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SimAirport News

Hot February Update Out Now!

We're back with another big update to help you continue expanding your airports. As a change of pace, this update even brings the ability to accidentally (or intentionally) burn your airport down, too!

We're gearing up to transition to "full release" status very soon -- so if you're on the fence, this is a great time to dive in! And don't worry, we aren't finished yet! We have more in store for SimAirport and you can expect continued updates into the future. :)

Huge thank you to the community and all of the supporters who continue to make SimAirport's development possible, and who keep it fun for us. Especially those of you playing the Edge branch, reporting bugs & keeping us on our toes, and just generally being engaged and challenging us. We appreciate you all immensely, and we hope to see some of you on the stream this weekend! :)

[h2]Developer Live Stream[/h2]
As always with big updates, we'll do a live stream so come and join us for questions, suggestions or to just say hello!


[h2]Patch Notes - The Big Stuff[/h2]
[h3]Fire![/h3]
    A chef severely overcooked something, machine failure, a passenger throwing something hot into a trash can or you simply having some fun -- these are all possible ways to have a fire start in your airport!
    If a fire breaks out any work will be dropped and all nearby passengers and staff try to run out (avoiding the fire if at all possible) and they won't go back until the fire is extinguished. No need to fear, however! The local fire department is quickly called and will come out to get your airport back up and running.
    While on your land fire trucks may park on the public road but can also drive onto the apron side even using taxiways, however they will only park on roads so not to block the air traffic, having a good apron side road system that is connected to the public road system and some staff doors every so often will greatly improve your ability to fight fires!
    As fires expand in size they can burn things down to bare concrete, and as the severity of the fire increases the fire department will call for additional trucks.
    Fire begins small as simply heat and smoke, but can quickly increase in strength. We chose a moderate rate-of-spread that is rather realistic, based off of the 'fuel' available to it, but not too fast to overwhelm you. We have also added the ability to mod most of the key fire related elements, meaning the community can create mods to change the dynamics of fire-starting, the rate-of-spread, and more!

    If you want to play with fire alone you can press either ctrl+4 or F4 and fire will be spawned at your cursor! Have fun burning down your airport! This is the first push towards random events, and if you'd like to have them happen in your save can toggle them in the options!

[h3]Gate Closure Setting[/h3]
    After completing Research, you can now set gates to close at a specific amount of time before departure. Once a gate is closed it will no longer take in any more passengers, even if the passenger is already in the Gate Desk queue -- the plane will depart. If you're the type of person who wants to run the tightest possible schedule then this may come in handy to get planes out on time, even if at the expense of a few hard feelings from your passengers (and Perfect Ops Bonuses!).

[h3]Large and XL Remote Gates[/h3]
    This update contains numerous fixes related to remote gates, as well as the two missing remote gate sizes: Large and Extra Large (XL)!
    The bigger brothers of the 'S' remote gate work the same but can accommodate the larger aircraft & allow more concurrent buses to service the gate, providing an extra efficiency boost to your shuttle bus operations. Make sure to always have enough buses on standby!

[h3]Configurable Tooltip Delay[/h3]
    A highly requested feature, you may configure a delay for tooltips in the settings menu.

[h3]Outdoor Passenger Relaxation & Relief Areas[/h3]
    Previously passengers would never run outside in a secure area to do stuff, this is to prevent them running around the apron to go from one terminal over to another. This has now changed, from now on pax can go outside into the secure apron side if you lay down some Sidewalk for them, you can use several objects outside and even some mod objects to give your pax a nice outside relaxing area!

[h3]Misc. Gameplay Additions and Changes[/h3]
  • Update translations and added missing keys.
  • Rebuild base game atlases to 4k and applied compression (lossless) to allow more mods to be used at once.
  • Add ability for passengers to walk in outdoors secure areas that have sidewalks (i.e. pax will walk outside if it is secure & sidewalk; they'll not leave the sidewalk in outdoor secured areas).
  • Improved search in flight schedule, you can now search for airline and flight number!
  • Add on/off toggle for script mods (you can now disable script mods in Settings/ModSettings).
  • Added auto-foundation on the current level for conveyor transition and stairs/escalators.
  • Game now saves the immediate fuel on/off state.
  • Adjusted PA speaker frustration to compensate for more calls; HD amps boosted as well.
  • Added second taxiway planning color.
  • Improve performance of flight schedule UI, shouldn't be a hit to FPS anymore.

