Hey everyone! Last week we announced a lengthening of our targeted August release window and before you get too excited we will sadly not announce a new date in this development blog. Missing another deadline was not fun and of course very frustrating to listen to disappointed fans, we are very thankful that most people were still very understanding and encouraging.

We have been working around the clock the latest week and we now count over 90+ reported bugs solved since the internal testing program began. We estimate that the most critical ones, which we talk about in the previous development blog, have been mitigated by now. We have in relation to theses bugs also found vital logical and performance related loop holes in some core game controlling systems such as the job task handling system and zoning systems. For these reasons we have put a lot of effort into performing some vital overhaul on these systems, which means that they are now more stable than ever and are optimized for multi-concourse support (i.e. several security areas, not yet activated for multi terminals which requires more work).

In excess of this we have also been able to do some stress testing on the biggest airport so far built, kindly provided to us by a tester containing 40 medium stands, 6000+ passengers and 300+ employees. Unfortunately, this world was saved in a weird position due to a critical bug with the security check-point simulation (which is now of course solved) causing all passengers to call path finding at start after load. While this simulation state drags down the FPS to an estimated 10 to 15 FPS (not accurately measured) on our mid-range machine (Windows 7, Intel Core i7 2600K, 16 GB MHz DDR3, GeForce GTX 560TI) we are still hopeful for the performance and optimization aspect post release. We will do some more tests in this world on a higher end machine to try to find the limit of what is possible today. We are far from finished improving the game and are continuously working on aspects that can improve script and rendering impact and what stuff we can do faster and with lesser performance costs.

As you might know, we have posted a few screens of some airports built by testers and thought that we’d share a new picture dump with you this evening. They feature the same airports but at a somewhat different stage in the game as well as from a few different angles.

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We have rolled back the version counter and are continuously pushing new updates of the ACEO build. We’re currently on alpha version 0.19.0 which featured the following changelog. Previously this week we pushed alpha version 0.18.2 and for the sake of transparency the 0.18.2 patches are merged with the 0.19.0 ones.

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Airport CEO Alpha v0.19.0 Patch Notes

Aviation:

• Layer issue on ATR 72 fixed
• Prop issue fixed on ATR 72
• Light issue fixed on several aircrafts

Economy and Business:

• Added a smarter system to easier adjust business related variables

Building and Construction:

• Solved an issue with zone flashing when building
• Fixed an issue with taxiway line not correctly adapting when demolished
• Fixed alignment on car drop off road arrows
• CTRL now deletes single objects as well
• Description has been added that office desk can only be placed in staff room to work
• Zones now toggle when initiating some structure building
• Fuel depot tank level no longer interactable
• Fixed an issue with passengers sometimes ending up behind a wall when getting up from a gate seating
• Updated Build Tutorial with new CTRL remove method
• Fixed an issue when deleting wall, trees, taxiway center node it can be set as not built and then deleted without contractor interaction
• Grid is now updated upon walls being marked for deletion and updated at time of contractor dismantling
• Multiple-terminal enhancement such as automatic zone area creation to enable employees to identify which terminal a specific job is located
• Road check point has now right unwalkable layer on static fences
• Structures can now be placed on built tarmac
• Object and room is now active by default with the exception of bathroom, franchises and baggage claim which have specific requirements. Structures are also open by default except runway and aircraft stand

Simulation:

• Fixed an issue with airline contracts not completed correctly
• Franchise job task now correct name of staff
• Fixed an issue security staff working other side a wall
• Solved a large issue with technicians and janitors not completing available job tasks
• Fixed an issue with stuck service round on stand
• Big overhaul on job-task system, solved many issues regarding shift changes, janitors and service technicians not taking jobs correctly
• Fixed an issue with fuel service could not be enabled despite product procured
• An additional pathfinding layer has been added to enable contractors to move across certain objects indoors (example conveyor belts)
• Check in time is now corrected to reflect more realistic value

UI and Audio:

• Fixed an issue with right click when demolition did not completely clear selected object
• Fixed incorrect tool tip on security desk options
• Added more clear information on turnaround progress such as passengers left to board
• Fixed an issue with product procurement container slider not max out when value is full
• Flight display now show correct gate and destination
• Clear containers from various object panels (check-in, cargobay & baggage claim)
• Closed announcer do now correctly re-appear on deserialized objects
• Fuel depots now announce activation state correctly
• When demolishing objects, a message is shown that it has been ordered for deconstruction (experimental)
• Right click does not close building menu if an object tis selected
• Flight information going off screen for first row flight planner is fixed
• Removed duplicate “operate security station” in shifts

This week will be dedicated to continuing testing the v0.19.0 alpha build and see how it holds up. In the meantime we’re implementing a fully fleshed out conveyor belt system tutorial branch and will review some design related aspects in relation to teaching players how to build functioning conveyor belt systems (as we said it turns out to be quite complicated).

Alright then, as more testers build airports we will share them with you on Twitter (which will hopefully spread to other places as well) so be sure to be on the lookout! Looking forward to talk with you on our various channels, if you’re not yet an ACEO community member then get on in and join the warmth!

Fly safe and see you soon!

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