet and walk closer to the car. A fat man in a greasy pair of overalls is crouched next to the wreckage, trying to separate a wheel from a thick tree root. He says "There's no way you can control this thing over ten miles per hour, nope. Ain't gonna happen.  Yer a crazy shit, you know that Yurist? "

Your name is Yurist, an immigrant to the country. Once an engineer in a far off country, you've been very unlucky since you arrived in your current one.  Life's been tough, so you've had to work in the soybean fields of the two fat men you see in front of you, Matt and Rolf Burke. They're farmers, not incredibly bright, but this is a country of great wealth, of promise - even these simple folk can get to be very wealthy.

The other two men near you are Luther, a somber blacksmith from a nearby village, the man whose last whole year of labor is lying in a crumpled heap an oak tree before you. There's also his son, Reed, a young , charismatic man of about twenty who was originally going to apprentice with his far, but instead volunteered to be the first driver in the entire state. His drive lasted all of twenty minutes - of which fifteen were trying to get the engine to start. He's smart, but extremely reckless.

The engine is your design, brought to life after many years of calculations and hard work. It's light, relatively easy to make, and pretty powerful compare to other engines of the day. With it, you're going to build an automotive empire. Your only car, and a years worth of work, is ruined in front of you - there's got to be some changes to be made. Everyone is going to get back to the barn and work out where your company is going to go next.

There's a few things to think about.

1) What is your company name?

2) It is going to take Luther a whole year to build another copy of the prototype. There's no sense in trying to put somebody to selling cars, or even hiring somebody, until some problems get worked out. Review your design , and come up with a plan on who is going to research what.
There's four of you available - the Burke brothers, Reed, and yourself.  More than one person can research something, or somebody can start a whole new car design.

Furthermore, you need to set a research budget. More money equals more success, but less money to build prototypes later.

Spoiler: 1910 Prototype "The Oak Magnet" (click to show/hide)

A piece of paper with your design of the car. You've scribbled out the original name and wrote it's new name, "The Oak Magnet" on it.
engine = 2 cylinder Yurist , 8 bhp 
Your design. A lot of problems in starting and idling. Good acceleration.
steering = twine and pulley
Cobbled together from junk around the farm. Probably needs a real design.
suspension = scrap metal beams
brakes = none
seats = 2
Build time = 1 man-year
Other features = None

Spoiler: Company Information (click to show/hide)

Year - 1910
Bank - $1000
Inventions - None
Manufacturing Facility - Burke Family Barn, 1/2 capacity/year

[GreatWyrmGold]

Company Name: Yurke & Luther Automobile Devices. YaLAD.

Research Budget: Well, how much would it cost to make a new Oak Magnet if we chose to do so?

[Ukrainian Ranger]

Wow, great theme

Research budget:

$400

Burke Brothers: more powerful engine
Reed: Brakes
Ourself : work on the motorbyke. reusing as many parts from The Oak Magnet as possible. Name it "Leisure"

[GreatWyrmGold]

Um, we work for the Burkes, not the other way around...

[rabidgam3r]

What we need now, is brakes and better steering.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Brakes first.

[mainiac]

Well first thing to do is replace the blacksmith.  It's 1910, man, get with the program.

Contract out the construction of a single new engine to a local machine or bicycle shop which possesses a milling machine.  The year is 1910 and it seems we are in the US so we shouldn't need to look more then 25 miles unless we're really out in the boonies.  If all else fails go to the nearest railway and ride it to the nearest coaling yard, they're guaranteed to have a very well equipped machine shop and to be eager for side business.

Take the ruined car and sell it for scrap.  This should probably cover the cost of raw materials for the engine.

Talk to the Burkes and Luther about getting Luther some modern tools so it doesn't take him a year.  Since apparently they are in a community where this market is underserved, it will be a great investment for the Burkes to loan Luther the money.

Meanwhile figure out some sort of way to make the car stop on your own while everyone else ponders a better steering idea then twine.

[Mullet Master]

(( The following is responses to questions in this thread/clarifications, not a game turn))
The first prototype car is free. With the current design new cars cost a flat fee of $250 for materials and one man-year of labor. Everyone is pretty much working for the Burkes, and gets paid from a separate budget at this time.

If you invent a new technology, it will automatically go on a new car unless you say otherwise. At the current juncture, the car has no commercial value without significant upgrades. At some point in the future, your company will have to make design choices to meet the market demand.

The value of your scrapped car is $25.

A local railyard machining shop will build test engines at $100 each. Please note - in developing any engine improvements - breaking engines is very likely and new ones will come out of the research budget.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Well first thing to do is replace the blacksmith.  It's 1910, man, get with the program.