[h3]Lots of Bug Fixes![/h3]
  • Fix issue where the LRT may not spawn pax or only few pax and flights leave near empty.
  • Fix order in which pax are spawned for flights, earlier departures are now spawned with a higher priority (previously was more or less random).
  • Fix agents sometimes getting stuck on road ramps.
  • Fix agents sometimes getting stuck on corners in low FPS cases.
  • Fix ability to completely lock out traffic (if all traffic is blocked for some time workmen will spawn without a bus, car or LRT and supplies spawn at the delivery zone).
  • Fix aircraft gates cannot be placed on roads even if a road can be placed at the same spot if the aircraft gate was placed first.
  • Fix issues appearing with auto-foundation and modded Placeable Objects.
  • Fix airplanes getting stuck in some cases while maintenance is active on a runway.
  • Fix airplanes not using an available runway while one is under maintenance.
  • Fix repair projects not considered finished even though all tasks where done.
  • Fix workmen not unloading the supply truck if the truck is partially stopped on a road ramp.
  • Fix road ramps sometimes pulling in agents until they're stuck forever.
  • Fix baggage depot showing too many gates as possible candidates.
  • Fix placement validation if a second level is only partially used on an object.
  • Fix runway lights showing up as not build even when they are.
  • Fix agent colorization bug, agents are now way better saturated.
  • Fix stairs could be placed up and no foundation would be built if there was any material laid down (i.e. sidewalk).
  • Fix ticketing desks not operating when there's a connected segment but the desk isn't yet connected to a hub (will fall back to golf carts).
  • Fix remote bag scanners working while staff is on its way to the monitoring station but not yet looking at their monitor.
  • Fix grant/objective for airline satisfaction would take all airlines into account (should only calc for the ones that you are working with).
  • Fix escalator not used/valid when surrounded by security zone.
  • Fix loading/deserialize issue on some older legacy save game files.
  • Fix cash registers with one shared queue accepting only 1 passenger for the combined lot.
  • Fix baggage tutorial not correctly passing step 1.
  • Fix cafe objects capacity being shared over all objects of the same type.
  • Fix PA tutorial stating PA must be assigned to gates though it's now outdated.
  • Fix build menu not sorted when playing on any other language then English.
  • Fix apron buses sometimes waiting too long instead of driving off.
  • Fix road nodes not rendering when too many are placed on one floor.
  • Fix meetings getting cancelled due to late zone validation.
  • Fix crosswalks penalization, crosswalks are now favored over roads.
  • Fix planes sometimes ending up with negative pax spawned which lead the game to think it'd have to spawn more pax than needed.
  • Fix planes may show 100% boarded with some pax not boarded.
  • Fix conference rooms claimed with too few seats.
  • Fix cash register not showing up as required in cafes.
  • Fix airline interest using all airlines, now only shows airlines you serve.
  • Fix pax satisfaction including slight discomfort, now ignores slight discomforts in overall calculation (should increase rating on all airports slightly).
  • Fix runway light upgrade can be placed while another light upgrade is already queued.
  • Fix clothes display C was not working as product display.
  • Fix buses and LRTs may get stuck on really old saves.
  • Fix second bus for remote gates sometimes failing to come out and run the task.
  • Fix missing jewelry display C.
  • Fix edge scroll options On/Off were reversed.
  • Fix switching language may leave some objects on the old translation.
  • Fix current stock jumping to the next line when hovering over an object button in the build menu.
  • Fix endpoints of some objects (e.g. conveyor transition) could not be placed on belts in some cases.
  • Fix rare autosave and land expansion failure when the save folder doesn't exist
  • Fix fuel tanks sometimes not move/sell fuel when dismantled.
  • Fix pax would get stuck in walls in some cases when trying to get unstuck from a wall.
  • Fix underground roads can not be placed under placeable objects.
  • Fix lights on some gates have wrong position/size.
  • Fix information and environment emitter position issue on right facing objects.
  • Fix bags not deserializing correctly removing them on save load.
  • Fix zones outdoors loosing their text when switching to a higher level.
  • Fix aircraft may get stuck on a remote gate when a bus aborted its deplane task.
  • Fix maintenance sometimes stuck when partial repairs did not complete.
  • Fix remote bus pickup sometimes failing to detect doors due to floating point issues.
  • Fix remote bag scanners showing no staff when scheduled but not currently present.
  • Fix office zone and store zone could be used with no objects present.
  • Fix inconsistency when dismantling an upgraded object; upgrades will now dismantle too.
  • Fix conference room may not display an error when in insecure area but reachable by a reception zone.
  • Fix pax may get stuck when their fix position task ends up in a position that is not useable for a passenger.
  • Fix agents may get stuck if they stole an item inside the secure area and then left the secure area,
  • stealing is actually just a side-effect.


