GearCity News

Greetings everyone,

Two more hotfixes for version 1.25.0.11.

Hotfix #4:
-Bugfix: Fixed a critical issue which wouldn't allow you to select a vehicle body.

Hotfix #5
-Bugfix: Tweaked city manufacturing growth for random history mode to prevent city's manufacturing ratings from hitting zero. The fix isn't perfect, and will be further tweaked for v1.25.0.12.
-Gameplay: Minor adjustment to racing funding's effect on over experienced teams.
-Bugfix: Fixed duplicate stock bankrupt memos.
-Media: Added three new tutorial videos.

Greetings everyone,

Since Sunday I've released 3 hotfixes targeting crash related issues. The latest issue has to do with save game corruption if you're using modded components files. If you get an error message about lost data, save the game, and reload it to get rid of the message. If you have an old copy of the save game, and the new copy, feel free to email both of them to me and I will be happy to recover most of your data.

Here is what was in each fix:
Hotfix 1:
-Bugfix:Fixed an end turn crash when Random History was enabled.


Hotfix 2:
-Bugfix: Fixed crash in Advanced Vehicle Designer tutorial.
-Bugfix: Fixed duplicate gear combinations for gearbox component because of issues in the components name updater system.
-Bugfix: Fixed scroll bar issues in Main Menu New Game options.
-Media: Added 10th video tutorial on Sales Reports.

Hotfix 3:
-Bugfix: Fixed possible save game corruption when using modded components files.
-Engine: If the save game is corrupted, fill the corrupted data with valid data to prevent crashes.
-GUI: Added an error message to office letting you know if the save game was corrupted. There is a known bug with this. The error message does not disappear unless you save the game and then reload it.

Greetings everyone!

We’re a couple of weeks late, but version 1.25.0.11 is ready to go. As mentioned in the last update, this build would take a while to create because of the time it takes to make video tutorials and all the little tedious translation text work that I had to do. I completed most of the later, but I still have some work to do with the former. The next build update, version 1.25.0.12, will also take a while to make, so don’t panic if there isn’t an update for 2-3 months again.

This update contains 8 Video Tutorials and the basic infrastructure to deliver them. We’ve also added full tutorial audio for French, as the translations are practically 100% finished. I’ve also included partial tutorial audio for Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. I will refine the tutorial audio as the translations improve.

The update also has over 30 bug fixes, including fixes to 4 different crash conditions. Unicode issues in Windows 10 caused most of these crash issues. Speaking of Unicode, I fixed Unicode columns alignment issues in lists. I’ve also gone through the trouble of dynamically calculating how wide the columns should be. I hope this will reduce miss-aligned columns.

Some work also went into getting the French translation text to fit in the GUI. This action means that I have rearranged some GUI to increase the amount of space for text.

Version 1.25.0.12 will continue down the same path as v1.25.0.11. I will focus on finishing video tutorials. I may also slip these tutorials into small updates for v1.25.0.11 since I don’t have to alter any game code to include them. Following that, I will finish some map content and do extensive play through testing on multiple systems to find and fix issues. One thing to note, I will not be rushing v1.25.0.12, or the full release build, 2.0.0.0. Sadly delays this year, mostly because of COVID, have pushed full release timing into Q4, which is the absolute worst time for “Indies” to release games. The full release will be in Q1, even if the game I finish within the next three months. All of this is just the semantics of removing the “Early Access” tag.

Change log:

