Dev Live Stream: Sunday, June 2 @ 11AM Pacific

The 2019 SimAirport Survey

The Lifecycle of SimAirport

Summary - SimAirport Release Transition


• SimAirport will transition to full release by end Q3 2019.
  
• Expect the price to increase upon release.
  
• Default & Edge patches will continue -- this will NOT be the end of patches!
  

The Current Dev-Cycle

• Airline Relationships
  Nurture the relationship with rich negotiation mechanics, desire for leased offices, lounges and other facilities, new conference rooms & sales rep staff, and more.
  
  
• Timelapse Video Capture
  Smooth capture features tailor-made for sharing your creations.
  
  
• Old Passenger Sprites Re-Implemented!
  Ask nicely and thou shall receive! Switch between the new & the old sprites any time at the flip of a switch! They're both great, but the old sprites are awfully cute we admit! =D
  
  
• Government Grants System
  If you need a little 'push' to help get your airport going in the right direction, these government grants are just what you were missing. Kicks the gameplay up a notch. Oh yeah, allows you to earn EAM Flights too!!
  
  
• Steam Achievements
  If you think you've been there or done that -- then try these on for size! A total of 15 new Steam Achievements to earn, running the gamut from beginner to hardcore difficulty, there's something for everyone.
  
  
• Janitor Area Patrols & Scheduling
  Tired of having your janitors roam the airport inefficiently when the trash leaves it proverbial calling card? This is the answer, and it'll save money on staff wages, too!
  

Thank you! Join us on Sunday @ 11AM!

Developer Live Stream - April 20 @ Noon PDT

When: Saturday, April 20th @ Noon PDT
Where: On Steam, YouTube, and Twitch!

SimAirport Survey - THE 2019 EDITION

Take the SimAirport Survey - 2019 EDITION >>>

Default Patch Notes - April 2019

Dev Live Stream Tonight!

• Here on Steam
  
• via YouTube
  
• via Twitch
  

MARCH 2019 - RELEASE NOTES

Hotfix - March 10, 2019

• Fix intermittent black screen when beginning tutorials
  
• Fix vehicle spawn not prioritizing supply truck appropriately
  

Six Tutorials - Learn by Playing

• Adds SIX different playable tutorials covering progressively more advanced topics
  
• Earn 1 Steam Achievement by beginning any tutorial
  
• Completing each respective tutorial earns 1 Steam Achievement
  

Staff Scheduling & Management

• New 'Staff Hub' UI separates Staff/Administrator, hire/fire management for each
  
• Control costs by Scheduling Staff at only specified operating hours
  
• Mass Hire/Fire: add/remove 10 with CTRL+CLICK, 5 with SHIFT+CLICK
  
• Staff paid hourly wages when at airport, leave when not scheduled
  
• New daily overhead charged for hired/on-payroll staff, regardless schedule
  
• Staff types that can be scheduled are: Staff, Security, Retail Workers, Chefs
  
• All staff now arrive & leave via transport
  

Clone Tool - Copy/Paste for Airports

• Adds Clone Tool that allows you to copy/paste segments of your airport
  
• Requires Foreman Administrator and is restricted to indoor areas
  
• Certain objects cannot be cloned (walkways, stairs/escalators, queues, zones)
  
• Rotate your copied selection with the rotate key or mouse button (default is 'R')
  

Retail Overhaul - Stores, Food, Objects, etc

• Adds 'Store' zones that can be renamed like Cafes
  
• Pax purchase products from various displays & pay at cash registers
  
• Pax browse displays before purchase; varied displays increase chance of sale
  
• New Store Objects:
  
  
  
  • Clothing Display
    
  • 2x Candy Display
    
  • 2x Book Display
    
  • 2x Makeup Display
    
  • 3x Souvenir Displays
    
  • 2x Shoe Displays
    
  • 3x Pharmacy Displays
    
  • 3x Jewelry Display
    
  
  

Underground Roads! Construction & Repair Updates!

• Adds 'Road Ramp' transition objects, ability to draw/build underground roads
  
• New system that provides capabilities not available previously
  
• Maintenance project improvements; reliability & new per-type config options
  
• Improved handling, performance, data integrity for Supply Pile related logic
  
• Area Sell now provides per-type sale price breakdown
  
• Can now zone over pending construction
  
• Most placement & build validations no longer blocked by pending construction, validates based on 'future' state
  
• Dismantle button now validated 'live', prevents untimely dismantles
  
• Construction tasks now more responsive and workers 'think ahead' (head to project while supplies are carried by other worker)
  
• Adds agent tool animation back, displays when worker is actively constructing
  
• Improves handling of multi-change construction on a single tile, primarily Foundations & underground roads
  

GAMEPLAY - Retail & Cafes

• Adds 'Chef' staff type. Cooks food in the kitchen & stocks up food kiosks, food displays in cafes.
  
• Cafes now accept all chair types except office chairs
  
• Cafe min size now 6x6; kitchen min size now 4x4
  
• Cafes zones can be renamed for aesthetics
  
• New build menu category for kitchen & cafe objects
  
• New Hot Plate item added to the kitchen
  
• Chefs now wash up at kitchen sinks for food safety purposes
  
• New items: Food Warmer and Food Cooler for the Cafe; these are food displays for your passengers to pick food from & take to the cash register
  
• Food kiosks & displays now require food to be produced by the kitchens
  
• Workmen now stock up kitchen storages and refrigerators with ingredients
  
• Bars and coffee kiosks require stocking with drinks by workmen
  
• Each food has its own cooking process, meaning that having multiple appliances will help the efficiency of your kitchen; chefs perform each step
  
• Pax have a preferred food (including drinks), and will only eat or drink at places that serve it. Vending machines are used by everyone but with less effectiveness
  
• Kitchens have a new 'Kitchen Overview' screen (click any kitchen zone to access); shows how each food is cooked & which steps you are missing
  
• Retail workers are allocated directly to cash registers in the cafe, no more running back and forth to the kitchen to finish orders
  
• Cafe zones now get assigned to kitchens (previously individual cash registers)
  