Modding related changes
  • Modding: Added new setting values: Checkbox, Dropdown, Label.
  • Modding: Added stepping and value format for the slider setting.
  • Modding: Added sort order for settings.
  • Modding: Fix creating an airline may overwrite an existing airline if the same random ID was rolled.
  • Modding: Fix security zones not working with modded Placeable Objects.
  • Modding: Fix transfer flow animation on baggage depot not using the baggage cars level.
  • Modding: Fix baggage cars driving into modded baggage depots.
  • Modding: Added scale and position to digital ad board so custom ad boards can be made, custom ads coming soon.
  • Modding: Fix OnRoads not working for underground roads.
  • Modding: Fix slider setting defaulting to show 1 instead of the actual value.
  • Modding: Implemented new SpritePacker, from now on the new sprite packer is used which can generate more than one atlas!
  • Modding: Fix missing reference for aircraft modding.
  • Modding: Fix modded hangars not working on -1 or -2.
  • Modding: Fix underground roads not checking for OnRoads property.
  • Modding: Fixed hangar menu to take up to 20 vehicle slots.
  • Modding: Added ability to save data using OnAirportSaving and OnAirportLoaded, be wise what you save as it is saved in the save and saves may get pretty big!
  • Modding: Fix construction materials not correctly saving and missing on load.
  • Modding: Fix construction materials not correctly rendering.
  • Modding: Fix VDF file failing to load paths on linux that contain windows directory separators.
  • Modding: Fix issue where the game state is cached and appears to always be on the loading screen.
  • Modding: Fix ATC Tower component not working with modded ATC Towers.
  • Modding: Fix staff limit not affecting how many staff one can schedule on an object.

Dev Stream & Fire-Side Chat!

We're happy to announce our next live stream!

Join us in this latest installment of the "fire-side chat" style dev live-stream! Get your burning questions answered, provide feedback on the game, discuss ideas directly with the dev team, tell us what issues or quirks you've encountered or are driving you crazy, even discuss the meaning of life -- or just drop in to say hello! ːsteamhappyː

This one is going to be special though! As you may have seen on the store page, we're collaborating with Green Gemini for some much-appreciated video content. And, on this upcoming stream, we're going to be live alongside Green, to give you some great content and answer as many questions as we possibly can! We look forward to seeing you then!

Check out Green Gemini on YouTube Green Gemini's YouTube Channel

Live Stream Details
    When:
    December 27th @ 11:00 AM Pacific

    Where to Watch


Happy Holidays from the LVGameDev Team!
From the entire team here at LVGameDev, and on behalf of everyone who is working on SimAirport -- we wish you all a wonderful, safe, fun, and magical holiday! Happy Holidays!

Developer Live Stream

Friendly reminder that we'll be live-streaming today starting at about 11:30AM Pacific!

Join us in this latest installment of the "fire-side chat" style dev live-stream! Get your burning questions answered, provide feedback on the game, discuss ideas directly with the dev team, tell us what issues or quirks you've encountered or are driving you crazy, even discuss the meaning of life -- or just drop in to say hello! ːsteamhappyː

Live Stream Details
    When:
    November 27th @ 11:30 AM Pacific

    Where to Watch


We hope to see you on the stream and we are looking forward to chatting with you while we try out some of the latest community mods! :)

Thank you!

Remote Gates, Full Mod Support, and Lots More!

