Gear City
v2.0.0.3 Patch
I have just another minor update this time. It fixes several smaller and medium-sized bugs with the game.
This update superseded work on the manual, so I am a little behind on the Game Mechanics portion. I do not plan on delaying work on the Feature Bounty system because of it. So I will begin setting everything up for that starting tomorrow. I hope to get it ready to go by the end of the month.
Change Log:
-Engine: Rebuilt Freetype on 64-bit Windows to enable legacy scaling which will hopefully fix some font resizing issues. (I will post in the manual some optional libraries for Linux users to override their system's freetype libraries. Mac users probably won't get this change.)
-GUI: Restricted warning message in Outsourced Contracts Management window when supplier's HQ nations are at war.
-Gameplay: Fixed incorrect sign in chassis length slider that caused longer chassis to be weaker.
-Gameplay: Now allowing restart production of licensed designs.
-GUI: Added fuel type to showroom Marque Catalog and Model Compare fuel consumption information.
-Gameplay: Fixed Hybrid fuel type end date.
-GUI: Fixed chassis name not appearing in Refit information window.
-Gameplay: Fixed possible condition that could cause double taxation in Q4. The IRS isn't too happy to close this loophole.
-GUI: Displayed additional tax rebate info next to Monthly Expenses in the reports when you get a rebate.
-GUI: Fixed typos in the supplemental texts (newspapers, map events, reviews)
-Engine: Enabling borderless window with the In-game settings will toggle off fullscreen. And enabling fullscreen will toggle off borderless window.
-Translations: Updated translations from the website.
v2.0.0.2 Patch
Another bug-fix update for GearCity. With the release hype dying down some, the next bug fix will be in a couple of weeks unless someone comes across a major issue.
-Media: Normalize tutorial audio speaking, sound fx, and music.
-Bugfix: Changing sound effects vol from off to on doesn't change tutorial audio volume.
-Bugfix: Fixed auto-production not producing enough components for contracts when multiple contracts use the same engine for different types of contracts.
-Bugfix: Apply to all not working when merge trims is enabled.
-Bugfix: Merge Trim not showing all models on the world map.
-Bugfix: Non-English language causes a innocent sqlite error on player creation table.
-Bugfix: Fixed possible issues in the reviews system that could cause no reviews for a design. This issue is probably impossible to duplicate playing the game.
-Gameplay: Reduced wage demand/strikes during economic downturns.
-GUI: Fixed some GUI scaling issues. (Some more work needs to be done here.)
-GUI: Added commas to Breached Contract memos.
-Bugfix: Fixed possible exploit that allows for loans to be taken twice in a month by reloading a save game.
-Bugfix: Fixed inversed engine manufacturer requirement stars and stuck chassis manufacturer requirement stars in the Licensing window.
-Bugfix: Fixed issue with custom district factory upgrades that could result in a free, small upgrade to your factory.
-Bugfix: Fixed issue in the standalone car designer that duplicated accessory buttons.
-Bugfix: Monthly report page will now scroll back to the top after you end a turn in 64-bit builds.
-Bugfix: Fixed HiDPI Auto-Scaling issues on Apple.
-Translations: Updated to latest translation files and fixed some translated tutorial audio.
v2.0.0.1 Patch
A small bug-fix patch this week. I wanted to get it to you all yesterday, but my week was very heavy with greater than expected release traffic and some offline headaches. Then I was going to release the update Saturday morning, but at the last minute caught some vandalism in our translation system. So an evening update, which I hate doing.
With that said, the translation system is locked down. You need to email me to register an account and tell me what language you want to work on. I will also be locking translators to a single language. This is for damage limitation in case anyone goes rouge again. In advance, I'd like to apologize for the inconvenience. I think it's better to inconvenience a handful of people than to break the game for a few hundred to a couple of thousand people.
I will be working on another bug-fix patch. I'm aiming for next weekend, but it might be a little longer if I deem nothing large enough to build a patch. I'll also start work on the manual again starting tomorrow.
-Bugfix: Fixed issue causing orphaned save games from not being deleted when exiting the game on the Select HQ Location screen.
-Bugfix: Fixed Research Teams RnD window not showing gain amount when skills are over 99.
-Engine: Initial support for the Korean language. If you're interested in translating to Korean, please let us know.
-Bugfix: Fixed several off screening and off window issues when users are running low resolutions (1080p and less) with high GUI scaling.
-Engine: Updated software OpenAL implementation for improved support of newer sound cards. Knock on wood, it doesn't cause issues for anyone running the game fine before.
-Bugfix: Fixed side panel disappearing when another window overlaps the panel and the player hits escape.
-Engine: Reports should work when characters that require URI encoding are in the file path.
-Bugfix: Fixed chassis size requirements for contracts having badly rounded data with SAE when referring to minimum requirements.
