AutoDuel: Two kinds of bandits

I'm not yet sure what my ultimate goal is in AutoDuel, but I'm sure there's more to it than fighting battle royales in New York - unfortunately, in the months I've spent accumulating victories, cash prizes, and mechanic lessons, the regional brigand problem has gotten worse. So I figured it's time to try my luck on the roads; I have a backup clone, and enough spare cash for a better car.

One last duel in CHUD, division 10 this time, yields a particularly good haul, and after selling I have about $20,000 to spend on an interstate vehicle, and construct a high powered, decent capacity pickup dubbed RUM TUGGER with reinforced front armor and three types of guns, plus a rear-mounted machinegun. I figure that on the highways there won't be much room for fancy maneuvering.

The courier has a few jobs available. The best-paying of them available to me is a roulette table to be delivered to Atlantic City, NJ. All the others are out of my way, so I take it, and only it.

Next stop, Philadelphia, and then Atlantic City.

Turns out, the rocket launcher sucks, and the recoilless rifle isn't much better. Too slow, too little punch. The stock machine gun is just all around better, and way cheaper to reload.

The Atlantic City Expressway is a bit of a maze, and I get lost in a confusing detour of farmland, but eventually find it before my batteries or deadline expire.

 

The payoff from the delivery is not enough to cover the cost of repairs, and there isn't even a weapon shop for me to rearm, but the truck stop does give me a possibly important clue - that I should visit the weapons shop in Scranton. Which is three bandit-infested roads away.

I also visit the casino, which offers blackjack and poker. Blackjack is a sucker's game; a blackjack pays 3:1, but you lose on a tie, which, if you aren't familiar with standard rules and odds, massively shifts the odds in the house's favor. Do not play this game, not in AutoDuel or in real life.

Poker is fairer, but strange. Rules are draw poker with no other players, you wager before the draw, break even on a pair, collect at odds on anything better, and lose otherwise. You can in theory collect some fantastic ratios on fantastic hands, but it's probably best to completely forget about straights, and only go for flushes when you have four in a suit and no pairs. Napkin math estimates a huge player advantage; losing should be decidedly less common than winning, but my experience is mixed. Initially I bet modestly, found I was winning more often than losing, and then started getting bolder with my bets and continued to rake in cash, but eventually hit a losing streak and ultimately left the casino poorer than I went into it.

At the very least, the ride back to New York is easy, and the salvage collected from the kills I made in both directions earns me a handsome $19,400 - plenty for a new anti-tank gun, laser, and a third machinegun.

Surprise - the AT gun is also utter garbage! It's just a slower recoilless rifle. The laser, on the other hand, is pretty good, instant and highly damaging, but the fact that it draws from your engine power instead of ammo makes me worried about its viability on long trips.

Failure to guard my flank got me killed by a well-armed bandit in a wilderness between New York and Scranton. At least I have my clone. 

AutoDuel: Compact Heat-Unleashing Drifter

I decided that I am not ready to face the lawless interstates until I've saved up enough for a clone and a backup, which will take a good amount of scratch; $13,000 plus the cost of a vehicle and fuel/ammo/maintenance.

Until then, I'll earn my cash at the NYC Arena. Amateur nights earn $1,500 per victory, and I figure that after winning three of them, I'll be able to afford a $5,000 vehicle and enter the lowest semi-pro leagues. Unfortunately, amateur nights are only held on Fridays and some Saturdays, so I'm left with not a lot to do during the week but drink and listen to rumors. The world doesn't hold much for people who don't own their own cars.

And I don't really learn anything that isn't common sense or in the manual.

 

Eventually, I win my three victories without dying and am henceforth banned from amateur nights. Time to get some entry level wheels.

   

The car designer is pretty in-depth for a c1985 computer game, and reminds me a lot of MechWarrior, with a need to meet weight requirements, space requirements, and in this game, cost. Here, I've designed a heavily armored compact dubbed CHUD with strong suspension and wheels, two flamethrowers mounted on the side and rear, but weak engines, no underside armor, and no space for cargo. At just under $5,000, it can compete in Division 5, and hopefully outlast quicker but weaker opponents with drive-by and leading tactics.

And, well, it works, but the flamethrower is less damaging than you might hope for, and this setup is lousy for winning cash prizes. Division 5 pays $2,200 per victory, but you are responsible for your own ammo and repairs. Flamethrowers are cheap to buy but expensive to refuel, and heavy armor repairs can eat the entire payout. You can earn more from salvage, which isn't an option on Amateur Night, but the flamethrower tends not to leave much left of your victim's cars.

I very quickly found myself selling the flamethrowers to buy a single machinegun, and then once I picked up a second (and shed some armor to make room for it), found myself winning these matches much more easily, and much more profitably.

Salvage is the real prize, TBH.

After one particularly good haul, I invested in a series of mechanic lessons, and my hauls got better from there.

Before long, my mechanic skill is maxed out, and with two more victories, I make my $13,000 goal.