GAMEPLAY - General

• Multiple staff can be allocated to work on some objects to improve effectiveness
  
• Kiosk Scheduler removed & replaced with Staff Deployment; includes a paintable timeline feature to organize schedules
  
• Bare concrete now has negative environment impact
  
• Staff hire/fire now exclusively via staff hub UI
  
• Add zone validation 'requires adjacent road that can reach spawn/despawn'
  
• Add ability to construct up to 3 LRT platforms (1 train each, round robin style)
  
• Lowest LRT interval reduced to 7 minutes
  
• Improved speed of LRT boarding/unloading routines
  
• Fuel truck now visually drives on/off aircraft gate
  
• Pax now have slightly more urgent desire to leave after missing flight
  
• Dumpsters now allowed indoors to accommodate underground garbage zones
  
• Tweaks to defined queue movement behavior for higher efficiency
  
• Adds all-new aircraft liveries/textures for all built-in airlines/aircraft
  
• Adds Thirst pax need -- applicable retail objects now satisfy thirst
  
• Improve error handling & recovery on agent task runners
  
• Fuel trucks now willing to refuel themselves even if network cannot fully fill them
  
• Vehicles re-attempt when zone target goes away instead of giving up
  
• Improved save version tracking for better player warning capabilities
  
• Welcome text shown on new maps
  
• Any camera movement key-press now stops camera 'follow mode'
  
• Cash register sprites updated
  
• Numerous decorative flooring tile sprites updated
  
• News Stand & Apparel Stand now require retail workers instead of vendor workers
  
• Revises all non-vehicle agents to unified task-based system
  
• Fuel Depot now using road-adjacency system, requires direct-adjacency
  
• Improve 'can reach spawn' and 'can reach despawn' checks; now checks for primary de/spawn points OR Pickups/Dropoffs (can be improved further still; setups that do not produce warnings could rarely have the potential to be logically problematic)
  
• Adds validation warning if no lighted runway but night flight scheduled
  
• Runway light placement now force-refreshes applicable validations
  
• Multiple minor improvements & adjustments to agent sprites, offsets, colors, etc.
  
• Adds gate validation warning if no reachable runway has lights & night flight scheduled
  
• Object placements now force-refresh applicable 'related object' validations
  
• Improve road placement tool validation error messages to include specifics on the offending “nearby blocker” object/structure
  
• Find 'nearest zone' lookups now accurately account for floor deltas
  
• Changed certain path following routines, less likely to 'cut corners' through objects
  
• Add validation to aircraft gates to help prevent them from being placed backwards
  
• Balance adjustments on all Fuel Tank types
  
• Flight schedule resolution increased; can schedule on per-minute basis
  
• Add ability to configure maintenence priority & choose 1 of 3 'settings' for when repairs take place on that object type
  
• Object 'repair override' now simply allows out-of-window repairs
  
• If object hits 0% override automatically is switched on; override is automatically disabled upon repair completion
  
• Workers can now abruptly stop working on a maintenance project when window closes, override turned off, or settings changed
  
• Construction project 'options' menu now accessed via standard left-click
  
• Can now set construction project priority to Urgent/High/Normal/Low
  
• Rough balance adjustments to maintainable objects via MTBF adjustments
  
• Add BClaim validation: 'requires valid path to Pickups'
  
• Add 'door must be reachable from desk' warning validation to Gates, existed previously but now distinct from 'requires assigned desk' message for confusion avoidance
  

PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION - Areas Addressed

• Implemented staff task pooling - RAM
  
• Multiple extremely commonly used position enumerations - RAM
  
• Commonly called appearance lookups - RAM
  
• Functional object manager - RAM
  
• Vehicle movement & node find/recall - RAM
  
• Zone periodic validations to be more allocation friendly - RAM
  
• Pax 'need display' tooltips - RAM
  
• Core passenger AI loop - RAM
  
• Long-distance & local-area path following routines - RAM
  
• Build menu button requirement / count checks - CPU
  
• Find 'nearest walkable area' now threaded - CPU
  
• Agent identity logic & setup routines - CPU+RAM
  
• Road graph generation performance - CPU+RAM
  
• Objects in zone find & cache mechanisms - CPU+RAM
  
• Object selection - CPU+RAM
  
• Assignment mode data structures - CPU+RAM
  
• Agent 'carried object' handling routines - CPU+RAM
  
• Object pool CPU usage when pooling/de-pooling certain objects - CPU+RAM
  
• Rendering of: Trash Bags, floor dirt, Supply Piles, Roads & Taxiways - CPU+RAM+GPU
  
• Attach to wall visual render - CPU+RAM+GPU
  
• Vehicle transfer animation visual render - CPU+RAM+GPU
  

MISC.

• Add Spanish language support (THANK YOU!!)
  
• Update all translation files to & from Github including new Tutorial.xml
  
• Add numerous new translation keys and re-implemented localization on some UIs
  
• Add stroke/outline to agent sprites
  
• Add graphical post-processing stack (anti-aliasing & color grading)
  
• Increase max zoom distance slightly for a given map size
  
• Add slight color variation to some tiles to improve aesthetic
  
• Foundation tool now shows tiles that are to-be-walls visually for better UX
  
• Minor tweaks & improvements to Flight Schedule UI
  
• Multiple minor improvements & adjustments to agent sprites, offsets, colors, etc.
  
