Hey there, airport CEO!
The Alpha 25 version has now finally made its way to the default branch and that means a few big changes. The following text will briefly go through these but if you just want to see the patch notes they will be posted just below the following text segment.
Also, keep a lookout for DevLog 100 dropping in a few minutes after this is being posted. As mentioned in that DevLog you can expect hotfixes to be released for the default branch already tomorrow.
New Flight Contract System
We can finally present the first version of the new airline contract system! The system is intended to improve the scheduling process and shift focus from tedious signing of new contracts to instead manage relationship with airlines.
Due to many changes under the hood your old contracts will be removed and all, except your active flights will be cancelled. This is a technically motivated and required effort to avoid breaking any ongoing turnarounds and keep old save integrity. These flights will however lose all connections to its airline and route which means that you will be presented with question marks ("?") or missing data for these flights when viewed in the UI. Please ignore this as any new flights will have the correct data. Simply let the old flights run through and your save should be fine (unfortunately these old flights will give you $0 income, it is not a bug just an effect of these changes).
Contract Flow
You will now sign a master contract with an airline instead, which will (at least for now) not expire. The airline will then offer you flights (both single and reoccurring) depending on their current satisfaction of your airport. If you manage to get the flight away on time, the airline satisfaction will increase and vice versa if a flight is too delayed (you have a grace period of 1 hour, any more and your rating will be negatively impacted). More triggers for satisfaction will be added later on as the system be refined during its time on the experimental branch, based on your input.
Auto Scheduler
For the really laid back CEOs we have now implemented an auto scheduling system which will schedule any new flights completely automatic at the next available slot. Just make sure you have both a COO and a CIO at your board to enable the toggle in the flight planner.
The auto scheduling system depends on an artificial intelligence bot named Asio and is constructed with a neural network utilizing machine learning and deep web analytics to plan your flights as best as they can be planned. Naaaaaah, just kidding, it’s just a set of if rules…
Aircraft Ratio Slider
You will now be able to set the ratio of new flights to better control the offered flights suited for your airport layout. You will be able to modify the ratio of small, medium and large aircraft sizes (not that large flights do not exist yet, but this is to prepare for future implementations). For example, if you set the slider to 60% small and 40% medium, airlines will offer you randomized flights with sizes corresponding to these ratios.
Individual Flight Ratings
Each flight now has a rating from one to five which is represented as stars similar to the contract system. Higher rated flights will earn you more money and for now you can get up to 3-star flights should all requirements be met. The airline will look at your facilities and offer flights rated at that level. If you click on the large star in the flight planner you can find out what you need to construct or offer to get higher rated flights. This feature is still experimental and we plan to add more requirements later when we have gathered some initial feedback from you all.
That’s it for the airline contract system, there are a few more sliders and control options implemented into the flight planner as of Alpha 25.0, however we have one more important things to mention.
Massive Memory Leak Patched
Several of you have noticed that over time, when running an empty airport or an airport with a consistent passenger flow, the game has over time become sluggish and unplayable. We have now found, and patched, that issue which was related to an ancient code segment located in the security checkpoint class controlling the lights and effects (not kidding… in big projects like this code quickly becomes legacy). This issue is not immediately related to the number of passengers in your airport, for example running an airport with a few thousand passengers will still strain your CPU and is something we’re working on in another ticket, but at least the game will now stop killing your computer over time for no reason.
Speaking of performance, there’s now also a passenger ratio per flight slider accessible via the game panel (in game menu). Want to run more flights with less passengers? Use the slider to get the desired effect.
Release notes - Airport CEO - Version Alpha 25.0
The following patch notes reflect changes between the Alpha 24 and Alpha 25 version, as well as bug fixes that have occurred throughout the production of Alpha 25.
Improvement
- ACEO-2986] - Implement new airport information screens
- ACEO-2997] - Additional save logging implemented
- ACEO-3020] - Implement responsive UI (Main menu)
- ACEO-3024] - Implement responsive UI (In-game panels)
- ACEO-3033] - List contracts vertically instead of using grid
- ACEO-3119] - Implement master contract system for airlines
- ACEO-3142] - Passenger per flight ratio modifier added
- ACEO-3144] - Improve airport database import and processing (reduce overall loading time by 7 seconds)
- ACEO-3165] - Minor adjustments to new contract system
- ACEO-3194] - Minor Unicode character airport fixes
- ACEO-3219] - Stand upgrade cost balanced
- ACEO-3231] - Vsync can now be toggled in the graphics settings (in game)
- ACEO-3233] - Path finding improvements to increase calculation speed
- ACEO-3234] - Improve game controls including camera movement, smoothness and zoom speed
- ACEO-3235] - Changes to camera controls to adapt for FPS non capped by Vsync (experimental)
- ACEO-3236] - Implement Structures Pack 1
- ACEO-3285] - Flight separation increased to 2 hours
- ACEO-3313] - Implement improved secure area exit item graphics
- ACEO-3314] - Implement improved conveyor belt system scanners graphics
Bug
- ACEO-24] - Broken Unicode airport database file has been fixed
- ACEO-2549] - Boarding can close if check in gets delayed, values for check in job tasks have been tweaked.