-Media: 8 Video Tutorials completed out of approximately 50.
-GUI: Video tutorial player included in the game. Located in the upper right help button.
-Media: Partial Tutorial Audio added for Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.
-Media: Full Tutorial Audio added for French.
-Media: Completed editing and re-recording of English Tutorials.
-Bugfix: Vehicle comfortability design slider positively effected vehicle handling too much.
-Bugfix: Fixed Import Tax and Total Expenses values in the wrong spot in the Branch Operations report.
-Engine: Included VC++ Redistributable dll's in separate folder for people who have trouble properly installing the ones from Microsoft.
-Bugfix: Fixed 1HP rounding error bug in Advanced Engine Designer.
-Gameplay: Increased bailout funds.
-Gameplay: Lowered E85 design requirements
-Engine: Removed text scaling for English language file.
-Bugfix: Adjusted AI behavior so they won't open branches in war zones when their HQ is not at war.
-GUI: Strikes Memos are more noticeable now.
-GUI: Advanced Designer Warning message for old components.
-GUI: Advanced Designer Warning message for low smoothness.
-GUI: Removed count limit for Advanced Designer Warning system so all warning messages are displayed.
-Bugfix: Fixed possible crash in the Assisted Contract Engine Designer
-Websites: Added a "@" button to the translation login in page for players that have keyboard layouts that are not supported by our CEF/Berkelium builds.
-Bugfix: Removed possibility to have Unicode characters in report file names, in order to prevent crashes using non-ascii languages in Windows 10.
-Gameplay: Improvements to per capita, manufacturing, and population growth rates in random history games. Some more work needs to be done here.
-GUI: Switched location of Total Marketing and Furlough Costs in the Monthly Report.
-Gameplay: Increased the frequency subsidiaries use platform sharing.
-Bugfix: Fixed issue that prevented "No Economic Fluctuation"
start game option from over-riding historical consumer vehicle buying rates.
-Bugfix: Adjusted translation website to automatically convert smart quotes to dumb quotes so we don't break the in game font.
-Bugfix: Fixed issue causing electric engines to show up in the magazine's largest displacement superlative.
-Bugfix: Changed Cu L text to L.
-Bugfix: Fixed production amount issues with components manufacturing requirements
-Bugfix: Fixed overlapping text when using the Replace Model Auto Tool.
-Bugfix: Fixed contract bid not being removed when spinning off a marque that owns the component/vehicle that is offered.
-Bugfix: Unchecking the Auto Play checkbox during tutorials now shuts off the tutorial audio if it is playing.
-Bugfix: Fixed bug that caused Main Tutorial Slide #6 to play audio even if "Auto Play" is disabled.
-Gameplay: We now warn players if they're using an unpopular fuel type when designing an engine.
-Bugfix: Fixed issue which could cause vehicle name not to save when you click a whole bunch of things in some odd orders.
-Bugfix: Fixed Warning button overlapping text in the Assisted Engine Designer
-Media: Removed "4-Stroke" text from Gasoline image.
-Media: Added 60 or so missing predesigned vehicles. Each vehicle type should have at least 1 for all years.
-Gameplay: Morale will reset after waiting out a strike.
-Gameplay: Made some tweaks to winning contract selection when few or one contract bid was submitted.
-Engine: When we update builds now, we will parse the components.xml file and update component names in the save game in case there were changes in the translation. This might cause unforeseen issues, so keep an eye out.
-Bugfix: Fixed a couple instances where Age Demographics and Wealth Demographics could be incorrectly copied to new vehicles designs.
-Bugfix: Fixed possible crash when making a new generation or trim of a vehicle with an out of bounds Age Demographic because of the copying values bug.
-Bugfix: Fixed bug with incorrect initial loan payments.
-Bugfix: Fixed New Generation system not selecting the parent model's marque.
-Bugfix: Fixed scaling issues with New Game Map's legend headers.
-Bugfix: Fixed scaling issues with License Vehicle Design
-Bugfix: Fixed scaling issues with Mega Menu < and > buttons
-Bugfix: Fixed scaling issues with New Generation Vehicle, Select Component Lists after a component was selected.
-Bugfix: Fixed scaling issues with Action Memos.
-Bugfix: Fixed scaling issues with header overlapping in Advanced Designer bottom panel.
-Bugfix: Fixed scaling issues with Showroom Model Comparison and Marque Catalogs.
-Bugfix: Fixed World Map District Branch Distribution Merge Trims overlapping when scaled.
-Bugfix: Fixed scaling issues with branch Add Dealerships button.
-GUI: Tweaked many GUI elements to fit French translation text, which will result in better used space in English and other language files.
-Bugfix: Fixed Unicode (particularly Japanese) alignment issues in lists. (And learned something I never knew in 15 years of C/C++ programming...)
-Engine: We now parse lists before filling them to dynamically adjust column sizes. This reduces the chance of unaligned columns, particularly in non-english translations.