Can we really afford to?

Contract out the construction of a single new engine to a local machine or bicycle shop which possesses a milling machine.  The year is 1910 and it seems we are in the US so we shouldn't need to look more then 25 miles unless we're really out in the boonies.  If all else fails go to the nearest railway and ride it to the nearest coaling yard, they're guaranteed to have a very well equipped machine shop and to be eager for side business.

Take the ruined car and sell it for scrap.  This should probably cover the cost of raw materials for the engine.

Talk to the Burkes and Luther about getting Luther some modern tools so it doesn't take him a year.  Since apparently they are in a community where this market is underserved, it will be a great investment for the Burkes to loan Luther the money.

Meanwhile figure out some sort of way to make the car stop on your own while everyone else ponders a better steering idea then twine.

No big problems, oh wait except the Burkes still don't work for us.

[mainiac]

No big problems, oh wait except the Burkes still don't work for us.

And I didn't say they did.  Just suggest they make an investment that will be profitable for them and handy down the line

The value of your scrapped car is $25.

Goddamn good for nothing monosoponous railway cartel bastards.  They rip you off coming and going.

[GreatWyrmGold]

No big problems, oh wait except the Burkes still don't work for us.

And I didn't say they did.  Just suggest they make an investment that will be profitable for them and handy down the line

If they do, great. Also, thanks for clarifying.

[Mullet Master]

Board Meeting, October 1911:

You're sitting in a local bar, Gerston's. There are a half dozen people here beside yourself, a bartender, your two bosses (The Burkes), the blacksmith Luthor & his son, and the town drunk, Purvis. You have a set of handwritten notes in front of you, about to give the presentation on what's been going on in the last year. You start down the list.

"First off, our esteemed brothers Burke have spent at least half their weekends this year coming up with a better steering system. This one has a little mechanical advantage - now it may be possible for someone with normal strength to drive this car on a dirt road. The total development cost was $225. This system will take almost 80 hours of labor to fully fabricate per car."

You grimace slightly and hope nobody notices. The brothers have put in a bare minimum amount of effort, and have essentially hired a person from the local farm machinery dealer to rig together some various agricultural components.

"I have spent the majority of the year developing a new braking system, one which may be actuated by your foot. It wraps a band of leather tightly upon a circular drum. It adds almost zero significant cost to the car, and is capable of being manufactured in large quantities easily. It adds a true measure of safety to our automobile. The research and development cost was $75."

"We have purchased a spare engine to do engine development work at the cost of $100. This engine, serial number two, will be used for long term reliability studies. Since we have not many tasks for Reed right now, he has been running the engine under my watchful eye in an attempt to understand it's true nature. We have discovered problems with the fuel delivery system, the carburetor."

You close up the notes and say,
"All research and development costs have been accounted for. Five days ago, Luther finished the prototype. We have a short length of dirt road around the Burke's farm, as well as some gravel road that goes out towards the county line. We need to test this new machine ... I have personally promised the Burke brothers we will be selling cars within 3 years, and this is the first major step. We have one question remaining - who will test this machine? Our last test nearly killed Luther's other son, Roger, and Roger has said he will never set foot inside an automobile again. "

The town drunk, Purvis, cranes his head up from the table where it was resting "Will you give me a bottle of rum? I will drive it as long as you wish. I am not afraid of this mechanical beast."

The following people have volunteered to test the machine.
Matt Burke, a 50 something year old, physically strong but slow of reflexes, one of two financiers of this operation
Reed , a ~20 something year old man in excellent physical health
Purvis, a 40 something retired army cavalry soldier, typically drunk but has ridden horses at high speeds before.

(choosing a prototype driver will only yield test results and not advance the time by a year)

Spoiler: 1911 Prototype "The Oak Magnet Deux" (click to show/hide)

An actual prototype, it runs, but hasn't had a full test session yet.
engine = 2 cylinder Yurist , 8 bhp  s/n 03
Your design. A lot of problems in starting and idling. Good acceleration. Engine testing reveals frequent carburetor rebuilding necessary.
steering =  improved pulley system w/mechanical advantage
suspension = scrap metal beams
brakes = leather band brakes
seats = 2
Build time = 1.1 man-years
Other features = None

Spoiler: Company Information (click to show/hide)

Year - 1910
Bank - $625
Inventions - Leather band brakes , imp. pulley steering
Manufacturing Facility - Burke Family Barn, 1/2 capacity/year

[Ukrainian Ranger]

Matt Burke, we need to know what our boss likes\dislikes

[GreatWyrmGold]

I vote that Reed testdrives.

[Remuthra]

Purvis, cheap labor and has some experience. Other than that, we should again work on steering as well as the carberator.