• Revise thread-based state systems into unified state manager
  
• Improved save game screenshot previews
  

BUG FIXES

• Fix 'X' button on main menu settings UI not opening the primary menu screen
  
• Fix Flight Crew arrival & boarding routines that were using legacy code
  
• Fix Gate Desk using legacy pax handling code, more robust & may speed up slightly
  
• Fix 'Circle Flight Pax' not circling newly spawned pax
  
• Fix environment pax need impact not taking window effect into account
  
• Fix zone HUD alert/notifier showing repetitive messages
  
• Fix camera settings sliders rounding to whole number values causing unexpected setting changes when resuming a gameplay session
  
• Fix Perfect Ops bonus showing negative days
  
• Fix several bag hub registration / de-registration bugs
  
• Fix moving walkway build cost bug
  
• Fix material ordering & disallow project cancel for runway/walkway extension projects
  
• Fix runway validation bug when attempting to place on right or top edge of map
  
• Fix weather dialog showing "Inactive due to weather" when runways are down for non-weather related reasons
  
• Fix memory leak and errors due to leftover adhoc queue upon object dismantle
  
• Fix UI selected object hover box being rotated incorrectly on non-rotated objects
  
• Fix error on some rare short-distance agent pathfinding requests
  
• Fix PA Speaker not unregistering when deserialized in a pending dismantle state
  
• Fix maintenance projects started via override while outside of window
  
• Fix duplicate state-set bug that could cause projects to be left in undefined state
  
• Fix piles destined for non-walkable underground (fuel tank), were being dropped in poor locations resulting in very long walks
  
• Fix runways able to be built half off-map, causing numerous downstream issues
  
• Fix placeables sometimes not populating translated name/description during init
  
• Fix luggage cars can get stuck when depot is in certain orientations relative to the nearby road(s)
  
• Fix supply pile not preferring against being dropping on existing escalator/stairway/walkway
  
• Fix multiple Workshop & mod related bugs
  
• Fix departing bag count incorrectly displaying arrival bag count
  
• Fix pause toggle action sometimes getting stuck on pause
  
• Fix wind UI text display, update it to show 3-char direction
  
• Fix supply pile project re-allocation not seeing all piles correctly causing price mismatch vs display price
  
• Fix flight schedule UI bug for certain flight time
  
• Fix middle mouse scroll not taking into account zoom level
  
• Fix ticket kiosk logic may have been able to errantly allow usage when not in gate-assigned zone
  
• Fix agent state bug that could cause failed agent startup on some very old saves (circa 2017)
  
• Fix pooled path data structures rarely not being fully reset if canceled late
  
• Fix thread safety issue, maybe caused boarded pax to very rarely be 'missed flight'
  
• Fix vehicles running traffic-aware paths before being stuck in traffic
  
• Fix Perfection Bonus showing all days, should only show prior 30 days
  
• Fix staff not getting floor change on last waypoint during path-following
  
• Fix road node reservation bug during runway construction/dismantle/expand
  
• Fix pax spawner only looking at “Today” in prep for EAM flights
  
• Fix extremely delayed passengers unable to despawn due to archived flight data
  
• Fix several UIs need to check if game is quitting before cleaning up
  
• Fix zone removal not always cleaning up scheduled staff tasks/allocations
  
• Fix Fuel Truck reachability check which could cause failed fuel requests
  
• Fix Fuel Truck distance heuristic returning inaccurate distance numbers causing failed refueling or poor/distant vehicles to be assigned
  
• Fix performance 'leak' during when initializing & configuring certain agents & objects
  
• Fix sub-task tracking issue that mostly impacted retail workers
  
• Fix target selection bug that could cause retail staff to attempt to path-find to a wall
  
• Fix aircraft being visible and 'floating' after takeoff on some large maps
  
• Fix pax rarely becoming stuck mid-security process when objects are deleted
  
• Fix multiple save/load issues related to zones, revised zone references to use primary GUID & assignments system
  
• Fix roads unable to be placed on outdoor gates
  
• Fix Needs UI not showing 'fully satisfied' for Environment/Frustration
  
• Fix taxiway & runway light sprites not respecting underground opacity
  
• Fix flight spawn curve shifted towards being too late
  
• Fix attach-to-wall objects not not always causing wall sprite to refresh/update properly
  
• Fix luggage using wrong material when on conveyors
  
• Fix object selection dialog 'Follow' mode not providing state feedback
  
• Fix fuel one-time purchase input too small
  
• Fix object warnings flashing too rapidly
  
• Fix Luggage Vehicle checking one-way path instead of bidirectional
  
• Fix sector generation thread safety issue, could cause corrupted sector state (stuck & clumping pax, strange behaviors, etc)
  
• Fix sector data pooling bug that caused RAM usage to continually increase
  
• Fix lighting 'flash' each day at 20:00
  
• Fix road reachability matrix & caching when using one-way taxiways
  
• Fix rain appearing off screen when zoomed out
  
• Fix several bank loan text/translation related issues
  
• Fix gate name dropdown visual quirk
  
• Fix mod status menu not being sorted alphabetically
  
• Fixed duplicate floor types (removed Floor09, dupe of Floor12)
  
• Fix PAPI not being blocked by other objects
  
• Fix and update several aspects of Hangar submenu; adds money validation text
  
• Fix wall tiling/bitmask not visually treating all doors the same
  

This Saturday -- March 9, 2019 -- Celebrate with us!

• When?

  
  Saturday March 9th, 2019 at 10PM US Pacific.
  If you're across the pond from us, that's 07:00 CET (GMT+1) on Sunday morning!
  
  

• What?

  
  
  
  
  • Developer Live Stream
    Interact directly with the devs, ask questions, learn about the game, provide feedback, and share your ideas. We'll be talking all things SimAirport!
    
    
  • Default Patch Release!
    The latest update will go live when we begin streaming on Saturday!
    
  
  
  

• Where?

  
  We'll be streaming directly to the store page here on Steam and simul-casting to YouTube. We'll be playing late into the night, so stop by and join us for some fun!!
  
  Links to the streams will be posted with the patch notes, on the forum, and this post will be updated to include them.
  
  

See you this weekend!

Upcoming Patch - Highlights & Status Update

Tutorial - Several of them!
Long requested and finally delivered -- multiple tutorials to help players of all skill & experience levels. New players can start with the basic tutorial while those who have the basics down can play through more advanced tutorials to help master game concepts such as Baggage Systems and multi-floor construction.

Staff Scheduling
No longer will your staff be working 24-hours shifts, unless you want them to! Staff up to handle the travel rush & scale back during the sleepy overnight hours. Airport operations efficiency taken to a whole new level.