- ACEO-2630] - Unable to build roads on section where foundation where previously deleted
- ACEO-2780] - Giant ramp agent dummy displayed when scrolling vehicle depot list
- ACEO-2901] - Aircraft stuck on demolished stand
- ACEO-2928] - Crown Airlines description typo error
- ACEO-2932] - Objects do not update correctly with broken visualization effect
- ACEO-2934] - Memory leak issue causes noticeably lowered FPS after 15 to 20 minutes of regular game play
- ACEO-2969] - Ramp agents leave baggage behind at stands or cargo bays
- ACEO-2972] - Spelling error in glossary
- ACEO-2974] - Contract can not be clicked on and new contracts not being generated
- ACEO-2983] - Contract generated for medium flight despite having no medium stands
- ACEO-2988] - Incorrect pricing for stand in build menu
- ACEO-2995] - Service truck deserializing with missing baggage cart causes ramp agent bag transfer deadlock and unlimited amounts of bags unloaded
- ACEO-2996] - Saving does not warn if trying to overwrite existing save
- ACEO-2999] - CEO panel map not loaded correctly
- ACEO-3003] - Incorrect nbr of flights in contract description
- ACEO-3051] - Flight route bug with several airports being located to south Sudan
- ACEO-3066] - Multiple minor null reference issues
- ACEO-3067] - Fuel depot gets filled with fuel even though structure is not built
- ACEO-3072] - Some panels not visisble in 21:9 screen aspects
- ACEO-3074] - Contract completion notification contains incorrect spelling
- ACEO-3103] - Double serializing of flights leading to large gamedata file
- ACEO-3105] - No notification if pushback truck does not exists.
- ACEO-3110] - Can't delete unbuilt boarding desk
- ACEO-3121] - Adjust associated tutorial parts relying on the old airline contract system to the new airline contract system
- ACEO-3122] - Flight information buttons sometimes not visible and going off screen.
- ACEO-3143] - Staff icon does not show on security station when activated but lacks staff
- ACEO-3149] - Fees and salaries panel not visible
- ACEO-3158] - Toggle flight planner button does not work
- ACEO-3164] - Underground belt placement gives error
- ACEO-3167] - Minor nullreference fixes in relation to person transform children pooling
- ACEO-3170] - Forgotten tool tip on reschedule button of flight information display
- ACEO-3177] - Requirements panel in flight planner broken
- ACEO-3178] - Master contracts with allocated flights are un-cancelleable
- ACEO-3186] - Boarding times sometimes displayed incorrect
- ACEO-3187] - Aircraft are visible in world before landing.
- ACEO-3191] - Crash on auto schedule
- ACEO-3215] - Medium security checkpoint not marked correctly in requirements panel
- ACEO-3217] - Lower resolutions cause the flight planner to ignore certain time spots
- ACEO-3232] - Auto-scheduler crashing when having many unallocated flights
- ACEO-3250] - Incorrect serialized value caused check in to close early
- ACEO-3275] - Aircraft can on rare occasions get stuck on stand waiting for a refuel that has not been ordered
- ACEO-3281] - Integer truncation in path finding system causes randomly stuck persons
- ACEO-3283] - Invalid characters can be input in save name, causing corrupt save
- ACEO-3286] - Null reference thrown on method for getting job task type causing additional UI problems
- ACEO-3289] - Null reference thrown on rare occasions when passenger leaves bathroom
- ACEO-3290] - Livery assignment bug if mod has been deleted causes broken serialization issue
- ACEO-3296] - Minor corrections in airport data file
- ACEO-3297] - Baggage carts can randomly become incorrectly lit during nights
- ACEO-3299] - Adjusted values in auto planner and flight generation to prevent short freezes every 10-15 seconds
- ACEO-3300] - Placement assistant grid does not move when paused
- ACEO-3307] - Player is given penalty for night flights even when night flights is unlocked
- ACEO-3319] - Incorrect flight number in vehicle job task panel
- ACEO-3362] - Incorrect time format on some places in the UI
New Feature
- ACEO-3120] - Implement auto scheduler for flights
- ACEO-3284] - Add large ATCT tower
- ACEO-3291] - Implement option to unlock night flights
- ACEO-3315] - Add sesnitivity sliders for controlling camera movement speed and camera scroll speed
- ACEO-3316] - Add ability to drag camera using middle mouse button