Greetings everyone!

I released version 1.25.0.10 this morning. This build contains a few bug fixes, polishes, and gameplay balancing tweaks. Most noticeable is an adjustment of vehicle prices between 1920 and 1990. No changes came to the buyer population, but to counter increased sales, I adjusted the AI car designer system and pricing. I hope this balances out the reduction in prices. Please leave feedback on the balancing of these two things (the new vehicle prices and the changes to the AI) after you have played a few hours. https://steamcommunity.com/app/285110/discussions/0/3342162929519713346/


You may notice volatile sales in the first few months of playing an existing save game because of these changes. Also, you have to design new components and vehicles to take advantage of the price changes.


Finally, many translations are coming along nicely. Spanish, French, and Italian are nearly 100% finished. I will add tutorial audio for these languages in the next build. The Brazilian community has come alive in the last couple of months thanks to ChratosGameplay and many other streamers! The response is overwhelming! Thanks to the community, the PT translation has come a long way. Hopefully, the community will complete it by v1.25.0.11, and we’ll be able to include audio tutorials for it.


So what’s next? We’re getting close to final release, so for v1.25.0.11, I plan on implementing a new set of video tutorials. These tutorials will cover basic gameplay, basic concepts, advanced concepts, and basic economic theory (supply and demand). Are there any video tutorials you’d like to see? Let me know here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/285110/discussions/0/2291716608416628558/


Beyond that, it’s the standard fair of bug fixes, polishing, and map tweaks. Version 1.25.0.11 will take a little longer than normal, as the video tutorials take some time to make, and I have been doing extensive playtesting to get everything ready for full release.


Back to v1.25.0.10, here is the change log:


-GUI: Changing a district on the world map now closes any opened district windows.
-Bugfix: Fixed bottom list cut off in the World Map's Branch Distribution Window.
-Bugfix: Fixed Union benefits negiations saying "Marketing Fees" above the Administrative benefits payout slider. Fixed several other labeling issues there.
-Bugfix: Refixed engineering union benefits demand action memo.
-GUI: Added pages to autoproduction restriction lists.
-GUI: Added pages to Component Selection in Contract Windows (RnD & Office).
-Bugfix: Fixed issues with engine contract designer not selecting proper fuel types.
-Gameplay: Improved engine contract designer to use more induction systems.
-Bugfix: Fixed possible negative RnD Research Estimation ratings.
-Bugfix: Fixed missing Compact Van Predesign for 1950s
-GUI: Added column in Contract report showing customer name.
-Bugfix: Fixed incorrect PE calculations in Stock Report.
-Bugfix: Fixed construction and transport costs not being reported in reports.
-Bugfix: Fixed possible crash after spinning off company
-Bugfix: Fixed AI vehicle designs possibly being smaller than chassis
-Bugfix: Fixed auto-sell overriding district locks when initially turning it on.
-Bugfix: Fixed player getting fined by their own team when ending production of a vehicle.
-Bugfix: Added more names to noun list to prevent the game from running out of names in long gameplays.
-Bugfix: Fixed crash when opening a chart with no vehicles.
-Bugfix: Added additional check to hashes to catch any unexpected crashes in the hashing function.
-Bugfix: Fixed buyer rating breakdown table not having the correct value for marketing in the numbers side.
-GUI: Fixed possible new game custom funds causing a decimal value in the bottom menu cash on hands value.
-Gameplay: Tweaked AI Company Takeover offer amount, AI will now only make offers to companies 10 years old or older.
-Gameplay: You can no longer sell shares of a company if you get a bid on bankruptcy action memo.
-Bugfix: Fixed possible negative stock price of bankrupting companies.
-Bugfix: Fixed buyer rating table being empty when checking a not for sale vehicle.
-GUI: Added page flipper to World Map Competition Windows.
-Gameplay: Adjust car price rates down for several mid game decades. AI better matches real world values.
-Bugfix: Fixed contracts not being spun off with spin off company, thus creating models with the name "0" in reports.
-Bugfix: Fixed Modify Component's New Generation and Replace not ending production of old model...
-Bugfix: Purged Empty Space at end of automatically generated car and component names.
-GUI: Remove space between acceleration value and seconds unit.
-Bugfix: Replaced "Top 30 Company Sales in Selected District" header for charts since we show all companies now.
-Bugfix: Fixed player not showing up in the "All Time Market Share" chart.
-Bugfix: Fixed possible vehicle sales chart not generating properly if you have a few models.
-GUI: Added commas to the bar chart overlays in the networth chart.
-Bugfix: Removed html for missing 10/1920 depression image.
-GUI: Disabled Modify Design Window from recentering after hitting "End Production"
-Bugfix: Fixed Marque tutorial window from getting stuck open in some conditions.
-GUI: Component selection windows now default to in order of preselected dropdown.
-GUI: Design year ordering drop downs are now descending order, thus newest on top.
-Gameplay: Reduce Board of Director's tollerance for failure.
-Gameplay: Slightly faster depression recovery time Base City Map.
-Bugfix:Fixed issue with Darracq achievement
-Bugfix: Fixed possible over production by autoproduction system when entering limited conflicts.
-Gameplay: Base City Map Balancing
-Gameplay: Base Territory Map balancing
-Gameplay: Decreased licensing wins, Large AI companies are less interested in licensing designs.
-Gameplay: Tweaked licensing selection code to consider royality rates less, and signing fees much less.
-Gameplay: Increased licensing and outsourced royality rates.
-Gameplay: AI now produces trims on Hard and Nightmare mode.
-Gameplay: Increased fuel costs effect on sales of fuel efficent vehicles.
-Gameplay: Fixed Achiements on 64-bit OSX.
-GUI: Finished English Editing for main UI. A few more tweaks to come.
-Gameplay: Adjustments made to AI sliders selection for AI vehicle designs.
-GUI: Removed reference to "Profits" in the reports and replaced it with "Cash Flow" after a couple complaints by accountants. (It will probably go back after a I get complaints from laymen asking for the cash flow to be labeled profits! Such is life.)
-GUI: Right aligned category headers in Monthly Financial Report.
-Bugfix: Fixed historical sales data not being stored properly if certain conditions are met. This should fix achievement requirements for several achievements.

Greetings everyone,

I released version 1.25.0.9 today. This update includes bug fixes and UI tweaks. It also includes balancing of the base maps and some additional improvements to the English file. However, I still have work to do on all three systems. The Spanish and Italian language files have come along nicely thanks to the dedicated people working on them.

Version 1.25.0.10 will be a continuation of my bug fixing and minor UI improvements efforts. I hope to go through a few rounds of gameplay to get a comprehensive list of text that is too big for the UI widgets, so that I may turn off the pink color in the font resizing system. And I hope to finish my balancing efforts with Base Territory Map and finish editing the English translation.

Version 1.25.0.10 should be another month-long effort. There are three more updates, including v1.25.0.10, before the game is fully released. I hope to jam as many fixes in as I can before then.

I have reverted default build to Version 1.25.0.8 because of random crashing issues. It seems some folks have problems and some do not. And I am in the do not camp, making it very difficult for me to debug. Version 1.25.0.9 is available in the Test Build branch located in the Steam Beta Tab. Directions on how to switch to it are here: http://wiki.gearcity.info/doku.php?id=gamemanual:switching_steam_builds

I'll bounce it over to default branch as soon as I find the source of the issue. Hotfix #1-Fixed

Hotfix #2- Fixed issue which broke late game administration benefits system. Admin employee counts are a little high at the start of the game however. This will be fixed for the next update. Several other minor code cleanup fixes.