Tons of great new features, content, and of course many fixes have arrived -- with the latest SimAirport update which we're releasing now! ːsteamhappyː

Developer Live Stream - 11/27/2019 @ 11AM

We will continue the live-streaming tradition to coincide with this big new update -- come and join us next week to ask questions, provide your suggestions, or even just to hang out and talk! :)



Patch Notes - The Big Stuff
    Remote Gates
    Remote gates are a new type of Aircraft Gate that can be located remotely, away from the terminal, and served by buses. Several new objects and vehicles have been added to accommodate the new functionality; here are the details of this new feature:
    • To start off you'll need an Apron Bus in a Hangar of your choice (it must be connected to the road or taxiway network still!).
    • Remote gates can be placed anywhere and do not require the usual terminal door, buses will drive onto it from the taxiway and will drive off using the taxiway or a road on the normally terminal side of the gate.
    • To transfer passengers you'll need a remote bus pickup, a structure that handles arrival and departure passengers for a remote gate, it'll need a road connection on one side and terminal on the other.
    • The bus pickup can be used with one or two doors, if you use two you can select which one will be used for arrival and which one for departure passengers.


    Full Modding Support - Objects, Graphics, and Code!

    It took a bit longer than expected, and there will almost surely be some additional APIs requested, but we're extremely excited to be releasing major new modding capabilities which have now tested for quite some time over on the Edge branch.

    • 'Placeable Objects' mod support. You can create new in-game objects, add your own graphics, and do pretty much anything you want -- from simple "copies" of existing objects to objects that create entirely new mechanics.

    • Custom Code mod support. You can now load your own code and take advantage of APIs to run your own logic -- create new mechanics, give yourself unlimited cash, modify existing gameplay, and much more. Tons of possibilities!

    • Graphics / Texture Overrides support. It is now very easy to bring your own graphics and artistic creations directly into the game; you can quite easily replace any existing art to customize your experience.

    • All With Workshop Support! All of the mod functionality, both what was existing and all of the new stuff added in this update, is compatible with the Steam Workshop! You can easily share your own mods with the community, and play mods created by others!

    • Head over to the modding repo on GitHub where you can learn the basics and dive right in. We're always here if you have any questions or requests, too!


    Multiple Dropoff & Pickup Zones

    You can now place up to 3 dropoff and pickup zones; all zones will get their own bus.
    This means you can completely separate the two, without buses re-spawning if they only reached one zone. You can even add completely separated terminals with their own pickup/dropoff zones!
    Note: Upgraded buses do not spawn two buses per interval anymore! Make sure your transport capacity is high enough with these changes!

    Queue Tools: Major UI/UX Improvements
    • Draw full queues in one "drag" -- no longer does it restrict you a straight-line per draw!
    • Queues now show "Head" and "Tail" as well as their length at each piece while drawing, should remove any confusion regarding where the start/end of the queue is.
    • Shift+Click with the 'Remove Queue' tool now removes the whole queue; no more following piece-by-piece anymore.