Complete Overhaul of Cafe/Retail & New 'Shops' Zone
Long needed & finally delivered. No longer will your retail workers be running confusingly between the kitchen and the cafes -- now your Chefs will work the kitchens & do their best to keep food flowing to their respective retail establishments. Pax are smarter too, with quicker & more realistic interactions that won't bog down your airport. True retail corridors are now possible; a wide array of new shop related objects & new sellable merchandise options will keep pax happier & increase your profits.

Clone Tool
Yep! Restroom placement just got a whole lot less tedious, and it's a very welcome change. Copy an area, rotate the entire thing, and 'paste' it with the new Clone Tool. Previously-annoying placements instantly become satisfying again!

Enhanced Visual Fidelity - Renewed Focus
While we've never focused heavily on graphics it's become more clear, especially as gameplay quality & depth has improved so substantially, that the game visuals have started to become the weakest link. Our focus remains gameplay, but the visuals must not be allowed to detract from the overall experience. We've already upgraded flooring textures, redone several sprites, and we're almost finished with completely revamped aircraft/airline sprites as well. You can also expect some technical art improvements -- namely anti-aliasing and color grading improvements -- to be coming, too!

Is it ready yet? When is the next DEFAULT Update?!

Thank You & Happy Holidays!

Patch Notes - November 16, 2018

• Increase max zoom distance slightly for any given map size
  
• Fix cancelling a piece-wise construction project could sometimes cause stuck workers
  
• Fix luggage task enqueue checking directional reachability instead of bidirectional
  
• Fix workers getting stuck trying to get to suspended-in-air supply piles
  
• Fix workers sometimes not falling into 'get unstuck' routine due to being 'sent home' too quickly
  
• Fix object warnings flashing too rapidly
  
• Fix sector generation thread safety lock-run, was allowing >1 re-generations at once which rarely caused corrupted sector state (stuck & clumping pax, strange behaviors, etc)
  
• Fix sector data pooling bug that caused RAM usage to continually increase
  
• Fix road reachability bug when road targets are shared by >1 object
  
• Fix lighting 'flash' each day at 20:00
  
• Fix road reachability matrix & caching when using one-way taxiways, optimizes same
  
• Fix several minor null references
  
• Fix rain appearing off screen when zoomed out
  
• Fix several needless RAM allocations within Pax AI routines
  
• Optimize nearest zone lookups
  
• Find nearest walkable area routine now runs on background thread
  
• Find nearest zone lookups now more accurately account for floor delta
  
• Revise thread-based state refresh systems into a shared state manager
  

Update Video

What's Next?

Thank You!

NOTABLE ITEMS

• Performance - Many Overhauls & Optimizations

  
  
  
  
  • Rendering systems & key data-structures completely revised
    
  • New Pax / Agent Sprites via fast agent display code
    
  • Tile draw & refresh routines refactored
    
  • Background thread controller and runners re-architected
    
  • Baggage System and luggage simulation & rendering overhaul
    
  • Overhauled all Sector generation, construction, and reachability matrix code
    
  • Substantially improved object pooling efficiency
    
  • Road graph, vehicle reachability/distance generation overhauled
    
  • Pax 'AI context' removed from saves, reduces RAM & save file sizes
    
  • Numerous existing UIs optimized & improved for efficiency
    
  
  
  

• A Real Main Menu!

  
  
  
  
  • Can start new game with custom set of airlines (and disable the defaults)
    
  • Steam Workshop UIs substantially overhauled & improved
    
  • Adds a Steam Workshop 'Browse' view with 1-click "Play" on Airports & better UX
    
  • Adds full featured Airline mod creation & editing tool
    
  • Adds a new in-game 'Mod Status' screen to display mods in the save and provide download/update functions
    
  
  
  

• Land Expansions in ANY Direction!

  
  
  

• Fuel System Improvements

  
  
  
  
  • Adds new Refuel Station which Fuel Trucks use to get refilled before returning to hangar
    
  • Recurring Order now a toggle, orders amount needed to fill tanks each night
    
  • Spot Order now separate UI, allows optional immediate-delivery
    
  • Fuel trucks will top-off from the fuel port after aircraft refueling at gates with a port
    
  • Usability & aesthetic improvements to Fuel UIs
    
  
  
  

• MORE HIGHLIGHTS

  
  
  
  
  

  • Financial: Bank Loan Systems

    
    
    
    
    • Loans always available via pre-application; rates vary on credit/amount
      
    • New Credit Reporting research and new Credit Report UI (Finance Hub)
      
    • New "Perfect Ops Bonus" UI (Finance Hub) breakdown on why/not receiving "100% bonus"
      
    
    
    

  • New 'Pax Flows' overlay

    
    
    
    
    • Activate from the right side of main UI/HUD toolbar
      
    • Multiple modes to analyze & slice/dice the pax data - press TAB to switch modes when active
      
    • View Satisfaction, Time-in-Airport, Arrival/Departure, and more!
      
    
    
    

  • New 'Pax Hub' Reporting UIs

    
    
    
    
    • Access via clicking Pax Satisfaction on top HUD
      
    • "Passenger Needs" displays breakdown of needs by satisfaction level
      
    • "Pax Timings" displays total time spent by passengers in your airport; allows for viewing today or yesterday, aggregate & filtered by flight. Only shown per gameplay-session (not serialized/saved).
      