Hotfix #3- Reverted fix to engineering benefits demand action memo header to prevent possible crash issue. Fixed early game administration employee amount.

Hotfix #4- Fixed balancing issues with Administrative employee count.

Hotfix #5- Clean up a possible issue in the SQLite optimizer. The issue happens in extremely rare occurrences, but it was a serious enough game breaking bug that should go in a hotfix. Also a fix for factory destruction during "total war" (WW2).

Hotfix #6- Addresses unit conversions issues for value comparisons against the internal units.

Change Log:
-GUI: Moved web-browser window down 50px on 1050px Resolutions.
-Gameplay: Reworked the credit rating system so there are less chances of not generating a bond or a loan. Some balancing might be needed for this rework, as bonds might become too easy to get.
-GUI: If a player clicks "No" to a tutorial three times, we automatically click the "Do Not Display Again In This Save Game" button. Pro-tip, you can do this yourself, it's the button right next to "No".
-GUI: Fixed Scrap "Yes" Button size.
-Gameplay: Tweaks to AutoProduction, should utilize player's factories better.
-GUI: Stopped mod window from opening when the player has never made a component.
-GUI: Fixed overlapping text when the player can not increase credit limit.
-GUI: Fixed Modify Component from automatically selecting "Significant" modification when changing selection in the list.
-GUI: When the player has renewed or declined all contracts, the window automatically closes in the office.
-Gameplay: Reworked required administration employee calculation to use physical location count instead of labor costs. This fixes possible issues in the benefits system. This new formula may require more balancing.
-Bugfix: Fixed incorrect weight comparison in the UI for Gearbox contracts.
-Bugfix: Fixed incorrect header text in engineering strike demand action memo.
-Gameplay: Disabled production line replacement when using the replace system while auto production is enabled. This prevents a possible over production by the auto production system.
-Bugfix: Fixed data not updating in the assisted designers after changing a sub-component selection.
-GUI: Fixed newspaper images appearing too small.
-Bugfix: Fixed dollar sign issue in contract headers using the Edited English translation file.
-Bugfix: Fixed issues causing the last entry in lists not to be visible.
-GUI: Fixed issue with magazine when using scale GUI on monitors the player shouldn't be using scale GUI on.
-GUI: Reverted changes to the decimal point used in specs. Converted requirement specs instead and then added an additional integer.
-Bugfix: Fixed some issues with quarterly numbers in the stock broker window.
-GUI: Converted ft-lb to lb-ft in Edited English translation for all them pedantic engineering types.
-Translations: Added additional Spanish translated text to the game. Almost 99% translated! Special thanks to Heewet! Feedback on translation welcomed.
-Bugfix: Fixed Windows 10 Save As crash when the player has non-ASCII report names.
-Gameplay Removed T-Head end year.
-Bugfix: Fixed manual HQ country production lines incorrectly telling the player they can't produce units there during war.
-Bugfix: Fixed a possibility of a duplicate AI model name.
-GUI: Some additional Superlatives use player chosen unit type.
-Bugfix: Fixed issue which can cause multiple triggers of modify component due to refitting old vehicle designs.
-Gameplay: Destruction of factory during war now causes inventory to be destroyed as well.
-Bugfix: Fixed possible issue where strike wages are not met by auto-hire system.
-GUI: Web-browser system now properly zooms based on player scale GUI settings on 64-bit OSs.
-Bugfix: Fixed unpopular fuel type window from screwing up "Quick Trim" system.
-Bugfix: Fixed issue with Henry Royce achievement.
-Bugfix: Fixed issue with Austin's achievement.
-GUI: Removed multi-click protection on contract submit bid. As it could cause cancel bid button to be clicked.
-Gameplay: Base City map balances, increased early year European and Asian sales. Decreased late game European and Asian sales. Increased late game North American sales.
-Gameplay: Base Territory map balances with the aim to reduce profits. (More to do here).
-Gameplay: Reduced maximum dealerships for larger population maps.
-Gameplay: Added a per turn growth limit for dealerships.