Full List - All Additions, Changes, and Fixes
  • Added a hint when hitting the maximum ownable area
  • Added several missing translations
  • Improved quick-select to be able to pick in-construction floor.
  • Added ATC callouts for landing and takeoff.
  • Added small remote gate and bus pickup.
  • Added warning for conference room to be behind a reception zone.
  • Airlines will now have a minimum trust unless their facility needs are not met.
  • Improved queue tool, you can now drag in any direction while making a new queue or extending an existing one.
  • Added shift+click on queue removal to remove the whole queue.
  • Modifications to entertainment/boredom effects for Electronic vending to make it more popular. Default price slightly reduced to also help.
  • PA Systems no longer need assigning to each gate, and announcements will be made to every speaker. They still require assignment to amplifiers.
  • Up to 3x dropoff and 3x pickup zones. One bus will be spawned for each of the zones, and pax will be much more intelligent in deciding which to get off that. This includes LRTs. May cause far away LRTs and dropoff zones to become unused. The distance is worked out based on how far away the nearest security zone is.
  • Upgraded Buses still doubles the capacity to 150, but no longer spawns a second. However, with the higher zone count you'll see up to 6 buses at once!
  • Improved escape mechanisms so stuck pax are less likely.
  • Added text to show speed of moving walkways.
  • Security zone error messages improved.
  • Limit the maximum number of passenger cars that can be spawned at once to help avoid endless traffic congestion.
  • Improved purchase chance on all products to increase sales, and balanced the attraction of them better to avoid rushes on candy and book stores.
  • Trains spawn pax up to twice as fast to improve traffic flow.
  • Improved pathfinding algorithm accuracy - you should see more pax using crosswalks and avoiding slower obstacles!
  • Fuel tanker trucks from the outside world are sped up when unloading at fuel depots. They also only spawn the amount of fuel needed for all
  • connected* fuel tanks.
  • LRT Station now shows "Requires Ground Floor" as a requirement when placing.
  • Distance calculations (which should include Dropoff-Terminal distances) take into account moving walkways as being faster or "shorter distance".
  • Schedule-staff objects stop using staff when they are no longer functioning.
  • Added an additional tooltip for the remote bag scanner. Advice: they work at their most efficient with up to 5 scanners connected.
  • Today's & yesterday's earnings
  • Today's & yesterday's staff expenses at that till
  • Many timed events end when they are supposed to more accurately. This makes a bigger impact at higher game speeds.
  • Increased the movement speed of all agents to 1.25x.
  • Added option to invert the mouse zoom and scroll direction in general settings.
  • Added new option for edge scrolling "Inbound only", when used, scrolling on the edge will only happen inside the game window, not when on another window
  • Disable shadow on high zoom level to improve FPS when overlooking a big part of the airport.
  • Added mipmap levels, this reduces the quality and increases the performance when looking onto your airport from a higher zoom level. We currently enabled up to 5 levels, let us know if you see any issues especially on the highest zoom!