    
    
    

  • 'Departure/Arrival Runways' Display Tool

    
    
    
    
    • Activate via 'Show Departure/Arrival Runways' button of Gate menus
      
    • Displays runway candidates based on selection chances for that gate
      
    • Hover a runway to view detailed heuristics for that runway-gate combo
      
    
    
    
  
  

GAMEPLAY

• Adds several new planning mode options & colors
  
• Tuning adjustments to fuel system & fuel market
  
• All luggage on conveyors is now fully representative of checked/deplaned luggage
  
• Bag hubs now have a maximum number of bags sorted per game-minute
  
• Hangar Vehicles (bag & fuel) now eligible for tasks while returning to hangars
  
• Objects now 'in inventory' when in Supply Pile & not already allocated
  
• Aircraft request refuel & bag load/unload much earlier
  
• Aircraft will now be in 'Initial Approach' until landing is imminent
  
• One-way taxiways can no longer allowed on gate-adjacent taxiways (caused no-paths)
  
• Baggage claim zones now allowed in secure & non-secure areas
  
• Hunger object tweaks; cafes decreased, most kiosks increased; bar slightly decreased in attractiveness/fulfillment
  
• Fuel Tank tweaks: capacity + cost + build time (balances small vs large tank)
  
• Tweaks to sector division to better accommodate pathfinding to/from LRT
  
• Runway numbering scheme improved for accuracy & realism
  
• Loan payments taken from balance regardless of available cash (can bankrupt you)
  
• Removed Ramp Agent from Staff Hire UI
  
• Increase queue entry speed for improved efficiency
  
• Now begin with same airlines/mods as previous airport after selling your airport
  
• Improve responsiveness of pax LRT boarding behavior
  
• Reduce max pax wait time on luggage to 4.5hrs
  
• Reduce vehicle road occupancy node requirements for tighter fit
  
• Adds hangar vehicle true distance heuristics, used for some task assignments
  
• Allow slightly larger airport sizes via slight increase to land expansion max size
  
• Revises 'reachability' systems to be more robust and performant
  
• Pax spawn tweak: now fully spawned for flight by earlier of 3hrs before arrival OR 2hrs before departure
  
• Improved workmen task immediate-chaining for more efficient construction
  
• Adds new 'Booster Panel' upgrade for Baggage Hub; provides increased throughput (requires research, max 2/hub)
  
• Improved runway selection heuristics; now incorporates actual distance directly
  

PASSENGER & CREW AI

• Improved latency when under high load (i.e. 10x game speed)
  
• Revised idle behaviors and their invocation conditions
  
• Decreases fancy chair rest need effects to be more in line with regular seating
  
• Passengers now generally avoid walking on roads & prefer sidewalks when possible
  
• Crew: spawn 3hrs pre-departure with lounge, 2hrs without
  
• Crew: boarding desire now based off inbound flight's arrival time instead of departure time
  
• Pax leaving via LRT no longer first walk to right-side of the road first
  
• Arrival pax now less attracted to non-LC needs
  
• Pax now consider LRT vs Pickups via AI; can change mind & self-balance
  
• Logic adjustments to handle seeking zones in secure/non-secure areas
  
• Pax trash bin selection now chooses best bin without randomness
  

USABILITY / INTERFACE / MISC.

• Adds Czech language pack (HUGE thank you @max.vanca)
  
• Updates all translations to & from the repo on Github
  
• Object placement now waits until mouse-up before creating next object
  
• Slows down required double-click speed on the clock, to open Lifetime Stats
  
• Warns when no valid maintenance zone exists & small objects require repair
  
• Pax satisfaction (top HUD) hover changed: "X passengers very un-satisfied"
  
• Improvements to Pax hover display visual
  
• Airline Index UI filtering now filters the Airline detail/contracts listing display too
  
• Revises passenger need & lifecycle config
  
• Environment & Info reports now show primary objects in bright pink
  
• 'Highlight Passengers' is now regardless of floor (transparency based on floor delta)
  
• Force Departure button now prompts for confirmation
  
• Revise Flight Status UI, dramatically improves UI's performance impact
  
• Immediate validation refresh for target/source objects upon assignment change
  
• Add 'underground transparency' setting to preferences (gameplay tab)
  
• Upgrade text render library to latest version
  
• Overhauled internal translation file tools allowing faster future updates
  
• Adds padding to right side of flight scheduler, improves PM flight UX
  
• Adds '# Flights Scheduled' column to the Airlines index UI
  
• Agent sprites updated and movement animations added
  
• Add tooltips to conveyor ports to prompt & provide context for right-click port changing
  
• Revised reports & overlays code
  
• Adds a hotkey to compile hardware summary to assist in debugging
  
• Aircraft mod editor displays fuel capacity in liters instead of milliliters
  
• Improved ESC handling for consistency & compatibility with confirm / modal dialogs
  
• Flight Schedule UI: viewport size, allow scroll during hover, etc
  
• Tooltip placement changed to be less likely to obscure mouse/cursor position
  
• Fuel UI spacing, word wrap, and misc. text formatting issues
  

BUG FIXES

• Fix aircraft sometimes showing "NaN Boarded"
  
• Fix pax sometimes getting stuck at GADs during boarding when no queue was assigned
  
• Fix aircraft being unable to pushback & depart when aircraft gate was at 0% maintenance
  
• Fix runways not exempt from proximity checks when they're under construction
  
• Fix stuck passenger when only exit from security zone is escalator
  
• Fix stuck vehicle and/or janitor caused by trash bags that made it ever-so-slightly off map (garbage zone on map edge)
  
• Fix dismantling roads not completing until reload game
  
• Fix hover box sometimes not working on newly placed objects
  
• Fix buttons missing on some selected dialogs (assignment, etc)
  
• Fix placement indicator ruler/measurement text sorting
  
• Fix vehicle selection dialog showing 'Fire' button
  
• Fix Aircraft showing 'Break Deadlock' button which is no longer needed
  
• Fix janitors/garbage trucks getting stuck periodically until reload
  
• Fix to discourage agents sometimes walking through objects
  
• Fix placement indicator text sorting, improves sizing when zoomed out
  
• Fix custom aircraft sometimes requesting very low amounts of fuel
  
• Fix "Follow Mode" not disabling when changing object context
  
• Fix garbage truck doing 2 tasks/dumpster even if they're empty
  
• Fix pax wandering near Gate Agent Desks with queues that cannot service the agent type
  
• Fix research UI sometimes being incorrect after loading until un-pause
  
• Fix large object repair projects ordering excessive number of supply piles
  
• Fix workmen stuck due to bad target selection over right boundary of map
  
• Fix staff getting stuck & appearing on all above-ground floors when they become marooned on a demolished upper floor
  
