GearCity News

Hello again,

We have another small update for you this week. The next update should be around December 11th. Unless I run into a big enough issue to waste a day putting together an update.

Here is what's in Version 1.25.0.3:
-Bugfix: Fixed disappearing Auto Production Restriction List
-GUI: Tutorial windows should no longer overlap the subject window on large resolution screens.
-GUI: Automatically close tutorial popup if the subject window is closed.
-Gameplay: Rebalanced AI production to more heavily favor popular vehicle types. May need to rework low end however, to make sure monopolies are rare in unpopular vehicle types.
-Engine: Disabled Windows "Not Responding" Ghosting. Added many more message pumps. I will revisit this decision after some testing/feedback.
-Bugfix: Fixed missing vehicle name in the smallest engine superlatives.
-Bugfix: Fixed several possible issues with the component selection system in R&D.
-Bugfix: Fixed contract issues with racing, which causes race teams not to be supplied.
-Bugfix: Fixed year values for Design Skills calculations. It was using 8 instead of 5.
-Bugfix: Hopefully fixed racing contract date deadlines... again... third try is a charm?
-Gameplay: Selling assets or your own shares will no longer grant you revenue achievements.
-Bugfix: Fixed issue with pre-designed vehicles surface area calculations causing incorrect data.

Probably a few more things I missed.

Evening everyone.

As mentioned with the version 1.25 release, updates are coming more frequently in the form of minor patches. These mainly focus on polishing up the game for release and fixing any bugs that I find or you report.

Tonight's v1.25.0.2 update has 21 documented fixes, most of which are GUI related.

I have also changed up some compiler optimization flags, hopefully, this will solve some stability issues a handful of people have reported. The Demo will be updated shortly.


Changelog:

-GUI: Fixed issue which lets the factory panel appear in the Mega Menu when a selected branch has no factory.
-GUI: Removed horizontal scroll bars from several lists. (Most of these were individual tickets, I merged them into one for this log.)
-GUI: Fixed Lobbying window UI overlap on Linux.
-GUI: Fixed issue with HR Window Wage panel size not covering stuff underneath.
-GUI: Help buttons should scroll back to the top.
-GUI: Fixed possible overflow text in contract requirements panel.
-GUI: Speed up tutorial highlights blinking on Linux and OSX.
-GUI: Fixed text being cut off in the Advanced Car Designer Warnings.
-GUI: Production Assign button now automatically clicks "Calculate" on the world map if text box values are not close to being correct.
-GUI: Disable tutorial popups after the player clicks "no", if they haven't left the room yet.
-Engine: Added Linux and OSX icons.
-GUI: World Map Autoproduction Restrictions moved to their own windows for more horizontal space.
-GUI: Fixed text cut off issue in District Autoproduction Restrictions.
-Bug Fix Fixed crash when using drag placement to place decals on vehicles.
-GUI: Fixed incorrect report values in the Factory Expense and Operational Expense reports.
-GUI: Fixed incorrect text in Branch Operations and Marketing Reports tables.
-Bug Fix: Fixed sell price text box values being overridden when changing cities in the mega menu.
-Gameplay: AI will no longer be allowed to sell vehicles for outsourcing when they contain outsourced components.
-Save Update: Due to the above gameplay changes, we have converted any non-player outsourced components that AI have, which are used in contracted vehicles, to licenses. This is a one time update to your save games if you started before v1.25.0.2. Player's are not affected.
-Bug Fix: Fixed first-time language selection not refreshing the reviews, newspaper articles, etc to the newly selected language.
-Engine: Experimental demo to full save game converter.

GearCity was not designed for a broad audience. We pride ourselves for targeting an often neglected niche of gamers. The game is complex, has a steep learning curve, poor graphics, and cumbersome UI. There is an attempt to warn folks on the store page about this, but still, some people slip through thinking that the game is a simple clicker tycoon.

It's also a little known fact that a demo of the game is on the official website. Now that we have a more robust tutorial system, the demo has been uploaded to Steam. You can find the demo links on the right hand column, under the "Is This Game Relevant to You" panel.


I will try to keep the demo patched with the main versions. Although I may skip a patch or two now and then.

Greetings Everyone,

We have released Version 1.25 to Default build users. If you would like to continue your v1.24 SP9 save games, please switch to the 1.24 build in the Steam Beta's tab. Click here for instructions.



This update has 280 completed tickets. These include 86 bug fixes, 82 gameplay changes, 52 GUI tweaks, and 21 additional tutorials added to the game. We have completed all achievements, all in-game artwork, and all interactive in-game tutorials. The game text is almost finished, which means we can start with both editing the English files and completing translations. More details on this in the next couple of weeks. For a complete listing of changes, visit the change log.



Save games will not break for the foreseeable future! (Excluding any possible post-release expansions.)

Version 1.25 is the last major Early Access build of GearCity. However, work will continue. The primary focus will be fixing bugs, making minor tweaks to GUI, and balancing territory maps and gameplay.

I will also be creating a series of video tutorials covering advanced topics such as supply and demand, reports data, designing good vehicles, etc. Finally, I will complete the Gameplay Manual and the In-Depth Formula sheets.

We're aiming for a February or March release, but for all intents and purposes, Version 1.25 is close to the final product.




As mentioned several times on the forums, both you and I would love new features and content in GearCity. So, I plan on launching a "Feature Bounty" system. This will hopefully allow us to expand GearCity well after release. We will announce details on this system in the next couple of months.

Other than that, you'll have to wait and see.

Greetings everyone!



With version 1.25 coming out on November 8th, 2019, if you wish to continue to play your version 1.24 SP9 save games, you'll need to switch to "1.24" in the Steam Beta's tab. Directions on how to do this are here: GearCity Wiki.

Be sure to switch back to "Default" Build for the latest version after you complete your save game.



We recommend switching to Default build to play the latest version of the game. But if you wish to continue these old saves, you'll need to switch builds in the Beta's tab again. As both Legacy and Stable build will be deleted on November 8th.

Legacy Build users need to switch to "1.22" to continue your save games.
Stable build users, need to switch to "1.23" to continue your save games.




I have switched "Legacy" and "Stable" Steam Beta builds to just their version names. This is primarily to avoid confusion from people who think "Stable" is more stable than the latest build. Any future save breaking major builds, such as 1.24, will get their own build inside of Steam Beta.

With version 1.25 release, both Default and Testing build will be on equal footing again. With no planned save game changes in the future, these two builds will merge back together. If any save game changes occur in the future, such as a crowd-funded expansion, the Testing Build will be relaunched to harbor those changes until v1.26 is released.




Sometime around 1.21, I started releasing Supplemental Patches to major builds to fix bugs before I break save games. This versioning scheme confused some people when the supplemental patch number was higher than the minor build number. For example, several people assumed v1.24 SP9 was a newer build than v1.24.3...

Since v1.25 should be the last major build, there are going to be a lot of supplemental patches. To avoid any confusion, I am switching the version scheme to Status.Major.Minor.Patch. This means that a number change after the third dot does not require save game changes. So the next update after v1.25 will be v1.25.0.1, and so forth.