Fixes, all the fixes
  • Fixed pax may end up on Fuel Pipes
  • Fixed and improved deboarding of the LRT, it's still crowded but pax will actually deboard towards the station
  • Fixed zones on level 2 could be selected from level 3 when no foundation is placed on level 3
  • Fixed in-construction objects not using the grey scale setting
  • Fixed maintenance projects would not repair the object when loading from a save
  • Fixed placeables could be placed on underground roads
  • Fixed baggage carousels (from above) having wrong connection position for left/right facings
  • Fixed tutorial window getting stuck in minimized mode when finishing a step of some tutorials
  • Fixed "Airport Efficiency" grant would not complete in some cases
  • Fixed "Overloaded Operator" achievement was not achievable with >= 30 days of perfect ops
  • Fixed resizing a flight in the flight manager from the left would have the arrival jump back to the original value
  • Fixed baggage carousels not getting a number when constructed
  • Fixed several spelling mistakes
  • Fixed pax sometimes trying to wander outside and getting stuck
  • Fixed slowdown due to queue calculation for some objects placed outdoors
  • Fixed baggage loading task may not run outdoors when baggage unload would
  • Fixed foundation placeable near runways while the runway is under construction.
  • Fixed objects could be placed on baggage carousels on their "other" level.
  • Fixed crash when expanding airport while construction is going on.
  • Fixed auto-foundation for conveyors would place concrete over conveyors.
  • Fixed queue line visualization is visible on all floors.
  • Fixed security bins would not be correctly sorted on remote bag scanners.
  • Fixed some placement indicators would not update when not in the current viewable area.
  • Fixed remote bag scanners would not slow down when too many are assigned to one monitoring station.
  • Fixed LRT wouldn't allow boarding when another LRT was departing the station while the arriving one was entering it.
  • Fixed "Scientific Method" achievement would not fire even when everything is researched.
  • Fixed flight crew walking to the end of the queue instead of directly going to the gate desk.
  • Fixed several issues with security bins and missed flight pax that may slow down bag scanners.
  • Fixed an issue where a stuck pax may get stuck forever when the gate he should've used is removed.
  • Fixed conveyor transition being zoneable in some layouts.
  • Fixed flights may get stuck when delayed for a long time.
  • Fixed inside-inside windows would be rated the same as inside-outside windows for environment.
  • Fixed maintenance would not finish in some cases even when the object is fixed to 100%.
  • Fixed save dialog hanging when opening with a lot of saves.
  • Fixed: PA amplifiers would not play sound when placed vertically.
  • Fixed: Airlines with low first class percent don't care for first class lounges in negotiations and shouldn't ask for it.
  • Fixed: In the flight scheduler, auto-increase size of flights on hover if they are very small. Allows to drag easier.
  • Fixed: Text formatting for "Pax Flow" so that it no longer goes outside of its hover box.
  • Fixed: Aircrafts with high minimum runway requirements might land delayed or with too high separation.
  • Fixed: Foundation could be placed over outside objects without removing them first.
  • Fixed: Storage shelf's would show an error when placed in deliveries.
  • Fixed: Fading between standby and normal gates.
  • Fixed: LRT only picks up pax in some configurations.
  • Fixed: Using the clone tool you could create some objects without foundation on another floor.
  • Fixed: Gate stairs where not placeable when a road was placed first.
  • Fixed: Pax would try to use LRT stations that where not finished building.
  • Fixed: Pax sometimes leave the secure zone and have to go through security again.
  • Fix uncommon error in clean floors janitor tasks
  • Fix conveyor sometimes not invoking auto-foundation properly
  • Fix road ramps errantly able to be placed near taxiways in certain configurations
  • Fix road project construction indicators not persisting after loading save game
  • Fix null reference issue inside certain repair object tasks
  • Fix runway lights not correctly aligning/placing
  • Fix quick-select usage on floor transition objects
  • Fix dismantle runway not working when runway is being repaired
  • Fix transport capacity graph quirks & handling of EAM wrap-around flight pax
  • Fix issue with busses and trains not spawning pax in rare airport situations.
  • Fixes for moving flight entries in the manager. Now the left-half of the flight cannot be moved, it must be picked up from the right side where the PM time-slot is. Note: it can still be dragged to extend or reduce the time.
  • Building an escalator or staircase into a security zone should not cause problems with access anymore.
  • Planes shouldn't get stuck in certain large, complex one way taxi systems.
  • Food displays and cash registers no longer function in non-functioning zones.
  • Fix a rounding issue with the airline satisfaction grant objective.
  • Pax can no longer use auto-kiosks if they have a bag to check.
  • Fix passengers leaving behind trays at the bag scanners, causing them to get stuck.
  • Fix meetings may get stuck when no host is available.
  • Fix an issue of the auto-hiring system adding and removing staff rapidly in rare cases.
  • Fix bag count is wrong when saving/loading mid-unload.
  • Fixed dumpsters not saving their trash amount.
  • Fixed zone toggle not toggling the base pattern of zones.
  • Fixed tutorial saves were the tutorial was finished.
  • Fixed agents sometimes getting stuck when leaving a gate and saving/reloading in a specific moment.
  • Fixed outdoor objects not de-zoning when placed.
  • Fix maintenance objects using only the global schedule and not checking for their object settings (anytime etc.).
  • Fix issue were pax would target a bad position after loading a game (e. g. when on a moving walkway).
  • Fixed bag booster placement on right facing baggage hubs.
  • Fixed major slowdown when rebuilding the security status after construction or a direction change on a moving walkway or escalator.
  • Major fixes to the reachability checks, sectors should now correctly show when they're not accessible or cannot be exited at all. Let us know if you find anything wrong!
  • Fix baggage hub upgrades can be placed on any floor.
  • Fix conference rooms falsely showing missing conference table error when any other error was occurring to the room.


Hotfix patch notes for the 26th of November:
  • Fix agents getting stuck behind escalators and stairs.
  • Fix pax getting stuck on the LRT platform in some rare cases.
  • Fix text on retail placeables, now shows correct text and revenue again.
  • Fix fuel station not working.

Q4 2019 Status & Looking Ahead

Five by five, loud and clear -- yes, we are still here!! ːsteamhappyː

We want to provide everyone with a brief update -- it's been a while since we provided an official update and although we've had a few live streams & are easily accessible via our various channels, we're still long overdue for an official status report! :)

We've definitely been quieter on the public announcements front, and our overall development pace has slowed compared to what we previously had been able to maintain, but we want you to make no mistake about it -- we're still here every day, working extremely hard, and there's still a tremendous amount going on -- both behind the scenes and in the code, as evidenced by the latest Edge branch updates.

For those of you who haven't had a chance to check out Edge lately or if you've missed any of the live streams, here's what's been going on!