• Fix dismantle Dumpster null reference
  
• Fix passenger stuck on walkway start to nonsecure destination when end of walkway is surrounded by security zone
  
• Fix toolbox handling and visual representation
  
• Fix network-capable gates from requesting indoor luggage due to congestion
  
• Fix aircraft turning around on runway too eagerly
  
• Fix pax AI lifecycle proximity heuristic considering only a single goal target (ex: GAD) when multiple exist
  
• Fix multiple Foundation tool pricing & allocation related issues
  
• Fix Pax AI background thread stop routine for cleaner exit
  
• Fix runway selection on map layouts with extensive one-way taxiway usage
  
• Fix idle tasks sometimes allowing pax to sneak thru security
  
• Fix crew repeating security in some scenarios
  
• Fix invocation order of pax AI when no sector exists, avoiding stuck
  
• Fix multiple pax behavior/display issues when using Info objects
  
• Fix Flight Crew not using security when GAD queues restricted to First/Coach
  
• Fix luggage load/unload bug that could cause task to fail, golf cart to be orphaned
  
• Fix fallback 'leave on foot' to be AI selection based based on global timeouts
  
• Fix zone tooltips using up too much screen real estate
  
• Fix pax unable to finish security when ID Check positioned on security zone border
  
• Fix saves w/ LRT not used when placed on wrong floor due another (resolved) bug
  
• Fix rare aircraft taxi clearance failure resulting in stuck aircraft due to thread-safety
  
• Fix fuel port save/load related bug, could cause non-clean exit
  
• Fix & improve runtime font switching (non English language fonts) to be more scalable and less bug-prone
  
• Fix having LC needs unintentionally contribute to satisfaction scores
  
• Fix several janitor & trash related task bugs
  
• Fix refuel task distance heuristic using aircraft position vs gate position
  
• Fix numerous clipping / sorting issues when pax using small objects
  
• Fix error in Wander behavior that could cause undesired pax actions
  
• Fix sprites being unnecessarily reloaded into RAM between game loads
  
• Fix spacial lookup rebuild causing large RAM allocation/churn every frame
  
• Fix road placement guide sprite mis-config that caused visual artifacts
  
• Fix airport value modifier, don't include cash when evaluating EV
  
• Fix conveyor transition placement validations, allow use on H2H
  
• Fix conveyor functional validations, only allow H2H when using 2-way conveyors (warning shown if invalid connections exist)
  
• Fix Airline resolution during loading; always uses local version if two copies exist (order: SteamID, GUID, then name)
  
• Fix numerous mod & workshop related bugs
  
• Fix multiple issues with secure area & reachability lookup inconsistencies which were causing stuck & lost/bad pax behaviors
  
• Fix aircraft not re-selecting departure runway when chosen runway is is unreachable
  
• Fix object warning incorrectly showing up underground for outdoor objects
  
• Fix Supply Truck hover display of supply piles onboard
  
• Fix flight bag carousel selection, filter to pax-reachable carousels (same wing, or non-secure)
  
• Fix stuck vehicle condition when roads completely diverge at the spawn point
  
• Fix foundation wall incorrectly clear-able when on map boundary
  
• Fix multiple hangar vehicle reachability matrix bugs
  
• Fix luggage vehicle distance checks using aircraft position instead of gate position
  

Current Cycle

• BIG Performance Gains
  Edge players are reporting massively improved performance.
  
  
• Luggage Tracking & Mechanics
  Change port types on Hubs, upgrade hubs, and watch each individual piece of luggage during its journey.
  
  
• New Pax Graphics
  Rich new animated agent graphics for a more immersive & less cartoony experience.
  
  
• More Data & Reports - Needs & Timings reports, Perfect Ops breakdown, 6+ new pax/agent overlays, and numerous reporting & data improvements.
  
  
• Bank Loan Overhaul - Completely updated bank loan system with credit ratings, bigger loans, and larger interest ranges for a more realistic fiscal premise.
  
  
• Expand in ALL Directions - By popular demand, you can now buy more land in any direction! Even across the street!
  
  
• A Real Main Menu
  No longer will you be dumped into a default airport when you open the game!
  
  
• Construction Improvements
  Better supply pile positioning, fast inventorying of dismantled objects, lower performance impact.
  
  
• Pax AI Update
  Smarter pax, more maintainable code, and better performing AI.
  
  
• MANY BUG FIXES and LOTS MORE
  Of course we fixed a ton of existing bugs, along with the new ones created along the way. Lots more, too! Check out the Edge change log if you want to see what else we've got for you in the upcoming October patch, or check back here when in drops in a few weeks!
  

What's Next?

• Tutorial. Finished! Will hit Edge same day the October patch ships!
  
• Staff Scheduling. Under way! Hits Edge the first few weeks of cycle.
  
• Cafe Overhaul. Under way! Hits Edge the first few weeks of cycle.
  

Thank you!

CHANGE LOG - June 2018 Cleanup Update

• Fixes multiple bugs that caused object selection hover to alternate rapidly
  
• Fixes vehicles potentially being duplicated in spawn queue when loading saves, could cause stuck vehicles and other undefined behavior
  
• Fixes Pax AI utility heuristic giving too much value to low usefulness objects
  
• Fixes poor object selection / distribution for Pax selecting scanners within a security zone
  
• Fixes startup splash screen aspect ratio and adds LVGameDev logo
  
• Fixes mouse pointer 'hot zone' position being wrong when switching from Windowed to Full Screen mode when using a resolution that doesn't match the native resolution's aspect ratio
  
• Fixes stuck aircraft condition when loading game with aircraft very near destination gate
  
• Fixes a reservation check that could prevent runway maintenance from taking place
  
• Taxiway 10-tile border now properly respects 'exempt' objects that are under construction
  
• Ensures graphics settings window always remains centered in the viewable area, always
  
• Demolish action now always placed last on selected object dialogs
  
• Idle janitors now help load garbage when idle in garbage zone (even when >15 tiles away)
  
• Fixes functional warnings sometimes not updating properly for object presence checks that require road-connectivity, some specific build orders were avoiding cache/re-check logic
  
• Graphics setting tweaks for less pixelated visuals
  
• Disables the 'stuck' message for aircraft that are waiting at the gate for a reasonable path
  
• Removes the 'Pax Timings' button from Aircraft dialog (functionality was removed)
  
• Improvements to agent spacial refresh rate and timing
  

Update Video

What's Next?