-Media: Added some Italian tutorial audio, added all missing Portuguese tutorial audio, and added all German and Japanese tutorial audio.
-Bugfix: Fixed issue causing memos not to pop up when priorities are hit.
-Gameplay: Reduced negotiation times for critical strike events from 3-6 months to 1-2 months.
-Bugfix: Possible fix to a crash issue on Linux that involved decal placement, body resize, decal placement again, and a dangling pointer.
GearCity Concludes Its Early Access Stint!
It is my pleasure to announce the completion of GearCity.
I welcome everyone stepping into the game for the first time. I hope you have an enjoyable and profitable experience. Be sure to do the tutorials, and feel free to ask if you have any questions.
For everyone that has been with me for some time, I would like to say thank you.
When I started making this game twelve years ago, I had limited expectations that anyone would play it. I thought it was bound to be an unfinished open source game rotting in a repo somewhere, but the game did find a small but dedicated audience. Through your feedback and suggestions, GearCity's development continued well past its anticipated expiration date.
During 12 years of evolution together, we handwrote 431,941 lines of code, 416,733 lines of GUI script, and 225,771 words of content (a 650-page paperback book). Many of you helped translate that into several languages. We also recorded 2.5 hours of interactive audio tutorials and 4.5 hours of video tutorials that have been watched and listened to by countless people over the years. The user manual is about 100,000 words and still growing.
The community has posted 1,689 threads and made 7,193 posts on the official forums. On Steam, you all made 3680 threads. Sadly, Steam's forum system is very limited, so I can't pull up the post numbers. However, I can say that I have replied to you all 13,587 times via both forums. You all sent me 13,874 emails, but by keeping my email account public and clickable, I got 57,533 spam emails. Even with all that typing, I continue to look forward to communications with you all.
The game has seen 186 updates: 6 in Alpha, 15 in Open Beta, and 165 in Early Access. While I can't guarantee future updates, I imagine that number will grow, although more slowly, post-release.
That brings me to our future plans.
While GearCity has reached an important milestone that markets the end of continuous development, computer software is rarely ever truly completed. I will continue to provide customer support and bug fixes for as long as I am humanly (or contractually) able. I also plan on launching a Development as a Service system to raise funds for additional features in the game. It is called the "Feature Bounty" program. There will be no Steam Announcement when I launch this system, so please follow us on other platforms.I will reopen the official forums with the launch of the Feature Bounty system. I hope that many of you will join us there.
So, what am I doing next?
After I get the user manual completed, I'm taking a few days off. I haven't had a good vacation in a few decades. After that, as you may have seen in GearCity's magazine, the next game is called AeroMogul. It is an airline business simulator, that should have as much depth, if not more, than GearCity. If everything works out as planned, it could revolutionize the spreadsheet tycoon genre.I anticipate development to speed up substantially by retiring Beardgine (our engine) as a front-end engine. However, it will still power the backend of the new game.
Please join the community for this game on our official forums when it reopens in the coming months. I'll be sure to make an announcement here when the Steam store page is ready in a few years.
Finally
There are so many people I want to thank for helping me make this game. The list is way too numerous to publish. Thank you to the people who worked on the game, whose names are in the About window. Thank you to the folks who worked endlessly to translate the game. I did not give you as much love and appreciation as you deserve for your hard work. (If I didn't have to change the translation system so many times, I would enter your names into the game.) Thank you to everyone who showed friends and peers the game. And thank you to those who bought the game as gifts for other people. Thank you to those that posted the game in various forums and communities for discussion. And thank you to everyone who chatted about our game on our forums. My heart-filled thanks to everyone who offered suggestions and gave bug reports. Without you, the game wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is today. A tiny thanks to everyone who has pirated the game. And a pat on the back to those that bought it after pirating it. I thank everyone who has bought the game and enjoyed it. And my apologies to those who hated the game after they purchased it.And last but not least, thank you to everyone that has had to put up with me non-professionally in the real world and the virtual one.
In short, thank you.
Good luck and enjoy the game!
ːEricBː
Version 2.0.0.0 - The Final Early Access Update
The full release of the game is about one week away. I've spent quite a bit of time playtesting the game and knocking out issues that you all have reported over the last few weeks. I also did some static and dynamic code analysis and made changes based on those results.
In short, I'm running out of obvious things to fix. So I thought it would be a good time to release version 2.0.0.0, the full release build, to Early Access.
Unless a major issue pops up in the next few days, this will be the build the "Full Release" goes live with on the 14th. (I will probably update translation files and other text files at that time as well.) Any minor issues I'll work into the next minor update or hotfix. In the meantime, I've got a few more loose odds and ends to clean up, particularly with the manual. So that's what I will be doing this week.