Dev Cycle Status - On 'Edge' Right Now

  • FULL MOD SUPPORT! Custom code, custom graphics -- the sky is truly the limit. We're just now beginning to see some of the stuff that we expect modders to be able to create; we expect to see awesome stuff as the API continues to mature.

  • Remote Gates. One of the top most-requested features, your ability to expand operations grows dramatically with this new mechanic.

  • Multiple Pickup/Dropoff Zones. Another one that was highly-requested by players -- it required some new Pax AI 'smarts' but opens up new possibilities & some new transport-related challenges, too.

  • Game Speed & Balance Improvements. Agents now move faster and 'timings' have been adjusted, which is especially impactful when playing at high speeds or with lots of passengers.

  • And More, Including... Individualized cash register reporting; Pathfinding improvements; Dynamic air-traffic control audio; and hundreds of bug-fixes, balance adjustments, and general quality-of-life improvements.


Overall Status & Timeline

As mentioned in previous posts, we had aimed to transition to full release by end of Q3 2019 -- perhaps not surprisingly, we've missed that target, though we are making great progress towards that goal.

'Full Release' Transition Target: by EoY 2019

Of course, we could simply hit the big red button now -- but, as those who have followed closely likely already know, that really is quite simply just not how we do things. Since the beginning we've done our best to do things "the right way" -- even if we were perhaps a bit naive at times, we have always done our absolute best to be extremely transparent with you, and to generally just do things correctly. Whether that meant facing technical challenges head-on, putting in the time to debug and fix bugs, or the undertaking of large-scale projects like 'performance' overhauls, 'multiple floors' mechanics, or 'full modding support' -- and to be honest about the time/dev impact they would have.

Similarly, to "do it right" and be in a position where we feel the game is sincerely ready for transition to 'full release' means that we want to meet specific gameplay/feature/UX goals that we have for the game -- once we hit those goals and we've had a chance to polish up the player experience and fix any lingering bugs, that's when the transition will occur; we're hopeful that will be by EoY, but we intend to do things the right way. If that takes a bit longer, then so be it, but that's our goal and it has remained the same since day one -- to make a great game!

LVGameDev - Growing Our Small Team

We're a very small team here at LVGameDev, as many of you know and evidenced by the fact that many refer to us directly by name. Despite being small, we have been making a steady & concerted effort to grow over the past year or so -- to improve our capabilities and bandwidth, maintain development pace, avoid burnout, and begin gearing up for another game -- and to do so while ensuring we're able to not only get SimAirport to the finish-line but also continue to support it well into 2020, as long as we can really!

One of our primary goals in increasing the team size is to ensure that we can continue to support SimAirport -- with both bug-fixes and content -- well into the future, to allow us to face the economic realities & work on the 'next game' but without stealing resources away from SimAirport. It's certainly a tricky balance, and the reality is that new additions to the team actually causes temporary slow-downs (somewhat counter-intuitively), simply due to the required ramp-up period with the code and team workflow dynamics.

I'm happy to say however, we anticipate being able to support SimAirport long into the future -- while also facing the economic reality that is the business of making games!

One More Thing: 'Dev Therapy'

We're going to do a short series of dev-blogs over the next few months -- perhaps for our own purposes more than anything and, as a result of that, we're going to call it "Dev Therapy".

We've tossed around the idea of doing something like this before, on the update videos & live-streams, but essentially it's going to be an outlet for us to reflect on the development process, and will provide a venue for open and candid introspection. We'll be talking about the good & the bad, the mistakes we've made, the successes we've had, the things that we'd do differently, and providing insight into the day-to-day challenges and stresses -- technical, emotional, physical, personal -- and looking look back at how we tackled the challenges and the effectiveness of those approaches, and probably ranting about some of the failures, too! ːsteamhappyː

TLDR Summary
    SimAirport - Release & Support
  • At least TWO 'Default' patches before exiting Early Access
  • Transition to 'Full Release' by end-of-year 2019
  • Continued SimAirport support -- bug-fixes and content -- into 2020+
    Coming Soon from LVGameDev
  • Dev Therapy, a short series of 'behind-the-scenes' dev-blogs
  • All-new title from the team slated for release in 2020!