1. Performance
   
2. Tutorial
   
3. Retail / Cafes
   

Thank You!

NOTABLE CHANGES & ADDITIONS

• Aircraft Pathfinding v2 -- No more stuck aircraft!
  
• Sell Airport mechanic added; begin new airport using funds gained (Finance —> Valuation report)
  
• Connecting Flight Passenger; up to 10% arrivals now catch a departure
  
• Bank Loan mechanic updated, loan availability & interest rate now use credit rating
  
• Russian (RU) language pack - Thank you @Ursus on Discord!
  
  
• NEW OBJECTS & ZONES
  
  
  
  • Adds 'Drink Vending' machine, 'XL Flight Info Display' and 'Flight Info Kiosk' objects
    
  • Adds 'Arcade Zone' and 4 new arcade game objects, improves pax boredom
    
  • Adds 'Digital Ad Display' object
    
    
    
    • Generates revenue for your airport based on nearby foot-traffic counts
      
    • Amount generated per passenger increases with volume, determined per display
      
    • Has a negative impact on environment
      
    • Revenue is paid just after midnight each day, for the previous day
      
    • Loads the advertisement PNGs dynamically from: INSTALL_DIR/StreamingAssets/ad-displays/* (add .png files here, then click 'reload sprites' or restart SimAirport)
      
    
    
  
  
  
• PASSENGER AI
  
  
  
  • Object selection within a single security zone improved substantially
    
  • Distance & wait time heuristic adjustments (weighting and exponents)
    
  • Pax now properly take into account distance-to-gate when pre-security
    
  • Improved object selection & overall pax distribution when identical or very similar object scores
    
  • Reduces occurrence of pax choosing distant objects when nearer options of the same object are present
    
  • Multiple improvements & changes to Pax AI report too l
    
  • Far less likely to choose objects that will require re-doing security (both generally & specifically when object is secured but one-ways/escalators would force insecure path to gate)
    
  • Improved 'scoped lookups' (within security zone) to use more relevant subset of heuristics
    
  • Departures pax now focus solely on lifecycle at ~30min to flight (even earlier when PA System 'hits' them)
    
  
  
  
• RESEARCH CHANGES
  
  
  
  • All research now requires applicable administrator to complete (exception: 4x root nodes to unlock each admin)
    
  • Research in each tree can now happen in parallel per tree
    
  • Adds progress bar to bottom nav UI button that displays the soonest-finishing research item
    
  • Adds new research: "One Way Taxiways" and "Escalators"
    
  • Removes research: "Road Building", "Pricing", and bank loan related research
    
  
  
  
• NEW BUILD HOTKEY ACTIONS
  Three new hotkey actions added, defaults are listed and can be changed in options menu:
  
  
  
  • X - Demolish Tool toggle. Second press goes back to prior-selected tool
    
  • C - Clear Tool toggle. Second press goes back to prior-selected tool
    
  • Left Shift - Build Modifier. When held down, switches to the relevant 'removal' option for the currently open menu; only active while build menu is open & active.
    
  
  

GAMEPLAY CHANGES

• Taxiways now require a minimum 10-tile distance from structures & objects (exception: runway upgrades, gates, hangars, baggage depot)
  
• Adjustments to LRT boarding routines for faster/improved pax boarding
  
• Escalator and Stair traversal speeds increased
  
• Airport Valuation now includes fuel
  
• Phone charging station changes: enabled queueing, increased concurrency, lowered upkeep burden, decreased desirability
  
• Runway Lights and Gate Stairs upgrades now display visual indicator of required placement position
  
• Foundation tool no longer removes walls & prevents "double-walls" in more situations; improves tool consistency & performance
  
• Prevents staff from getting assigned new tasks after being flagged as Fired, allowing them to de-spawn in a reasonable amount of time
  
• Aircraft now have a stronger preference to avoid runways when taxiing
  
• Actual arrival time now recorded after aircraft rollout instead of on final
  
• Runway lighting updates for aesthetics and slightly improved rendering performance
  
• Construction of floor finishes requires fewer tasks for faster construction
  
• Adjusts stack size & task duration for a number of materials (wood, carpet, stone, etc)
  
• Tweaks to money range on vending objects that allow price setting, resulting in more sane default AI interactions
  
• Updates the approach used for Bus passenger Dropoffs to be the same as LRT, prevents build-up issues
  
• Adding gate stairs upgrade to small gates now validates & requires 2nd floor already exist before allowing placement
  
• Minor improvements to vehicle parking and lane choice preferences
  
• Aircraft more likely to go straight after landing rollout instead of turning around
  
• Aircraft now begin attempting to arrive a bit earlier
  
• Info objects now have angle-based impact cones; XL display is one-sided; tweaked info distance & intensities
  

UI & MISC

• Adds 'Lifetime Game Stats' recorded in each save; double-click clock to view (for future Steam Achievements support)
  
• Loading a saved game will now always start Paused
  
• Airline detail UI updated to use consistent color & scheme for easier flight selection
  
• Improvements to the top HUD money hover tooltip, now more accurate & detailed cash flow estimate based on scheduled flights & actual pax counts
  
• Aircraft gate build button tooltip now shows the required level
  
• Top UI HUD money area now turns progressively darker red when bankruptcy timer is ticking, alert icon pops up with 12 hours to go, blinks faster as bankruptcy looms
  
• Game startup now shows 'New Game' following interstitial; is intended to assist new players who may not realize sandbox mode & larger maps exist
  
• Improvements to flight crew info on Aircraft tooltip
  
• Improved validation warning on objects that require zones ("Requires $ZONE_TYPE" instead of "Requires Zone")
  
• Adds a nav button tooltip warning when reaching the 10 flight/day limit, prompting you to build an ATC Tower
  
• Adds a rough count of 'objects that need staff type' number to staff report UI
  
• Removes the 'Passenger Timings' report on Aircraft (performance reasons -- requires a different approach)
  
• Translation pack files all updated from repo on Github (thank you!)
  