I'd like to thank everyone who has played the game, reported issues, debugged the game, offered suggestions, and created content over these last 12 years. I'll have a more fitting thank you with the full release announcement. But I can never say thank you enough. So thanks.
Change log:
-Bugfix: District Factory production panel blank during wars in mega menu.
-GUI: Fixed English font sizing in several locations. (Purple text.)
-Bugfix: Fixed Nations trying to buy factories while they're under construction.
-Bugfix: Fixed 'All Companies' selection not working in Platform Sharing window.
Full Release, Release Candidate 5
Work on the manual continues, and I hope to reach the formula/mechanics sections by the end of the month.
-Bugfix Fixed company acquisition cooldown times not being saved to the save game file in certain situtations.
-Bugfix AutoSave saving every decade to a new file instead of indicated time.
-Bugfix Fixed Autosell not selling licensed or outsourced designs automatically.
-Gameplay Tweaked AI and Autosell initial pricing system.
-Media Increase max values for top reviews clips because of chance of falling outside that range.
-Media Added additional predesigned cars submissions.
-Bugfix Fixed Gearbox weight in contracts window displaying incorrect values.
-Media Increased racing series end dates for any series that reached end game for current maps.
Full Release, Release Candidate 4
The fourth full release candidate is now available. With this update, all first-party game-related items are considered complete. I have finished the maps that will ship with the game and fixed several bugs in this release candidate.
With the fulfillment of the map data, the game is complete! We're ready to remove the Early Access tag from GearCity and step forward into the post-release phase of the game.
But there is a problem. It's a matter of timing. Q4 is probably the worst time to release a non AA game. This time of the year, major studios are releasing their big-budget games for the holidays. Most games will have weeks of discounts for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years' sales. In short, it's difficult to gain sales and attention when you have to compete with 90% discounts on past blockbusters.
With that in mind, even though I'm ready to remove the Early Access tag from GearCity, I won't be doing it this quarter. However, I am willing to confirm a release date! Assuming it does not conflict with a Lunar Sale, GearCity will be officially out of Early Access on January 14th, 2022.
This is a fitting date, as official work began on GearCity around mid-January 2010. (Work on the engine predates even the idea of making a GearCity.)
I won't be spending the time idle. I plan on continuing to fix bugs as you report them to me. I've also been working on the manual http://wiki.gearcity.info, and it will give me time to work on business, marketing, and community-related tasks that I have put on the backburner. Such as reopening our official forums, setting up an IRC-Discord-Matrix bridge, etc. Then there is the matter of the planned post-release feature bounty system that I need to set up. The small delay will also give time for any remaining translations to finish.
The journey is almost at an end.
You can find the full changelog here.
Sadly a few things slipped through testing:
Hotfix #1
-Bugfix: Fixed Random History New Game Crash.
-Bugfix: Fixed Stock Detail Panel not showing for Player's company.
-Bugfix: Fixed Italian Flag crash on European Test Map.
-Bugfix: Fixed Map Logos not loading on 64-bit builds.
-Translations: Added Japanese Review Text.
Release Candidate 3 Hotfix
Full Release, Release Candidate 3
Looking forward, we're going to have a Release Candidate 4 to finish the Base Territories, Europe Test Map (name will change to Europe Map), and the Old School Territory map. I hoped to get these done for RC3 but ran into time constraints. In addition to that, work has begun on updating the game manual.
After RC4 is released, I will finalize a release date and begin marketing efforts. I'll address any bugs that pop up after RC4 with a just before-release patch.
Some RC3 highlights:
-160% increase in the review text system.
-200% increase in filler newspaper articles
-A few additional news articles for Base City Map and Classic Map.
-33 Japanese subtitled Tutorial Videos are available here or by clicking "Help, Video Tutorials" in the game.
-30+ bug fixes are minor game tweaks.
You can find the full changelog here.
V2.0.0.0 RC2
If you have a save game that was corrupted in RC1, it should work in RC2.
I also worked on a few other items users reported to me over the last few days. I did not update translations, edits, or the new data that I planned on. I'm saving those for the next update.
-GUI: Show all player vehicles in the magazine class challenge.
-Bugfix: Fixed bug that prevented AI companies from getting factories and branches in some cases, if the player did not start on the old starting years.
-Bugfix: Fixed digit rounding issues with bored, stroke, and research team skill values. Digits should round to 2 decimal places instead of 2 integers.
-Data: Changed some reviews from untranslatable to translateable.
-Bugfix: Fixed error checking issue with AI contract production system that could cause AI not to produce anything if the player has contracts but isn't using the autoproduction system and is using other autosystems.
-Bugfix: Fixed issue that could prevent sqlite from moving some databases (save games) to memory, because the optimize system did not fully complete its run previously. This typically happens when the player exited the game.
-Bugfix: The game will repair any save files corrupted by the above bug when you select a save game from the load list.