• Minor optimizations to build menu UI
  
• Optimizes the save/load game UIs
  
• Minor performance improvements to satisfaction score & spacial lookup calculations
  
• Improves consistency of all confirmation dialog UIs
  
• Adds Arcade Games to maintenance control panel, updates code to auto-add objects for future additions
  
• Save-fix for a dumpster that never finishes construction properly
  
• Minor optimizations to the Flight Scheduling UIs
  
• Minor rendering improvements & optimizations
  
• Adds some metadata to saves save files which allows fast retrieval of some save info prior to loading it
  
• Top HUD Weather hover now reflects runway status inclusive of maintenance downtime
  
• Enables sprite tiling for construction indicators to improve their border appearance
  
• Adds 'noaudio' custom launch option for assisting with troubleshooting game startup problems
  

BUG FIXES

• Fixes Information objects being blocked by walls/objects in frustrating and seemingly random ways
  
• Fixes moving walkways preventing environment effect from spreading
  
• Fixes a bug that sometimes let pax slip through security without being checked (or without tickets), causing them to miss their flight
  
• Fixes a pax AI nullref bug that could sometimes incorrectly rule out objects
  
• Fixes weird overlay bug when importing Grass material (affected older existing saves)
  
• Fixes security zone not showing “cannot be vacated” warning when applicable (e.g. resulting in no passengers using it)
  
• Fixes airline custom mod BaseRefuelPercentage not serialized (previously required reimport each game load to fix)
  
• Fixes agents potentially becoming stuck when drawing exclusive lounges on/near them
  
• Fixes aircraft sometimes not selecting an alternative runway when their selected one enters maintenance
  
• Fixes crash when disabling save & mod dialogs
  
• Fixes agents leaving secure areas because a non-secure path exists which is "shorter"
  
• Fixes Runway Tool hoverbox display while dragging, should only display aircraft imported in current game
  
• Fixes valid/invalid colors not updating on the Flight Schedule UI hover tooltips
  
• Fixes being able to draw objects on top of conveyor segments
  
• Fixes being able to place baggage hubs on invalid conveyor segments (if the segment is not yet built or otherwise not attached to anything)
  
• Fixes custom airline refuel percent not serializing
  
• Fixes 'Demo Aircraft Spawn' functionality used for testing aircraft mods
  
• Fixes a rare bug when pax needed to abort boarding their flight due to construction cutting off their path
  
• Fixes dumpsters sometimes not finishing construction when supply pile is on same tile & garbage truck comes while in-progress
  
• Fixes being able to circumvent the 12-hr pricing lockout period via saving & reloading game
  
• Fixes aircraft unable to leave gates that require maintenance
  
• Fixes unable to schedule flights to gates that need maintenance
  
• Fixes vehicles not properly trying to navigate around stopped traffic
  
• Fixes administrators failing to re-pick offices when appropriate
  
• Fixes cursor not reset when closing flight schedule editor while dragging
  
• Fixes runway placement should de-zone tiles
  
• Fixes vendor workers not handling “no path” when showing up for work — could result in “working” from invalid map positions on Ground floor
  
• Fixes zone requirements ‘non-secure area’ inverted formatting
  
• Fixes janitors not finish clearing immediate area when quasi-“nearby” jobs exist above or below them on other floors (could result in throughput degradation)
  
• Fixes janitors not prioritizing emptying garbage bins vs cleaning floors at all (could result in throughput degradation)
  
• Fixes top UI HUD wind direction indicator sometimes disappearing, re-adds color based on wind intensity
  
• Fixes older saves with supply piles containing deprecated objects that could result in terrain drawing tools always failing to validate
  
• Fixes being unable to sell supply piles containing certain objects (e.g. gate/runway upgrades and utilities)
  
• Fixes infrastructure cash change descriptions not formatted correctly
  
• Fixes ‘potential blockers’ not being invalidated every time after editing one-way taxiway markings
  
• Fixes a few edge cases of staff/object assignments that could lead to situations where equilibrium is not achieved promptly. This could lead to staff running around the airport more than necessary and leaving objects temporarily unmanned (due to incorrect consideration of en route agents that will soon take their spot).
  
• Fixes agent sector frontier not prohibiting traversal from nonsecure to protected areas
  
• Fixes dismantled roads not clearing the sprite index cache (and sometimes later reappearing)
  
• Fixes LRTs being able to spawn on top of each other & go through each other
  
• Fixes ‘Browse Filesystem’ button on save/load game UI
  
• Fixes worker pathing bug when building or adding runway upgrades near edge of map
  
• Fixes precision for wait times specified in game seconds when at 200+ game days
  
• Fixes vending object currency rounding display inconsistency
  
• Fixes a bug that caused text to intermittently not show up or to be noisy & illegible (macOS)
  
• Fixes sprite lighting and over-exposure, few other graphic/render setting tweaks
  
• Fixes a bug related to transport Dropoffs causing late passengers due to queue build-up
  
• Fixes Staff UI portraits not showing up, optimizes their loading/display substantially
  
• Fixes Save Game UI so that clicking a save pre-fills the text box & overwrite dialog shows which filename
  
• Fixes P&L report expansion of categories when viewing previous days data
  
• Fixes bug in game reset that could sometimes cause performance degradation
  
• Fixes pricing not showing up for a few terrain tools
  
• Fixes a security reachability related bug that could cause passengers to use the wrong security areas and generally get confused about their surroundings (primarily affected more complex layouts that made use of security exits and escalators). Specific change was to ensure that reachability did not allow a passenger to cross a Security Exit into a "Secure" area from a "Protected" area.
  
• Fixes road vehicles so that distant traffic no longer considered when choosing a route
  
• Fixes dumpsters being emptied prior to construction being completed
  
• Fixes condition that caused aircraft to end up on roads and stuck